58 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



on the day of creation as was once 

 believed? Or have they been created 

 from time to time by special fiat, as need 

 or opportunity for their existence 

 afforded ? Or has there been some law 

 governing their existence, that afi'ecting 

 all equally, caused one species to die 

 out under certain circumstances, and 

 another to appear in its place ? If it be 

 a matter that has been governed by a 

 law, what is the law ? Such is the 

 problem Mr. Darwin set himself to 

 solve. And while the first enunciation 

 of his theory was received with marked 

 disappproval from many, it has gradually 

 made its own way, and is now believed 

 by the large majority of those who have 

 given serious consideration to the ques- 

 tion. What Mr. Darwin's theory is we 

 will now endeavour to explain. 



It may be safely said that no two 

 beings were ever exactly alike, no two 

 plants were ever precisely the same. 

 Difierences more or less noticeable 

 always exist, even among those species 

 that are not liable to important varia- 

 tions. It was long held that this ten- 

 dency to variation led to no results, and 

 that however prone a species might be 

 to vary, it always reverted back to the 

 original type. It was well known that 

 in domestication both plants and animals 

 did vary very greatly, and that by a 

 careful cultivation of, or breeding from 

 these varied forms, most wonderful 

 results might be obtained, as in our 

 domestic animals, dogs, rabbits, poultry, 

 pigeons, &c., the various breeds or races 

 of which are believed to have sprung in 

 most cases from a single wild species. 



Pigeons from the Eock Dove, domestic 

 poultry from the Indian jungle fowl, 

 &c., &c. It was also held that if any 

 of these races, varied in domestication, 

 were allowed again to run wild, that 

 they would revert in a short time to the 

 normal form of the species from which 

 they had originated. This was consid- 

 ered conclusive proof that variation led 

 to no results whatever in the way of 

 producing permanent varieties or new 

 species. It appeared reasonable that if 

 in a state of nature accidental variations 

 from the type were rarely or never 

 repeated in a subsequent generation, 

 and certainly disappeared very speedily, 

 that there would be no change in any 

 number of generations. If forms, 

 changed under domestication, reverted 

 to their original type when restored to 

 a state of nature, it also seemed reason- 

 able to assume that no permanent 

 change could be produced. 



In our next paper we will show how 

 Mr. Darwin arrived at opposite conclu- 

 sions from these facts, and how his 

 theory appears to account for most or 

 all the phenomena of species. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



All communications to be sent to J. E. Eobson, 15, 

 Northgate, Hartlepool; or to S. L. Mosley Beau- 

 mont Park, Huddersfield. 



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