Evohttion and its Consequences, 63 



* Every detail of structure in every living creature (making some little 

 allowance for the direct action of physical conditions) may be viewed 

 either as having been of special use to some ancestral form, or as 

 being now of special use to the descendants of this form — either 

 directly, or indirectly, through the complex laws of growth ; ' and ' if 

 it could be proved that any part of the structure of any one species 

 had been formed for the exclusive good of another species, it would 

 annihilate my theory, for such could not have been produced by 

 natural selection.' ^ 



Mr. Darwin, as I before ^ observed, could hardly have em- 

 ployed words by which more thoroughly to stake the whole of 

 his theory on the non-existence or non-action of causes of any 

 moment other than natural selection. For why should such 

 a phenomenon ' annihilate his theory ? ' Because the very 

 essence of his theory, as originally put forth, is to recognise 

 only the conservation of slight variations directly beneficial 

 to the creature presenting them, by enabling it to obtain food, 

 escape enemies, and propagate its kind. 



Such being the case, my first object, as I have before said, 

 was to show not only that ' natural selection ' is inadequate to 

 the task assigned it, but that there is much positive evidence 

 of the direct action both of external influences sufficient to 

 dominate and overpower in certain instances the ordinary 

 processes of ' natural selection,' and also of still more influen- 

 tial internal powers; moreover that these latter powers are 

 so efficient as to present themselves as probably the main 

 determining agent in specific evolution, although I admitted 

 that a certain subordinate action of natural selection plainly 

 obtained. 



The various arguments I advanced space does not allow 

 me here to reproduce, but referring to my book, I may point 

 out that therein I endeavoured to show : — 



1. That no mere survival of the fittest accidental varia- 

 tions can account for the incipient stages of structures useful 



1 Op. cit. p. 220. 2 gee ante, p. 4. 



