THE PARALLEL GROWTH OF OPPOSITES 23 



a structure as a point of departure in considering the manner 

 of its origin ; for, though we can see that it is, or may be, 

 useful, yet a little reflection will show that it is, or may be, 

 harmful ; but whether on the whole it is useful or on the 

 whole harmful can only be guessed at. It thus happens 

 that we can only get an indefinite knowledge of adaptation, 

 which, for the purpose of our problem, is not an advance 

 beyond the original knowledge that organisms are all more 

 or less adapted to their circumstances. 



In other words, no special adaptation can be used as evi 

 dence of a higher or lower degree of general adaptation ; 

 and the general adaptation of a creature is the balance of 

 all the advantages and disadvantages of all its separate 

 organs, including some which appear to be altogether use 

 less, though they are not always, on that account, wholly 

 innocuous. 



What is true of single structures is equally true of general 

 conditions of life. The food of civilized nations is, no doubt, 

 more varied than that of a savage, but that is not without 

 corresponding drawbacks ; it implies more varied wants ; 

 and a simple diet is perhaps more conducive to health and 

 length of life. That it is more easily obtained is uncertain. 

 The natives of Otaheite, when Captain Cook visited them, 

 were better off in this respect than many more civilized 

 nations have been. Animals and the lower races of man 

 have no prerogative of famine. Every advance in personal 

 security brings with it overcrowding, and an increased 

 strain on the means of subsistence. These, again, are re 

 dressed by famine, war, disease, and pestilence. Artificial 

 checks are likely to be a worse remedy than those provided 

 by nature. They bring about a permanent degeneration 

 of character, whereas the others pass by, and may leave the 

 nation even stronger for what it has gone through. Sanguine 

 inventors tell us that the discovery and improvement of 

 explosives and engines of death will make war impossible : 

 but there are worse evils than war and a peace where it 

 would be easy for every man to take his neighbour s life, 

 or upset the social arrangements on which private and public 

 security depend, would be one of them. 



