1 20 EVOL UTION AND XA T URAL THEOL G Y. 



Sheep, for example, though less variable than 

 some other animals, present varieties with no 

 horns, or with two, four, or six ; some varieties 

 have a thick fleece, others a huge tail, and 

 others again very short legs. All these varieties, 

 though they pair together readily, and have un- 

 doubtedly sprung from one common stock, can 

 be bred true by taking ordinary precautions, 

 although many of them differ so much that they 

 would probably be placed in distinct genera, if 

 met with in a state of nature. But no animals 

 vary so much as domestic pigeons, which are 

 treated of at great length by Darwin in his 

 work on the " Variation of Animals and Plants 

 under Domestication."* Many of the more 

 marked breeds, such as fan-tails, pouters, and 

 tumblers, exhibit characteristics which do not 

 occur in any of the 12,000 species of wild 

 birds. 



The advocates of Special Creation have put 

 forward two different hypotheses to account for 

 these and similar facts. They allege firstly, that 

 domesticated species were originally chosen for 



* Much of this chapter is taken from the .above-mentioned work, 

 which is one of the most learned and elaborate of all the writings of 

 Darwin. 



