28 A GREAT CONFESSION CHAP. 



beast that lives in the forests of Mada- 

 gascar, and is very nicely fitted indeed 

 to prey upon certain larvae which burrow 

 up the pith of certain trees ? Here we 

 see examples of fitting in a sense as 

 purely mechanical as he could possibly 

 select from human mechanism. The 

 enormous ears are fitted to hear the 

 internal and smothered raspings of the 

 grub. The teeth are fitted for the work 

 of cutting-chisels, whilst one finger is 

 reduced to the dimension of a mere 

 probe, armed with a hooked claw to 

 extract the larvae. The fitting of this 

 finger-probe into the pith-tube of the 

 forest bough is precisely like the fitting 

 of a finger into a glove. It is strange 

 indeed that Mr. Spencer should deny 

 the applicability of the word fitness, in 

 its strictest " glove " sense, to adapta- 

 tions such as these. Yet he does 

 deny it in words emphatic and precise. 



