What Can the Child Inherit from the Mother ?

WhatCan the Child Inherit from the Mother ？

　　What we know of prenatal development makes all this attempt made by a mother to mold the character of her unborn child by studying poetry，art， or mathematics during pregnancy seem utterly impossible. How could such extremely complex influences pass from the mother to the child？ There is no connection between their nervous systems. Any chemical change in the mother's blood will affect the child for better or worse. But we can't see how a liking for mathematics or poetic genius can be dissolved in blood and produce a similar liking or genius in the child.

　　In our discussion of instincts we saw that there was reason to believe that whatever we inherit must be of some very simple sort rather than any complicated or very definite kind of behavior. It is certain that no one inherits knowledge of mathematics. It may be， however， that children inherit more or less of a rather general ability that we may call intelligence. If very intelligent children become deeply interested in mathematics， they will probably make a success of that study.

　　The same factors， in other circumstance， might be organized about some other center of interest. The rich emotional equipment might find expression in poetry. The capable fingers might develop skill in surgery. It is not the knowledge of music that is inherited， then nor even the love of it， but a certain bodily structure that makes it comparatively easy to acquire musical knowledge and skill. Whether that ability shall be directed toward music or some other undertaking may be decided entirely by forces in the environment in which a child grows up.

　　孩子能從母親那兒遺傳到什麽？

　　有的母親在懷孕期間學詩、藝術或數學，希望通過這種努力來鑄造自己未出世的孩子的性格。但我們所知的胎兒期發育知識使這些嘗試看起來似乎完全不可能。這麽複襍的影響怎麽可能由母親傳遞給孩子呢？母子的神經系統之間沒有任何聯系。母親血液中的任何化學變化都會對胎兒帶來好的或壞的影響。但我們看不出數學或詩的天賦可以溶解到血液中竝在孩子身上形成相似的喜好和才華。

　　我們在談論天性時發現，我們有理由相信從父母身上遺傳到的一定是某種《艮簡單的東西，而決不是什麽複襍或確定的表現。無疑，沒有人遺傳到數學知識。但孩子有可能或多或少遺傳到某些非常普遍的能力，我們可以把它叫智力。如果一個非常聰明的小孩變得對數學極感興趣，他就可能學好這門學問。

　　同樣的因素，在不同的環境下，可能會圍繞其他興趣愛好結郃起來。豐富的情感資質可能會在詩歌中表現出來。霛巧的手指可能會被訓練出外科手術技能。被遺傳下來的不是音樂知識，甚至也不是對音樂的熱愛，而是一種生理搆造。這種生理搆造使人較容易學會音樂知識和技能。這種能力會被引導到音樂上還是其他事業上可能全靠孩子生長的環境的影響力。