THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION. 289 



subject under the head of what he has called 'artificial 

 selection ;' and a few words may be said here as to what 

 he understands by this name. Our domesticated animals, 

 as is well known, have in all cases originated from wild 

 species, which have gradually been brought under the 

 influence and dominion of man. The same is true of all 

 our domesticated, or rather cultivated, plants. In certain 

 cases as that of the pig above referred to we not only 

 have the domesticated breed or breeds, but we are also 

 acquainted with the wild species from which the domestic 

 form was derived. In other cases, the domesticated 

 animals have undergone changes so great that we can no 

 longer point with certainty to the wild forms in which they 

 originated. In some cases, it may be, the wild form is no 

 longer in existence. In all cases, however, our domestic 

 animals show, more or less conspicuously, two remarkable 

 characteristics or tendencies. One of these is that they 

 exhibit more numerous and more marked ' varieties ' than 

 is the case, as a rule, with wild species. They have a 

 more pronounced tendency to variation than wild animals 

 have, and their variations also extend through a wider 

 range. The other is, that the peculiarities which are 

 distinctive of our domestic animals as compared with 

 their wild forms, are not of such a nature as to fit the 

 animal better for its natural wild life, but, as specially 

 insisted on by Mr Darwin, are adaptations to the taste, or 

 fancy, or requirements of man. Thus, any modifications 

 produced by natural selection in the wild boar would be 

 in the direction of making it stronger, or enabling it better 

 to resist cold, or rendering it fitter to cope with its natural 

 foes, or the like. Man, however, does not desire any 



