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ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fi...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 183 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

ADAPTATION (from See also:
LAT
Lat. adaptare. to See also:
FIT
fit to) , a See also:

PROCESS

process of fitting, or modifying, a thing to other uses, and so altering its See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form or See also:

ORIGINAL

original purpose. In literature there may be, e.g., an adaptation of a novel for a See also:

DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. Snail, act or do)

drama, or in See also:

MUSIC

music an arrangement of a piece for two hands into one for four, &c. In See also:

BIOLOGY (Gr. Qios, life)

biology, ac-cording to the See also:

DOCTRINE

doctrine of See also:

EVOLUTION

evolution, adaptation plays a prominent See also:

PART

part as the process by which an organism or See also:

SPECIES

species of organisms becomes modified to suit the conditions of its See also:

LIFE

life. Every See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change in a living organism involves adaptation; for in all cases life consists in a continuous See also:

ADJUSTMENT (from late Lat. ad juxtare, derived from juxta, near, but early confounded with a supposed derivation from justus, right)

adjustment of See also:

INTERNAL

internal to See also:

EXTERNAL

external relations. Every living organism reacts to its environment; if the reaction is unfavourable, See also:

DISABILITY

disability leading to ultimate extinction is the result. If the reaction is favourable, its result is called an adaptation. How far such adaptations are produced afresh in each See also:

GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation, whether or no their effects are transmitted to descendants and so directly modify the stock, to what extent adaptations characteristic of a species or variety have come about by selection of individuals capable, in each generation, of responding favourably, or how far by the selection of individuals fortuitously suitable to the environment, or, how far, possibly by the See also:

INHERITANCE

inheritance of the responses to the environment, are problems of biology not yet definitely solved.

End of Article: ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

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ADANSON, MICHEL (1727-1806)

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ADAPTIVE TYPES OF LIMBS AND FEET