Eachorganasitisdeveloped,serves,byitsactionsandreactionsonthe
rest,toinitiatenewcomplexities。Thefirstpulsationsofthefoetalheart
mustsimultaneouslyaidtheunfoldingofeverypart。Thegrowthofeachtissue,
bytakingfromthebloodspecialproportionsofelements,mustmodifythe
constitutionoftheblood;andsomustmodifythenutritionofalltheother
tissues。Thedistributiveactions,implyingastheydoacertainwaste,necessitate
anadditiontothebloodofeffetematters,whichmustinfluencetherest
ofthesystem,andperhaps,assomethink,initiatetheformationofexcretory
organs。Thenervousconnexionsestablishedamongthevisceramustfurther
multiplytheirmutualinfluences。Andsoisitwitheverymodificationof
structure——everyadditionalpartandeveryalterationintheratiosof
parts。Proofofamoredirectkindisfurnishedbythefact,thatthesame
germmaybeevolvedintodifferentformsaccordingtocircumstances。Thus,
duringitsearlieststages,everygermissexless——originateseithermale
orfemaleasthebalanceofforcesactingonitdetermines。Again,there
isthefamiliartruththatthelarvaofaworking—beewilldevelopintoa
queen—beeif,beforeacertainperiod,itisfedafteramannerlikethat
inwhichthelarvaeofqueen—beesarefed。Thenthereisthestillmorestriking
evidencefurnishedbyantsandtermites。Riley,Grassi,Haviland,andHart,
haveshownthatdifferencesofnutritionnotonlyoriginatethedifferences
betweenmalesandfemalesbutalsothedifferenttraitsofsolders,workers,
andnurses。*Varying
degreeofnutrition,afterinitiatingtheunlikenessofsex,thendetermines
theunlikenessesofexternalorganspossessedbythevariousclassesofsexless
individuals。Nextcomestheevidence,stillmoredirectlyrelevant,supplied
bytheeffectsofcastration。Iftheremovalofcertainorganspreventsthe
developmentofcertainotherorgansinremotepartsofthesystem——inman
thevocalstructures,thebeard,sometraitsofgeneralform,someinstincts
andothermentalcharacters——thenitisclearthatwheretheseorganshave
notbeenremoved,thepresenceofthemdeterminestheoccurrenceofthese
variouschangesofdevelopment,anddoubtlessmanyminoroneswhichareunobtrusive。
Herethefactthatonecauseproducesmanyeffectsinthecourseoforganic
evolutionisindisputable。Doubtlessweare,andmustevercontinue,unable
toconceivethosemysteriouspropertieswhichmakethegermwhensubject
tofitinfluencesundergothespecialchangesinitiating,andmainlyconstituting,
thetransformationsofanunfoldingorganism;thoughwemayconsistently
supposethattheyrepresentaninfiniteseriesofinheritedmodifications
consequentontheinstabilityofthehomogeneous,themultiplicationofeffects,
andonefurtherfactorstilltobesetforth。Allherecontendedisthat,
givenagermpossessingthesemysteriousproperties,theevolutionofan
organismfromitdepends,inpart,onthatmultiplicationofeffectswhich
wehaveseentobeonecauseofevolutioningeneral,sofaraswehaveyettracedit。When,leavingthedevelopmentofsingleplantsandanimals,wepassto
thatoftheEarth'sFloraandFauna,thecourseoftheargumentagainbecomes
clearandsimple。Though,asbeforeadmitted,thefragmentaryfactsPalaeontology
hasaccumulated,donotclearlywarrantusinsayingthat,inthelapseof
geologictime,therehavebeenevolvedmoreheterogeneousorganisms,and
moreheterogeneousassemblagesoforganisms;yetweshallnowseethatthere
musteverhavebeenatendencytowardstheseresults。Weshallfindthat
theproductionofmanyeffectsbyonecause,which,asalreadyshown,has
beenallalongincreasingthephysicalheterogeneityoftheEarth,hasfurther
necessitatedanincreasingheterogeneityofitsinhabitingorganisms,individuallyandcollectively。Anillustrationwillmakethisclear。Supposethatbyupheavals,occurring,astheyareknowntodo,atlong
intervals,theEastIndianArchipelagowereraisedintoacontinent,and
achainofmountainsformedalongtheaxisofelevation。Bythefirstof
theseupheavals,theplantsandanimalsofBorneo,Sumatra,NewGuinea,and
therest,wouldbesubjectedtoslightly—modifiedsetsofconditions。The
climateofeachwouldbealteredintemperature,inhumidity,andinits
periodicalvariations,whilethelocaldifferenceswouldbemultiplied。The
modificationswouldeffect,perhapsinappreciably,theentireFloraandFauna
oftheregion。Thechangeoflevelwouldentailadditionalmodifications,
varyingindifferentspecies,andalsoindifferentmembersofthesamespecies,
accordingtotheirdistancefromtheaxisofelevation。Plantsgrowingonly
onthesea—shoreinspeciallocalities,mightbecomeextinct。Others,living
onlyinswampsofacertainhumidity,would,iftheysurvivedatall,probably
undergovisiblechangesofappearance。Whilemoremarkedalterationswould
occurinsomeoftheplantsthatspreadoverthelandsnewlyraisedoutof
thewater。Theanimalsandinsectslivingonthesemodifiedplants,would
themselvesbeinsomedegreemodifiedbychangesoffood,aswellasbychanges
ofclimate;andthemodificationswouldbemoremarkedwhere,fromthedwindling
ordisappearanceofonekindofplant,analliedkindwaseaten。Inthelapse
ofthemanygenerationsarisingbeforethenextupheaval,thesensibleor
insensiblealterationsthusproducedineachspecies,wouldbecomeorganized
——inalltheraceswhichsurvivedtherewouldbemoreorlessadaptation
tothenewconditions。Thenextupheavalwouldsuperinducefurtherorganic
changes,implyingwiderdivergencesfromtheprimaryforms;andsorepeatedly。
Now,however,observethatthisrevolutionwouldnotbeasubstitutionof
athousandmodifiedspeciesforthethousandoriginalspecies;butinplace
ofthethousandoriginalspeciestherewouldariseseveralthousandspecies,
orvarieties,orchangedforms。Eachspeciesbeingdistributedoveranarea
ofsomeextent,andtendingcontinuallytocolonizethenewareaexposed,
itsdifferentmemberswouldbesubjecttodifferentsetsofchanges。Plants
andanimalsmigratingtowardstheequatorwouldnotbeaffectedinthesame
waywithothersmigratingfromit。Thosewhichspreadtowardsthenewshores,
wouldundergochangesunlikethechangesundergonebythosewhichspread
intothemountains。Thus,eachoriginalraceoforganismswouldbecomethe
rootfromwhichdivergedseveralraces,differingmoreorlessfromitand
fromoneanother;andwhilesomeofthesemightsubsequentlydisappear,probably
morethanonewouldsurviveintothenextgeologicperiod。Notonlywould
certainmodificationsbethuscausedbychangesofphysicalconditionsand
food,butalso,insomecases,othermodificationscausedbychangesofhabit。
Thefaunaofeachisland,peopling,stepbystep,thenewly—raisedtracts,
wouldeventuallycomeincontactwiththefaunasofotherislands;andsome
membersoftheseotherfaunaswouldbeunlikeanycreaturesbeforeseen。
Herbivoresmeetingwithnewbeastsofpreywould,insomecases,beledinto
modesofdefenceorescapedifferingfromthosepreviouslyused;andsimultaneously
thebeastsofpreywouldmodifytheirmodesofpursuitandattack。Weknow
thatwhencircumstancesdemandit,suchchangesofhabitdotakeplacein
animals;andweknowthatifthenewhabitsbecomethedominantones,they
musteventuallyinsomedegreealtertheorganization。Note,now,afurther
consequence。Theremustarisenotsimplyatendencytowardsthedifferentiation
ofeachraceoforganismsintoseveralraces;butalsoatendencytothe
occasionalproductionofasomewhathigherorganism。Takeninthemass,these
divergentvarieties,whichhavebeencausedbyfreshphysicalconditions
andhabitsoflife,willexhibitalterationsquiteindefiniteinkindand
degree,andalterationsthatdonotnecessarilyconstituteanadvance。Probably
inmostcasesthemodifiedtypewillbenotappreciablymoreheterogeneous
thantheoriginalone。Butitmustnowandthenoccurthatsomedivision
ofaspecies,fallingintocircumstanceswhichgiveitrathermorecomplex
experiences,anddemandactionssomewhatmoreinvolved,willhavecertain
ofitsorgansfurtherdifferentiatedinproportionatelysmalldegrees——
willbecomeslightlymoreheterogeneous。Hence,therewillfromtimetotime
ariseanincreasedheterogeneitybothoftheEarth'sfloraandfauna,and
ofindividualracesincludedinthem。Omittingdetailedexplanations,and
allowingforqualificationswhichcannotherebespecified,itissufficiently
clearthatgeologicalmutationshaveallalongtendedtocomplicatetheforms
oflife,whetherregardedseparatelyorcollectivelyThatmultiplication
ofeffectswhichhasbeenapart—causeofthetransformationoftheEarth's
crustfromthesimpleintothecomplex,hassimultaneouslyledtoaparallel
transformationoftheLifeuponitssurface。(*)
第35章