NATURAL SELECTION 



inherent tendency to avoid white, for directly they are 

 domesticated white varieties arise, and appear to thrive as 

 well as others. We have white mice and rats, white cats, 

 horses, dogs and cattle, white poultry, pigeons, turkeys and 

 ducks, and white rabbits. Some of these animals have been 

 domesticated for a long period, others only for a few centuries; 

 but in almost every case in which an animal has been 

 thoroughly domesticated, parti-coloured and white varieties 

 are produced and become permanent. 



It is also well known that animals in a state of nature 

 produce white varieties occasionally. Blackbirds, starlings, 

 and crows are occasionally seen white, as well as elephants, 

 deer, tigers, hares, moles, and many other animals ; but in 

 no case is a permanent white race produced. Now there are 

 no statistics to show that the normal-coloured parents produce 

 white offspring oftener under domestication than in a state of 

 nature, and we have no right to make such an assumption if 

 the facts can be accounted for without it. But if the colours 

 of animals do really, in the various instances already adduced, 

 serve for their concealment and preservation, then white or 

 any other conspicuous colour must be hurtful, and must in 

 most cases shorten an animal's life. A white rabbit would 

 be more surely the prey of hawk or buzzard, and the white 

 mole, or field mouse, could not long escape from the vigilant 

 owl. So, also, any deviation from those tints best adapted 

 to conceal a carnivorous animal would render the pursuit of 

 its prey much more difficult, would place it at a disadvantage 

 among its fellows, and in a time of scarcity would probably 

 cause it to starve to death. On the other hand, if an animal 

 spreads from a temperate into an arctic district, the conditions 

 are changed. During a large portion of the year, and just 

 when the struggle for existence is most severe, white is the 

 prevailing tint of nature, and dark colours will be the most 

 conspicuous. The white varieties will now have an advan- 

 tage ; they will escape from their enemies or will secure food, 

 while their brown companions will be devoured or will starve; 

 and as "like produces like" is the established rule in nature, 

 the white race will become permanently established, and dark 

 varieties, when they occasionally appear, will soon die out 

 from their want of adaptation to their environment. In each 



