Quote: to survive in the wild, a domestic animal must return to something like the original wild stock

Quotation

The domestic animal ... has food provided for it, is sheltered, and often confined, to guard it against the vicissitudes of the seasons, is carefully secured from the attacks of its natural enemies, and seldom even rears its young without human assistance. Half of its senses and faculties are quite useless; and the other half are but occasionally called into feeble exercise ... In the wild animal, on the contrary, all its faculties and powers being brought into full action for the necessities of existence, any increase becomes immediately available, is strengthened by exercise, and must even slightly modify the food, the habits, and the whole economy of the race. ... [p. 335] Domestic varieties, when turned wild, must return to something near the type of the original wild stock, or become altogether extinct.   Google-1   Google-2

Published before 1923

Related Topics

Topic: evolutionary systems (38 items)