Mail in the Light of Evolution 



were content and well fed In the water, but they 

 were crowded out on land. When they were 

 beginning to fully enjoy life on the ground, they 

 were driven to a new mode of life In the trees. 

 She treated them much as Poor Joe In " Bleak 

 House " complained that Detective Bucket 

 treated him : " He always kept a-chivying of me, 

 and a-telling me to move on." 



The chivying process seems necessary. When 

 a group of animals has remained for a time un- 

 der conditions where struggle and effort are 

 unnecessary, further development seems to be- 

 come Impossible for them. Apparently for this 

 reason, through lack of the spur of necessity, 

 groups have straggled and fallen out of the 

 march, and stopped all along the line of ad- 

 vance. Life seems like wet plaster. As long as 

 you stir it vigorously, you can mold it as you 

 will. Set it down for a moment, and It hardens 

 Into a useless mass. 



This pressure of adversity is needed not only 

 to prevent the individuals of any group from 

 straying into tempting bypaths and to hem them 

 In to the line of progress. It is essential to the 

 complete development of the individual. It has 

 been well said that the surroundings which are 



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