Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER XII INHERITANCE
- CHAPTER XIII INHERITANCE continued – REVERSION OR ATAVISM
- CHAPTER XIV INHERITANCE continued – FIXEDNESS OF CHARACTER – PREPOTENCY – SEXUAL LIMITATION – CORRESPONDENCE OF AGE
- CHAPTER XV ON CROSSING
- CHAPTER XVI CAUSES WHICH INTERFERE WITH THE FREE CROSSING OF VARIETIES – INFLUENCE OF DOMESTICATION ON FERTILITY
- CHAPTER XVII ON THE GOOD EFFECTS OF CROSSING, AND ON THE EVIL EFFECTS OF CLOSE INTERBREEDING
- CHAPTER XVIII ON THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CHANGED CONDITIONS OF LIFE: STERILITY FROM VARIOUS CAUSES
- CHAPTER XIX SUMMARY OF THE FOUR LAST CHAPTERS, WITH REMARKS ON HYBRIDISM
- CHAPTER XX SELECTION BY MAN
- CHAPTER XXI SELECTION–continued
- CHAPTER XXII CAUSES OF VARIABILITY
- CHAPTER XXIII DIRECT AND DEFINITE ACTION OF THE EXTERNAL CONDITIONS OF LIFE
- CHAPTER XXIV LAWS OF VARIATION – USE AND DISUSE, ETC
- CHAPTER XXV LAWS OF VARIATION, continued – CORRELATED VARIABILITY
- CHAPTER XXVI LAWS OF VARIATION, continued – SUMMARY
- CHAPTER XXVII PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS OF PANGENESIS
- CHAPTER XXVIII CONCLUDING REMARKS
- INDEX
CHAPTER XVIII - ON THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CHANGED CONDITIONS OF LIFE: STERILITY FROM VARIOUS CAUSES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER XII INHERITANCE
- CHAPTER XIII INHERITANCE continued – REVERSION OR ATAVISM
- CHAPTER XIV INHERITANCE continued – FIXEDNESS OF CHARACTER – PREPOTENCY – SEXUAL LIMITATION – CORRESPONDENCE OF AGE
- CHAPTER XV ON CROSSING
- CHAPTER XVI CAUSES WHICH INTERFERE WITH THE FREE CROSSING OF VARIETIES – INFLUENCE OF DOMESTICATION ON FERTILITY
- CHAPTER XVII ON THE GOOD EFFECTS OF CROSSING, AND ON THE EVIL EFFECTS OF CLOSE INTERBREEDING
- CHAPTER XVIII ON THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CHANGED CONDITIONS OF LIFE: STERILITY FROM VARIOUS CAUSES
- CHAPTER XIX SUMMARY OF THE FOUR LAST CHAPTERS, WITH REMARKS ON HYBRIDISM
- CHAPTER XX SELECTION BY MAN
- CHAPTER XXI SELECTION–continued
- CHAPTER XXII CAUSES OF VARIABILITY
- CHAPTER XXIII DIRECT AND DEFINITE ACTION OF THE EXTERNAL CONDITIONS OF LIFE
- CHAPTER XXIV LAWS OF VARIATION – USE AND DISUSE, ETC
- CHAPTER XXV LAWS OF VARIATION, continued – CORRELATED VARIABILITY
- CHAPTER XXVI LAWS OF VARIATION, continued – SUMMARY
- CHAPTER XXVII PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS OF PANGENESIS
- CHAPTER XXVIII CONCLUDING REMARKS
- INDEX
Summary
On the Good derived from slight Changes in the Conditions of Life.–In considering whether any facts were known which might throw light on the conclusion arrived at in the last chapter, namely, that benefits ensue from crossing, and that it is a law of nature that all organic beings should occasionally cross, it appeared to me probable that the good derived from slight changes in the conditions of life, from being an analogous phenomenon, might serve this purpose. No two individuals, and still less no two varieties, are absolutely alike in constitution and structure; and when the germ of one is fertilised by the male element of another, we may believe that it is acted on in a somewhat similar manner as an individual when exposed to slightly changed conditions. Now, every one must have observed the remarkable influence on convalescents of a change of residence, and no medical man doubts the truth of this fact. Small farmers who hold but little land are convinced that their cattle derive great benefit from a change of pasture. In the case of plants, the evidence is strong that a great advantage is derived from exchanging seeds, tubers, bulbs, and cuttings from one soil or place to another as different as possible.
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- The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication , pp. 145 - 172Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1868