16 THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS i 



animal anomalies is not satisfied, a turn or two in 

 Seven Dials will convince him that the breeds of 

 pigeons are quite as extraordinary and unlike one 

 another and their parent stock, while the Horti- 

 cultural Society will provide him with any number 

 of corresponding vegetable aberrations from 

 nature's types. He will learn with no little 

 surprise, too, in the course of his travels, that the 

 proprietors and producers of these animal and 

 vegetable anomalies regard them as distinct 

 species, with a firm belief, the strength of which 

 is exactly proportioned to their ignorance of 

 scientific biology, and which is the more remark- 

 able as they are all proud of their skill in originat- 

 ing such " species." 



On careful inquiry it is found that all these, and 

 the many other artificial breeds or races of animals 

 and plants, have been produced by one method. 

 The breeder and a skilful one must be a person 

 of much sagacity and natural or acquired perceptive 

 faculty notes some slight difference, arising he 

 knows not how, in some individuals of his stock. 

 If he wish to perpetuate the difference, to form a 

 breed with the peculiarity in question strongly 

 marked, he selects such male and female indi- 

 viduals as exhibit the desired character, and breeds 

 from them. Their offspring are then carefully 

 examined, and those which exhibit the peculiarity 

 the most distinctly are selected for breeding ; and 

 this operation is repeated until the desired amount 



