Evolution and Natural Selection 453 



blanket against the cold of the frozen north." We may 

 accept these statements without much misgiving. The in- 

 ference of adaptation in the two cases is at least plausible. 

 Presently, however, we pass from such direct inference to 

 far-reaching deduction: '' The intelligence and ambition of 

 the European is one of the outcomes of the competition of 

 a life of commerce that arose on a continent that nature 

 adapted for trade with a deeply indented coast line." This 

 is of course logical enough; and if we grant the premises, it 

 may be " true." 



There is a return of the anthropomorphic nature ^ which 

 is probably not intended by the writer, but which shows 

 how difficult it is to get rid of habitual forms of expression, 

 and to avoid their implications. And there is the bland 

 assumption of the mechanism of evolution as identical with 

 natural selection, metamorphosed into a human instrument 

 of progress and uplift — competition, no less. Another ex- 

 ample of similar confusion is the following: " The great in- 

 dustry of the Chinese arose from the pressure of dense 

 population and the ever present danger of famine." Cer- 

 tainly we can see the value of industry, even perhaps its 

 indispensableness, under the circumstances indicated. We 

 can hardly be sure, however, that the " industry " in ques- 

 tion is a directly heritable character in the biological sense; 

 and if it is, that it " arose " from the pressures and dangers 

 as alleged. 



These are all examples of confusion from scientific 

 writers and are offered to suggest that it is no simple matter 

 to clarify our thinking on subjects that are so intimately 

 tied up with our earliest impressions and orientations regard- 

 ing the nature of the world and of its most interesting 

 inhabitant. 



Adaptation and Purpose 



The rise of the evolutionary idea has brought to the 

 front a clearer recognition of the problem of adaptation. 



