| → what 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| why the varieties kept by savages, as 1872 |
|
| → namely, that the varieties kept by savages 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| OMIT 1872 |
|
|
standard of usefulness to man, we can understand how it is that neither Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, nor any other region inhabited by quite uncivilised man, has afforded us a single plant worth culture. It is not that these countries, so rich in species, do not by a strange chance possess the aboriginal stocks of any useful plants, but that the native plants have not been improved by continued selection up to a standard of perfection comparable with that
the plants in countries anciently civilised. |
|
| In regard to the domestic animals kept by uncivilised man, it should not be overlooked that they almost always have to struggle for their own food, at least during certain seasons. And in two countries very differently circumstanced, individuals of the same species, having slightly different constitutions or structure, would often succeed better in the one country than in the
and thus by a process of "natural selection," as will hereafter be more fully explained, two sub-breeds might be formed. This, perhaps, partly explains
→what
has been remarked by some authors,
→namely, that the varieties kept by savages
have more of the character of
than the varieties kept in civilised countries. |
|
| On the view here given of the
part which selection by man has played, it becomes at once obvious, how it is that our domestic races show adaptation in their structure or in their habits to
wants or fancies. We can, I think, further understand the frequently abnormal character of our domestic races, and likewise their differences being so great in external
and relatively so slight in internal parts or organs. Man can hardly select, or only with much difficulty, any deviation of structure excepting such as is externally visible; and indeed he rarely cares for what is internal. He can never act by selection, excepting on variations
|
