96 NO STRUGGLE NO SELECTION 



species. In the case of individual variations, their 

 reappearance as the effect of inheritance is, after a few 

 generations have passed, rendered impossible by the 

 law of marriage. Nothing, however, forbids them from 

 appearing again, even in the same family, as resulting 

 from the variability of the species. The inheritance of 

 blood after an hundred generations has diminished to 

 less than w^..,,,,,,^ ; after two hundred 

 generations, the cyphers require to be extended to sixty. 



Yet Darwin does not say that it would be very 

 surprising if characters should reappear, but he says 

 that it is very surprising that they should reappear : 

 implying that to his knowledge, or at least to his 

 belief, they do reappear, and do so by inheritance, 

 after having been lost for many, probably for hundreds 

 of generations. Surely so monstrous a statement 

 transcends the bounds of all credibility. 



(6) It is important to observe that this sentence refers 

 entirely to individual differences. A breed is formed by 

 man's accumulation, in a given direction, of individual 

 differences, by selection and isolation. Therefore two 

 breeds differ from each other by their accumulations of 

 individual differences being made in different directions. 

 If Darwin means, as the sentence reads, that all the 

 members of a breed are paired with members of 

 another breed, then the " only once " crossing would 

 result in their progeny inheriting equally the characters 

 or variations of both breeds. The consequence would 

 most likely be confusion, from the differently derived 

 variations nullifying, to a great extent, and counter- 



