8o FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION, 



a long ancestral history. Their bodies are full of con- 

 cessions to environment, and their functions are all in 

 the line of obedience to those conditions in life in which 

 their ancestors have been thrown. 



We recognise that man is the highest in structure 

 among living beings. This fact implies that in his phys- 

 ical structure are the greatest concessions to environ- 

 ment. In his functions the most perfect obedience is 

 made possible. His power of choice among competing 

 lines of action but emphasizes the need of choosing the 

 best action. The best action is the safe action — safe 

 for the individual, safe for the species, for only those 

 races survive who care for their young as they care for 

 themselves. 



The greatness of the human intellect depends on the 

 progressive concessions to environment by which the 

 human brain through the ages has been gradually 

 built up. 



III. Individuality. — No two organisms are exactly 

 alike. There is in each individual of whatever species 

 " a divine initiative " which prevents it from being the 

 slavish copy of any which have gone before. The " sur- 

 vival of the fittest " rests on the existence of different 

 degrees and kinds of fitness. This it is the part of the 

 laws of variation to produce. Every step in divergence 

 or specialization gives room for more life. The abun- 

 dance of life is dependent upon its variety. Thus the 

 world is never full, for there is always room for organ- 

 isms better or differently adapted to each set of its 

 varied conditions. The arrangement of double parent- 

 age tends to promote variety in life. Each new indi- 

 vidual has all the ancestors of its father as well as all 

 those of its mother, and with each one these are brought 

 into new combinations. The process of amphimixis, the 

 mingling of the hereditary characters of the two germ 



I' 

 I 



