210 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



rather than away from it, although, perhaps, it may be thought 

 justifiable to consider it equally in favour of an opposite view. 

 If, for instance, it were admitted that the Athenian assertion be 

 true that all bees originated from Mount Hymettus, the question 

 might be readily solved. 



As the Attic bee stands about half-way between the Brown 

 and the. Egyptian bee, both in colour and in size, it could be 

 said that the variation in the direction of an increase of the 

 yellow colour went together with a diminution of size; and, on 

 the other hand, that the elimination of the red colour occurred 

 together with an increase of size, and in this way the variability 

 had been compensated. The original communal type, however, 

 must have originated long before the bee now inhabiting Mount 

 Hymettus existed, therefore such a commonplace explanation 

 will not stand a scientific test. 



It has been pointed out that when once a variability occurs, a 

 continuation of the conditions of life under which it originated 

 tends to increase it, and under natural surroundings to fix it, 

 thus forming a distinct variety. Under methodical sexual 

 selection, it stands to reason, a variability can be increased at a 

 considerably more rapid rate than under the most favourable 

 natural conditions, and it may, moreover, be maintained under 

 conditions of life quite different from the normal ones amongst 

 which it first appeared. This kind of selection, however, must 

 be rigorously continued, in order to counteract the influence of 

 any external effects to prevent what is usually called deteriora- 

 tion, which, perhaps, may more justly be called variation in a 

 different direction, or adaptation to the altered surroundings. 

 The variability of any organism is subject to so many imper- 

 ceptible influences, and often diverges into such extreme ramifi- 

 cations, that the character of the original stock may become 

 unrecognizable. 



The fact that many varieties of bees inherit a yellow colour 

 is no proof that the ancestral type was of a yellow colour, or that 

 the Egyptian race comes nearest to this type. This is, however, 

 only a negative argument, and is not in itself sufficient to establish 

 the claim of the Brown bee to a nearer relationship with the 

 original type than the Egyptian. A more positive argument may 

 be adduced from, a study of their tendency towards reversion, 

 which is a universally acknowledged principle of inheritance. 



