﻿ADAPTIVENESS 
  AND 
  PURPOSIVENESS 
  327 
  

  

  controlled 
  by 
  the 
  past 
  to 
  hold 
  fast 
  to 
  that 
  which 
  is 
  good. 
  

   It 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  interesting 
  fact 
  that 
  some 
  monsters 
  have 
  been 
  

   experimentally 
  produced 
  by 
  disharmonious 
  mongrel 
  fertilisa- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  egg-cells. 
  

  

  (3) 
  It 
  is 
  admitted 
  that 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  ' 
  Na- 
  

   ture's 
  workshop 
  ' 
  is 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  automatic 
  arrangements. 
  

   In 
  making 
  a 
  machine 
  an 
  artificer 
  literally 
  selects; 
  in 
  estab- 
  

   lishing 
  a 
  breed 
  of 
  animals 
  Man 
  literally 
  selects 
  ; 
  but 
  Natural 
  

   Selection 
  is 
  a 
  metaphorical 
  term, 
  the 
  sifting 
  is 
  very 
  largely 
  

   automatic. 
  The 
  survivors 
  survive 
  automatically 
  in 
  virtue 
  of 
  

   the 
  possession 
  of 
  certain 
  advantageous 
  qualities; 
  the 
  elim- 
  

   inated 
  disappear 
  automatically 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  

   certain 
  advantageous 
  qualities 
  or 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  others 
  that 
  

   are 
  fatal. 
  But 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  whole 
  truth. 
  

  

  The 
  selection 
  that 
  occurs 
  is 
  not 
  haphazard; 
  it 
  bears 
  some 
  

   relation 
  to 
  the 
  previously 
  established 
  external 
  systematisa- 
  

   tion 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  the 
  web 
  of 
  life, 
  just 
  as 
  social 
  criticism 
  

   which 
  makes 
  it 
  difficult 
  for 
  the 
  unreliable 
  to 
  get 
  on 
  is 
  not 
  

   haphazard, 
  but 
  bears 
  some 
  relation 
  to 
  previously 
  established 
  

   traditions 
  and 
  standards. 
  The 
  elimination 
  in 
  either 
  case 
  

   is 
  remote 
  from 
  fortuity 
  or 
  capriciousness. 
  It 
  always 
  has, 
  

   of 
  course, 
  an 
  immediate 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  

   the 
  future; 
  but 
  the 
  present 
  has 
  been 
  determined 
  by 
  a 
  past 
  

   selection 
  of 
  the 
  fit 
  and 
  embodies 
  that 
  selection 
  in 
  an 
  ob- 
  

   jective 
  sieve 
  of 
  great 
  subtlety. 
  Since 
  the 
  sieve 
  is 
  a 
  sys- 
  

   tematisation 
  of 
  fitness, 
  it 
  tends 
  to 
  sift 
  towards 
  fitness 
  in 
  

   the 
  future 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  unless, 
  indeed, 
  the 
  

   conditions 
  of 
  the 
  future 
  should 
  greatly 
  change. 
  

  

  Let 
  us 
  repeat 
  this 
  argument. 
  There 
  is 
  in 
  each 
  case 
  a 
  

   line 
  of 
  evolution 
  that 
  pays 
  ; 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  reached 
  by 
  past 
  varia- 
  

   tions 
  ; 
  new 
  variations 
  that 
  are 
  congruent 
  with 
  the 
  past 
  are 
  

   on 
  the 
  whole 
  most 
  likely 
  to 
  appear 
  and 
  to 
  catch 
  on; 
  there- 
  

  

  