DARWIN AND NATURAL SELECTION 55 



cestors of the modern giraffe had not yet acquired 

 that character, one of them had happened to have a 

 neck a few inches longer than that of its fellows, what 

 advantages could it have derived therefrom? 



It is possible, Darwin answers, that during dearths, 

 the aptitude to browse on higher branches may have 

 become a question of life or death. It is possible 

 also that an elongated neck, enabling the animal to 

 see at a great distance, may constitute a precious ad- 

 vantage, a protection against beasts of prey. A cer- 

 tain physical character may have many advantages 

 which we do not suspect. 



In his survey of possible objections to his theories, 

 Darwin clearly shows his desire to prove, not that the 

 various forms observable in the organic world are 

 due to natural selection rather than to any other fac- 

 tor, but that they may be descended from one an- 

 other. Darwin wishes above all to show that, how- 

 ever improbable certain details of his theory may 

 appear, the theory of the independent origin of every 

 species, due in every case to a special act of creation, 

 is still more incredible. The objections raised 

 against the theory of natural selection were to Dar- 

 win, and to almost everybody else at the time, the 

 very same objections which the partisans of the im- 

 mutability of species formulated against the theory 

 of descent. The issue was between immutability of 



