66 NO STRUGGLE NO SELECTION 



and live, by far the greater number of those that 

 are born must in each generation perish before they 

 propagate their kind ; and especially must this be 

 the case with prolific species. 



As the closest observation did not reveal to Darwin 

 in what manner those who are born in each genera- 

 tion perish to such a degree as to leave only one 

 pair to succeed each pair of parents, he conceived 

 that it was inaccessible to observation ; and therefore 

 had recourse to abstract principles to explain it. 



The individuals of a species differ from each other 

 by the particular variations with which Nature has 

 endowed them. The great end of each individual 

 in the universal food struggle being to get food and 

 live, those who are endowed with variations that 

 enable them to get the better of the rest of their 

 kind in the matter of procuring food will be the 

 survivors: &\Y the rest perish from being less 

 effectively varied. Being less strong, or less cunning, 

 or less dexterous in hunting, they, being the weaker, 

 to use the current phrase, go to the wall and perish. 

 " Can we doubt," asks Darwin, " (remembering that 

 many more individuals are born than can possibly 

 survive), that individuals having any advantage, how- 

 ever slight, over others, would have the best chance 

 of surviving and of procreating their kind ? " 



According to Darwin, there are three kinds of 

 individual variations : first, the advantageous, that 

 procure survival for those that possess them ; second, 

 the injurious, which work to the elimination of their 



