Every man is born into the world with a certain physical constitution, and, therefore, with a given temperament; with certain passions; with the power of judgment; and with a certain strength of will. If the power of his will be not equal to the strength of his passions, the latter will surely predominate and will display him as the slave of heredity. If he has such an organization of his nervous system that his volition is superior to his passions, he will be none the less the servant of heredity, though a being now possessed of the power of Free-Will. Man is, to a far greater degree than is ordinarily realized, the servant of heredity. It seems to us an incontrovertible fact that every living creature, at any given moment, is swayed infinitely more by the _totality of its heritages_ than by its environment. No one can possibly deny this so far as plants and most animals are concerned. Nor, if one look below the surface, can it be denied of the higher animals and of man. Happily, the average man, with his present constitution, has his diverse heritages so proportioned that we may repeat that his life and character (in customs, morals, and religion) are vastly more influenced by environment than by heredity. The standards for estimating the life and character of men, namely, human customs, morals, and religions, are such recent acquisitions, _geologically_ speaking, that they have, as yet, very slightly if at all influenced the germ-cells. They are acquired (somatic) characteristics, and not congenital (germinal) qualities. They are preëminently the creations of environment. If the infants of a Catholic family which is descended from a long line of Catholic ancestors were to be placed and retained in a purely Mohammedan environment, heredity would carry no Christian customs, morals or religion into that environment, but, on the contrary, the Mohammedan surroundings would instill new customs, different ethical ideas, and a different religion. This illustrates how very feebly indeed are germ-cells correspondingly impressed by pure acquired characters. _It is almost certain that the translation of somatic changes into germinal changes is appallingly slow._ As far, then, as social customs, morals, and religion are concerned, the average man is, in our opinion, infinitely more the creature of nurture than of nature. But, as far as his temperament, his emotional nature, his judgment, his strength of will, in short, his physical and therefore his mental constitution, are concerned, he is _almost_ absolutely the creature of heredity. The equilibrium of qualities or heritages in the average man, resident in a given, stable community, is in harmony with the average customs, ethical ideas, and religious beliefs of that community. But in all stable communities there are men whose resultant of heritages, some in one direction and some in another, places them out of harmony with the average of their social environment, and they are looked