io A GREAT CONFESSION CHAP. 



know to what else we can attribute the 

 long slender legs and bodies of grey- 

 hounds so manifestly adapted to speed 

 of foot, or the delicate powers of smell 

 in pointers and setters, or a dozen other 

 cases of modified structure effected by 

 artificial selection. 



But the most remarkable feature in 

 the elaborate argument of Mr. Spencer 

 on this subject is its complete irrelevancy. 

 Natural selection is an elastic formula 

 under which this new "factor" may be 

 easily comprehended. In truth the 

 whole argument raised in favour of 

 structural modification arising out of 

 functional use and disuse, is an argument 

 which implies that Mr. Spencer has not 

 himself entirely shaken off that interpre- 

 tation of natural selection which he is 

 disputing. He treats it as if it were the 

 definite expression of some true physical 

 and efficient cause, to which he only 



