VII 
CREATION BY LAW 
157 
met with. On this depends the possibility of obtaining 
breeds, races, and fixed varieties of animals and plants ; and it 
is found that any one form of variation may be accumulated 
by selection, without materially affecting the other characters 
of the species ; each seems to vary in the one required direction 
only. For example, in turnips, radishes, potatoes, and carrots 
the root or tuber varies in size, colour, form, and flavour, while 
the foliage and flowers seem to remain almost stationary ; in 
the cabbage and lettuce, on the contrary, the foliage can be 
modified into various forms and modes of growth, the root, 
flower, and fruit remaining little altered ; in the cauliflower 
and broccoli the flower heads vary ; in the garden pea the pod 
only changes. We get innumerable forms of fruit in the 
apple and pear, while the leaves and flowers remain almost 
undistinguishable ; the same occurs in the gooseberry and 
garden currant. Directly, however (in the very same genus), 
we want the flower to vary in the Ribes sanguineum, it does 
so, although mere cultivation for hundreds of years has not 
produced marked differences in the flowers of Ribes grossu- 
laria. 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, auri- 
culas, and geraniums ; 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 variation is 
not confined to old and well-known plants subjected for a long 
series of generations to cultivation, but the Sikkim rhodo- 
dendrons, 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, 
