Natural Selection and Tropical Nature: Essays on Descriptive and Theoretical Biology |
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Page 14
... in amount if rapid , or even gradual if to a great amount , would be highly
unfavourable to the existence of individuals , might cause the extinction of many
species , and would probably be equally unfavourable to the creation of new
ones .
... in amount if rapid , or even gradual if to a great amount , would be highly
unfavourable to the existence of individuals , might cause the extinction of many
species , and would probably be equally unfavourable to the creation of new
ones .
Page 17
necessarily most imperfect and fragmentary , — as much so as our knowledge of
the present organic world would be , were we forced to make our collections and
observations only in spots equally limited in area and in number with those ...
necessarily most imperfect and fragmentary , — as much so as our knowledge of
the present organic world would be , were we forced to make our collections and
observations only in spots equally limited in area and in number with those ...
Page 22
Equally general , however , is the belief in what are called “ permanent or true
varieties , ” - races of animals which continually propagate their like , but which
differ so slightly ( although constantly ) from some other race , that the one is ...
Equally general , however , is the belief in what are called “ permanent or true
varieties , ” - races of animals which continually propagate their like , but which
differ so slightly ( although constantly ) from some other race , that the one is ...
Page 37
... an observer it is unnecessary to adduce further examples of the protective
colours of desert animals . Almost equally striking are the cases of arctic animals
possessing the white colour that best conceals them upon snowfields and
icebergs .
... an observer it is unnecessary to adduce further examples of the protective
colours of desert animals . Almost equally striking are the cases of arctic animals
possessing the white colour that best conceals them upon snowfields and
icebergs .
Page 38
Nocturnal animals supply us with equally good illustrations . Mice , rats , bats and
moles possess the least conspicuous of hues , and must be quite invisible at
times when any light colour would be instantly seen . Owls and goatsuckers are
of ...
Nocturnal animals supply us with equally good illustrations . Mice , rats , bats and
moles possess the least conspicuous of hues , and must be quite invisible at
times when any light colour would be instantly seen . Owls and goatsuckers are
of ...
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Common terms and phrases
abundant action adapted allied America animals appear attract beautiful become believe birds body branches build butterflies causes character climate closely colour common comparatively complete consider conspicuous continually covered curious Darwin direct distinct earth effect equally equatorial evidence exactly example existence explained facts families feet female flowers forests give greater green ground groups habits imitated important increase individuals insects islands kind known laws leaves less light living male marked matter means mimicry modified natural selection nature nest never objects observed occur organic origin perhaps period plants possess present probably produced protection race reason remains remarkable render resemble result savage seems seen sexes shown similar sometimes South species structure surface theory tints tion trees tropical variations varied variety various vegetation whole wings yellow zone
Popular passages
Page 206 - ... to the other. They appear together, but we do not know why. Were our minds and senses so expanded, strengthened and illuminated as to enable us to see and feel the very molecules of the brain ; were we capable of following all their motions, all their groupings, all their electric discharges, if such there be ; and were we intimately acquainted with the corresponding states of thought and feeling, we should be as far as ever from the • solution of the problem, ' How are these physical processes...
Page 212 - WILL, while we have no knowledge of any other primary cause of force, it does not seem an improbable conclusion that all force may be will-force ; and thus, that the whole universe, is not \ merely dependent on, but actually is, the WILL of higher intelligences or of one Supreme Intelligence.
Page 174 - Tribes in which such mental and moral qualities were predominant would therefore have an advantage in the struggle for existence over other tribes in which they were less developed, would live and maintain their numbers, while the others would decrease and finally succumb.
Page 24 - ... die either by violence or want of food. Yet at this rate how tremendous would be the increase in a few years from a single pair! A simple calculation will show that in fifteen years each pair of birds would have increased to nearly ten millions! whereas we have no reason to believe that the number of the birds of any country increases at all in fifteen or in one hundred and fifty years.
Page 323 - ... are found in the temperate (northern and southern) parts of the continent are migrants, which retire in the winter to the warmer lands near or within the tropics.
Page 206 - ... the passage from the current to the needle, if not demonstrable, is thinkable, and that we entertain no doubt as to the final mechanical solution of the problem. But the passage from the physics of the brain to the corresponding facts of consciousness is unthinkable.
Page 20 - ... -there suddenly flashed upon me the idea of the survival of the fittest—that the individuals removed by these checks must be on the whole inferior to those that survived. In the two hours that elapsed before my ague fit was over I had thought out almost the whole of the theory, and the same evening I sketched the draft of my paper, and in the two succeeding evenings wrote it out in full, and sent it by the next post to Mr. Darwin.
Page 182 - ... a grand revolution was effected in nature, a revolution which in all the previous ages of the earth's history had had no parallel, for a being had arisen who was no longer necessarily subject to change with the changing universe — a being who was in some degree superior to nature, inasmuch as he knew how to control and regulate her action, and could keep himself in harmony with her, not by a change in body, but by an advance of mind.
Page 8 - Such phenomena as are exhibited by the Galapagos Islands, which contain little groups of plants and animals peculiar to themselves, but most nearly allied to those of South America, have not hitherto received any, even a conjectural explanation.
Page 442 - Mtnneiota, 1877, p. 60. are recorded in the first, second, and third volumes of the Reports of the Peabody Museum. The interesting series of researches now briefly recorded has led us on step by step through the several stages of the quaternary at least as far back as the first great Glacial period, thus corresponding to the various epochs of Neolithic and Palaeolithic man in Europe, terminating in the Suffolk flints, claimed to be pre-Glacial by Mr. Skertchley, or the earliest traces of human occupancy...
References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | Natural Selection and Tropical Nature: Essays on Descriptive and Theoretical Biology Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO): Science, Technology, and Medicine: 1780-1925 |
| Author | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Edition | reprint, revised |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Company, 1891 |
| Original from | Harvard University |
| Digitized | 18 sept. 2007 |
| ISBN | 0598005986, 9780598005984 |
| Length | 492 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |