538 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



as to effect, in a few centuries, what Nature could not do in the 

 course of geological ages ; all sorts of things can be done by art 

 which are not done by Nature. He might just as well have 

 argued that the blue crystals, artificially produced from copper 

 and sulphuric acid, prove nothing regarding the behaviour of 

 such materials in Nature ; or he might even more plausibly 

 have asked what inferences could be drawn regarding natural 

 phenomena from the liquefaction of hydrogen under conditions 

 of cold and pressure which are not met in the natural world. 

 The truth is that this distinction between the natural and the 

 artificial, though no doubt it has its proper uses, is itself one of 

 the most artificial things in Nature and in matters biological is 

 often quite out of place. For what after all is man with all his 

 works but a part of Nature ? Those, no doubt, who with 

 Dr. Wallace at their head believe that at a certain stage of his 

 development a spirit must have been breathed into an inhuman 

 ape independently of the course of evolution in order to make 

 him man, may logically dispute this conclusion, as man's mind 

 in that case clearly contains a supernatural element, which 

 must also have had its effect upon all his works, so that neither 

 he nor they are entirely a part of the natural world. But those 

 who see in the human mind nothing but a development, however 

 great, of powers and faculties well indicated in the higher 

 animals, will readily agree that he is a part of Nature and 

 nothing more. Therefore as regards the evolution of animals 

 and plants, he is merely a more or less important part of the 

 environment ; to large animals a feature of ever-growing 

 importance — to too many kinds, it is to be feared, the sinister 

 omen of impending extinction ; to domestic plants and animals 

 the dominating feature of their surroundings and factor of their 

 lives ; but to deep-sea fishes a thing of remote if any con- 

 sequence. When the flat-footed ape appears on the scene or 

 at all events with the advent of the lethal variety called civilised 

 man, the environment of large animals undergoes a great and 

 rapid change and the qualities which before ensured their 

 survival become comparatively useless. Strength, speed, 

 wariness and ferocity now avail them little. Either they must 

 accommodate themselves to his purposes and become domesti- 

 cated or they must conceal themselves successfully to save 

 their skins or they must perish utterly — manet sors tertia ccedi. 

 The presence of man radically alters the environment and 





