The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom is a book on evolution in plants by Charles Darwin, first published in 1876. In this book Darwin examines the effects of cross and self fertilisation of plants and provides experimental evidence for a hypothesis stated in his famed book of 1859, Origin of Species, that "... in none [i.e. plant] [...]can self-fertilisation go on for perpetuity" ("Origin", p. 101). He reports on experiments conducted on over 60 different species of plants, where he used controlled pollinations in
On the Origin of Species Darwin had been somewhat coy about human origins, not identifying any explicit conclusion on the matter in his book, he had dropped enough hints about human's animal ancestry for the inference to be made, and the first review claimed it made a creed of the "men from monkeys" idea from "Vestiges". Human evolution became central to the debate and was strongly argued by Huxley who featured it in his popular "working-men's lectures". Darwin did not publish his own views on this until 1871. The naturalism of natural selection conflicted with presumptions of purpose in nature and while this could be