Abstract
THE Duke of Argyll, in his reply to Mr. Herbert Spencer, says “in the Darwinian theory there is no selector” (NATURE, February 2, p. 317). Though we have not yet discovered a principle or factor which plays the part of the breeder in nature, it by no means follows that “natural selection” is “all metaphor,” nor yet, as has been often stated, an altogether misleading phrase. The rôle of the breeder or artificial selector is, I believe, often misunderstood. If we consider what the art of breeding mainly consists in, we may come to the conclusion that even the phrase “artificial selection” is, to a considerable extent, misleading and metaphorical. It seems to me the art of breeding consists mainly in two things, viz. (1) producing prepotency, and (2) preventing intercrossing. Prepotency is produced and maintained by inbreeding. The object of preventing intercrossing is to arrest, as far as possible, variation and reversion. If it can be shown that in nature prepotency often arises either as a sport or through inbreeding, and that prepotency by arresting the “swamping effects of intercrossing” plays the part of the fences of the breeder and the cages of the fancier, we shall be justified in looking upon prepotency as a “selector,” and in finding more than metaphor in the phrase “natural selection.” We already know that amongst insects a sport may displace the parent form; and if, instead of searching for evidence of intersterility as suggested by Romanes, we search diligently for evidence of prepotency, we may ere long discover the “selector”—the factor that in nature, under the control of utility, plays the part of the breeder.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
EWART, J. Is Natural Selection all Metaphor?. Nature 59, 369 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/059369a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/059369a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.