This considerable inheritance from the father he described on his tombstone as "an entirely honest merchant" gave him the means to engage in personal philanthropy and practical schemes of social amelioration.

The germinal cell forms the total contribution of the male parent to pregnancy; therefore no other opportunity for him to influence his progeny presents itself, and the substance which enters the ovum at the time of fertilization must be the basis of inheritance from the father.

In another family, where the inheritance from the father was quite substantial, funds for the brothers and sisters were tied up in a trust which was administered by their mother, and this appeared to result in a series of squabbles about whether each of them was getting their fair share in comparison with the others (p. 376).