The most frequent and the most misleading of the objections to the
efficacy of natural selection arise from ignorance of this subject, an
ignorance shared by many naturalists, for it is only since Mr. Darwin
has taught us their importance that varieties have been systematically
collected and recorded; and even now very few collectors or students
bestow upon them the attention they deserve. By the older naturalists,
indeed, varieties--especially if numerous, small, and of frequent
occurrence--were looked upon as an unmitigated nuisance, because they
rendered it almost impossible to give precise definitions of species,
then considered the chief end of systematic natural history. Hence it
was the custom to describe what was supposed to be the "typical form" of
species, and most collectors were satisfied if they possessed this
typical form in their cabinets. Now, however, a collection is valued in
proportion as it contains illustrative specimens of all the varieties
that occur in each species, and in some cases these have been carefully
described, so that we possess a considerable mass of information on the
subject.
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