There are to be recognized two modes of this effect produced by changed
conditions on the reproductive system, and consequently on offspring.
Simple arrest of development is one. But beyond the variations of
offspring arising from imperfectly developed reproductive systems in
parents—variations which must be ordinarily in the nature of
imperfections—there are others due to a changed balance of functions
caused by changed conditions. The fact noted by Mr. Darwin in the above
passage, “that the power of changed conditions accumulates; so that two,
three, or more generations must be exposed to new conditions before any
effect is visible,” implies that during these generations there is going
on some change of constitution consequent on the changed proportions and
relations of the functions. I will not dwell on the implication, which
seems tolerably clear, that this change must consist of such
modifications of organs as adapt them to their changed functions; and
that if the influence of changed conditions “accumulates,” it must be
through the inheritance of such modifications. Nor will I press the
question—What is the nature of the effect registered in the reproductive
elements, and which is subsequently manifested by variations?—Is it an
effect entirely irrelevant to the new requirements of the variety?—Or is
it an effect which makes the variety less fit for the new
requirements?—Or is it an effect which makes it more fit for the new
requirements? But not pressing these questions, it suffices to point out
the necessary implication that changed functions of organs _do_, in some
way or other, register themselves in changed proclivities of the
reproductive elements. In face of these facts it cannot be denied that
the modified action of a part produces an inheritable effect—be the
nature of that effect what it may.
The second of the remarks above adverted to as made by Mr. Darwin, is
contained in his sections dealing with correlated variations. In the
_Origin of Species_, p. 114, he says—
“The whole organization is so tied together during its growth and
development, that when slight variations in any one part occur, and
are accumulated through natural selection, other parts become
modified.”
And a parallel statement contained in _Animals and Plants under
Domestication_, vol. ii, p. 320, runs thus—
“Correlated variation is an important subject for us; for when one
part is modified through continued selection, either by man or under
nature, other parts of the organization will be unavoidably
modified. From this correlation it apparently follows that, with our
domesticated animals and plants, varieties rarely or never differ
from each other by some single character alone.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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