The Making of Species 



Few animals possess all these characteristics 

 in a pre-eminent degree, for, to use the words of 

 Mr Thompson Seton, " Every animal has some 

 strong point or it could not live, and some weak 

 point or the other animals could not live." 

 Courage may be of two kinds active courage, 

 like that of the Englishman, or passive courage, 

 like that of the Jew. 



As D. Dewar has said : In the struggle for 

 existence, "An ounce of good solid pug- 

 nacity is worth many pounds of protective 

 colouration." 



It is of course possible for an animal to possess 

 too much courage. An excessive amount of 

 courage will often cause a creature to fight 

 unnecessary battles, which may lead to its pre- 

 mature death. This is perhaps the reason why 

 the pugnacious black form of the leopard is not 

 more numerous. 



Under a good constitution we must include 

 the power of resisting the rigours of climate, 

 more especially damp, the ability to resist 

 disease, and the enjoyment of a good digestion. 

 When from any cause the normal food of a 

 species becomes scarce, the members of that 

 species will have to starve or supplement the 

 normal diet with food of an unusual nature ; and 

 those that are endowed with a good digestion 

 will be able to digest the new food and thus 

 survive, while those which cannot assimilate food 



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