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Chapter 2.xxi.--Selection, Continued.

The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication — Volume 2 · Charles Darwin — chapter 9 of 60 · ~119 words · public domain

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NATURAL SELECTION AS AFFECTING DOMESTIC PRODUCTIONS--CHARACTERS WHICH APPEAR OF TRIFLING VALUE OFTEN OF REAL IMPORTANCE--CIRCUMSTANCES FAVOURABLE TO SELECTION BY MAN--FACILITY IN PREVENTING CROSSES, AND THE NATURE OF THE CONDITIONS--CLOSE ATTENTION AND PERSEVERANCE INDISPENSABLE--THE PRODUCTION OF A LARGE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ESPECIALLY FAVOURABLE--WHEN NO SELECTION IS APPLIED, DISTINCT RACES ARE NOT FORMED--HIGHLY-BRED ANIMALS LIABLE TO DEGENERATION--TENDENCY IN MAN TO CARRY THE SELECTION OF EACH CHARACTER TO AN EXTREME POINT, LEADING TO DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER, RARELY TO CONVERGENCE-- CHARACTERS CONTINUING TO VARY IN THE SAME DIRECTION IN WHICH THEY HAVE ALREADY VARIED--DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER, WITH THE EXTINCTION OF INTERMEDIATE VARIETIES, LEADS TO DISTINCTNESS IN OUR DOMESTIC RACES--LIMIT TO THE POWER OF SELECTION--LAPSE OF TIME IMPORTANT--MANNER IN WHICH DOMESTIC RACES HAVE ORIGINATED--SUMMARY.

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