Origin of Species Variorum

→ comes 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

has come not 1872

→ degree. 1861 1866 1869 1872

degree. For in this case the variability will seldom as yet have been fixed by the continued selection of the individuals varying in the required manner and degree, and by the continued rejection of those tending to revert to a former and less modified condition. 1859 1860

→ included in the above remarks 1869

included in these remarks 1859 1860 1861 1866

discussed under the last heading 1872

→ extended. 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

applied to our present subject. 1872

→ If in a large genus of plants some species 1869

If some species in a large genus of plants 1859 1860 1861 1866

To explain by a simple example what is meant: if in a large genus of plants 1872

→ had 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

some species had 1872

we might, as a general rule,

expect still

still expect

to find more variability in such parts than in other parts of the

organisation,

organisation

which have remained for a much longer period nearly constant. And this, I am convinced, is the case. That the struggle between natural selection on the one hand, and the tendency to reversion and variability on the other hand, will in the course of time cease; and that the most abnormally developed organs may be made constant, I

can

....

see no reason to doubt.

Hence

Hence,

when an organ, however abnormal it may be, has been transmitted in approximately the same condition to many modified descendants, as in the case of the wing of the bat, it must have existed, according to

our

theory, for an immense period in nearly the same state; and thus it →comes to be

more variable than any other structure. It is only in those cases in which the modification has been comparatively recent and extraordinarily great that we ought to find the generative

variability ,

variability,

as it may be called, still present in a high →degree. For in this case the variability will seldom as yet have been fixed by the continued selection of the individuals varying in the required manner and degree, and by the continued rejection of those tending to revert to a former and

less modified

less-modified

condition.

Specific Characters more Variable than Generic

Characters .

The principle →included in the above remarks may be →extended. It is notorious that specific characters are more variable than generic.

~~explain~~

~~simple~~

~~example~~

~~what~~

~~meant.~~

→If in a large genus of plants some species →had blue flowers and some had red, the colour would be only a specific character, and no one would be surprised at one of the blue species varying