138 HUMANISM 



VIII 



leaves unexplained the main point, the very point it was 

 invented to explain, viz. Organic Evolution itself. That 

 may seem a startling statement when one remembers that 

 what led Darwin to propound his theory was precisely 

 the evidence for Organic Evolution, the evidence of the 

 descent of the existing forms of life from widely different 

 ancestors. Yet the statement is made under a due sense 

 of responsibility and with a full intention of proving it. 



Darwin put forward his theory as an account of the 

 origin of species it is asserted that there is nothing in 

 that theory in itself to account for the origination of 

 species. At least, in the sense that Darwinism formulates 

 causes which would logically lead to the evolution of new 

 forms of life. The Darwinian factors only state certain 

 conditions under which organisms have evolved, but they 

 contain nothing that would necessarily cause them to 

 evolve. They simply state that Natural Selection is a 

 general condition under which all life exists, whether it 

 evolves or not. It is equally applicable to species which 

 change and species which do not. Every form of life is 

 continually subject to the action of Natural Selection, 

 weeding out the notfit and promoting the survival of the 

 fit. But it does not follow that any particular form of 

 life will be transformed. The conditions of success may 

 be so various and so variable that on the whole no 

 possible variation can obtain the victory over any other, 

 and as a whole the species remains as it was. Let us 

 illustrate the way in which a species under natural 

 selection may yet persist unchanged. Suppose there is 

 in a definite area an animal, say an anemone, which has 

 a certain range of temperature and is variable, so that 

 while the mass of the species is violet, it tends to vary in 

 the direction both of blue and of red. Suppose, further, 

 that the blue variety can stand the cold best and the red 

 the heat, while the violet is intermediate in these respects. 

 Now suppose a succession of unusually cold seasons. 

 Clearly the blue anemones will flourish at the expense of 

 the violet, and the red will nearly die out. Next suppose 

 a succession of warm seasons ; clearly the red will recover 



