The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-05-02

EVOLUTION AND THE OPERA.
TloN OF NATURAL sELEC.
TON.
The Multiple alton OF Organisms
Compels the Destruction OF
the Weaker.

III kGOuVkAAuA AohAb1 W ARPAOodbbAOAi
A lar greater number Of individual organ
isms Is annually born than can possibly
be sustained with the existing conditions
Of life. "Man is relatively slow breed.
or; yet, II the population oil the United
States were 10 20 on increasing at its
present rate for 657 years, 1t would cover
The whole terraqueous globe 80 thtckly
that four men would have 10 stand on
each square yard OF surface" Yet this 10
triling when compared with the rate Of
increase which certain animals possess.
The old problem Of the nails In the horse.
shoe TAILS 10 BGOrd an adequate illustra-
ton. Even tho elephant which 10 the
slOwest breeding animal known, would,
II 1t produced Six offspring between Its
thIrtieth and lts one hundFedth years Of
age, make the number Of those pFobosci.
dams smOunt to twenty millions In seven
or eight centuries. "0ur familiarity with
the larger domestic animals tends, think,
to misead Us; we Gee no great destruction
falling on them, but We do not keep In
mind that thousands arc annually
slaughtered for food, and that In state
Of nature an equal number would have
somehow TO BIZ disposed Of"
NATURE ALWAYS PRESERVES THE FIT
TEST.
From this great ratio Of productive In
crease, aud the consequent inability OF all
TO survive, or even 10 attain maturity,
there results an unconscious struggle for
existence" and the cause or law which
determines the class OF individuals which
shall supplant or OutliVe It's fellows, has
been termed by Mr.. Darwin, natural Sc
lection" Notwo organisms are exactly
alike; no two plants or animals are pre-.
cisely equal, and In the unconscious Gem
petition which circumstances ore con-
slantly bringing about, those beings
which possess IN advantageous variation,
however slight; those which are best able
to adapt themselves to their environment,
will In the long run tend 10 survive their
opponents, and perpstuate their kind,
Thus Nature may be personihed as a
mighty breeder, who rigidly preserves
those organisms which eau best meet the
requirements Of their surrounding condi-
tlOns. Should an antelope outstrip 10
htetness the other members Of tho herd,
II will most frequently escape dagger,
and propagatipg offspring which In.
herit It's qualities, will establish variety
OF antel0pes swiIter than the average
This will necessitate In the carniv0ra
which pursue them greater cunning or
endurance, and those individuals which
mauitest these traits will secure most food
and q Iurish at the expense Of their lees
favored neighbors, tending through their
descendants to preserve their qualities,
and to advantageously modify the species
to which they belong, From each sue.
Cessive generation Of ex!stences, there
will thus DO gradually selected the strong.
est, the feetest, the best. The swiiteSt
deer, leopards With the Simplest muscles,
iOxes with the greatest ssgacity, vultures
with keenest scent, ants with great.
est industry, gszelles with the acutest
sense OF danger, bees with the
snrest instincts, flowers with sweetest
nectar, butterflies with longest antennG,
or mollusks With hardest shells, will, from
their better ability to cope with their sur.
roundings, gradually supersede their
rivals In the Struggle Tor existence" and
through the variations thus necessarily
produced In definite directions by the con.
tinuous survival OF the fittest, bring into
being in the course Of numberless ages,
all those varieties which now exist around
US.
ILLUSTRATIONS AFFORDED BY DoMEsTI-
GATED PLANTS AND ANIMALS.
It's in precisely this way that our va
rious breeds Of fancy cattle and race
horses have been produced, selection hsv.
ing been effected by man instead Of by
nature. Take a hundred horses, and, Sc
Letting the fleetest OF both sexes, breed
from them, and again selecting the fastest
and most symmetrical among their Off
spring, continue this process Tor few
generations, and a variety of horses will
be evolved which will greatly surpass In
speed any OF It's ancestors. From
common cattle there have been derived
by long and careful selection through
many generations, such animals as that
famous COW, the "Tenth Duchess Of Gen.
eva" which was recently sold in New
York State for forty thousand dollars.
What contrast Of the effects OF seleG-
ton Is afforded by the various breeds Of
dogs. Compare the Newfoundland with
the Italian greyhound, the st. Bernard
with the black.and,tan terrier, or the
bloodhound with the King Charles span
lei. ANY one unfamiliar with these anil
mails, and finding them in state OF ma
ture, would not only suppose them to be
distinct species, but would probably class
them az separate genera, like the leopard
and panther, whose differences are far
less striking. Yet the ancestors Of these,
r,nll nf oil nN hoR nf 1nno ali
iered but slightly from each other, hav-
ing been all srtifcially developed from
two or three closely allied varieties Of the
wolf aud jaCkal. Among some canine
breeds, the differences are by no means
confined to external appearance or size
They vary In the number Of their YER
tebIR. toes and teeth, In the number and
locality Of their mamma, In the shape;ot
their Zygomatic arches, and In the posi-
ton Of their OcCiputs. An equally
marked illustration Is afforded by do.
mestic pigeons. Mr.. Darwin mentions
some fifty different varieties of these, all
unlike, aud Of which the four prominent
types are the carrier, the fantail, the
pouter, and the lumber, Not only do
these differ greatly in size and external
characters, but they also differ in the in
terual arrangement OF their skeletons,
Their skulls are unlike, the number ol
their vertebral joints varies, and the rel
alive length Of their beaks, legs, feet, and
wings Is by no means the same. Were
their origin unknown, each would bt
ranked as belonging to different genera
yet It has been demonstrated thai
all have dGscended from the common
rock pigeon. Among all other domestic
animals, similar peculiArities, traceable
to modification by artificial selection
may be noticed. II now we turn toplan,s
We find that all the numerous varieties
Of apples have descended from a com
mon progenitor, the sour crab, The
peach, the nectarine, and the ALMOND
have been produced from common