Mr. Darwin has shown that, in the distribution and modification of
species, the biological is of more importance than the physical
environment, the struggle with other organisms being often more severe
than that with the forces of nature. This is particularly evident in the
case of plants, many of which, when protected from competition, thrive
in a soil, climate, and atmosphere widely different from those of their
native habitat. Thus, many alpine plants only found near perpetual snow
thrive well in our gardens at the level of the sea; as do the tritomas
from the sultry plains of South Africa, the yuccas from the arid hills
of Texas and Mexico, and the fuchsias from the damp and dreary shores of
the Straits of Magellan. It has been well said that plants do not live
where they like, but where they can; and the same remark will apply to
the animal world. Horses and cattle run wild and thrive both in North
and South America; rabbits, once confined to the south of Europe, have
established themselves in our own country and in Australia; while the
domestic fowl, a native of tropical India, thrives well in every part of
the temperate zone.
Pages:
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277