THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 39 



competition arises which must bring about the disap- 

 pearance of certain individuals less gifted than cer- 

 tain others. The same must happen in nature, Dar- 

 win thought. Many more beings are born every 

 minute than can ever survive, and those that survive 

 are the best fitted for life's requirements. 

 ^,,Ihis explained at last the mysterious adaptation of 

 all living things to their environment. We will con- 

 siderably enlarge elsewhere upon the mooted theory 

 of natural selection; for the present, we only desire to 

 show how anxious Darwin was to found his book on 

 solid evidence and to answer all questions which might 

 arise. 



We find in his book all the objections which he 

 could foresee at the time, presented with all their 

 weight and refuted by the help of all the data which 

 the various sciences could supply. Not only did he 

 peruse all the works likely to throw light upon these 

 questions, but he entered into personal relations with 

 scientists, physicians, breeders and horticulturists, 

 whose special observations could clear up some ob- 

 scure point. 



He was therefore able in his argumentation to re- 

 view all the generalisations of the various branches 

 of natural science and to remark that they all led to 

 the same conclusion: that the various species are 

 descended from one another throiighjsuccessive trans- 

 mutations. His main arguments were suggested to 





