THE PURPOSE OF EVOLUTION 267 



admiration as to induce us to examine them closely ; 

 and thus they have helped to lay the foundations of 

 science. This appears to be the only use these 

 things have in the world. As examples, I may 

 mention crystals and the beautiful colours and shapes 

 of many animals. Attempts have been made to 

 show that all the latter are either of use to their 

 possessors, or else that they have been of use to some 

 ancestor, and are, therefore, in no way connected 

 with the evolution of man. They are thought to be 

 side-branches, which led to nothing, from the 

 main stem of evolution. These attempts to make 

 the utilitarian doctrine universal were never agreed 

 to by Darwin, and, to the best of my judgment, they 

 have not been established. 64 



It seems to me certain that in the progress of bio- 

 logical evolution many characters have been de- 

 veloped, which have never been of any use to their 

 possessors, but which have been of the greatest use 

 in developing the mind of man. 



We all recognise what science has done for civili- 

 sation. But how did the scientific study of nature 

 begin, and why is it carried on? No doubt it is 

 largely due to man trying to make himself more 

 comfortable by improving his surroundings. But 

 this is the work of applied science only ; and for 

 workers in pure science mere utility has no charms. 

 It is the wonderful and the beautiful in nature which 

 are, and always will be, the moving forces of pure 

 science. Utility has never been the only agent 



64 See Jour. Linn. Soc. Zool., xxvi., p. 330, and Ann. Mag, 

 Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, vol. vii., p. 221. 



