DETERMINATION OF WHAT THE DARWINIAN THEORY IS. 231 



slight variation profitable to some part of its economy ; 

 such will have a better chance of surviving, propa- 

 gating this variation, which again will be slowly increased 

 by the accumulative action of natural selection ; and 

 the variety thus formed will either coexist with, or more 

 commonly will exterminate its parent form : an organic 

 being like the woodpecker, or the misletoe, may thus 

 come to be adapted to a score of contingencies." What 

 is this but imagination reduplicated, and reduplicated into 

 an absolutely nth power, till no one can resist it, especially 

 those who, like Mr. Huxley, would smash to the earth 

 that stupid pulpit-business with the metalline dash of 

 " natural causation " ? 



From what precedes, we see that variations, diverging 

 into new " places," become, by natural selection, new 

 species. It may be well to illustrate from Mr. Darwin 

 himself this process of selection. " The very term 

 selection" he says once to Hooker (ii. 317), "implies 

 something, i.e. variation or difference, to be selected ; " and 

 at another time (iL 373) he lays stress to Asa Gray on 

 " the enormous field of variability which he sees ready for 

 selection to appropriate." But, perhaps, a single considera- 

 tion, and of two illustrations, the one by Mr. Darwin and 

 the other by Mr. Francis, will give sight final and 

 definitive of the whole theory. Mr. Darwin (ii. 320) 

 makes variations the materials for the formation of a 

 species, just as bricks or squared stones are the materials 

 for the formation of a building. As the peculiarity of 

 the materials, too, influence the building, so does that of 

 the variations influence the species. " Yet in the same 

 manner as the architect is the oft-important person in a 

 building, so is selection with organic bodies." That, then, 

 is plain ; as the architect makes a new building out of 

 stones, so selection makes a new species out of variatimis. 

 To Mr. Francis again (L 309, note): As the builder forms 



