Darwinism: An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection, with Some of Its Applications, 1–2. köideMacmillan, 1889 - 494 pages |
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Page x
... birds - Diagrams of bird - variation - Number of varying individuals - Variation in the mammalia - Variation in internal organs - Variations in the skull - Variations in the habits of animals - The variability of plants - Species which ...
... birds - Diagrams of bird - variation - Number of varying individuals - Variation in the mammalia - Variation in internal organs - Variations in the skull - Variations in the habits of animals - The variability of plants - Species which ...
Page xii
... birds - Cause of dull colours of female birds - Relation of sex colour to nesting habits - Sexual colours of other vertebrates - Sexual selection by the struggles of males- Sexual characters due to natural selection - Decorative plumage ...
... birds - Cause of dull colours of female birds - Relation of sex colour to nesting habits - Sexual colours of other vertebrates - Sexual selection by the struggles of males- Sexual characters due to natural selection - Decorative plumage ...
Page 18
... birds , which will thus assist the mammalia . But there will also be carnivora destroying the herbivora ; while small rodents , like the lemming and some of the field- mice , often destroy so much vegetation as materially to affect the ...
... birds , which will thus assist the mammalia . But there will also be carnivora destroying the herbivora ; while small rodents , like the lemming and some of the field- mice , often destroy so much vegetation as materially to affect the ...
Page 19
... birds which were very common in the plantations were not to be seen on the heath , which was , however , frequented by two or three different species of insectivorous birds . It would have required continued study for several years to ...
... birds which were very common in the plantations were not to be seen on the heath , which was , however , frequented by two or three different species of insectivorous birds . It would have required continued study for several years to ...
Page 26
... birds or quadrupeds their numbers would amount to more than twenty millions . But we know very well that our bird population is no greater , on the average , now than it was ten years ago . Year by year it may fluctuate a little ...
... birds or quadrupeds their numbers would amount to more than twenty millions . But we know very well that our bird population is no greater , on the average , now than it was ten years ago . Year by year it may fluctuate a little ...
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Common terms and phrases
abundant adapted adduced allied species America amount animals and plants appears birds breed brilliant butterflies carnivora cause characters climate closely allied colours of animals common concealment conspicuous continued cross-fertilisation crossed curious Darwin dicotyledons distinct species domestic animals effects eggs enemies Eocene evidence extinct facts faculty favourable female fertile fertilisation flowers genera genus geological groups habits hybrids important increase individuals infertility inhabit insects intercrossing kind larvæ less living male mammalia mammals markings marsupials mimicry Miocene mode modified moths natural selection naturalists nests occur offspring organs Origin of Species peculiar pigeons Pliocene pollen portion possess probably produced Professor protectively coloured regions remarkable resemble seeds self-fertilisation Silurian similar specimens spots sterility structure struggle for existence supposed tail Tertiary theory tints tion toes trees tropical usually variability variation varied varieties vegetation warning colours whole wild wings Zealand
Popular passages
Page 40 - When we reflect on this struggle, we may console ourselves with the full belief, that the war of nature is not incessant, that no fear is felt, that death is generally prompt, and that the vigorous, the healthy, and the happy survive and multiply.
Page 132 - I did not formerly consider sufficiently the existence of structures, which, as far as we can at present judge, are neither beneficial nor injurious; and this I believe to be one of the greatest oversights as yet detected in my work.
Page 38 - Starting, and looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height ; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat.
Page 38 - Growling horribly, close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though I was quite conscious of all that was happening.
Page 31 - Not far from Shelbyville, in the State of Kentucky, about five years ago, there was one of these breeding places, which stretched through the woods in nearly a north and south direction ; was several miles in breadth, and was said to be upwards of forty miles in extent ! In this tract, almost every tree was furnished with nests, wherever the branches could accommodate them.
Page 32 - I was astonished at their appearance. They were flying with great steadiness and rapidity, at a height beyond gunshot, in several strata deep, and so close together, that could shot have reached them, one discharge could not have failed of bringing down several individuals. From right to left as far as the eye could reach, the breadth of this vast procession extended ; seeming everywhere equally crowded.
Page 31 - The ground was strewed with broken limbs of trees, eggs, and young squab pigeons, which had been precipitated from above, and on which herds of hogs were fattening. Hawks, buzzards, and eagles, were sailing about in great numbers, and seizing the squabs from...
Page 19 - Paraguay, the parasitic insects would probably increase; and this would lessen the number of the navel-frequenting flies — then cattle and horses would become feral, and this would certainly greatly alter (as indeed I have observed in parts of South America) the vegetation: this again would largely affect the insects; and this, as we have just seen in Staffordshire, the insectivorous birds, and so onwards in ever-increasing circles of complexity.
Page 9 - Darwin that he is the Newton of natural history, and that, just so surely as that the discovery and demonstration by Newton of the law of gravitation established order in place of chaos and laid a sure foundation for all future study of the starry heavens, so surely has Darwin, by his discovery of the law of natural selection and his demonstration of the great principle of the preservation of useful variations in the struggle for life, not only thrown a flood of light on the process of development...