Darwinism stated by Darwin himself / Characteristic passages from the writings of Charles Darwin
CHARACTERISTIC PASSAGES FROM THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DARWIN.
SELECTED AND ARRANGED
BY NATHAN SHEPPARD,
AUTHOR OF “SHUT UP IN PARIS,” EDITOR OF “THE DICKENS READER,” “CHARACTER READINGS FROM GEORGE ELIOT,” AND “GEORGE ELIOT’S ESSAYS.”
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, while this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.”— The Origin of Species , page 429.
NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. 1884.
Copyright, 1884, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
While these selections can not but be useful to those who are perfectly familiar with the writings of Darwin, they are designed especially for those who know little, or nothing, about his line of research and argument, and yet would like to obtain a general idea of it in a form which shall be at once authentic, brief, and inexpensive.
This volume contains, of course, only an outline of the contents of the twelve volumes from which it is compiled, and for which it is by no means intended as a substitute. It will, on the contrary, we should hope, create an appetite which can be satisfied only by a careful reading of the works themselves.
Darwin’s repetitions, necessitated by his method of investigation and publication, and his unexampled candor in controversy, have been something of an embarrassment in the classification of these passages; so that we have been obliged in some instances to sacrifice continuity to perspicuity. But, as one object of this book is to correct misrepresentations by giving Darwin’s views in his own language, some of his own repetitions must be given also, in order to leave no doubt as to precisely what he said and did not say. It will probably be a long while before the dispute over the theory that he advocated will cease, but there is certainly no excuse for a difference of opinion with regard to the language that he used, and the meaning he attached to it. That language and that meaning will be found in these pages. Darwinism stated by its opponents is one thing, Darwinism stated by Darwin himself will be found to be quite another thing, for, to use his own exclamation, “great is the power of steady misrepresentation!”
Charles Darwin
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PREFACE.
INTRODUCTORY PASSAGES QUOTED BY DARWIN IN HIS “ORIGIN OF SPECIES.”
DARWIN AND HIS THEORIES FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW.
CONTENTS.
THE MOVEMENT OF PLANTS IN RELATION TO THEIR WANTS.
THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN ANIMAL AND PLANT COMPARED.
ADVANTAGES OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION.
POTENCY OF THE SEXUAL ELEMENTS IN PLANTS.
EXPERIMENTS IN CROSSING.
THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE AMONG SEEDS.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THESE VIEWS.
MARRIAGES OF FIRST COUSINS.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO SEXES IN PLANTS.
WHY THE SEXES HAVE BEEN RESEPARATED.
COMPARATIVE FERTILITY OF MALE AND FEMALE PLANTS.
EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON REPRODUCTION.
CAUSES OF STERILITY AMONG PLANTS.
AN “IDEAL TYPE” OR INEVITABLE MODIFICATION?
SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS TO A CHANGING PURPOSE.
AN ILLUSTRATION.
AS INTERESTING ON THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT AS ON THAT OF DIRECT INTERPOSITION.
THE SLEEP OF THE PLANTS.
SELF-PROTECTION DURING SLEEP.
INFLUENCE OF LIGHT UPON PLANTS.
INFLUENCE OF GRAVITATION UPON PLANTS.
THE POWER OF DIGESTION IN PLANTS.
DIVERSE MEANS BY WHICH PLANTS GAIN THEIR SUBSISTENCE.
HOW A PLANT PREYS UPON ANIMALS.
THEY PRESERVE VALUABLE RUINS.
THEY PREPARE THE GROUND FOR SEED.
INTELLIGENCE OF WORMS.
INHERITED EFFECT OF CHANGED HABITS.
EFFECTS OF THE USE AND DISUSE OF PARTS.
VAGUE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
DESCENT OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON.
ORIGIN OF THE DOG.
ORIGIN OF THE HORSE.
CAUSES OF MODIFICATIONS IN THE HORSE.
“MAKING THE WORKS OF GOD A MERE MOCKERY.”
VARIABILITY OF CULTIVATED PLANTS.
SAVAGE WISDOM IN THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS.
UNKNOWN LAWS OF INHERITANCE.
LAWS OF INHERITANCE THAT ARE FAIRLY WELL ESTABLISHED.
INHERITED PECULIARITIES IN MAN.
INHERITED DISEASES.
CAUSES OF NON-INHERITANCE.
STEPS BY WHICH DOMESTIC RACES HAVE BEEN PRODUCED.
UNCONSCIOUS SELECTION.
ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS TO THE FANCIES OF MAN.
DOUBTFUL SPECIES.
SPECIES AN ARBITRARY TERM.
THE TRUE PLAN OF CREATION.
DEATH INEVITABLE IN THE FIGHT FOR LIFE.
“INEXPLICABLE ON THE THEORY OF CREATION.”
OBSCURE CHECKS TO INCREASE.
CLIMATE AS A CHECK TO INCREASE.
INFLUENCE OF INSECTS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
NO SUCH THING AS CHANCE IN THE RESULT OF THE STRUGGLE.
AN INVENTED HYPOTHESIS.
HOW FAR THE THEORY MAY BE EXTENDED.
IS THERE ANY LIMIT TO WHAT SELECTION CAN EFFECT?
HAS ORGANIZATION ADVANCED?
A HIGHER WORKMANSHIP THAN MAN’S.
WHY HABITS AND STRUCTURE ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT.
NO MODIFICATION IN ONE SPECIES DESIGNED FOR THE GOOD OF ANOTHER.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ACTION OF NATURAL SELECTION.
DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER.
EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN EYE.
ISOLATED CONTINENTS NEVER WERE UNITED.
MEANS OF DISPERSAL.
THESE MEANS OF TRANSPORT NOT ACCIDENTAL.
DISPERSAL DURING THE GLACIAL PERIOD.
THE THEORY OF CREATION INADEQUATE.
CAUSES OF A GLACIAL CLIMATE.
DIFFICULTIES NOT YET REMOVED.
IDENTITY OF THE SPECIES OF ISLANDS WITH THOSE OF THE MAINLAND EXPLAINED ONLY BY THIS THEORY.
POINTS OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MAN AND THE OTHER ANIMALS.
THE FACTS OF EMBRYOLOGY AND THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT.
TWO PRINCIPLES THAT EXPLAIN THE FACTS.
EMBRYOLOGY AGAINST ABRUPT CHANGES.
RUDIMENTARY ORGANS ONLY TO BE EXPLAINED ON THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT.
“NO OTHER EXPLANATION HAS EVER BEEN GIVEN.”
UNITY OF TYPE EXPLAINED BY RELATIONSHIP.
INEXPLICABLE ON THE ORDINARY VIEW OF CREATION.
DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION THE ONLY EXPLANATION.
THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON THE THEORY OF DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION.
LETTERS RETAINED IN THE SPELLING BUT USELESS IN PRONUNCIATION.
MAN’S DEFICIENCY IN TAIL.
POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN MAN AND MONKEY.
VARIABILITY OF MAN.
CAUSES OF VARIABILITY IN DOMESTICATED MAN.
ACTION OF CHANGED CONDITIONS.
THE INHERITED EFFECTS OF THE INCREASED AND DIMINISHED USE OF PARTS.
REVERSION AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN.
REVERSION IN THE HUMAN FAMILY.
PREPOTENCE IN THE TRANSMISSION OF CHARACTER.
NATURAL SELECTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN.
HOW MAN BECAME UPRIGHT.
THE BRAIN ENLARGES AS THE MENTAL FACULTIES DEVELOP.
NAKEDNESS OF THE SKIN.
IS MAN THE MOST HELPLESS OF THE ANIMALS?
FUNDAMENTAL INTUITIONS THE SAME IN MAN AND THE OTHER ANIMALS.
MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS EXCITED BY THE SAME EMOTIONS.
ALL ANIMALS POSSESS SOME POWER OF REASONING.
THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION IN DOG AND SAVAGE.
THE LOWER ANIMALS PROGRESS IN INTELLIGENCE.
THE POWER OF ABSTRACTION.
THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE.
DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SPECIES COMPARED.
THE SENSE OF BEAUTY.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAR FOR MUSIC.
FROM THE SOCIAL INSTINCTS TO THE MORAL SENSE.
HUMAN SYMPATHY AMONG ANIMALS.
THE LOVE OF APPROBATION.
FELLOW-FEELING FOR OUR FELLOW-ANIMALS.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GOLDEN RULE.
REGRET PECULIAR TO MAN, AND WHY.
REMORSE EXPLAINED.
DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONTROL.
VARIABILITY OF CONSCIENCE.
PROGRESS NOT AN INVARIABLE RULE.
ALL CIVILIZED NATIONS ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF BARBARIANS.
“THE ENNOBLING BELIEF IN GOD.”
MAN A SUB-ORDER.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF MAN.
ORIGIN OF THE VERTEBRATA.
FROM NO BONE TO BACKBONE.
DOES MANKIND CONSIST OF SEVERAL SPECIES?
THE RACES GRADUATE INTO EACH OTHER.
WAS THE FIRST MAN A SPEAKING ANIMAL?
THE THEORY OF A SINGLE PAIR.
CIVILIZED OUT OF EXISTENCE.
STRUGGLE OF THE MALES FOR THE POSSESSION OF THE FEMALES.
COURTSHIP AMONG THE LOWER ANIMALS.
WHY THE MALE PLAYS THE MORE ACTIVE PART IN COURTING.
TRANSMISSION OF SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS.
AN OBJECTION ANSWERED.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES CREATED BY SEXUAL SELECTION.
HOW WOMAN COULD BE MADE TO REACH THE STANDARD OF MAN.
“CHARACTERISTIC SELFISHNESS OF MAN.”
NO UNIVERSAL STANDARD OF BEAUTY AMONG MANKIND.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEARD.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARRIAGE-TIE.
UNNATURAL SELECTION IN MARRIAGE.
MODIFYING INFLUENCES IN BOTH SEXES.
“GROUNDS THAT WILL NEVER BE SHAKEN.”
THE PRINCIPLE OF ASSOCIATED HABIT.
THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS.
ORIGIN OF THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS.
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ACTION OF THE EXCITED NERVOUS SYSTEM ON THE BODY.
VOCAL ORGANS.
ERECTION OF THE HAIR.
ERECTION OF THE EARS.
A STARTLED HORSE.
MONKEY-SHINES.
WEEPING OF MAN AND BRUTE.
THE GRIEF-MUSCLES.
VOLUNTARY POWER OVER THE GRIEF-MUSCLES.
“DOWN IN THE MOUTH.”
LAUGHTER.
EXPRESSION OF THE DEVOUT EMOTIONS.
FROWNING.
POUTING.
DECISION AT THE MOUTH.
ANGER.
SNEERING.
DISGUST.
SHRUGGING THE SHOULDERS.
BLUSHING.
BLUSHING NOT NECESSARILY AN EXPRESSION OF GUILT.
BLUSHING ACCOUNTED FOR.
A NEW ARGUMENT FOR A SINGLE PARENT-STOCK.
FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITS OF THE BODY.
NECESSARY ASSUMPTIONS.
TWO OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
EFFECT OF MORBID ACTION.
TRANSMISSION LIMITED.
MISREPRESENTATIONS CORRECTED.
LAPSE OF TIME AND EXTENT OF AREA.
WHY THE HIGHER FORMS HAVE NOT SUPPLANTED THE LOWER.
THE AMOUNT OF LIFE MUST HAVE A LIMIT.
THE BROKEN BRANCHES OF THE TREE OF LIFE.
WHY WE DO NOT FIND TRANSITIONAL FORMS.
HOW COULD THE TRANSITIONAL FORM HAVE SUBSISTED?
WHY NATURE TAKES NO SUDDEN LEAPS.
IMPERFECT CONTRIVANCES OF NATURE ACCOUNTED FOR.
INSTINCTS AS A DIFFICULTY.
SOME INSTINCTS ACQUIRED AND SOME LOST.
INNUMERABLE LINKS NECESSARILY LOST.
PLENTY OF TIME FOR THE NECESSARY GRADATIONS.
WIDE INTERVALS OF TIME BETWEEN THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF GROUPS OF ALLIED SPECIES.
HOW LITTLE WE KNOW OF FORMER INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD.
THE EXTINCTION OF SPECIES INVOLVED IN MYSTERY.
DEAD LINKS BETWEEN LIVING SPECIES.
LIVING DESCENDANTS OF FOSSIL SPECIES.
UNNECESSARY TO EXPLAIN THE CAUSE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE.
“FACE TO FACE WITH AN INSOLUBLE DIFFICULTY.”
WHY DISTASTEFUL?
“ACCORDS BETTER WITH WHAT WE KNOW OF THE CREATOR’S LAWS.”
THE GRANDEUR OF THIS VIEW OF LIFE.
NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY.
Transcriber’s Notes
