52] 
in some cases. Does he wish us to believe that there are two 
kinds of short sight—one which arose as a spontaneous varia- 
tion and is hereditary, and the other acquired by the individual 
from study and not hereditary ? 
The degeneracy of slave-making ants * is explainable on 
the theory of the inherited effects of use and disuse, but not on 
the Weismann hypothesis. That Natural Selection should have 
preserved every spontaneous variation which shewed a less and 
less instinct to feed itself, and should have eliminated the more 
capable members until the different species had entirely lost the 
power of self-feeding, seems an incredible idea. What over- 
powering advantage, either in economy or any other way, could 
have accrued to the individuals unable to feed themselves so 
that they survived while their neighbours perished ? 
The further discussion of this subject I must leave for 
another time; but in conclusion I may say that the “ change- 
induced-by-environment ” theory does not exclude the action of 
Natural Selection. Such action must always have exercised a 
controlling and selective influence on the results which environ- 
ment produced, just as, at a school, the boys in whom the 
conditions of environment—lessons—have produced the most 
effect are selected by the examiner for promotion to a higher 
class. | 
* Lubbock “ Ants, Bees and Wasps,” p. 82, 10th Kd. 1891. 
