GERMINAL SELECTION. 



appeared at all, or had not appeared at the right 

 places? It is a fact that in constant species, that is, 

 in such as are not in process of transformation, the 

 variations of the markings are by no means frequent 

 or abundant. Or, suppose that they had really ap- 

 peared, but occurred only in individuals, or in a small 

 percentage of individuals? 



Such are the objections raised against the theory of 

 selection by its opponents, and put forward as insur- 

 mountable obstacles to the process. Nor are such ob- 

 jections relevant only in the case of protective color- 

 ings ; they are applicable in all cases where the process 

 of selection is concerned. Take the case of instincts 

 that are called into action only once in life, as, for ex- 

 ample, the pupal performances of insects, the artificial 

 fabrication of cocoons, etc. How is it that the useful 

 variations were always present here? And yet they 

 must have been present, if such complicated spinning 

 instincts could have taken their rise as are observable 

 in the silk-worm, or in the emperor-moth. And they 

 have been developed, and that in whole families, in 

 forms varying in all species, and in every case adapted 

 to the special wants of the species. 



Particularly striking is the proof afforded of this 

 constant presence of the useful variations by cases 

 where we meet with the development of highly special 

 adaptations that are uncommon even for the group of 

 organisms concerned. Such a case, for example, is 

 the apparatus designed for the capture of small ani- 

 mals and their digestion, found in widely different 

 plants and widely separated families. On the other 

 hand, very common adaptations, such as the eyes of 

 animals, show distinctly that in all cases where it was 

 .necessary, the useful variations for the formation of 



