The History of Creation Volume I Part 6

During the leisure and retirement in which Darwin lived after his return, he occupied himself, as we see from this letter, first and specially with the study of organisms in their cultivated state; that is, domestic animals and garden plants. This was undoubtedly the most likely way to arrive at the Theory of Selection. In this, as in all his labours, Darwin proceeded with extreme care and accuracy. With wonderful caution and self-denial, he published nothing on this subject during a period of twenty-one years, from 1837 to 1858, not even a preliminary sketch of his theory, which he had written as early as 1844. He was always anxious to collect still more certain experimental proofs, in order to be able to establish his theory in a complete form, and on the broadest possible foundation of experience. While he was thus aiming at the greatest possible perfection, which might perhaps have led him never to publish his theory at all, he was fortunately disturbed by a countryman of his, who, independently of Darwin, had discovered the Theory of Selection, and in 1858 sent its outlines to Darwin himself, with the request to hand them to Lyell for publication in some English journal. This was Alfred Wallace, one of the boldest and most distinguished scientific travellers of modern times. For many years Wallace had wandered alone in the wilds of the Sunda Islands, in the dense primitive forests of the Indian Archipelago; and during this close and comprehensive study of one of the richest and most interesting parts of the earth, with its great variety of animals and plants, he had arrived at exactly the same general views regarding the origin of organic species as Darwin. Lyell and Hooker, both of whom had long known Darwin's work, now induced him to publish a short extract from his ma.n.u.scripts simultaneously with the ma.n.u.script sent him by Wallace. They appeared in the _Journal of the Linnean Society_, August, 1858.

Darwin's great work "On the Origin of Species," in which the Theory of Selection is carried out in detail, appeared in November, 1859. Darwin himself, however, characterizes this book (of which a fifth edition appeared in 1869, and the German translation by Bronn as early as 1860)(1) as only a preliminary extract from a larger and more detailed work, which is to contain a ma.s.s of facts in favour of his theory, and comprehensive and experimental proofs. The first part of the larger work promised by Darwin appeared in 1868, under the t.i.tle, "The Variations of Animals and Plants in the State of Domestication," and has been translated into German by Victor Carus.(14) It contains a rich abundance of the most valuable evidence as to the extraordinary changes of organic forms which man can produce by cultivation and artificial selection.

However much we are indebted to Darwin for this abundance of convincing facts, still we do not by any means share the opinion of those naturalists who hold that the Theory of Selection requires for its actual proof these further details. It is our opinion that Darwin's first work, which appeared in 1859, already contains sufficient proof.

The una.s.sailable strength of his theory does not lie in the immense amount of individual facts that may be adduced as proofs, but in the harmonious connection of all the great and general phenomena of organic nature, which agree in bearing testimony to the truth of the Theory of Selection.

Darwin, at first, intentionally did not notice the important conclusion from his Theory of Descent, namely, the descent of the human race from other mammals. It was not till this highly important conclusion had been definitely established by other naturalists as the necessary sequel of the doctrine of descent, that Darwin himself expressly endorsed it, and thereby completed his system. This was done in the highly interesting work, "The Descent of Man, and s.e.xual Selection," which appeared as late as 1871, and has likewise been translated into German by Victor Carus.(48)

The careful study which Darwin devoted to _domestic animals and cultivated plants_ was of the greatest importance in establis.h.i.+ng the Theory of Selection. The infinitely varied changes of form which man has produced in these domesticated organisms by artificial selection are of the very highest importance for a right understanding of animal and vegetable forms; and yet this study has, down to the most recent times, been most grossly neglected by zoologists and botanists. Without entering upon the discussion of the significance to be attached to the idea of species itself, they have filled not only bulky volumes, but whole libraries, with descriptions of individual species, and with most childish controversies as to whether these species are good, or tolerably good, and bad, or tolerably bad. If naturalists instead of spending their time on these useless fancies had duly studied cultivated organisms, and had examined the trans.m.u.tation of the living forms, instead of the individual dead ones, they would not have been led captive so long by the fetters of Cuvier's dogma. But as cultivated organisms are so extremely inconvenient to the dogmatic conception of the permanence of species, naturalists to a great extent intentionally did not concern themselves about them, and even celebrated naturalists have often expressed the opinion that cultivated organisms, domesticated animals and garden plants, are artificial productions of man, and that their formation and transformation could not decide anything about the nature of species and about the origin of the forms of species that live in a natural state.

This perverse view went so far that, for example, Andreas Wagner, a zoologist of Munich, quite seriously made the following ridiculous a.s.sertion:-"Animals and plants in their wild state have been called into being by the Creator as distinctly different and unchangeable species; but in the case of domestic animals and cultivated plants this was not necessary, because he formed them from the beginning for the use of man. The Creator formed man out of a clod of earth, breathed the living breath into his nostrils, and then created for him the different useful domestic animals and garden plants, among which he thought well to save himself the trouble of distinguis.h.i.+ng species." Unfortunately, Andreas Wagner does not tell us whether the _Tree of Knowledge_ in Paradise was a "good" wild species, or, as a cultivated plant, "no species" at all. As the Tree of Knowledge was placed by the Creator in the centre of Paradise, we might be inclined to believe that it was a highly favoured cultivated plant, and therefore no species at all. But since, on the other hand, the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden to man, and since many men, as Wagner himself clearly shows, have never eaten of the fruit, it was evidently not created for the use of man, and therefore in all probability was a _real species!_ What a pity Wagner has not given us any information about this important and difficult problem!

Now, however ridiculous this view may appear to us, it is only the logical sequence of a false view (which is widely spread) of the special nature of cultivated organisms, and one may occasionally hear similar objections from naturalists of great reputation. I must most decidedly, and at once, condemn this utterly false conception. It is the same perverseness which is committed by physicians who maintain that diseases are artificial productions, and not natural phenomena. It has been a work of hard labour to combat this prejudice, and it is only in recent times that men have generally adopted the view that diseases are nothing but natural changes of the organisms, or really natural phenomena of life, which are produced by changed and abnormal conditions of existence. Disease, therefore, is not a life beyond Nature's realm (vita praeter naturam), as the early physicians used to say, but a natural life under conditions which produce illness and threaten the body with danger. Just in the same manner, cultivated organic forms are not artificial works of man, but natural productions which have arisen under the influence of peculiar conditions of life. Man by his culture can never directly produce a new organic form, but he can breed organisms under new conditions of life, which are such as to influence and transform them. All domestic animals and all garden plants are originally descended from wild species, which have been transformed by the peculiar conditions of culture.

A thorough comparison of cultivated forms (races and varieties) with organisms not altered by cultivation (species and varieties), is of the utmost importance to the theory of selection. What is most surprising in such a comparison is the remarkably short time in which man can produce a new form, and the high degree in which this form, produced by man, can deviate from the original form. While wild animals and plants, one year after another, appear to the zoologist and botanist approximately in the same form, so as to have given rise to the false doctrine of the constancy of species, domestic animals and garden plants, on the other hand, display the greatest changes within a few years. The perfection which gardeners and farmers have attained in the art of selection now enables them, in the s.p.a.ce of a few years, arbitrarily to create entirely new animal and vegetable forms. For this purpose it is only necessary to keep and propagate the organism under the influence of special conditions-which are capable of producing new formations-and even at the end of a few generations new species may be obtained, which differ from the original form in a much higher degree than so-called good species in a wild state differ from one another. This fact is extremely important, and we cannot lay sufficient stress upon it. The a.s.sertion is not true that cultivated forms descended from one and the same primary form do not differ from one another as much as wild animal and vegetable species differ among themselves. If we only make comparisons, without prejudice, we can very easily perceive that a number of races or varieties which have been derived from a single cultivated form, within a short series of years, differ from one another in a higher degree than so-called good species (bonae species), or even different genera of one family, in the wild state.

In order to establish this extremely important fact as firmly as possible by experiments, Darwin decided to make a special study of the whole extent of variation in form in a single group of domesticated animals, and for this purpose he chose the _domestic pigeons_, which are in many respects especially suited for such a study. For a long time he kept on his estate all possible races and varieties of pigeons which he was able to procure, and he was helped in this by rich contributions from all parts of the world. He also joined two London pigeon clubs, the members of which pa.s.sionately, and with truly artistic skill, carry on the breeding of the different forms of pigeons. Lastly, he formed connections with some of the most celebrated pigeon-fanciers; so that he could command the richest experimental material.

The art of, and fancy for, pigeon breeding is very ancient. Even more than 3,000 years before Christ, it was carried on by the Egyptians. The Romans, under the emperors, laid out enormous sums upon the breeding of pigeons, and kept accurate pedigrees of their descent, just as the Arabs keep genealogical pedigrees of their horses, and the Mecklenburg aristocracy of their own ancestors. In Asia, too, among the wealthy princes, pigeon breeding was a very ancient fancy; in 1600, the court of Akber Khan possessed more than 20,000 pigeons. Thus in the course of several centuries, and in consequence of the various methods of breeding practised in the different parts of the world, there has arisen out of one single originally tamed form, an immense number of different races and varieties, which in their most divergent forms are extremely different from one another, and are often curiously characterized.

One of the most striking races of pigeons is the well-known fan-tailed pigeon, which spreads its tail like the peac.o.c.k, and carries a number of (from thirty to forty) feathers placed in the form of radii, while other pigeons possess much fewer tail feathers-generally twelve. We may here mention that the number of feathers on the tails of birds is considered by naturalists of great value as a systematic distinction, so that whole orders can thereby be distinguished. For example, singing birds, almost without exception, possess twelve tail feathers; chirping birds (Strisores) ten, etc. Several races of pigeons, moreover, are characterized by a tuft of neck feathers, which form a kind of periwig; others by grotesque transformation of their beaks and feet, by peculiar and often very remarkable decorations, as, for example, skinny lappets, which develop on the head; by a large crop, which is formed by the gullet being strongly inclined forward, etc. Remarkable, also, are the strange habits which many pigeons have acquired; for example, the turtle pigeons and the trumpeters with their musical accomplishments, the carriers with their topographical instinct. The tumblers have the strange habit of ascending into the air in great numbers, then turning over and falling down through the air as if dead. The ways and habits of these endless races of pigeons-the form, size, and colour of the individual parts of their bodies, and their proportions, differ in a most astonis.h.i.+ng degree from one another; in a much higher degree than is the case with the so-called good species, or even with the perfectly distinct genera, of wild pigeons. And what is of the greatest importance, is the fact that these differences are not confined to the external form, but extend even to the most important internal parts; there even occur great modifications of the skeleton and of the muscular tissues. For example, we find great differences in the number of vertebrae and ribs, in the size and shape of the gaps in the breast-bones, in the size and shape of the merry-thought, in the lower jaw, in the facial bones, etc. In short, the bony skeleton, which morphologists consider a very permanent part of the body, and which never varies to such an extent as the external parts-shows such great changes, that many races of pigeons might be described as special genera, and this would doubtless be done if all these different forms had been found in a wild and natural state.

How far the differences of the races of pigeons have been carried is best shown by the fact that all pigeon breeders are unanimously of opinion that each peculiar or specially marked race of pigeons must be derived from a corresponding wild original species. It is true every one a.s.sumes a different number of original species. Yet Darwin has most convincingly and acutely proved that all these pigeons, without exception, must be derived from a single wild primary species-from the blue rock-pigeon (_Columba livia_). In like manner, it can be proved of most of the domestic animals and cultivated plants, that all the different races are descendants of a single original wild species which has been brought by man into a cultivated condition.

An example similar to that of the domestic pigeons is furnished among mammals by our tame _rabbit_. All zoologists, without exception, have long considered it proved that all its races and varieties are descended from the common wild rabbit, that is, from a single primary species. And yet the extreme forms of these races differ to such a degree from one another, that every zoologist, if he met with them in a wild state, would unhesitatingly designate them not only as an entirely distinct "good species," but even as species of entirely different genera of the Leporid family. Not only does the colour, length of hair, and other qualities of the fur of the different tame races of rabbits vary exceedingly, and form extremely broad contrasts, but, what is still more important, the typical form of the skeleton and its individual parts do so also, especially the form of the skull and the jaw (which is of such importance in systematic arrangement); further, the relative proportion of the length of the ears, legs, etc. In all these respects the races of tame rabbits avowedly differ from one another far more than all the different forms of wild rabbits and hares which are scattered over all the earth, and are the recognized "good species" of the genus _Lepus_.

And yet, in the face of these clear facts, the opponents of the theory of development maintain that the wild species are not descended from a common prototype, although they at once admit it in the case of the tame races. With opponents who so intentionally close their eyes against the clear light of truth, no further dispute can be carried on.

While in this manner it appears certain that the domestic races of pigeons, of tame rabbits, of horses, etc., notwithstanding the remarkable difference of their varieties, are descended in each case from but one wild, so-called "species"; yet, on the other hand, it is certainly probable that the great variety of races of some of the domestic animals, especially dogs, pigs, and oxen, must be ascribed to the existence of several wild prototypes, which have become mixed. It is, however, to be observed that the number of these originally wild primary species is always much smaller than that of the cultivated forms proceeding from their mingling and selection, and naturally they were originally derived from a single primary ancestor, common to the whole genus. In no case is each separate cultivated race descended from a distinct wild species.

In opposition to this, almost all farmers and gardeners maintain, with the greatest confidence, that each separate race bred by them must be descended from a separate wild primary species, because they clearly perceive the differences of the races, and attach very high importance to the inheritance of their qualities; but they do not take into consideration the fact that these qualities have arisen only by the slow acc.u.mulation of small and scarcely observable changes. In this respect it is extremely instructive to compare cultivated races with wild species.

Many naturalists, and especially the opponents of the Theory of Development, have taken the greatest trouble to discover some morphological or physiological mark, some characteristic property, whereby the artificially bred and cultivated races may be clearly and thoroughly distinguished from wild species which have arisen naturally.

All these attempts have completely failed, and have led only with increasing certainty to the result, that such a distinction is altogether impossible. I have minutely discussed this fact, and ill.u.s.trated it by examples in my criticism of the idea of species. (Gen.

Morph. ii. 323-364.)

I may here briefly touch on yet another side of this question, because not only the opponents, but even a few of the most distinguished followers of Darwin-for example, Huxley-have regarded the phenomena of _b.a.s.t.a.r.d-breeding_, or _hybridism_, as one of the weakest points of Darwinism. Between cultivated races and wild species, they say, there exists this difference, that the former are capable of producing fruitful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, but that the latter are not. Two different cultivated races, or wild _varieties of one species_, are said in all cases to possess the power of producing b.a.s.t.a.r.ds which can fruitfully mix with one another, or with one of their parent forms, and thus propagate themselves; on the other hand, _two really different species_, two cultivated or wild _species_ of one genus, are said _never_ to be able to produce from one another b.a.s.t.a.r.ds which can be fruitfully crossed with one another, or with one of their parent species.

As regards the first of these a.s.sertions, it is simply refuted by the fact that there are organisms which do not mix at all with their own ancestors, and therefore can produce no fruitful descendants. Thus, for example, our cultivated guinea-pig does not bear with its wild Brazilian ancestor; and again, the domestic cat of Paraguay, which is descended from our European domestic cat, no longer bears with the latter. Between different races of our domestic dogs, for example, between the large Newfoundland dogs and the dwarfed lap-dogs, breeding is impossible, even for simple mechanical reasons. A particularly interesting instance is afforded by the Porto-Santo rabbit (Lepus Huxleyi). In the year 1419, a few rabbits, born on board s.h.i.+p of a tame Spanish rabbit, were put on the island of Porto Santo, near Madeira. These little animals, there being no beasts of prey, in a short time increased so enormously that they became a pest to the country, and even compelled a colony to remove from the island. They still inhabit the island in great numbers; but in the course of four hundred and fifty years they have developed into a quite peculiar variety-or if you will have it, into a "good species"-which is distinguished by a peculiar colour, a rat-like shape, small size, nocturnal life, and extraordinary wildness. The most important fact, however, is that this new species, which I call _Lepus Huxleyi_, no longer pairs with its European parent rabbit, and no longer produces b.a.s.t.a.r.ds with it.

On the other hand, we now know of numerous examples of fruitful genuine b.a.s.t.a.r.ds; that is, of mixings that have proceeded from the crossing of two entirely different species, and yet propagate themselves with one another as well as with one of their parent species. A number of such b.a.s.t.a.r.d species (species Hybridae) have long been known to botanists; for example, among the genera of the thistle (Cirsium), the laburnum (Cytisus), the bramble (Rubus), etc. Among animals also they are by no means rare, perhaps even very frequent. We know of fruitful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds which have arisen from the crossing of two different species of a genus, as among several genera of b.u.t.terflies (Zygaena, Saturnia), the family of carps, finches, poultry, dogs, cats, etc. One of the most interesting is the hare-rabbit (Lepus Darwinii), the b.a.s.t.a.r.d of our indigenous hare and rabbit, many generations of which have been bred in France, since 1850, for gastronomic purposes. I myself possess such hybrids, the products of pure in-breeding, that is, both parents of which are themselves hybrids by a hare-father and a rabbit-mother. I possess them through the kindness of Professor Conrad, who has repeatedly made these experiments in breeding on his estate. The half-blood hybrid thus bred, which I name in honour of Darwin, appears to propagate itself through many generations by pure in-breeding, just as well as any genuine species.

Although on the whole it is more like its mother (rabbit), still in the formation of the ears and of the hind-legs, it possesses distinct qualities of its father (hare). Its flesh has an excellent taste, rather resembling that of a hare, though the colour is more like that of a rabbit. But the hare (Lepus timidus) and the rabbit (Lepus cuniculus) are two species of the genus Lepus, so different that no systematic zoologist will recognize them as varieties of one species. Both species, moreover, live in such different ways, and in their wild state entertain so great an aversion towards one another, that they do not pair so long as they are left free. If, however, the newly-born young ones of both species are brought up together, this aversion is not developed; they pair with one another and produce the _Lepus Darwinii_.

Another remarkable instance of the crossing of different species (where the two species belong even to different genera!) is furnished by the fruitful hybrids of sheep and goats which have for a long time been bred in Chili for industrial purposes. On what unessential circ.u.mstances in the s.e.xual mingling the fertility of the different species depend, is shown by the fact that he-goats and sheep in their mingling produce fruitful hybrids, while the ram and she-goat pair very rarely, and then without result. The phenomena of hybridism to which undue importance has been erroneously attributed are thus utterly unmeaning, so far as the idea of species is concerned. The breeding of hybrids does not enable us, any more than other phenomena, thoroughly to distinguish cultivated races from wild species; and this circ.u.mstance is of the greatest importance in the Theory of Selection.

CHAPTER VII.

THE THEORY OF SELECTION (DARWINISM).

Darwinism (Theory of Selection) and Lamarckism (Theory of Descent).-The Process of Artificial Breeding.-Selection of the Different Individuals for After-breeding.-The Active Causes of Trans.m.u.tation.-Change connected with Food, and Transmission by Inheritance connected with Propagation.-Mechanical Nature of these Two Physiological Functions.-The Process of Natural Breeding: Selection in the Struggle for Existence.-Malthus' Theory of Population.-The Proportion between the Numbers of Potential and Actual Individuals of every Species of Organisms.-General Struggle for Existence, or Compet.i.tion to attain the Necessaries of Life.-Transforming Force of the Struggle for Existence.-Comparison of Natural and Artificial Breeding.-Selection in the Life of Man.-Military and Medical Selection.

It is, properly speaking, not quite correctly that the Theory of Development, with which we are occupied in these pages, is usually called Darwinism. For, as we have seen from the historical sketch in the previous chapters, the most important foundation of the Theory of Development-that is, the Doctrine of Filiation, or Descent-had already been distinctly enunciated at the beginning of our century, and had been definitely introduced into science by Lamarck. The portion of the Theory of Development which maintains the common descent of all species of animals and plants from the simplest common original forms might, therefore, in honour of its eminent founder, and with full justice, be called _Lamarckism_, if the merit of having carried out such a principle is to be linked to the name of a single distinguished naturalist. On the other hand, the Theory of Selection, or breeding, might be justly called _Darwinism_, being that portion of the Theory of Development which shows us in what way and _why_ the different species of organisms have developed from those simplest primary forms. (Gen. Morph. ii. 166.)

It is true we find the first trace of an idea of natural selection even forty years before the appearance of Darwin's work. For in the year 1818 there was published a paper "On a woman of the white race whose skin partly resembled that of a negro," which had been read before the Royal Society as early as 1813. Its author, Dr. W. C. Wells, states that negroes and mulattoes are distinguished from the white race by their immunity from certain tropical diseases. On this occasion he remarks that all animals have a tendency to change up to a certain degree, and that farmers, by availing themselves of this tendency, and also by selection, improve their domestic animals; and then he adds, that what is done in this latter case "by art, seems to be done with equal efficiency, though more slowly, by nature, in the formation of varieties of mankind fitted for the country which they inhabit. Of the accidental varieties of man which would occur among the first few and scattered inhabitants of the middle regions of Africa, some one would be better fitted than the others to bear the diseases of the country. This race would consequently multiply, while the others would decrease; not only from their inability to sustain the attacks of disease, but from their incapacity of contending with their more vigorous neighbours. The colour of this vigorous race I take for granted, from what has been already said, would be dark. But the same disposition to form varieties still existing, a darker and a darker race would in the course of time occur; and as the darkest would be the best fitted for the climate, this would at length become the most prevalent, if not the only race, in the particular country in which it had originated." He then extends these same views to the white inhabitants of colder climates. Although Wells clearly expresses and recognizes the principle of natural selection, yet it is applied by him only to the very limited problem of the origin of human races, and not at all to that of the origin of animal and vegetable species. Darwin's great merit in having independently developed the Theory of Selection, and having brought it to complete and well merited recognition, is as little affected by the earlier and long forgotten remark of Wells, as by some other fragmentary observations about natural selection made by Patrick Mathew, and hidden in his book on "Timber for s.h.i.+pbuilding, and the Cultivation of Trees," which appeared in 1831. The celebrated traveller, Alfred Wallace, who developed the Theory of Selection independently of Darwin, and had published it in 1858, simultaneously with Darwin's first contribution, likewise stands far behind his greater and elder countryman in regard to profound conception, as well as to extended application of the theory.

In fact Darwin, by his extremely comprehensive and ingenious development of the whole doctrine, has acquired a fair claim to see the theory connected with his own name.

This Theory of Selection, Darwinism in its proper sense, to the consideration of which we now turn our attention, rests essentially (as has already been intimated in the last chapter) upon the comparison of those means which man employs in the breeding of domestic animals and the cultivation of garden plants, with those processes which in free nature, outside the cultivated state, lead to the coming into existence of new species and new genera. We must therefore, in order to understand the latter processes, first turn to the artificial breeding by man, as was, in fact, done by Darwin himself. We must inquire into the results to which man attains by his artificial breeding, and what means are applied in order to obtain those results; and we must then ask ourselves, "Are there in nature similar forces and causes acting similarly to those resorted to by man?"

First, in regard to artificial breeding, we start from the fact last discussed above, viz., that its products in some cases differ from one another much more than the productions of natural breeding. It is a fact that races or varieties often differ from one another in a much greater degree and in much more important qualities than many so-called species, or "good species,"-nay, sometimes even more than so-called "good genera" in their natural state. Compare, for example, the different kinds of apples which the art of horticulture has derived from one and the same original apple-form, or compare the different races of horses which their breeders have derived from one and the same original form of horse, and it will be easily observed that the differences of the most different forms are extremely important, and much more important than the so-called "specific differences," which are referred to by zoologists and botanists when comparing wild forms for the purpose of distinguis.h.i.+ng several so-called "good species."

Now, by what means does man produce this extraordinary difference or divergence of several forms which are proved to be descended from the same primary form? In order to answer this question, let us follow a gardener who desires to produce a new form of a plant, which is distinguished by the beautiful colour of its flowers. He will first of all make a selection from a great number of plants which are seedlings from one and the same parent. He will pick out those plants which exhibit most distinctly the colour of flower he desires. The colour of flowers is a very changeable thing. Plants, for example, which as a rule have a white flower, frequently show deviations into the blue or red.

Now, supposing the gardener wishes to obtain the red colour in a plant usually producing white flowers, he will very carefully, from among the many different individuals which are the descendants of one and the same seed-plant, select those which most distinctly show a reddish tint, and sow them exclusively, in order to produce new individuals of the same kind. He would cast aside and no longer cultivate the other seedlings which show a white or less distinct red colour. He will propagate exclusively the individual plants whose blossoms show the red most markedly, and he will sow the seeds produced by these selected plants.

From the seedlings of this second generation, he will again carefully select those in which the red, which is now visible in the majority of them, is most distinctly displayed. If such a selection is carried on during a series of six or ten generations, and if the flower which shows the deepest red is most carefully selected, the gardener in the sixth or tenth generation will obtain the desired plants with flowers of a pure red.

The farmer wis.h.i.+ng to breed a special race of animals, for example, a kind of sheep distinguished by particularly fine wool, proceeds in the same manner. The only process applied in the improvement of wool consists in this, that the farmer with the greatest care and perseverance selects from a whole flock of sheep those individuals which have the finest wool. These only are used in breeding, and among the descendants of these selected sheep, those again are chosen which have the finest wool, etc. If this careful selection is carried on through a series of generations, the selected breeding-sheep are in the end distinguished by a wool which differs very strikingly from the wool of the original parent, and this is exactly the advantage which the breeder desired.

The differences of the individuals that come into consideration in this artificial selection are very slight. An ordinary unpractised man is unable to discover the exceedingly minute differences of individuals which a practised breeder perceives at the first glance. The business of a breeder is not easy; it requires an exceedingly sharp eye, great patience, and an extremely careful manner of treating the organisms to be bred. In each individual generation, the differences of individuals are perhaps not seen at all by the uninitiated; but by the acc.u.mulation of these minute differences during a series of generations, the deviation from the original form becomes in the end very great. It becomes so great that the artificially produced form may in the end differ far more from the original form than do two so-called "good species" in their natural state. The art of breeding has now made such progress, that man can often at discretion produce certain peculiarities in cultivated species of animals and plants. To practised gardeners and farmers, you may give distinct commissions, and say, for example, I wish to have this species of plant with this or that colour, and with this or that shape. Where breeding has reached the perfection which it has attained in England, gardeners and farmers are frequently able to furnish to order the desired result within a definite period, that is, at the end of a number of generations. Sir John Sebright, one of the most experienced English pigeon-breeders, could a.s.sert that in three years he would produce any form of feather, but that he required six years to obtain any desired form of the head and beak. In the process of breeding the merino-sheep of Saxony, the animals are three times placed on a table beside one another, and most carefully compared and studied.

Each time only the best sheep with the finest wool are selected, so that in the end, out of a great mult.i.tude, there remain only some few animals, but their wool is exquisitely fine, and only these last are used in breeding. We see, therefore, that the causes through which, in artificial breeding, great effects are produced, are unusually simple, and these great effects are obtained simply by acc.u.mulating the differences which in themselves are very insignificant, and become surprisingly increased by a continually repeated selection.

Before we pa.s.s on to a comparison of this artificial with natural breeding, let us see what natural qualities of the organisms are made use of by the artificial breeder or cultivator. We can trace all the different qualities which here come into play to physiological fundamental qualities of the organism, which are common to all animals and plants, and are most closely connected with the functions of _propagation_ and _nutrition_. These two fundamental qualities are _transmissivity_, or the capability of _transmitting by inheritance_, and _mutability_, or the capability of _adaptation_. The breeder starts from the fact that all the individuals of one and the same species are different, though in a very slight degree, a fact which is as true of organisms in a wild as in a cultivated state. If you look about you in a forest consisting of only a single species of tree, for example of beech, you will certainly not find in the whole forest two trees of this kind which are absolutely identical or perfectly equal in the form of their branches, the number of their branches and leaves, blossoms and fruits. Special differences occur everywhere, just as in the case of men. There are no two men who are absolutely identical, perfectly equal in size, in the formation of their faces, the number of their hairs, their temperament, character, etc. The very same is true of individuals of all the different species of animals and plants. It is true that in most organisms the differences are very trifling to the eye of the uninitiated. Everything here essentially depends on the exercise of the faculty of discovering these often very minute differences of form. The shepherd, for example, knows every individual of his flock, solely by accurately observing their features, while the uninitiated are incapable of distinguis.h.i.+ng at all the different individuals of one and the same flock. This fact of the individual difference is the extremely important foundation on which the whole of man's power of breeding rests. If individual differences did not exist everywhere, man would not be able to produce a number of different varieties or races from one and the same original stock. We must, at the outset, hold fast the principle that the phenomenon is quite universal; we must necessarily a.s.sume it even where, with the imperfect capabilities of our senses, we are unable to discover differences. Among the higher plants (the phanerogams, or flower-plants), where the individual stocks show such numerous differences in the number of branches or leaves, and in the formation of the stem and branches, we can almost always easily perceive these differences. But this is not the case in the lower plants, such as mosses, algae, fungi, and in most animals, especially the lower ones. The distinction of all the individuals of one species is here, for the most part, extremely difficult or altogether impossible. But there is no reason for ascribing individual differences only to those organisms in which we can perceive them at once. We may, on the contrary, with full certainty a.s.sume such individuality as a universal quality of all organisms, and we can do this all the more surely since we are able to trace the mutability of individuals to the mechanical conditions of nutrition. We can show that by influencing nutrition we are able to produce striking individual differences where they would not exist if the conditions of nutrition had not been altered. The many complicated conditions of nutrition are never absolutely identical in two individuals of a species.

Now, just as we see that the mutability or capability of adaptation has a causal connection with the general relations of nutrition in animals and plants, so too we find the second fundamental phenomenon of life, with which we are here concerned, namely, the capability of _transmitting by inheritance_, to have a direct connection with the phenomenon of _propagation_. The second thing that a farmer or gardener does in artificial breeding, after he has selected, and has consequently availed himself of the mutability, is to endeavour to hold fast and develop the modified forms by Inheritance. He starts from the universal fact that children resemble their parents, that "the apple does not fall far from the tree." This phenomenon of Inheritance has. .h.i.therto been scientifically examined only to a very small extent, which may partly arise from the fact that the phenomenon is of such everyday occurrence.

Every one considers it quite natural that every species should produce its like; that a horse should not suddenly produce a goose, or a goose a frog. We are accustomed to look upon these everyday occurrences of Inheritance as self-evident. But this phenomenon is not so simply self-evident as it appears at first sight, and in the examination of Inheritance the fact is very frequently overlooked that the different descendants, derived from one and the same parents, are in reality _never_ quite identical, and also never absolutely like the parents, but are always slightly different. We cannot formulate the principle of Inheritance, as "Like produces like," but we must limit the expression to "Similar things produce similar things." The gardener, as well as the farmer, avails himself of the fact of Inheritance in its widest form, and indeed with special regard to the fact that not only those qualities of organisms are transmitted by inheritance which they have inherited from _their_ parents but those also which they themselves have _acquired_. This is an important point upon which very much depends. An organism can transmit to its descendants not only those qualities of form, colour, and size which it has inherited from its parents, but it can also transmit changes of these qualities, which it has acquired during its own life through the influence of outward circ.u.mstances, such as climate, nourishment, training, etc.

These are the two fundamental qualities of animals and plants of which the breeder must avail himself in order to produce new forms. The theoretical principle of breeding is, indeed, extremely simple, but in detail the practical application of this simple principle is difficult and immensely complicated. A thoughtful breeder, acting according to a definite plan, must understand the art of correctly estimating, in every case, the general interaction between the two fundamental qualities of heirs.h.i.+p and mutability.

Now, if we examine the real nature of those two important properties of life, we find that we can trace them, like all physiological functions, to physical and chemical causes, to the properties and the phenomena of motion of those substances of which the bodies of animals and plants consist. As we shall hereafter have to show in the more accurate consideration of these two functions, the transmission by _Inheritance_, if we express ourselves quite generally, is essentially dependent upon the material continuity and partial ident.i.ty of the matter in the producing and produced organism, the parents and the child. In every act of breeding a certain quant.i.ty of protoplasm or alb.u.minous matter is transferred from the parents to the child, and along with it there is transferred the individually _peculiar molecular motion_. These molecular phenomena of motion in the protoplasm, which call forth the phenomena of life, and are their active and true cause, differ more or less in all living individuals; they are of infinite variety.

_Adaptation_, or trans.m.u.tation is, on the other hand, essentially the consequence of material influences, which the substance of the organism experiences from the material surrounding it,-in the widest sense of the word from the _conditions_ of life. The external influences of the latter are communicated to the individual parts of the body by the molecular processes of nutrition. In every act of Adaptation the individual molecular motion of the protoplasm, peculiar to each part, disturbs and modifies the whole individual, or part of it, by mechanical, physical, or chemical influences. The innate, inherited vital actions of the protoplasm-that is, the molecular phenomena of motion of the smallest alb.u.minous particles-are therefore more or less modified by it. The phenomenon of Adaptation, or trans.m.u.tation, depends therefore upon the material influence which the organism experiences from its surroundings, or its conditions of existence; while the transmission by Inheritance is due to the partial ident.i.ty of the producing and produced organism. These are the real, simple, mechanical foundations of the artificial process of breeding.

Now Darwin asked himself, Does there exist a similar process of selection in nature, and are there forces in nature which take the place of man's activity in artificial selection? Is there a natural tendency among wild animals and plants which acts selectingly, in a similar manner to the artificial selection practised by the designing will of man? All here depended upon the discovery of such a relation, and Darwin succeeded in this so satisfactorily, that we consider his theory of selection completely sufficient to explain, mechanically, the origin of the wild species of animals and plants. That relation which in free nature influences the forms of animals and plants, by selecting and transforming them, is called by Darwin the "_Struggle for Existence_."

The "Struggle for Existence" has rapidly become a watchword of the day.

Yet this designation is, perhaps, in many respects not very happily chosen, and the phenomena might probably have been more accurately described as "_Compet.i.tion for the Means of Subsistence_." For under the name of "Struggle for Life," many relations are comprehended which properly and strictly speaking do not belong to it. As we have seen from the letter inserted in the last chapter, Darwin arrived at the idea of the "Struggle for Existence" from the study of Malthus' book "On the Conditions and the Consequences of the Increase of Population." It was proved in that important work, that the number of human beings, on the average, increases in a geometrical progression, while the amount of articles of food increase only in an arithmetical progression. This disproportion gives rise to a number of inconveniences in the human community, which cause among men a continual compet.i.tion to obtain the necessary means of life, which do not suffice for all.

Darwin's theory of the struggle for life is, to a certain extent, a general application of Malthus' theory of population to the whole of organic nature. It starts from the consideration that the number of _possible_ organic individuals which might arise from the germs produced, is far greater than the number of _actual_ individuals which, in fact, do simultaneously live on the earth's surface. The number of possible or _potential individuals_ is given us by the number of the eggs and organic germs produced by organisms. The number of these germs, from each of which, under favourable circ.u.mstances, an individual might arise, is very much larger than the number of real or actual _individuals_-that is, of those that really arise from these germs, come into life, and propagate themselves. By far the greater number of germs perish in the earliest stage of life, and it is only some favoured organisms which manage to develop, and actually survive the first period of early youth, and finally succeed in propagating themselves. This important fact is easily proved by a comparison of the number of eggs in a given species with the number of individuals which exist of this species. These numerical relations show the most striking contrast.

There are, for example, species of fowls which lay great numbers of eggs, and yet are among the rarest of birds; and the bird which is said to be the commonest (the most widely spread) of all, the stormy petrel (_Procellaria glacialis_), lays only a single egg. The relation is the same in other animals. There are many very rare invertebrate animals, which lay immense quant.i.ties of eggs; and others again which produce only very few eggs, and yet are among the commonest of animals. Take, for example, the proportion which is observed among the human tape-worms. Each tape-worm produces within a short period millions of eggs, while man, in whom these tape-worms are lodged, forms a far smaller number of eggs, and yet fortunately there are fewer tape-worms than human beings. In like manner, among plants there are many splendid orchids, which produce thousands of seeds and yet are very rare, and some kinds of asters (Compositae), which have but few seeds, are exceedingly common.

This important fact might be ill.u.s.trated by an immense number of examples. It is evidently, therefore, not the number of actually existing germs which indicates the number of individuals which afterwards come into life and maintain themselves in life; but rather the case is this, that the number of adult individuals is limited by other circ.u.mstances, especially by the relations in which the organism stands to its organic and inorganic surroundings. Every organism, from the commencement of its existence, struggles with a number of hostile influences: it struggles against animals which feed on it, and to which it is the natural food, against animals of prey and parasites; it struggles against inorganic influences of the most varied kinds, against temperature, weather, and other circ.u.mstances; but it also struggles (and this is much the most important!), above all, against organisms most like and akin to itself. Every individual, of every animal and vegetable species, is engaged in the fiercest compet.i.tion with every other individual of the same species which lives in the same place with it. In the economy of nature the means of subsistence are nowhere scattered in abundance, but are very limited, and far from sufficient for the number of organisms which might develop from the germs produced.

Therefore the young individuals of most species of animals and vegetables must have hard work in obtaining the means of subsistence; this necessarily causes a compet.i.tion among them in order to obtain the indispensable supplies of life.

This great compet.i.tion for the necessaries of life goes on everywhere and at all times, among human beings and animals as well as among plants; in the case of the latter this circ.u.mstance, at first sight, is not so clearly apparent. If we examine a field which is richly sown with wheat, we can see that of the numerous young plants (perhaps some thousands) which shoot up on a limited s.p.a.ce, only a very small proportion preserve themselves in life. A compet.i.tion takes place for the s.p.a.ce of ground which each plant requires for fixing its root, a compet.i.tion for sunlight and moisture. And in the same manner we find that, among all animal species, all the individuals of one and the same species compete with one another to obtain these indispensable means of life, or the conditions of existence in the wide sense of the word. They are equally indispensable to all, but really fall to the lot of only a few-"Many are called, but few are chosen." The fact of the great compet.i.tion is quite universal. You need only to cast a glance at human society, where this compet.i.tion exists everywhere, and in all the different branches of human activity. Here, too, a struggle is brought about by the free compet.i.tion of the different labourers of one and the same cla.s.s. Here too, as everywhere, this compet.i.tion benefits the thing, or the work, which is the object of compet.i.tion. The greater and more general the compet.i.tion, the more quickly improvements and inventions are made in the branch of labour, and the higher is the grade of perfection of the labourers themselves.

The position of the different individuals in this struggle for life is evidently very unequal. Starting from the inequality of individuals, which is a recognized fact, we must in all cases necessarily suppose that all the individuals of one and the same species do not have equally favourable prospects. Even at the beginning they are differently placed in this compet.i.tion by their different strengths and abilities, independently of the fact that the conditions of existence are different, and act differently at every point of the earth's surface. We evidently have an infinite combination of influences, which, together with the original inequality of the individuals during the compet.i.tion for the conditions of existence, favour some individuals and prejudice others. The favoured individuals will gain the victory over the others, and while the latter perish more or less early, without leaving any descendants, the former alone will be able to survive and finally to propagate the species. As, therefore, it is clear that in the struggle for life the favoured individuals succeed in propagating themselves, we shall (even as the result of this relation) perceive in the next generation differences from the preceding one. Some individuals of this second generation, though perhaps not all of them, will, by inheritance, receive the individual advantage by which their parents gained the victory over their rivals.

But now-and this is a very important law of inheritance-if such a transmission of a favourable character is continued through a series of generations, it is not simply transmitted in the original manner, but it is constantly increased and strengthened, and in a last generation it attains a strength which distinguishes this generation very essentially from the original parent. Let us, for example, examine a number of plants of one and the same species which grow together in a very dry soil. As the hairs on the leaves of plants are very useful for receiving moisture from the air, and as the hairs on the leaves are very changeable, the individuals possessing the thickest hair on their leaves will have an advantage in this unfavourable locality where the plants have directly to struggle with the want of water, and in addition to this have to compete with one another for the possession of what little water there may be. These alone hold out, while the others possessing less hairy leaves perish; the more hairy ones will be propagated, and their descendants will, on the average, be more distinguished by their thick and strong hairs than the individuals of the first generation. If this process is continued for several generations in one and the same locality, there will arise at last such an increase of this characteristic, such an increase of the hairs on the surface of the leaf, that an entirely new species seems to present itself. It must here be observed, that in consequence of the interactions of all the parts of every organism, generally one individual part cannot be changed without at the same time producing changes in other parts. If, for instance, in our imaginary example, the number of the hairs on the leaves is greatly increased, a certain amount of nourishment is thereby withdrawn from other parts; the material which might be employed to form flowers or seeds is diminished, and a smaller size of the flower or seed will then be the direct or indirect consequence of the struggle for life, which in the first place only produced a change in the leaves. Thus the struggle for life, in this instance, acts as a means of selecting and transforming. The struggle of the different individuals to obtain the necessary conditions of existence, or, taking it in its widest sense, the inter-relations of organisms to the whole of their surroundings, produce mutations of form such as are produced in the cultivated state by the action of man's selection.