io6 THEORIES OF EVOLUTION 



useful to the possessor in the struggle, or to have been 

 useful at some time in its history. 



We are only required, however, to prove utility as 

 regards undoubted characters of the species, and these 

 are hereditary, and we must put on one side certain 

 characters which are confined to the individual in which 

 they appear. For instance, if it were proved that the 

 Mollusca of any one river differed from those of the same 

 species in another river, but that the differences were 

 confined to the individuals in which they occurred, so 

 that if these Mollusca were placed when young in the 

 second river, they would come to resemble those which 

 were proper to it, then we should not be concerned with 

 characters of the species at all. The language spoken 

 by a nation similarly is not a character of the human 

 species, for we know that a child of another nation would 

 acquire it perfectly, together with the particular modes 

 of thought and expression, tortuous or direct, which are 

 associated with it. These results of environment are not 

 characters of the human species. The individuals of the 

 human species come into the world with a certain 

 elasticity, a certain power of being developed in various 

 directions. But although the elasticity itself is a character 

 of the species, and is inherent, the particular quality in 

 which it may result when developed by environment is 

 certainly not a specific character. 



The more we study the characters of animals in 

 general, even though we at first can see no utility, the 

 more we come to admit this principle, and to believe that 

 either now or in some past time, the characters have been 

 useful. I can certainly say of many characters which 

 I have studied in some of my investigations, that at first 

 they seemed to be meaningless, but afterwards appeared 

 to be of much importance in the struggle for existence. 

 I think we may safely assume with regard to many 

 characters of which we can now see no explanation that 

 ultimately the explanation will be forthcoming. 



Being unable to prove utility does not invalidate 

 Natural Selection. If inutility could be proved for any 

 large class of characters, the theory would certainly be 



