Led by the German biologist, Weismann, they would thrust the Lamarckians, with their hypothesis of use-inheritance, clean out of the field.

Spontaneous variation, they assert, is all that is needed to prepare the way for the selection of the tall giraffe.

It happened to be born that way.

In other words, its parents had it in them to breed it so.

This is not a theory that tells one anything positive.