| → impossibility of seeds gradually becoming 1869 1872 |
| fact that seeds could not gradually become 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
|
| → unless the capsules first opened themselves; for in this case alone could the 1869 |
| except in fruits which opened; so that the individual plants producing 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| unless the capsules were open: for in this case alone could the 1872 |
|
| → by the wind, gain 1869 1872 |
| further, might get 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
|
| → those less well 1869 |
| those producing seed less 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| others less well 1872 |
|
| → wide dispersal. 1869 1872 |
| dispersal; and this process could not possibly go on in fruit which did not open. 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
|
|
remarked that winged seeds are never found in fruits which do not
I should explain
rule by the
→impossibility of seeds gradually becoming
winged through natural selection,
→unless the capsules first opened themselves; for in this case alone could the
which were a little better
to be wafted
→by the wind, gain
an advantage over
→those less well
fitted for
→wide dispersal.
|
| Compensation
and
Economy
of
|
| The elder Geoffroy and Goethe propounded, at about the same
their law of compensation or balancement of growth; or, as Goethe expressed it, "in order to spend on one side, nature is forced to economise on the other side." I think this holds true to a certain extent with our domestic productions: if nourishment flows to one part or organ in excess, it rarely flows, at least in excess, to another part; thus it is difficult to get a cow to give much milk and to fatten readily. The same varieties of the cabbage do not yield abundant and nutritious foliage and a copious supply of oil-bearing seeds. When the seeds in our fruits become atrophied, the fruit itself gains largely in size and quality. In our poultry, a large tuft of feathers on the head is generally accompanied by a diminished comb, and a large beard by diminished wattles. With species in a state of nature it can hardly be maintained that the law is of universal application; but many good observers, more especially botanists, believe in its truth. I will not, however, here give any instances, for I see hardly any way of distinguishing between the effects, on the one hand, of a part being largely developed through natural selection and another and adjoining part being reduced by this same process or by disuse, and, on the other hand, the actual
|
