DETERMINATION OF WHAT THE DARWINIAN THEORY IS. 225 



turned to a new account. This is an action on the pa]-t 

 of nature, and it is evidently selection. Nature selects 

 a variation, and turns it to her own service. It is this 

 selection that is the secret of the general idea. The 

 variation is but Nature's opportunity: how she lays 

 hands on it, that is the punctum vitale of the whole 

 business. It may be that nature will not step in on the 

 first, or the second, or any assignable, variation. Never- 

 theless, it cannot but be that every variation will tend 

 to alter the bearing of an organism to existence will 

 tend to realise itself as the first step to a new mutual 

 relation. A variation is but a new cue, a new sign to 

 nature to come hither and catch on. 



But all here is natural the whole process is natural. 

 The variation is natural, and the turning of it to use is 

 natural Generally, it comes to this, then : In the 

 infinitude of time, variations will, in organism aft^r 

 organism, eventually arise such as necessarily involve 

 the taking on of a new relation with nature, or with 

 some one, or some several, of the factors of its habitat 

 and environment in nature. But new relations are new 

 powers: and organisms with new powers are new species. 

 Infinite time means infinite variations. Infinite varia- 

 tions mean infinite new relations. Infinite new relations 

 mean infinite new species. 



Mr. Darwin's own words are required to substantiate 

 these statements ; and none such can more authoritat- 

 ively or explicitly be found than in the passages (Life 

 and Letters, i. 82-84, and ii. 120-125) which arc, 

 respectively, Mr. Darwin's own account of the \vh<>l<> 

 matter to his children, and the writing to Asa Cmy. 

 chosen by Mr. Darwin himself, to be laid before the 

 Linnean Society as representative of his views, on the 

 occasion of the reference to Mr. Wallace. These will 

 be taken up point by point in the sequel ; and iu 

 '5 



