Alfred Russel Wallace 



of unfavourable variations, in which case it is equiva- 

 lent to '^ survival of the fittest"; (2) for the effect or 

 change produced by this preservation, as when you say, 

 ^' To sum up the circumstances favourable or unfavourable 

 to natural selection," and, again, ^* Isolation, also, is an 

 important element in the process of natural selection " : 

 here it is not merely ^' survival of the fittest," but change 

 produced by survival of the fittest, that is meant. On look- 

 ing over your fourth chapter, I find that these alterations 

 of terms can be in most cases easily made, while in some 

 cases the addition of ^^ or survival of the fittest " after 

 '^natural selection" would be best; and in others, less 

 likely to be misunderstood, the original term might stand 

 alone. 



I could not venture to propose to any other person so 

 great an alteration of terms, but you, I am sure, will give 

 it an impartial consideration, and, if you really think the 

 change will produce a better understanding of your work, 

 will not hesitate to adopt it. It is evidently also necessary 

 not to personify *^ nature " too much, though I am very 

 apt to do it myself, since people will not understand that 

 all such phrases are metaphors. Natural Selection is, 

 when understood, so necessary and self-evident a principle 

 that it is a pity it should be in any way obscured; and it 

 therefore oc€urs to me that the free use of ^' survival of 

 the fittest," which is a compact and accurate definition of 

 it, would tend much to its being more widely accepted and 

 prevent its being so much misrepresented and misunder- 

 stood. 



There is another objection made by Janet which is also 

 a very common one. It is that the chances are almost in- 

 finite against the particular kind of variation required 

 being coincident with each change of external conditions, 

 to enable an animal to become modified by Natural Selec- 



173 



