Variations in the Lower Orders. 53 



which is thus seen to be within the species, to be 

 perpetuated by generation, and to have taken its 

 rise in an individual variety. Meanwhile, the fer- 

 tility or productiveness, which is radical in the nat- 

 ure of the entire species, remains uninterrupted 

 among all the individuals, whether of one race or 

 another. 



Let us give some instances of all this from gen- 

 eral biology, whether of the vegetative or the ani- 

 mal kingdom. The sketch of what we 

 observe there will serve for the argu- Analogies of 



r i i i-i i ii tlie L °wer 



ment of analogy, by which we shall orders. 

 draw conclusions with respect to man. 



56. Plants of the same species vary in many ways. 

 The organic elements are seen to be differently as- 

 sociated and combined. Acids may diminish or 

 disappear, and be replaced by sugar, with a sweet 

 taste and perfume; and these developing will char- 

 acterize distinct races of vegetables and fruits. 

 The plum, the peach, the grape, are instanced as 

 having been subjected to cultivation, improved by 

 means of the modifications superinduced, and then 

 perpetuated as the agreeable fruits which we know 

 them to be. 



57. The vital functions, too, of a vegetable spe- 

 cies may become remarkably altered. Thus, in 

 different races of grain, the power and rapidity of 

 growth vary as widely as one to three, some taking 

 three times as long as others to grow, while all are 

 of the same species. In temperate climates, barley 



