The Making of Species 



inorganic environments fall together into a 

 natural arrangement and receive a common 

 explanation " (p. 228). 



To reasoning of this description there is an 

 obvious reply. Even if it be granted that the 

 alternatives to the theory of natural selection 

 as set forth by Professor Poulton are untenable, 

 it does not follow that natural selection affords 

 an adequate explanation. If A, B, C and D are 

 charged with theft and the prosecutor proves 

 that neither A nor B nor C committed the theft, 

 this will not suffice to secure the conviction of 

 D. It is quite possible that a fifth person, E, may 

 be the culprit. 



Much of the popularity of the theory of natural 

 selection is due to the fact that biologists have 

 not yet been able to discover a substitute for it. 



It seems to us that the proper method of 

 making progress in science is not to bolster up 

 natural selection by ingenious speculations, but to 

 look around for other hitherto undiscovered 

 causes. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE THEORY THAT THE SO- 

 CALLED CASES OF MIMICRY OWE THEIR 

 ORIGIN TO NATURAL SELECTION j 



It is obvious that for one creature to resemble 

 another can be of little or no benefit to either 

 until the resemblance is tolerably close. It is, 



232 



