THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



ry of life as it inevitably points to the non-mechan- 

 ical principle of consciousness or intellect as the dis- 

 tinctive factor of life. 



The third contribution to the cause of evolution is 

 Darwin's theory of natural selection and this theory 

 has had so dominating an influence that, to most men, 

 evolution and natural selection are synonymous, even 

 though Darwin, himself, states that the two earlier 

 theories must be accepted as contributory causes. He 

 has stated his theory so clearly that it would be un- 

 wise not to quote his own words: "Can it, then, be 

 thought improbable, seeing that variations [in do- 

 mesticated animals] useful to man have undoubtedly 

 occurred, that other variations useful in some way to 

 each being in the great and complex battle of life, 

 should occur in the course of many successive gen- 

 erations^ If such do occur, can we doubt (remember- 

 ing that many more individuals are born than can 

 possibly survive) that individuals having any ad- 

 vantage, however slight, over others, would have the 

 best chance of surviving and procreating their kind^ 

 On the other hand, we may feel sure that any varia- 

 tion in the least degree injurious would be rigidly 

 destroyed. This preservation of favourable individu- 

 al differences and variations, and the destruction of 

 those which are injurious, I have called Natural Se- 

 lection, or the Survival of the Fittest. Variations 

 neither useful nor injurious would not be affected by 

 natural selection, and would be left either a fluc- 



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