Chapter VIII: Instinct
Chapter IX: Sterility In these chapters, Darwin continues to disprove objections to his theory. In Chapter VII, Charles Darwin rejects an enormous amount of minute insignificant objections to his theory. He disproves each small objection with what reads as him being insulted by the lack of intelligence of his persecutors. Most of them are so insignificant that they don't deserve a mention, however some are mildly amusing. For example one objection stated that the theory of natural selection is false because otherwise ostriches would have already developed the ability of flight, to which Darwin responds, "A moments reflection will show the what …show more content…
He explains how freshwater species sometimes get dispersed when he explains that, "they [freshwater species] are occasionally transported by what is called accidental means. Thus fish still alive are rarely dropped at distant points by whirlwinds; and it is known that the ova retain their vitality for a considerable amount of time after removal from water. Their dispersal may, however, be mainly attributed to changes in the level of land within the recent period causing rivers to flow into each other," (Darwin 431). This quote effectively describes how some freshwater species have been observed to have wide ranges even though freshwater bodies of water are extremely isolated. Lastly Darwin explains how isolation impacts natural selection on oceanic …show more content…
This shows and proves darwin theory of natural selection. Charles Darwin then uses morphology to prove his theory of natural selection. For example, the human hand is similar in structure to the fin of a porpoise, and the wing of the bat, which shows that at one time we all had a common ancestor. Even individual portions of the human body can show how morphology supports natural selection. For example, the anterior and posterior limbs in all vertebrate classes are homologous showing a more recent common ancestor. Darwin also uses embryology to prove natural selection, because as an embryo almost all animals are similar, but as they develop they start to differ. Again this points to a common ancestor at some point in