MR. DARWIN ON NATURAL SELECTION. 369 



fittest." And again, at the bottom of the same page, 

 " It may metaphorically be said that natural selection 

 is daily and hourly scrutinizing throughout the world 

 the slightest variations."* It may be metaphorically 

 said that Nature is daily and hourly scrutinizing, but 

 it cannot be said consistently with any right use of 

 words, metaphorical or otherwise, that natural selection 

 scrutinizes, unless natural selection is merely a some- 

 what cumbrous synonym for Nature. When, therefore, 

 Mr. Darwin says that natural selection is the "most 

 important, but not the exclusive means" whereby any 

 modification has been effected, he is really saying that 

 Nature is the most important means of modification 

 which is only another way of telling us that variation 

 causes variations, and is all very true as far as it goes. 



I did not read Professor Mivart's Wessons from 

 Nature/ until I had written all my own criticism on 

 Mr. Darwin's position. From that work, however, I 

 now quote the following : 



"It cannot then be contested that the far-famed 

 1 Origin of Species,' that, namely, by * Natural Selec- 

 tion,' has been repudiated in fact, though not expressly 

 even by its own author. This circumstance, which is 

 simply undeniable, might dispense us from any further 

 consideration of the hypothesis itself. But the " con- 

 spiracy of silence," which has accompanied the repudi- 

 ation tends to lead the unthinking many to suppose 

 that the same importance still attaches to it as at first. 

 On this account it may be well to ask the question, 

 what, after all, is f Natural Selection ' ? 

 * * Origin of Species,' p. 65. 



2 B 



