﻿324 
  ADAPTIVENESS 
  AND 
  PURPOSIVENESS 
  

  

  the 
  tenth 
  day 
  after 
  hatching, 
  it 
  shows 
  no 
  peculiarity. 
  Here, 
  

   then, 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  simple 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  way 
  in 
  which 
  de- 
  

   velopment 
  proceeds 
  as 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  working 
  with 
  a 
  purpose. 
  

   How 
  comes 
  that 
  musculus 
  complexus 
  to 
  be 
  temporarily 
  ex- 
  

   aggerated 
  in 
  strength, 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  breaking 
  of 
  the 
  egg- 
  

   shell, 
  an 
  action 
  which 
  only 
  occurs 
  once 
  in 
  each 
  generation 
  ? 
  

  

  The 
  idea 
  of 
  adaptation 
  is 
  sometimes 
  held 
  far 
  too 
  nar- 
  

   rowly, 
  and 
  a 
  needless 
  difficulty 
  is 
  made 
  over 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   some 
  specific 
  characters 
  are 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  adaptive 
  to 
  any 
  

   particular 
  condition 
  of 
  life. 
  But, 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  some 
  

   characters 
  supposed 
  at 
  first 
  to 
  be 
  quite 
  indifferent 
  have 
  

   been 
  shown, 
  after 
  closer 
  acquaintance 
  with 
  the 
  creature, 
  to 
  

   be 
  finely 
  adaptive. 
  And, 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  place, 
  an 
  organism 
  

   is 
  not 
  a 
  system 
  of 
  pegs 
  on 
  which 
  a 
  hundred 
  i 
  characters 
  ? 
  

   are 
  hung, 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  harmonious 
  unity, 
  viable 
  and 
  persisting 
  

   in 
  virtue 
  of 
  its 
  subtle 
  internal 
  equilibrium 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  

   virtue 
  of 
  the 
  adjustment 
  of 
  its 
  tout 
  ensemble 
  to 
  the 
  condi- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  life. 
  Adaptation 
  may 
  have 
  an 
  internal 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   an 
  external 
  reference. 
  

  

  Beyond 
  particular 
  instances 
  of 
  organismal 
  adaptation, 
  we 
  

   have 
  the 
  broad 
  fact 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  given 
  association 
  of 
  organisms 
  

   a 
  balanced 
  modus 
  vivendi 
  is 
  arrived 
  at, 
  a 
  compromise 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  competing 
  interests, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  system 
  persists 
  and 
  

   works 
  smoothly. 
  The 
  balance 
  of 
  nature 
  is 
  the 
  largest 
  of 
  

   all 
  adaptations. 
  Just 
  as 
  the 
  Sy 
  sterna 
  Naturae 
  of 
  the 
  tax- 
  

   onomist 
  the 
  orderly 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  classifier 
  speaks 
  

   of 
  rationality; 
  so 
  the 
  vital 
  systema 
  naturae 
  which 
  the 
  nat- 
  

   uralist 
  discloses 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  cosmos. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  systematisation 
  

   or 
  co-ordination 
  of 
  lives, 
  world-wide 
  in 
  its 
  scope, 
  and 
  becom- 
  

   ing 
  ever 
  more 
  subtle 
  in 
  its 
  accomplishment. 
  

  

  