176 THE GROWTH OF GROUPS 



and of such a size as nearly to fit the bore of a gun. It 

 is evident that their requirements may or may not be 

 satisfied by searching among the pieces of clay, but 

 it is more likely that one of them would be satisfied than 

 both. Having obtained what they require, the selectors 

 may think that their wants were supplied by selection 

 from among things varying in all directions. 



Let us keep in mind that in the above case it would 

 be more likely for one selector to be satisfied than both 

 if their choice lay among a finite number of variable 

 things, and now let us discuss the supposed influence of 

 selection upon organism in nature. 



According to the selection theory there are in nature 

 an infinite variety (number of kinds) of natural selectors, 

 the conditions of life, to which organisms come to be 

 suited by selection. We may speak of the conditions of 

 life as so many separate natural selectors, for they are 

 usually known to us as distinct influences. For example, 

 a race comes under the influence of some disease or 

 predatory enemy, those of the race that are protected 

 by some accidental peculiarity will survive, being, so to 

 speak, selected for survival by the hostile influence. 

 Hence we may speak of the various conditions of life as 

 separate influences and compare them to the artificial 

 selectors in the above illustration. In nature, the 

 number of kinds of natural selectors is infinite, for any- 

 thing may happen to a race. We cannot think of the 

 possible conditions as limited in number. Each one of 

 this infinite number of selectors has its own special 

 requirement or adapted attribute ; just as the artificial 

 selectors required the one a cup, the other a sphere. It 

 cannot be denied that two selectors are less likely to be 



