522 EVOLUTION 



number of elephants in the world remains practically the same, 

 many nmst perish for every one that survives. 



Survival of the Fittest. — If only a few of the vast number of 

 living things which come into the world survive, then the ques- 

 tion as to what individuals survive arises. Darwin's answer 

 is that the survivors are those individuals having those varia- 

 tions which adjust them most perfectly to their surroundings. 

 Thus a vigorous growing plant will soon get out of the shade of 

 its neighbors and will also get a larger proportion of the water 

 and mineral substances of the soil. It will therefore succeed in 

 crowding out the less vigorous plants around it. Also the 

 plant that succeeds in developing the best protective structures 

 against drought, heat, bright sunshine, or animals will have an 

 advantage over the less fortunate ones, and will therefore sur- 

 vive while the others perish. The better adaptation may be 

 in the production of more seeds, in better methods of dissemi- 

 nating the seeds, or in numerous other ways. Among animals 

 the strongest, fleetest, most cunning, or best equipped for 

 fighting are the fittest and survive to the expense of those not 

 so well equipped for the struggle. To this process of natural 

 selection Herbert Spencer applied the phrase " survival of the 

 fittest." It is obvious, however, that this process in nature is 

 more a rejection of the unfit than a selection of the fit, and it 

 has been suggested that " natural rejection " would be a more 

 appropriate phrase for the process than " natural selection." 

 The rejection of the unfit makes room for the fit to live and 

 perpetuate their variations through offspring. 



Although the variations which are useful may be slight at 

 first, through successive generations of selection Darwin as- 

 sumed that they become more marked and finally new char- 

 acters are established and thus new species formed. Of course 

 there are many variations which are neither of advantage nor of 

 disadvantage to the individual. According to Darwin only 

 those variations that are of advantage or disadvantage to the 

 individual are affected by natural selection. 



Objections to Darwinism. — Darwin's theory aroused bitter 

 antagonism among theologians because they thought it ehmi- 

 nated God from the plan of Creation. Darwin was even accused 

 of teaching that man descended from monkeys. But Dar- 

 win's theory neither eliminates God nor does it teach that man 



