The Explanation of Adaptations. 611 
in the first part of the first volume (p. 198), and our 
consideration of those species which are rich in subordi- 
nate forms, as well as the results obtained with Oenothcra 
Lamarckiana have justified this claim. Thus we see that 
the current form of the theory of selection cannot supply 
the kind of variability which the theory demands, whilst 
the doctrine of mutation can supply it, as we know from 
actual observation. 
III. The first insignificant beginnings of new charac- 
ters do not come under the operation of natural selection 
since they are of no significance in the struggle for ex- 
istence. This is the best known objection against the 
prevailing form of the theory of selection. It has been 
elaborated by many authors and admirably expressed by 
CONN in his work cited above, so that we need not deal 
with it further here. It ultimately leads every thoughtful 
investigator to the view 7 that every organ must have its 
origin in a discontinuous variation. 1 The doctrine of mu- 
tation alone can overcome these difficulties although we 
must not forget that the objection is directed only against 
the present form of the theory of selection and not against 
DARWIN'S own conception of it ; for if the sieve of selec- 
tion does no more than eliminate those of less fitness, and 
if its function is merely to increase the mean of those 
that remain, even the very slightest average progress 
must have a result, as DARWIN so frequently insisted. 
In the doctrine of mutation, however, these slow tran- 
sitions and these slight advantages have no place. Spe- 
cies-forming variability simply omits these, both in ex- 
periment and in horticultural experience, so that they 
constitute no obstacle to the theory. 2 
1 CONN, loc. tit., p. 134. 
i- Tt is in the explanation of instinct that the current form of the 
