LUTHER BURBANK 



more than once referred were those that were the 

 most highly specialized. 



But, on the other hand, a species that is able 

 to change in such a way as to adapt itself to new 

 conditions stands at least a chance of being pre- 

 served, however widely the environment may be 

 altered. And, in point of fact, most species in a 

 state of nature have a considerable measure of 

 adaptability. Individual variation is the universal 

 rule, and such variations are accentuated by nat- 

 ural selection very much as the plant developer 

 accentuates them by artificial selection. So the 

 plants and animals in a state of nature are plastic 

 material, and under changing conditions of en- 

 vironment which represent probably the usual and 

 normal condition of things, they are constantly, 

 even if slowly, being modified. And of course 

 such modifications, when they have been suffi- 

 ciently added to, alter the character of the species 

 altogether. 



Which is only a detailed and roundabout way 

 of saying that species are evolved and transformed 

 into new species under the influence of natural 

 selection. 



But whoever considers this matter attentively 

 will come presently to realize that in any such 

 analysis of the operation of natural selection in 

 the evolution of species as that just suggested, 



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