io6 THE NATURE-STUDY IDEA 



asked what mechanism it had to insure cross- 

 polHnation. I told her that I was not aware that it 

 had any; and she was surprised. I wish that 

 somebody would write a book about misfits in 

 nature. 



No one knows what spines and thorns are ^4or, " 

 and the true naturalist does not ask the question. 

 He wants to know how they came to be. How did 

 they originate ? What is their significance in the 

 development of this particular race ? And he sets 

 to work to find out. He cannot find out as he 

 rides by on his horse — especially if he rides a 

 hobby-horse. 



Truth is, this everything-has-a-use dogma is in 

 part a reaction from the teachings of Darwin and 

 his followers. People want to believe in definite, 

 final, set events. The dogma of special creation 

 was overthrown. Things have persisted because 

 of natural selection — because they were best fitted 

 to persist. The result, in many cases, is perfect 

 adaptation of every organ and attribute. There 

 followed a special literature on adaptation and 

 mimicry and the like. The examples may all have 

 been true, but one result has been to lead persons 

 to look for adaptations and mimicry where there 

 may be none. What did it matter if there is no 

 special creation? — there is complete and universal 

 adaptation, and our notions of what ought to be are 

 verified. 



But, some one will say, if there is natural selection 

 and survival of the fittest, adaptation must follow as 

 a consequence. Yes; but it does not follow that 



