Origin of Species Variorum

Comparison with 1872

Text in this page (from paragraph 4220, sentence 400, word 58 to paragraph 4220, sentence 400, word 78) is not present in 1872

On the hypothesis of separate acts of creation the whole case .. remains unintelligible. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. This line of argument seems to have had great weight in leading Fritz Müller to accept the views maintained by me in this volume.

Another distinguished zoologist, the late Professor Claparède, has argued in the same manner, and has arrived at the same result. He shows that there are parasitic mites (Acaridæ), belonging to distinct sub-families and families, which are furnished with hair-claspers. These organs must have been independently developed, as they could not have been inherited from a common progenitor; and in the several groups they are formed by the modification of the fore-legs,— of the hind-legs,— of the maxillæ or lips,— and of appendages on the under side of the hind part of the body.

In the foregoing cases, we see the same end gained and the same function performed, in beings not at all or only remotely allied, ... by organs in appearance, though not in development, closely similar. On the other hand, it is a common rule throughout nature .. that the same end should be gained, even sometimes in the case of .. closely-related beings, by the most diversified means. How differently constructed is the feathered wing of a bird and the membrane-covered wing of a bat; ... and still more so the four wings of a butterfly, the two wings of a fly, and the two wings with the elytra of a beetle. Bivalve shells are made to open and shut, but on what a number of patterns is the hinge constructed,— from the long row of neatly interlocking teeth in a Nucula to the simple ligament of a Mussel! Seeds are disseminated by their minuteness,— by their capsule being converted into a light balloon-like envelope,— by being embedded in pulp or flesh, formed of the most diverse parts, and rendered nutritious, as well as conspicuously coloured, so as to attract and be devoured by birds,— by having hooks and grapnels of many kinds and serrated awns, so as to adhere to the fur of quadrupeds,— and by being furnished with wings and plumes, as different in shape as they are elegant in structure, so as to be wafted by every breeze. I will give one other instance; for this subject of

fidently expected, that the structural contrivances thus acquired would in each case have materially differed, although serving for the same purpose. On the hypothesis of separate acts of creation the whole case must remain unintelligible, and we can only say, so it is. This line of argument seems to have had great weight in leading this distinguished naturalist fully to accept the views maintained by me in this volume. ↑

In the several cases just discussed, we have seen that in beings more or less remotely allied, the same end is gained and the same function performed by organs in appearance, though not in truth, closely similar. But the common rule throughout nature is that the same end is gained, even sometimes in the case of beings closely related to each other, by the most diversified means. How differently constructed is the feathered wing of a bird and the membrane-covered wing of a bat with all its fingers developed; and still more so the four wings of a butterfly, the two wings of a fly, and the two of a bettle with their elytra. Bivalve shells have only to open and shut, but on what a number of patterns is the hinge constructed, from the long row of neatly interlocking teeth in a Nucula to the simple ligament of a Mussel. Seeds are disseminated by their minuteness or by their capsule being converted into a light ballon-like envelope; or by being embedded in pulp or flesh, formed of the most diverse parts, and rendered nutritious as well as conspicuously coloured, so as to attract and be devoured by birds; or by having hooks and grapnels of many kinds and serrated awns, so as to adhere to the fur of quadrupeds; or by being furnished with wings and plumes, as diversified in shape as elegant in structure, so as to be wafted by every breeze. I will give one other instance; for the subject is worthy of reflection by those who are not able to credit that organic beings have been formed in many ways for