406 THE CAUSES OF THE xi 



them was deformed, showing a tendency to varia- 

 tion ; the third was Andre ; he had five fingers 

 and five toes, quite perfect ; the fourth was a girl, 

 Marie ; she had five fingers and five toes, but her 

 thumbs were deformed, showing a tendency toward 

 the sixth. 



These children grew up, and when they came to 

 adult years, they all married, and of course it 

 happened that they all married five-fingered and 

 five-toed persons. Now let us see what were the 

 results. Salvator had four children ; they were 

 two boys, a girl, and another boy ; the first two 

 boys and the girl were six-fingered and six-toed 

 like their grandfather ; the fourth boy had only 

 five fingers and five toes. George had only four 

 children ; there were two girls with six fingers 

 and six toes ; there was one girl with six fingers 

 and five toes on the right side, and five fingers 

 and five toes on the left side, so that she was half 

 and half. The last, a boy, had five fingers and 

 five toes. The third, Andre, you will recollect, 

 was perfectly well-formed, and he had many 

 children whose hands and feet were all regularly 

 developed. Marie, the last, who, of course, mar- 

 ried a man who had only five fing3rs, had four 

 children ; the first, a boy, was born with six toes, 

 but the other three were normal. 



Now observe what very extraordinary phenomena 

 are presented here. You have an accidental varia- 

 tion giving rise to what you may call a monstrosity ; 



