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FEWER elements of popular interest, perhaps, are possessed by "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication" 1 than by either of Mr. Darwin's more celebrated works, but it is a book which should be read by all lovers of natural history, and especially by those who would master the more important facts bearing upon the great question as to the origin of species. It may be said in general terms that, while "The Origin of Species" and "The Descent of Man" formulate and expound the several theories which are classified as Darwinian, "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication" presents the specific evidence on which these theories are founded, and by which it is held they are established. This distinction, of course, must not be applied too rigidly, for all three of the books contain a vast deal both of evidence and argument; but, as the author himself says, a great number of statements in "The Origin of Species" have to be taken on trust for want of room to marshal the evidence, while in the last named work the bearing of the facts discussed upon the general theory of natural selection is disposed of in a single preliminary chapter. "The Variation of Plants and Animals" was first published in 1868, and since that

1 The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, By Charles Darwin, M.A., F. R. S. Second edition; revised. In Two Volumes. With Illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

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time Mr. Darwin has continued to attend to the same subjects, thus accumulating a large body of additional facts, which have been used in the preparation of the revised edition, the appearance of which furnishes the occasion for our remarks. In his preface to the new edition, Mr. Darwin says. that he has omitted some statements, corrected some errors, and introduced many additional references. The most important alterations have been made in the chapter on certain anomalous modes of reproduction and variation, and in that on Pangenesis; but it may be said that the discussions and investigations of eight years have strengthened rather than impaired the main conclusions of the book.