280. LIFE AND HABIT. 



I shall call the reader's attention presently — a larger 

 number of similarly varying creatures made their ap- 

 pearance at the same time than there seems sufficient 

 reason to anticipate, if the variations can be called for- 

 tuitous. 



" There would," continues Mr. Darwin, " indeed be 

 force in Mr. Mivart's objection if we were to attempt 

 to account for the above resemblances, independently 

 of 'natural selection/ through mere fluctuating varia- 

 bility j but as the case stands, there is none." 



This comes to" saying that, if there was no power in 

 nature which operates so that of all the many fluctu- 

 ating variations, those only are preserved which tend 

 to the resemblance which is beneficial to the creature, 

 then indeed there would be difficulty in understanding 

 how the resemblance could have come about ; but that 

 as there is a beneficial resemblance to start with, and as 

 there is a power in nature which would preserve and 

 accumulate further beneficial resemblance, should it 

 arise from this cause or that, the difficulty is removed. 

 But Mr. Mivart does not, I take it, deny the existence 

 of such a power in nature, as Mr. Darwin supposes, 

 though, if I understand him rightly, he does not see 

 that its operation upon small fortuitous variations is at 

 all the simple and obvious process, which on a super- 

 ficial view of the case it would appear to be. He thinks — 

 and I believe the reader will agree with him — that this 

 process is too slow and too risky. What he wants to 

 know is, how the insect came even rudely to resemble 

 the object, and how, if its variations are indefinite, we 

 are ever to get into such a condition as to be able to 



