HUXLEY AND NATURAL SELECTION. 131 



among the strongest utterances in favour of natural 

 selection to be found in the Collected Essays. At 

 the conclusion of the above-named essay {l. c, p. 223) 

 he states that it was clearly seen that — 



" if the explanation would apply to species, it would not only 

 solve the problem of their evolution, but that it would account 

 for the facts of teleology, as well as for those of morphology ; 



" How far ' natural selection ' suffices for the production of 

 species remains to be seen. Few can doubt that, if not the 

 whole cause, it is a very important factor in that operation ; 

 and that it must play a great part in the sorting out of 

 varieties into those which are transitory and those which are 

 permanent." 



The seventh essay, " The Coming of Age of * The 

 Origin of Species,' " was written in 1880. His com- 

 plete confidence in evolution, as shown in this essay, 

 may be contrasted with his cautious statements about 

 natural selection. He boldly affirms evolution to be 

 the fundamental doctrine of the " Origin of Species," 

 while natural selection is, I believe, neither men- 

 tioned nor even alluded to. On this great occasion 

 he thus emphasised the immense debt we owe to 

 Darwin in that he was the first to produce adequate 

 evidence in favour of the ancient doctrine of 

 evolution, a benefit quite distinct from that which 

 he conferred in the theory of natural selection 

 (see pp. 100-102). 



The following are among the most confident 

 statements about evolution to be found in this 

 essay. Speaking of the " Origin," he says (p. 229) :— 



