NATURAL SELECTION 51 



the experience which brought belief in it was that 

 mainly of the naturalist, and the strongest con- 

 fidence in the abiding truth of a theory was gained 

 by those whose imagination had been inspired by 

 it. Every verified prediction made by the light 

 of natural selection placed the theory upon a more 

 secure foundation. That foundation had been 

 growing more secure for nearly half a century; 

 but, as Prof. Poulton showed in conclusion, that 

 increasing confidence was not so much due to the 

 facts which were the province of the anatomist as 

 those which formed the every-day experience of 

 the naturalist, of the man who studied animal 

 form and change and instinct, not in relation to 

 the single individual or the single species, but in 

 relation to the whole environment, and especially 

 the living environment. That kind of study did 

 not appeal to Huxley's nature, and therefore the 

 confidence in natural selection, of which the lec- 

 turer had spoken, was not for him ; but those who 

 felt it should never forget how much they owed 

 to Huxley for the leading part he took in the great 

 battles which had to be fought before evolution 

 and natural selection were accorded a fair hear- 

 ing ; and his success went far beyond even those 

 issues. Whatever stirring and subversive ideas 

 the future might be preparing for us, we might be 

 sure that they would never suffer from the treat- 

 ment accorded to the " Origin of Species," and 

 far more than to any other single man the world 

 owed that immense gain to Thomas Henry 

 Huxley. 



