28 Permanence and Evohition. 



unlikely that if they existed in a wild state 

 they should have been exterminated ; that 

 such and such animals have been in such and 

 such ways modified by transportation to America 

 that is, that some observer has seen races in 

 America which he does not know how to parallel ; 

 that "the climate of the Moluccas appears to 

 cause the duck to vary to a remarkable extent," 

 which means that in the Moluccas are found a 

 remarkable number of races of duck ; that such 

 and such characters are variable in such and 

 such breeds ; that is, that strains otherwise alike 

 exist differing in these respects. What is wanted 

 is evidence that at such and such a date of such 

 and such a strain kept so as to eliminate rever- 

 sion, were born offspring exhibiting such and 

 such new characters. Bearing in mind these 

 principles, I will attempt, at the risk of some 

 repetition, to go through the portions of Darwin's 

 work referring to each of our principal domestic 

 animals. 



