﻿ADAPTIVENESS 
  AND 
  PURPOSIVENESS 
  329 
  

  

  satisfaction 
  at 
  a 
  contrivance 
  like 
  a 
  linotype 
  printing 
  machine, 
  

   or 
  a 
  monorail 
  engine 
  with 
  its 
  equilibrating 
  gyroscope, 
  or 
  

   at 
  a 
  watch 
  (had 
  not 
  Bridgewaterism 
  made 
  us 
  tired 
  of 
  it) 
  ; 
  

   they 
  all 
  show 
  much 
  skill 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  artificer 
  the 
  

   original 
  artificer 
  at 
  least. 
  If 
  we 
  were 
  told, 
  however, 
  that 
  

   the 
  contrivance 
  we 
  admire 
  was 
  not 
  made 
  by 
  an 
  artificer 
  

   at 
  all, 
  but 
  was 
  turned 
  out 
  by 
  an 
  automatic 
  machine, 
  our 
  

   admiration 
  would 
  simply 
  be 
  shifted 
  to 
  the 
  designer 
  or 
  artif- 
  

   icer 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  automatic 
  machine, 
  and 
  we 
  should 
  ad- 
  

   mire 
  all 
  the 
  more 
  if 
  the 
  original 
  device 
  was 
  very 
  simple. 
  

   So 
  in 
  Biology, 
  the 
  basal 
  fact 
  remains 
  that 
  organisms 
  have 
  

   had, 
  and 
  still 
  have, 
  the 
  capacity 
  of 
  evolving 
  adaptively. 
  

   They 
  have 
  it 
  in 
  virtue 
  of 
  certain 
  intrinsic 
  qualities, 
  previ- 
  

   ously 
  discussed, 
  which 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  striking 
  than 
  ready- 
  

   made 
  fitnesses. 
  It 
  is 
  because 
  living 
  creatures 
  are 
  irritable, 
  

   persistent, 
  registrative, 
  variable, 
  and 
  so 
  on, 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  

   been 
  able 
  to 
  evolve 
  in 
  a 
  consummately 
  adaptive 
  way. 
  This 
  

   was, 
  of 
  course, 
  what 
  Charles 
  Kingsley 
  had 
  in 
  mind 
  in 
  his 
  

   immortal 
  child's-story 
  when 
  he 
  put 
  into 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Mother 
  

   Carey 
  the 
  words 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  make 
  things 
  make 
  themselves." 
  This 
  

   is 
  a 
  very 
  different 
  view, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  remarked, 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  

   an 
  infinite 
  regress 
  of 
  automatic 
  machines, 
  with 
  no 
  original 
  

   designer 
  at 
  all; 
  for 
  this 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  us 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  clearly 
  

   conceivable 
  idea. 
  

  

  Time 
  was 
  when 
  the 
  multitudinous 
  fitnesses 
  of 
  Animate 
  

   Nature 
  were 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  admiring 
  wonder, 
  but 
  this 
  has 
  

   shrivelled. 
  Surely, 
  however, 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  wonder 
  is 
  not 
  alto- 
  

   gether 
  creditable. 
  If 
  an 
  adaptation 
  is 
  wrought 
  out 
  gradually 
  

   by 
  a 
  co-operation 
  of 
  factors, 
  that 
  is 
  just 
  as 
  wonderful 
  as 
  a 
  

   special 
  creation 
  at 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  a 
  divine 
  artificer; 
  and 
  

   it 
  is 
  more 
  intelligible. 
  And 
  even 
  if 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  evolving 
  

   adaptations 
  should 
  turn 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  automatic 
  than 
  it 
  

  

  