Chap. V. CORRELATION OF GROWTH. 147 



seeds which were a little better fitted to be wafted 

 further, might get an advantage over those producing 

 seed less fitted for dispersal ; and this process could not 

 possibly go on in fruit which did not open. 



The elder Geoffrey and Goethe propounded, at about 

 the same period, their law of compensation or balan ce- 

 ment of growth ; or, as Goethe expressed it, " in order 

 to spend on one side, nature is forced to economise on 

 the other side." I think this holds true to a certain ex- 

 tent with our domestic productions : if nourishment flows 

 to one part or organ in excess, it rarely flows, at least in 

 excess, to another part ; thus it is difficult to get a cow 

 to give much milk and to fatten readily. The same va- 

 rieties of the cabbage do not yield abundant and nutri- 

 tious foliage and a copious supply of oil-bearing seeds. 

 When the seeds in our fruits become atrophied, the fruit 

 itself gains largely in size and quality. In our poultry, 

 a large tuft of feathers on the head is generally accom- 

 panied by a diminished comb, and a large beard by 

 diminished wattles. With species in a state of nature 

 it can hardly be maintained that the law is of universal 

 application ; but many good observers, more especially 

 botanists, believe in its truth. I will not, however, here 

 give any instances, for I see hardly any way of distin- 

 guishing between the effects, on the one hand, of a part 

 being largely developed through natural selection and 

 another and adjoining part being reduced by tins same 

 process or by disuse, and, on the other hand, the actual 

 withdrawal of nutriment from one part owing to the 

 excess of growth in another and adjoining part. 



I suspect, also, that some of the cases of compensation 

 which have been advanced, and likewise some other 

 facts, may be merged under a more general principle, 

 namely, that natural selection is continually trying to 

 economise in every part of the organisation. If under 



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