WHAT IS DARWINISM t 55 



In another of his works, he asks, " Did He 

 (God) ordain that crop and tail-feathers of the 

 pigeon should vary, in order that the fancier 

 might make his grotesque pouter and fan-tail 

 breeds ? Did He cause the frame and mental 

 qualities of the dog to vary, in order that a 

 breed might be formed of indomitable ferocity, 

 with jaws fitted to pin down the bull, for man's 

 brutal sport ? But if we give up the principle 

 in one case ; if we do not admit that the varia- 

 tions of the primeval dog were intentionally 

 guided in order, for instance, that the grey- 

 hound, that perfect image of symmetry and 

 vigor, might be formed ; no shadow of reason 

 can be assigned for the belief that variations, 

 alike in nature and the results of the same 

 general laws, which have been the groundwork 

 through natural selection of the most perfectly 

 adapted animals in the world, man included, 

 were intentionally and specially guided. How- 

 ever much we may wish it, we can hardly fol- 

 low Professor Asa Gray, in his belief ' that 

 variations have been led along certain benefi- 

 cial lines, as a stream is led along useful lines 

 of irrigation.' " l 



1 The Variations of Animals and Plants under Domestication. 

 By Charles Darwin, F. E. S., etc. New York, 1868, vol. ii. pp. 

 515, 516. 



