6 
ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
aspects of the process of evolution of the human species, of other animals and 
of plants, with special reference to the Darwinian principle of natural selec¬ 
tion. The exhibits were assembled and arranged by a subcommittee 
under the chairmanship of Professor Henry E. Crampton. The following 
general catalogue of the exhibition indicates its plan and scope. 
A 
VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION 
The exhibits demonstrate the results obtained by man with plants and 
animals which have been under cultivation or domestication for many 
centuries. Beginning with a single original form, or “species,” many 
different races and types that are stable and breed true from generation to 
generation have been produced by a process called technically “artificial 
selection.” Domesticated and cultivated forms that vary so as to meet the 
“artificial” standards of human needs or fancies are kept for breeding 
purposes, while the less desired individuals are discarded. Sometimes the 
original progenitor of such races still occurs in a wild form, as in the fowls 
and pigeons. 
Illustrations 
1. Races of Indian Corn. 
2. Races of Daffodils. 
3. Different breeds of domestic fowls, together with their wild 
ancestor, the Jungle Fowl. 
4. Different breeds of pigeons, with their probable common ancestor, 
the Rock Pigeon. 
5. Different breeds of dogs. 
B 
VARIATION IN NATURE 
The exhibits illustrate the universal fact of variation of groups of indi¬ 
viduals under natural conditions. The differences between any two in¬ 
dividuals may be very slight — the so called “fluctuating variations” — 
or they may be wider, as in the case of “mutations.” The Laws of Variation 
may be expressed nearly always in precise mathematical form. 
Illustrations 
1. Races and closely-related species of American Thorn Trees. 
