THE LIVING STRUCTURES 169 



ings. Where does the chance theory of natural selection 

 and survival of the fittest of the evolutionist come in here? 

 That theory claims that everything- came to be as it is 

 by accidental variations beneficial to the being, that is to 

 say, every beneficial variation would make him the fittest 

 in the struggle for existence, and he would by reason of 

 such beneficial variation survive and perpetuate his kind. 

 However, in this case, as in all of the cases I have exam- 

 ined, the variations would not be of any benefit until the 

 structure towards which the variations tended was com- 

 pleted and in working order. No chance variation could 

 ever have produced this fly trap. Any variations or acci- 

 dental changes in the leaves of the plant could never have 

 produced the fly trap and could not have been a beneficial 

 variation until the fly trap was completed, but on the 

 other hand, rather an injury. It is true, of course, that in 

 the struggle for existence between individuals, the best 

 one will win, but that does not prove or in any way show 

 how those individuals came to be. For instan'ce two 

 battleships meet out at sea in mortal combat, the best ship 

 will likely win out and will be left to produce more ships 

 of a like kind but it does not show in any way who pro- 

 duced the ships. What I want to get clear is this, that 

 the survival of the fittest theory is only an incident that 

 determines as between two individuals who shall live, as 

 there is not room for both, but it does not show the cause 

 of the existence of these individuals. With the micro- 

 scope that we now have, we can see what the cause is, 

 and who are the builders of all those living things we 

 call plants and animals, and it seems to me that it is time 

 to get down to facts and admit the truth as far as we can 

 see it. What process of development took place in the 

 past ages to produce the cell we have today, is another 

 question. How the primordial cell of which the cell is 



