Page - 26 - in The Origin of Species

26 ORIGIN OF SPECIES wheat, still yield new varieties : our oldest domesticated ani- mals are still capable of rapid improvement or modification. As far as I am able to judge, after long attending to the subject, the conditions of life appear to act in two ways,—• directly on the whole organisation or on certain parts alone, and indirectly by affecting the reproductive system. With re- spect to the direct action, we must bear in mind that in every case, as ProfessorWeismann has lately insisted, and as I have incidentally shown in my work on 'Variation under Domesti- cation,' there are two factors; namely, the nature of the organism, and the nature of the conditions. The former seems to be much the more important; for nearly similar variations sometimes arise under, as far as we can judge, dissimilar conditions; and, on the other hand, dissimilar variations arise under conditions which appear to be nearly uniform. The effects on the offspring are either definite or indefinite. They may be considered as definite when all or nearly all the offspring of individuals exposed to certain conditions during several generations are modified in the same manner. It is extremely difificult to come to any con- clusion in regard to the extent of the changes which have been thus definitely induced. There can, however, be little doubt about many slight changes,—such as size from the amount of food, colour from the nature of the food, thick- ness of the skin and hair from climate, etc. Each of the endless variations which we see in the plumage of our fowls must have had some efficient cause; and if the same cause were to act uniforml}'^ during a long series of generations on many individuals, all probably would be modified in the same manner. Such facts as the complex and extraordinary out-growths which variably follow from the insertion of a minute drop of poison by a gall-producing insect, show us what singular modifications might result in the case of plants from a chemical change in the nature of the sap. Indefinite variability is a much more common result of changed conditions than definite variability, and has prob- ably played a more important part in the formation of our domestic races. We see indefinite variability in the endless slight peculiarities which distinguish the individuals of the same species, and which cannot be accounted for by inher-