246 THE CEOSSING, AC, OF PIGEONS AND FOWLS. 



ble by him ; for, they are all inexplicable, by him. The 

 sum of his insight into the phenomena he has collated, 

 is, that " the stronger and .more vigorous survive." If 

 enlightenment should be sought, by a breeder, upon 

 any one of the million of facts contained in "Animals 

 and Plants under Domestication" Darwin would an- 

 swer, that, upon that subject, " our ignorance is pro- 

 found;" but, the breeder would be assured, that, of his 

 descent from a monkey, there was neither ignorance, 

 nor doubt.) 



The following quotation, from Darwin, establishes, 

 conclusively, the point maintained. Not only is the 

 absence, in any given variety, of the peculiarities of the 

 other varieties, prolific of evil; but, the further the de- 

 velopment of the peculiarity of the given variety, is 

 pushed, the greater becomes the evil ; because, such 

 development, by making such character more and 

 more predominant, augments the disproportion, and 

 vitiates the true ratio of development of the charac- 

 ters of the species. It is, also, to be remarked, that, 

 where the degeneration of any character is desirable, 

 with fanciers, the evil, wrought by close-interbreeding 

 upon such part, will not be esteemed an evil, because it 

 subserves the object designed by the fancier. The 

 evils, however, which are wrought upon the aggregate, 

 and which display themselves in lessened fertility and 

 in delicacy of constitution, are, all other things equal, 

 the greater in such a case. 



"With Pigeons," says Darwin (p. 150, Vol. '^Ani- 

 mals and Plants, &c), "breeders are unanimous, as 

 previously stated, that it is absolutely indispensable, 



