<P> The inheritance of acquired characteristics is a hypothesis that physiological changes acquired over the life of an organism (such as the enlargement of a muscle through repeated use) may be transmitted to offspring . It is also commonly referred to as the theory of adaptation equated with the evolutionary theory of French naturalist Jean - Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829) known as Lamarckism . </P> <P> The idea was proposed in ancient times by Hippocrates and Aristotle, and was commonly accepted near to Lamarck's time . Erasmus Darwin had described the inheritance of acquired characters in his Zoonomia, 1794 . According to historian of science Conway Zirkle: </P>

Who believed in species change by passing acquired characteristics on to offspring