110 A NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION. 



there is no evidence. There is no record, 

 ancient or modern, or even traditional, of 

 the domestication of any wild species, and 

 the origin of our domestic animals is en- 

 veloped in mystery. For this and other 

 reasons Domesticity demands a separate 

 chapter. 



Accidental (? Spontaneous) Variation. 



Individuals sometimes appear so different, 

 in one or more organs, from their fellows of. 

 the same race, that they might fairly be 

 claimed as specific variations from estab- 

 lished types. 



Such cases are, proportionately, extremely 

 few, and deviation from a standard type is, 

 with only so far as we know one excep- 

 tion, not hereditary. 



Children have been born with abnormal 

 hands or feet, and polydactylism, it is ad- 

 mitted, is more or less hereditary. These 

 abnormalities are not confined to the human 

 species, but occur also among cats, dogs, &c. 



The loom of life is exposed to external 

 interference that may involve complete fail- 

 ure, or some confusion in elaborating the de- 

 tails of a very complex web, and it may be 

 that the Specific life-force has accidentally 



