SELECTION 443 



evolution has chiefly been brought about, Prof. Arthur O. 

 Lovejoy (1909, p. 93) writes: "The doctrine of natural 

 selection represents Nature as a scene of monstrous waste 

 and of universal conflict, a veritable helium omnium contra 

 omnes. It pictures the teeming Universal Mother as reck- 

 less in the production of aspirants for life, but strangely 

 parsimonious in her provision of the means of maintaining 

 life, leaving to every one of the hungry children at her 

 board only the privilege of snatching the food of his neigh- 

 bours, only the grim alternative of destroying or being de- 

 stroyed." . . . We quote this as typical of common carica- 

 tures, not as representing Professor Lovejoy's own picture of 

 Natural Selection. There is a tendency to exaggerate the 

 destructiveness and instability of wild nature. Apart from 

 man's interference, which is quite per se, cases of rapid 

 disappearance of species, as in the Passenger Pigeon, are 

 rare, and are very puzzling. What is impressive is the Live- 

 and-let-Live equilibrium, the stability of species. Mr. F. 

 C. S. Schiller writes that " Every species is in constant 

 danger of extinction ", but one would like to have the evi- 

 dence for such a statement. The fact is, that many species 

 have attained to positions of extraordinary stability and 

 security. 



4. Changes in Selection Theory since Darwin's Day. 



It would be ominous if the theory of Natural Selection 

 stood to-day as it did in Darwin's lifetime. Emendations 

 have been made and saving-clauses have been added, and 

 while extreme critics hold that the theory has been dis- 

 credited, this conclusion is largely due, we think, to taking 

 the theory in a wooden way and failing to realise its full 

 significance. Before we consider typical criticisms, it will 



