I am convinced that what Charles Darwin stated from observation was one of the most brilliant human offerings ever. I am not given to arguing over the nuances others added or the wayward conclusions he came to later in life. But for shear brilliance, I mean, give credit where credit is due!
Ya, this is really good science:
"There is not the least inherent improbability, as it seems to me, in virtuous tendencies being more or less strongly inherited; for, not to mention the various dispositions and habits transmitted by many of our domestic animals to their offspring, I have heard of authentic cases in which a desire to steal and a tendency to lie appeared to run in families of the upper ranks; and as stealing is a rare crime in the wealthy classes, we can hardly account by accidental coincidence for the tendency occurring in two or three members of the same family. If bad tendencies are transmitted, it is probable that good ones are likewise transmitted." [Darwin, Descent]Inbred Science"There is ample evidence that the effects of mutilations and of accidents, especially or perhaps exclusively when followed by disease, are occasionally inherited. There can be no doubt that the evil effects of the long-continued exposure of the parent to injurious conditions are sometimes transmitted to the offspring. So it is, as we shall see in a future chapter, with the effects of the use and disuse of parts, and of mental habits." [Darwin, Variation v2]
"With respect to Jews, I have been assured by three medical men of the Jewish faith that circumcision, which has been practised for so many ages, has produced no inherited effect. Blumenbach, however, asserts that Jews are often born in Germany in a condition rendering circumcision difficult, so that a name is given them signifying "born circumcised,"... Dr. Riedel... in North Celebes writes to me that the boys there go naked until from six to ten years old; and he has observed that many of them, though not all, have their prepuces much reduced in length, and this he attributes to the inherited effects of the operation... Notwithstanding the above several negative cases, we now possess conclusive evidence that the effects of operations are sometimes inherited." [Darwin, Variation v1]