Everyday experience familiarizes us with the facts which are grouped
under the name of heredity. Every one of us bears upon him obvious marks
of his parentage, perhaps of remoter relationships. More particularly,
the sum of tendencies to act in a certain, way, which we call
"character," is often to be traced through a long series of progenitors
and collaterals. So we may justly say that this "character"--this moral
and intellectual essence of a man--does veritably pass over from
one fleshy tabernacle to another, ana does really transmigrate from
generation to generation. In the new-born infant the character of
the stock lies latent, and the Ego is little more than a bundle
of potentialities. But, very early, these become actualities; from
childhood to age they manifest themselves in dulness or brightness,
weakness or strength, viciousness or uprightness; and with each feature
modified by confluence with another character, if by nothing else, the
character passes on to its incarnation in new bodies.