What Can the Child Inherit from the Mother ?

What Can 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.

　　孩子能从母亲那儿遗传到什么？

　　有的母亲在怀孕期间学诗、艺术或数学，希望通过这种努力来铸造自己未出世的孩子的性格。但我们所知的胎儿期发育知识使这些尝试看起来似乎完全不可能。这么复杂的影响怎么可能由母亲传递给孩子呢？母子的神经系统之间没有任何联系。母亲血液中的任何化学变化都会对胎儿带来好的或坏的影响。但我们看不出数学或诗的天赋可以溶解到血液中并在孩子身上形成相似的喜好和才华。

　　我们在谈论天性时发现，我们有理由相信从父母身上遗传到的一定是某种《艮简单的东西，而决不是什么复杂或确定的表现。无疑，没有人遗传到数学知识。但孩子有可能或多或少遗传到某些非常普遍的能力，我们可以把它叫智力。如果一个非常聪明的小孩变得对数学极感兴趣，他就可能学好这门学问。

　　同样的因素，在不同的环境下，可能会围绕其他兴趣爱好结合起来。丰富的情感资质可能会在诗歌中表现出来。灵巧的手指可能会被训练出外科手术技能。被遗传下来的不是音乐知识，甚至也不是对音乐的热爱，而是一种生理构造。这种生理构造使人较容易学会音乐知识和技能。这种能力会被引导到音乐上还是其他事业上可能全靠孩子生长的环境的影响力。