CHAPTER XIII 



ORTHOPLASY 1 



THE theory of evolution which makes general use of 

 organic selection is called Orthoplasy ; it has already been 

 sufficiently explained. It is the theory that individual 

 modifications or accommodations supplement, protect, or 

 screen organic characters and keep them alive until useful 

 congenital variations arise and survive by natural selec- 

 tion ; and that this process, combined in many cases with 

 'tradition/ gives direction to evolution. 



I. The Factors in Orthoplasy 



The theory, it is evident, involves two factors: (i) the 

 survival of characters which are in any way assisted by 

 acquired modifications, etc., during periods in which, with- 

 out such assistance, they would be eliminated, until (2) the 

 appearance and selection of congenital variations which 

 can get along without such assistance. The second factor 

 is simply direct natural selection ; and it is the first which 

 is the characteristic feature of this theory. By the coop- 

 eration of the acquired characters, a species or race is held 

 up against competition and destruction, while variations 



1 Matter revised from the writer's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, 

 art. ' Organic (or Indirect) Selection,' which in that work is also signed by 

 Professor Lloyd Morgan, Professor Poulton, and Dr. G. F. Stout. This chapter 

 may serve as a summary statement of some of the applications of which the 

 theory is capable, and also as a partial resume of the preceding chapters. 



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