The coming of evolution : the story of a great revolution in science / by John W. Judd.

  • John Wesley Judd
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The coming of evolution : the story of a great revolution in science / by John W. Judd. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    strength or perseverance, with similar qualities dis- played by certain animals, it was an easy transition to the idea that such characteristics were derived by inheritance. In the absence of any exact knowledge of anatomy and physiology, the resemblances of animals to themselves would quite outbulk the differences in the eyes of primitive men, and the idea of close relationship in blood does not appear to have been regarded with distaste. In their origin and in their destiny, no distinction was drawn between man and what we now designate as the ‘lower’ animals. Primitive man not only feels no repugnance to such kinship:— ‘But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog shall bear him company3.5 It should perhaps be remembered, too, that, in the breeding of domestic animals, the great facts of heredity and variation could not fail to have been noticed, and must have given rise to reflection and speculation. The selection of the best animals for breeding purposes, and the consequent improvement of their stock, may well have suggested the transmu- tation of one kind of animal into a different kind, just as the crossing of different kinds of animals seems to have suggested the possible existence of centaurs, griffins and other monstrous forms.