Origin of Species Variorum

Comparison with 1869

Text in this page (from paragraph 6770, sentence 500, word 44 to paragraph 6770, sentence 500, word 69) is not present in 1869

It has been objected, if natural selection be so powerful an agent, why has not this or that organ been .. modified and improved? Why has not the proboscis of the hive-bee been lengthened so as to reach the nectar in the flower of the red-clover? Why has not the ostrich acquired the power of flight? But granting that these organs have happened to vary in the right direction, granting that there has been time sufficient for the slow work of natural selection, the effects being often checked as they will be by intercrossing and the tendency to reversion, who will pretend that he knows the life-history of any one organic being sufficiently well to say whether any particular change would be on the whole to its advantage? Can we feel sure that a long proboscis would not be a disadvantage to the hive-bee in sucking the innumerable small flowers which it frequents? Can we feel sure that a long proboscis would not, by correlation, .. almost necessarily give increased size to other parts of the mouth, perhaps interfering with the delicate cell-constructing work? In the case of the ostrich a moments reflection will show what an enormous supply of food would be necessary to supply force for this bird of the desert to ... move its huge body through the air. But such ill-considered objections are hardly worth notice.

The celebrated palæontologist, .. Bronn, at the close of his German translation of this work, asks, how, on the principle of natural selection, can a variety live side by side with the parent-species?

Text in this page (from paragraph 6790, sentence 110 to paragraph 6790, sentence 300, word 18) is not present in 1869

had never been slowly upraised, and that the height of other mountains in other parts of the world had not recently been increased by slow degrees?

It has been objected, if natural selection be so powerful, why has not this or that organ been recently modified and improved? Why has not the proboscis of the hive-bee been lengthened so as to reach the nectar of the ... red-clover? Why has not the ostrich acquired the power of flight? But granting that these parts and organs have varied in the right direction— granting that there has been time sufficient for the slow work of natural selection, checked as it will be by intercrossing and the tendency to reversion, who will pretend that he knows the natural history of any one organic being sufficiently well to say that any particular change would on the whole be to its advantage? Can we feel sure that a long proboscis would not be a disadvantage to the hive-bee in sucking the innumerable small flowers which it frequents? Can we feel sure that a long proboscis would not, by correlation of growth, almost necessarily give increased size to other parts of the mouth, perhaps interfering with the delicate cell-constructing work? In the case of the ostrich, a moment's reflection will show that an enormous supply of food would be necessary in this bird of the desert, to supply force to move its huge body through the air. But such ill-considered objections are hardly worth notice.

The celebrated palæontologist, Professor Bronn, in his German translation of this work, has advanced various good objections to my views, and other remarks in its favour. ↑ Of the objections, some seem to me unimportant, some few are owing to misapprehension, and some are incidentally noticed in various parts of this volume. On the erroneous supposition that all the species of a region are believed by me to be changing