Origin of Species Variorum

Comparison with 1872

slight variations necessarily appear at an equally early period. But we have little evidence on this head— indeed the evidence rather points the other way; for it is notorious that breeders of cattle, horses, and various fancy animals, cannot positively tell, until some time after birth, what will be the merits or demerits of their young animals. We see this plainly in our own children; we cannot always tell whether the child will be tall or short, or what its precise features will be. The question is not, at what period of life any variation has been caused, but at what period it is fully displayed. The cause may have acted, and I believe often has acted, on one or both parents before the act of generation. ↑ For the welfare of a very young animal, as long as it remains in its mother's womb, or in the egg, or as long as it is nourished and protected by its parent, it must be quite unimportant whether most of its characters are fully acquired a little earlier or later in life. It would not signify, for instance, to a bird which obtained its food best by having a long beak whether or not it assumed a beak of this particular length, as long as it was fed by its parents. ↑

I have stated in the first chapter, that there is some evidence to render it probable, that at whatever age any variation first appears in the parent, it tends to re-appear at a corresponding age in the offspring. Certain variations can only appear at corresponding ages, for instance, peculiarities in the caterpillar, cocoon, or imago states of the silk-moth; or, again, in the horns of almost full-grown cattle. But further than this, variations, which, for all that we can see might have first appeared either earlier or later in life, likewise tend to re-appear at a corresponding age in the offspring and parent. I am far from meaning that this is invariably the case, and I could give a good many cases of variations (taking the word in the largest sense) which have supervened at an earlier age in the child than in the

slight variations or individual differences necessarily appear at an equally early period. We have little evidence on this head, but what we have certainly points the other way; for it is notorious that breeders of cattle, horses, and various fancy animals, cannot positively tell, until some time after birth, what the merits or form of their young animals will turn out. We see this plainly in our own children; we cannot .. tell whether a child will be tall or short, or what its precise features will be. The question is not, at what period of life each variation may have been caused, but at what period the effects are displayed. The cause may have acted, and I believe generally has acted, on one or both parents before reproduction. ↑ It deserves notice that it is of no importance to a very young animal, as long as it remains in its mothers womb or in the egg, or as long as it is nourished and protected by its parent, whether most ... of its characters are .. acquired a little earlier or later in life. It would not signify, for instance, to a bird which obtained its food .. by having a much-curved beak, whether or not whilst young it possessed a beak of this shape, as long as it was fed by its parents. ↑

I have stated in the first chapter, that ... at whatever age a variation first appears in the parent, it tends to reappear at a corresponding age in the offspring. Certain variations can only appear at corresponding ages; for instance, peculiarities in the caterpillar, cocoon, or imago states of the silk-moth: or, again, in the full-grown horns of cattle. But variations, which, for all that we can see might have appeared either earlier or later in life, likewise tend to appear at a corresponding age in the offspring and parent. I am far from meaning that this is invariably the case; and I could give several exceptional cases of variations (taking the word in the largest sense) which have supervened at an earlier age in the child than in the