On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle of Life |
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Page viii
... reasons for believing that specific characters " sont fixes , pour chaque espèce , tant qu'elle se perpétue au milieu des mêmes circonstances , ils se modifient , si les circonstances ambiantes viennent à changer . " " En résumé , l ...
... reasons for believing that specific characters " sont fixes , pour chaque espèce , tant qu'elle se perpétue au milieu des mêmes circonstances , ils se modifient , si les circonstances ambiantes viennent à changer . " " En résumé , l ...
Page 15
... reasons make me believe in this ; but the chief one is the remarkable effect which confinement or cultivation has on the functions of the reproductive system ; this system appearing to be far more susceptible than any other part of the ...
... reasons make me believe in this ; but the chief one is the remarkable effect which confinement or cultivation has on the functions of the reproductive system ; this system appearing to be far more susceptible than any other part of the ...
Page 20
... reason why a peculiarity should appear at any particular age , yet that it does tend to appear in the offspring at the same period at which it first appeared in the parent . I believe this rule to be of the highest importance in ...
... reason why a peculiarity should appear at any particular age , yet that it does tend to appear in the offspring at the same period at which it first appeared in the parent . I believe this rule to be of the highest importance in ...
Page 24
... reasons which I cannot give here , I am doubtfully inclined to believe , in opposition to several authors , that all the races have de- scended from one wild stock . Mr. Blyth , whose opinion , from his large and varied stores of ...
... reasons which I cannot give here , I am doubtfully inclined to believe , in opposition to several authors , that all the races have de- scended from one wild stock . Mr. Blyth , whose opinion , from his large and varied stores of ...
Page 27
... reasons which have led me to this belief are in some degree applicable in other cases , I will here briefly give them . If the several breeds are not varieties , and -have not proceeded from the rock - pigeon , they CHAP . L. ] 27 ...
... reasons which have led me to this belief are in some degree applicable in other cases , I will here briefly give them . If the several breeds are not varieties , and -have not proceeded from the rock - pigeon , they CHAP . L. ] 27 ...
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Common terms and phrases
accumulated adapted affinities allied species America amount ancient animals appear become bees believe birds breeds cause cells characters cirripedes climate closely allied colour continuous crossed crustaceans degree difficulty distinct species disuse divergence domestic doubt embryo endemic Europe existing exterminated extinct extremely facts favourable fertility flowers formations forms fossil Gärtner genera genus geological geological period Glacial period gradations greater number groups of species habits Hence hermaphrodites hybrids hybrids produced important individuals inhabitants inherited insects instance instincts intercrossing intermediate land larvæ less living look male mammals manner migration modification modified descendants natural selection naturalists nearly nest offspring organic organisation perfect pigeons pistil plants pollen present probably produced progenitor ranked reciprocal crosses remarked resemble rudimentary seeds seems sexual selection Silurian slight South America sterility structure struggle successive suppose swimbladder tend theory tion trees variability variation varieties vary whole widely
Popular passages
Page 424 - In the distant future I see open fields for far more important researches. Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.
Page 63 - There is no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally increases at so high a rate, that, if not destroyed, the earth would soon be covered by the progeny of a single pair.
Page 79 - I may be allowed to personify the natural preservation or survival of the fittest, cares nothing for appearances, except in so far as they are useful to any being. She can act on every internal organ, on every shade of constitutional difference, on the whole machinery of life. Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.
Page 70 - I counted thirtytwo little trees ; and one of them, with twenty-six rings of growth, had during many years tried to raise its head above the stems of the heath, and had failed. No wonder that, as soon as the land was enclosed, it became thickly clothed with vigorously growing young firs. Yet the heath was so extremely barren and so extensive that no one would ever have imagined that cattle would have so closely and effectually searched it for food. Here we see that cattle absolutely determine the...
Page 169 - If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.
Page 63 - Hence as more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same species, or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life.
Page 167 - To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.
Page 378 - Nothing can be more hopeless than to attempt to explain this similarity of pattern in members of the same class, by utility or by the doctrine of final causes. The hopelessness of the attempt has been expressly admitted by Owen in his most interesting work on the 'Nature of Limbs.
Page 187 - Under changed conditions of life, it is at least possible that slight modifications of instinct might be profitable to a species; and if it can be shown that instincts do vary ever so little, then I can see no difficulty in natural selection preserving and continually accumulating variations of instinct to any extent that was profitable. It is thus, as I believe, that all the most complex and wonderful instincts have originated.
Page 165 - I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale.