Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A Series of EssaysWallace, Alfred Russel
Science
Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A Series of Essays
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Natural selection
I must here express my own belief that none of these phenomena, however
apparently isolated or insignificant, can ever stand alone--that not the
wing of a butterfly can change in form or vary in colour, except in
harmony with, and as a part of the grand march of nature. I believe,
therefore, that all the curious phenomena I have just recapitulated, are
immediately dependent on the last series of changes, organic and
inorganic, in these regions; and as the phenomena presented by the
island of Celebes differ from those of all the surrounding islands, it
can, I conceive, only be because the past history of Celebes has been,
to some extent, unique and different from theirs. We must have much more
evidence to determine exactly in what that difference has consisted. At
present, I only see my way clear to one deduction, viz., that Celebes
represents one of the oldest parts of the archipelago; that it has been
formerly more completely isolated both from India and from Australia
than it is now, and that amid all the mutations it has undergone, a
relic or substratum of the fauna and flora of some more ancient land has
been here preserved to us.
It is only since my return home, and since I have been able to compare
the productions of Celebes side by side with those of the surrounding
islands, that I have been fully impressed with their peculiarity, and
the great interest that attaches to them. The plants and the reptiles
are still almost unknown; and it is to be hoped that some enterprising
naturalist may soon devote himself to their study. The geology of the
country would also be well worth exploring, and its newer fossils would
be of especial interest as elucidating the changes which have led to its
present anomalous condition. This island stands, as it were, upon the
boundary-line between two worlds. On one side is that ancient Australian
fauna, which preserves to the present day the facies of an early
geological epoch; on the other is the rich and varied fauna of Asia,
which seems to contain, in every class and order, the most perfect and
highly organised animals. Celebes has relations to both, yet strictly
belongs to neither: it possesses characteristics which are altogether
its own; and I am convinced that no single island upon the globe would
so well repay a careful and detailed research into its past and present
history.
_Concluding Remarks._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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