Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1851-09-12
The Law of Variations in Organic Life.

The tendency Of organized life to put on
new characteristics when subjected to new in
liuences Is most happily set forth in the fol-
lowing extract from the last number of the
Methodist Quarterly Review. The law here
alluded to has an important bearing upon the
question OF the Unity Of the Human Race
II the varieties among men can be accounted
Tor by law Of change now in action, the ar
guments against the co nmonv received and
scrptural doctrine on this subject are deprived
of nearly all their force
"The Spaniards, when they discovered this
country, found none of the domestic animals
existing here which were used in Europc.-
They were accordingly introduced. and, cs-
Gaping and straylng from their owners. they
nave run wild IN our vast forests for several
centuries. The result has been the oblitera-
ton OF the characteristics of thc domestlcated
| animals, ana re appearance of some Of the
thypal marks of the wild ate, and genera
tloh OF ne" ana striking characteristics in &C
commodatlon to these new circumstances.
The wild hog of our forests bears str,k-
lng likeness t. the wild boar of the old world.
The hog of the high mountains of Paramos
! resembles the wild boar of France Instead
OF beng covered with bristles, however, as the
domestic breed from which he spranr, he has
a thlck iur, often crisp, and sometimes an un-
der-coat OF wool. lns cad of being gener-
ally white or spotted, they are uniformly black,
except IN some warmer regions, where they
are RED, ike the young pecari. The anatom-
cal structure fas changed, adapting itself to
the new habits of the animal, in an eonration
OF the snort, vaultnr of the forehead. II
lengthenlng of the hind-eg,, and, in the case
OF those LETT on the island of Cnbagua, a mon
rous elongatlon of the toes to half span.
1.-The OK mas undergone the same changes.
In some of the provinces of South America. a
variety has been Produced called .pelones.'
having a very ra ana fine fur. In other
provinces variety is produced with an en-
urely naked skln like the dog of Mexico or of
Gulnca' In Columbia owing to the immense
SIZE OF farms and other causes, the practice
OF milking was laid aside, and the result has
been that the secretion of the milk in the cows
Is, IKE the same function in other ANIMALS of
tins class, only an occasional phenomenon and
confined strictly to the period Of sucking the
cali, As soon as the calf is removed, the
milk ceases to flow, as in the case of other
mammals.
1.-The same changes have taken place in
other animals. The wild dog Of the 'Pampas
never barks as the domestic animal does, but
howls like the wolf The wild cat has lost the
musical accomplishments of her civilized Sis
terhood, and gives none of those delect BILE
concerts of caterwaulIng that SO often makes
night hldeous and call down, from irritable
listeners, curses, if not something heavier, on
the whole feline race. The wild horse of the
higher plains of South America becomes cov-
cred with long shaggy fur, and is Of uni
form chesnut.color. The sheep of the Central
Cordllleras, if not shorn, produces Il thick,
matted woody fleece, which gradually breaks
OIL IN shaggy tufts, and leaves underneath
short, fine hair, shini G and smooth, like that of
the goat, and the wool never re-appears. The
goat has lost her large teats, and produces two
or three kids annually The same charges
have been produced in geese and gallnceous
tow s' A variety has sprung up, called rumpless
fowls, which want from one TO six of the eau
da vertebre.
"Ihe same varieties have sprung up IN other
parts of the world. The fat-tailed sheep of
ldrtary looses It's posterler mass of fat, when
removed to the Steppes of Siberia, whose scant
and bitter herbage is less favorable to the se-
cretlon OF adlpose matter. The African sheen
has become large like goat, and exchanged
Its wool ior hair. The Wallachian sheep has
put on large perpendicular, spiral horns, and
IN like manner become clo.le4 With al..-