484 Creation by Law. [Oct., 



years lias not produced marked differences in the flowers of Piibes 

 grossularia. When fashion demands any particular change in the 

 form, or size, or colour of a flower, sufficient variation always occurs 

 in the right direction, as is shown by our roses, auriculas, and ger- 

 aniums; when, as recently, ornamental leaves come into fashion 

 sufficient variation is found to meet the demand, and we have zoned 

 pelargoniums and variegated ivy, and it is discovered that a host of 

 our commonest shrubs and herbaceous plants have taken to vary in 

 this direction just when we want them to do so ! This rapid varia- 

 tion is not confined to old and well-known plants subjected for a 

 long series of generations to cultivation, but the Sikhim Khododen- 

 drons, the Fuchsias and Calceolarias from the Andes, and the 

 Pelargoniums from the Cape are equally accommodating, and vary 

 just when and where and how we require them. 



Turning to animals we find equally striking examples. If we 

 want any special quality in any animal we have only to breed it in 

 sufficient quantities and watch carefully, and the required variety is 

 always found and can be increased to almost any desired extent. 

 In Sheep we get flesh, fat, and wool; in Cows, milk; in Horses, 

 colour, strength, size and speed ; in Poultry, we have got almost any 

 variety of colour, curious modifications of plumage, and the capacity 

 of perpetual egg-laying. In Pigeons we have a still more remarkable 

 proof of the universality of variation, for it has been at one time or 

 another the fancy of breeders to change the form of every part of 

 these birds, and they have never found the required variations 

 absent. The form, size, and shape of bill and feet, have been 

 changed to such a degree as is found only in distinct genera of wild 

 birds ; the number of tail feathers has been increased, a character 

 which is generally one of the most permanent nature and is of high 

 importance in the classification of birds ; and the size, the colour, and 

 the habits have been also changed to a marvellous extent. In Dogs, 

 the degree of modification and the facility with which it is effected 

 is almost equally apparent. Look at the constant amount of 

 variation in opposite directions that must have been going on to 

 develope the poodle and the greyhound from the same original 

 stock ! Instincts, habits, intelligence, size, speed, form, and colour, 

 have always varied as needed to produce the races which the wants 

 or fancies or passions of men may have led them to desire. 

 Whether they wanted a bull-dog to torture another animal, a grey- 

 hound to catch a hare, or a bloodhound to bunt down their oppressed 

 fellow-creatures, the required variations have always appeared. 



Now this great mass of facts, of which a mere sketch has been 

 here given, are fully accounted for by the " Law of Variation " as 

 laid down at the commencement of this paper. Universal varia- 

 bility, — small in amount but in every direction, ever fluctuating about 

 a mean condition until made to advance in a given direction by 



