Chap. XXVin. CONCLUDING EEMAEKS. 409 



artificial and natural breeds ; altlioiigli in extreme cases the 

 distinction is plain, in many other cases it is arbitrary ; the 

 difierence depending chiefly on the kind of selection which 

 has been applied. Artificial breeds are those which have 

 been intentionally improved by man ; they frequently have 

 an unnatural appearance, and are especially liable to lose 

 their characters through reversion and continued variability. 

 The so-called natural breeds, on the other hand, are those 

 which are found in semi-civilised countries, and which 

 formerly inhabited se^^arate districts in nearly all the 

 European kingdoms. They have been rarely acted on by 

 man's intentional selection ; more frequently by unconscious 

 selection, and partly by natural selection, for animals kej)t 

 in semi-civilised countries have to provide largely for their 

 own wants. Such natural breeds will also have been directly 

 acted on by the differences, though slight, in the surrounding- 

 conditions. 



There is a much more important distinction between our 

 several breeds, namely, in some having originated from a 

 strongly-marked or semi-monstrous deviation of structure, 

 which, however, may subsequently have been augmented 

 by selection; whilst others have been formed in so slow 

 and insensible a manner, that if we could see their earl}^ pro- 

 genitors we should hardly be able to say when or how the 

 breed first arose. From the history of the racehorse, grey- 

 hound, gamecock, &c., and from their general appearance, 

 we may feel nearly confident that they were formed by a 

 slow process of improvement ; and we know that this has 

 been the case with the carrier- j)igeon, as well as with some 

 other pigeons. On the other hand, it is ceitain that the 

 ancon and mauchamp breeds of sheep, and almost certain 

 that the niata cattle, turnspit, and pug-dogs, jumper and 

 frizzled fowls, short-faced tumbler pigeons, hook-billed ducks, 

 &c., suddenly appeared in nearly the same state as we now 

 see them. So it has been with many cultivated plants. The 

 frequency of these cases is likely to lead to the false belief 

 that natural species have often originated in the same abrupt 

 manner. But we have no evidence of the appearance, or at 

 least of the continued procreation, under nature, of abrupt 



