The development of Darwin's theory : natural history, natural theology, and natural selection, 1838-1859 / Dov Ospovat.

  • Ospovat, Dov.
Date:
1995, ©1981
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: The development of Darwin's theory : natural history, natural theology, and natural selection, 1838-1859 / Dov Ospovat. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    262/328 (page 244)
    Notes to pp. 40-6 more subtle argument for the role of artificial slection in the origins of Darwin's theory: Charles Darwin and Artificial Selection. My reading of the notebooks supports the conclusion of Limoges {Sélection Naturelle) and Kohn (Theories to Work By) who deny that artificial selection played a significant role in leading Darwin to natural selection; Herbert has suggested this as well: Darwin, Malthus, and Selection, pp. 211-13. It is worth noting that, as evidence for his claim that before Darwin read Malthus he was searching for an analogy between artificial and natural selection, Schweber cites only two of the several passages in which Darwin explicitly says that in nature offspring are not picked (Schweber, Origin Revisited, pp. 235, 257). 5 В notebook, p. 1. 6 Ibid., pp. 2-4. 7 Ibid., pp. 16, 21. See Kohn: the critical point is that he assumed heritable variability to be adaptive (Theories to Work By, p. 86). 8 С notebook, p. 236. 9 В notebook, p. 78; D notebook, p. 179 (D notebook pp. 152-79 were probably written September 11-28, 1838). 10 С notebook, p. 76. 11 D notebook, p. 166; see also p. 130. 12 В notebook, p. 219. 13 В notebook, p. 64 (my emphasis). 14 С notebook, p. 65; see also pp. 4, 84-5. 15 Limoges, Sélection naturelle, pp. 46, 76. See also Kohn, Theories to Work By, p. 126. 16 В notebook, p. 227. 17 Robert C. Olby, The Origins of Mendelism, pp. 55-85; Peter Vorzimmer, Charles Darwin, pp. 30-42; Kottler, Darwin's Biological Species Con¬ cept, pp. 288-91. 18 В notebook, p. 5; E notebook, p. 48. Cf. Kohn, Theories to Work By, pp. 88-90, 105-7. 19 D notebook, p. 167. 20 В notebook, p. 2ioe: С notebook, p. 60. 21 В notebook, pp. 6-7. 22 R. B. Freeman and P. J. Gautrey, Darwin's Questions about the Breeding of Animals, with a Note on Queries about Expression; Peter Vorzimmer, Darwin's Questions about the Breeding of Animals. 23 В notebook, pp. 24, 32-4, 120: In intermarriages: smallest différences blended, rather stronger [have ] tendency to imitate one of the parents; repugnance generally to marriage before domestication, afterwards none or little with fertile offspring: marriage never probably excepting from strict domestication, offspring not fertile or at least most rarely and perhaps never female - No offspring: physical impossibility to marriage. See also С notebook, p. 122. 24 В notebook, pp. 59, 75e, 120, 123e; С notebook, pp. 30, 51. 25 В notebook, pp. 24, 75e. 26 Ibid., p. 209e. 244