ANALYTICAL CONTENTS 



possibility of use-inheritance But in Weismann's earlier and more 

 consistent views, founded on by Mr. Kidd, amphimixis is the only 

 cause of variation Extrusion of one of the " polar bodies " securing (?) 

 non-identity of all offspring of same pair Permutations and com- 

 binations of qualities of unicellular organisms Nature selecting fittest 

 adults, and in them best germ plasm Parable of the suckers Of the 

 Nile No new quality arises, but amount of each telling quality in- 

 creases Qualities arose originally, Lamarck fashion, from environ- 

 ment, when unicellular life lay open to its pressure Unicellular 

 organisms (propagating by fission) and germ plasm are potentially 

 immortal Correlation alleged between sex and (natural) death ; now 

 sex is absent from the unicellular world Natural selection might 

 account for the predominance (if not origin) of sex if Weismann would 

 assume the necessary competition Romanes alleges that natural 

 selection might account for predominance of habit of dying natural 

 death ; but would not death by violence sufficiently prevent any race 

 (immersed in the struggle) from falling into wholesale decrepitude ? 

 Origin of sex and death a mystery ; or " chance " variation ! or 

 effect of molecular constitution of germ plasm ! Weismann's appeal 

 to " natural selection," while he denies " struggle," is metaphysical 

 in the worst sense Recapitulation, and note of some of Weismann's 

 changes of opinion before 1893 Especially this change : ENVIRON- 

 MENT MAY DO SOMETHING TO MODIFY GERM PLASM ! Making true 



use - inheritance conceivable, though not inevitable Mr. Kidd is 

 anachronous Panmixia, the absence of natural selection, is held to 

 involve indefinite retrogression ; important ; questionable. 



CHAPTER XIX 



HYPER-DARWINISM IN SOCIOLOGY: STRUGGLE MADE ABSOLUTE 



MR. KIDD 



Resemblance to Comte Intenser emphasis on biology [cf. Mr. Platt- 

 Ball] (1) Panmixia = degeneration is inconsistent with dreams of 

 socialism or of final balance Selfishness, however, may not care for 

 remote consequences [Ought Panmixia further to imply extinction?] 

 Also, social " statics " are blotted out And evolution becomes almost 

 identical with progress Could not Mr. Kidd save many essential 

 positions without this assumption? (2) Next, if progress implies 

 struggle And selfish reason makes unwilling to struggle for good of 

 the race, supernatural counterpoise of religion must help, as hitherto 



