TRANSMUTABLE. 71 



necessary for the red clover to have a shorter 

 corolla, so that the pollen might be conveyed 

 for the purposes of fertilization from flower to 

 flower, and this would be done by "natural 

 selection." 



And, "as modern geology has almost banished 

 such views as the excavation of a great valley 

 by a single diluvial wave, so will natural selec- 

 tion, if it be a true principle, banish the belief 

 of the continued creation of new organic beings, 

 or of any great and sudden modification in their 

 structure." (Page 96.) 



Now, I think the reader will have no difficulty 

 in clearly understanding what Mr. Darwin means 

 by "natural selection." From the above extracts 

 it is quite unmistakable that he means, by 

 variation, an accidental variation in structure. 

 My previous arguments must, I think, have 

 proved this indirectly. We now have it in his 

 own words. If this accidental variation is of 

 importance to the animal, then, by mere "brute 

 force" it obtains the mastery over other species 

 not born with this abnormity, and transmits 

 its superiority to its descendants. The change 

 is assumed to have been going on for "thou- 

 sands of generations," until "natural selection" 

 separates it from its brethren, and in due 

 course of time produces a new species, genus, 

 family, order, class. 



It is impossible to conceive anything more vague 

 or improbable than all this. What a bungle it 

 makes of creation. A fortunate beetle grows in 



