XIV. 



VARIATION AFTER BIRTH.' 



At the present time, our attention is directed to 

 differences or variations which are born with the indi- 

 vidual. We are told that variation which is useful to 

 the species is congenital, or born of the union — or the 

 amalgamation in varying degrees — of parents which 

 are unlike each other. From the variations which thus 

 arise, natural selection chooses those which fit the con- 

 ditions of life and destroys the remainder. That is, 

 individuals are born unlike and unequal, and adapta- 

 tion to environment is wholly the result of subsequent 

 selection. 



These are some of the practical con<;lusions of the 

 Neo- Darwinian philosophy. It seems to me that we 

 are in danger of letting our speculations run away with 

 us. Our philosophy should be tested now and then by 

 direct observation and experiment, and thus be kept 

 within the limits of probability. The writings of Dar- 

 win impress me in this quality more than in any other, 

 — in the persistency and single -mindedness with which 

 the author always goes to nature for his facts. 



In this spirit, let us drop our speculations for a 

 moment, and look at some of the commonest phenom- 

 ena of plant life as they transpire all about us. We 

 shall find that, for all we can see, most plants start 

 equal, but eventually become unequal. It is undoubt- 



>American Naturalist, January. 1896, pp. 17 to 24. 



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