Studies in the Theory of Descent (Volumes 1 and 2)
Free AI audiobook with natural voice. No signup required.
About This Book
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute thi...
Chapters (744)
- STUDIES IN THE THEORY OF DESCENT.
- PREFATORY NOTICE.
- TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.
- PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.
- CONTENTS.
- STUDIES IN THE THEORY OF DESCENT.
- Part I. ON THE SEASONAL DIMORPHISM OF BUTTERFLIES.
- I. The Origin and Significance of Seasonal Dimorphism.
- II. Seasonal Dimorphism and Climatic Variation.
- III. Nature of the Causes producing Climatic Varieties.
- IV. Why all Polygoneutic Species are not Seasonally Dimorphic.
- V. On Alternation of Generations.
- VI. General Conclusions.
- APPENDIX I. EXPERIMENTS.
- APPENDIX II.
- EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
- STUDIES IN THE THEORY OF DESCENT.
- Part II. ON THE FINAL CAUSES OF TRANSFORMATION.
- I. THE ORIGIN OF THE MARKINGS OF CATERPILLARS.
- INTRODUCTION.
- I. Ontogeny and Morphology of Sphinx-Markings.
- II. Conclusions from Phylogeny.
- III. Biological Value of Marking in General.
- IV. Biological Value of Colour.
- V. Biological Value of Special Markings.
- VI. Objections to a Phyletic Vital Force.
- VII. Phyletic Development of the Markings of the Sphingidæ: Summary and Conclusion.
- II. ON PHYLETIC PARALLELISM IN METAMORPHIC SPECIES.
- INTRODUCTION.
- STUDIES IN THE THEORY OF DESCENT
- I. Larva and Imago vary in Structure independently of each other.
- II. Does the Form-relationship of the Larva coincide with that of the Imago?
- III. Incongruences in other Orders of Insects.
- IV. Summary and Conclusion.
- APPENDIX I.
- APPENDIX II.
- EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
- STUDIES IN THE THEORY OF DESCENT. Part III. ON THE FINAL CAUSES OF TRANSFORMATION.
- III. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MEXICAN AXOLOTL INTO AMBLYSTOMA.
- INTRODUCTION.
- EXPERIMENTS.
- Postscript.
- Addendum.
- IV. ON THE MECHANICAL CONCEPTION OF NATURE.
- INTRODUCTION.
- I. Are the Principles of the Selection Theory Mechanical?
- II. Mechanism and Teleology.
- FOOTNOTES
- INDEX.
- ERRATA.
- v
- vi
- vii
- viii
- ix
- x
- xi
- xii
- xiii
- xiv
- xv
- xvi
- xvii
- xviii
- xix
- xx
- xxi
- xxii
- xxiii
- xxv
- xxvi
- xxviii
- xxix
- xxx
- xxxi
- xxxii
- xxxiii
- xxxiv
- xxxv
- xxxvi
- 1
- 2
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 35
- 36
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 79
- 80
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- 138
- 139
- 140
- 141
- 142
- 143
- 144
- 145
- 147
- 148
- 149
- 150
- 151
- 152
- 153
- 154
- 155
- 156
- 157
- 158
- 159
- 160
- 161
- 162
- 163
- 164
- 165
- 168
- 169
- 171
- 172
- 173
- 174
- 175
- 176
- 177
- 178
- 179
- 180
- 181
- 182
- 183
- 184
- 185
- 186
- 187
- 188
- 189
- 190
- 192
- 193
- 195
- 197
- 198
- 199
- 200
- 201
- 202
- 203
- 204
- 205
- 206
- 207
- 208
- 209
- 210
- 211
- 212
- 213
- 214
- 215
- 216
- 217
- 218
- 219
- 220
- 221
- 222
- 223
- 224
- 225
- 226
- 227
- 228
- 229
- 230
- 231
- 232
- 233
- 234
- 235
- 236
- 237
- 238
- 239
- 240
- 241
- 242
- 243
- 245
- 246
- 247
- 248
- 249
- 251
- 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
- 278
- 279
- 280
- 281
- 282
- 284
- 285
- 286
- 287
- 288
- 289
- 290
- 292
- 293
- 296
- 297
- 298
- 299
- 300
- 301
- 303
- 304
- 305
- 308
- 309
- 310
- 312
- 313
- 314
- 315
- 316
- 317
- 318
- 319
- 320
- 321
- 322
- 323
- 325
- 326
- 327
- 328
- 329
- 330
- 331
- 332
- 333
- 334
- 335
- 336
- 337
- 338
- 339
- 340
- 341
- 342
- 343
- 344
- 345
- 346
- 347
- 348
- 349
- 350
- 351
- 352
- 353
- 354
- 355
- 356
- 357
- 358
- 359
- 360
- 362
- 363
- 364
- 365
- 366
- 367
- 368
- 369
- 370
- 371
- 372
- 373
- 374
- 376
- 377
- 378
- 379
- 380
- 381
- 382
- 383
- 384
- 385
- 386
- 387
- 388
- 389
- 390
- 391
- 392
- 393
- 394
- 395
- 396
- 397
- 398
- 399
- 400
- 401
- 402
- 403
- 404
- 405
- 406
- 407
- 408
- 409
- 410
- 411
- 413
- 414
- 415
- 416
- 417
- 418
- 419
- 420
- 421
- 422
- 423
- 424
- 425
- 426
- 427
- 428
- 429
- 430
- 431
- 432
- 433
- 435
- 436
- 437
- 438
- 440
- 441
- 442
- 443
- 444
- 445
- 446
- 447
- 448
- 449
- 450
- 451
- 452
- 453
- 454
- 455
- 456
- 457
- 458
- 459
- 460
- 461
- 462
- 463
- 464
- 465
- 466
- 467
- 468
- 469
- 470
- 471
- 472
- 473
- 474
- 475
- 478
- 479
- 480
- 481
- 482
- 483
- 485
- 486
- 487
- 488
- 489
- 490
- 491
- 492
- 493
- 494
- 495
- 496
- 497
- 498
- 499
- 500
- 501
- 502
- 503
- 504
- 505
- 506
- 507
- 508
- 510
- 511
- 512
- 514
- 515
- 516
- 517
- 518
- 519
- 520
- 521
- 522
- 523
- 524
- 525
- 526
- 527
- 528
- 529
- 530
- 531
- 532
- 533
- 534
- 535
- 536
- 537
- 538
- 539
- 540
- 541
- 542
- 543
- 544
- 545
- 546
- 547
- 548
- 549
- 550
- 551
- 552
- 553
- 554
- 555
- 556
- 557
- 558
- 559
- 560
- 561
- 562
- 563
- 564
- 565
- 567
- 568
- 569
- 570
- 571
- 573
- 574
- 575
- 576
- 577
- 578
- 579
- 581
- 582
- 583
- 585
- 586
- 588
- 589
- 590
- 591
- 593
- 595
- 596
- 598
- 599
- 600
- 602
- 603
- 604
- 605
- 606
- 607
- 610
- 611
- 612
- 613
- 614
- 615
- 616
- 617
- 618
- 619
- 620
- 621
- 623
- 624
- 625
- 627
- 628
- 629
- 630
- 631
- 632
- 633
- 634
- 635
- 637
- 638
- 639
- 640
- 641
- 642
- 643
- 644
- 645
- 647
- 648
- 649
- 650
- 651
- 652
- 653
- 654
- 655
- 656
- 657
- 658
- 659
- 660
- 661
- 663
- 664
- 665
- 666
- 667
- 668
- 669
- 670
- 671
- 672
- 673
- 674
- 675
- 676
- 677
- 678
- 679
- 680
- 681
- 682
- 683
- 684
- 685
- 686
- 687
- 688
- 691
- 692
- 693
- 694
- 695
- 696
- 697
- 698
- 699
- 700
- 701
- 702
- 703
- 704
- 705
- 706
- 707
- 708
- 709
- 710
- 713
- 714
- 715
- 716
- 717
- 718
- 719
- 720
- 721
- 722
- 723
- 724
- 725
- 726
- 727
- 728
- 729
How to Listen
- 1. Click "Listen Free" above
- 2. The book opens in CastReader's browser reader
- 3. Click the play button — AI narration starts with word highlighting
- 4. Use "Send to Phone" to continue listening on your phone
More by August Weismann
FAQ
Is this audiobook really free?
Yes. "Studies in the Theory of Descent (Volumes 1 and 2)" is a public domain work from Project Gutenberg. CastReader converts it to audio using AI text-to-speech for free. No account or payment needed.
What does the AI voice sound like?
CastReader uses Kokoro TTS, a natural-sounding AI voice. It handles punctuation, names, and dialogue naturally. Most listeners forget it's AI after a few minutes.
Can I listen on my phone?
Yes. Open the book, then use "Send to Phone" to stream audio to your phone via Telegram. No app download needed.