| ↑ 2 blocks not present in 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869; present in 1872 |
| It is a much more probable view that the rattlesnake uses its rattle, the cobra expands its frill, and the puff-adder swells whilst hissing so loudly and harshly, in order to alarm the many birds and beasts which are known to attack even the most venomous species.
Snakes act on the same principle which makes the hen ruffle her feathers and expand her wings when a dog approaches her chickens; but I have not space here to enlarge on the many ways by which animals endeavour to frighten away their enemies.
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| → anything injurious to itself, 1866 1869 |
| any structure more injurious than beneficial to that being, 1872 |
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the proximate cause of the transmission of ornaments to the males alone; for a pea-hen with the long tail of the male bird would be badly fitted to sit on her eggs, and a coal-black female capercailzie would be far more conspicuous on her nest and more exposed to danger than in her present modest attire. |
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| Natural selection cannot possibly produce any modification in
species exclusively for the good of another species; though throughout nature one species incessantly takes advantage of, and profits by, the
of
But natural selection can and does often produce structures for the direct injury of other
as we see in the fang of the adder, and in the ovipositor of the ichneumon, by which its eggs are
in the living bodies of other insects. If it could be proved that any part of the structure of any one species had been formed for the exclusive good of another species, it would annihilate my theory, for such could not have been produced through natural selection. Although many statements may be found in works on natural history to this effect, I cannot find even one which seems to me of any weight. It is admitted that the rattlesnake has a poison-fang for its own
and for the destruction of its prey; but some authors suppose that at the same time
is furnished with a rattle for its own injury, namely, to warn its
I would almost as soon believe that the cat curls the end of its tail when preparing to spring, in order to warn the doomed mouse. ↑ But I have not space here to enter on this and other such cases. |
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| Natural selection will never produce in a being
→anything injurious to itself,
for natural selection acts solely by and for the good of each. No organ will be formed, as Paley has remarked, for the purpose of causing pain or for doing an injury to its possessor. If a fair balance
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