VI. 

 KROPOTKIN'S "MUTUAL AID^ 



Lamarck was the first to present the theory 

 of Evolution in a thoroughly scientific man- 

 ner. Then Darwin discovered "the great prin- 

 ciple which rules the evolution of organisms" ; 

 the principle of "natural selection." Then 

 Weismann repudiated current ideas as to how 

 the fittest "arrived," or "originated," and pre- 

 sented in their place a theory of his own, 

 which is still under discussion. DeVries 

 raised the question as to whether new spe- 

 cies "arrive" by a gradual accumulation of 

 tiny changes, or by sudden leaps — muta- 

 tions — and demonstrated the latter by his 

 experiments with the evening primrose. 



And now comes Kropotkin with the ques- 

 tion, "Who are the fittest?" What constitutes 

 the fitness, which makes for survival? Are 

 those organisms the fittest which are con- 

 stantly waging a war of extermination against 

 every other organism in the struggle for ex- 

 istence, or, are those the fittest which co- 

 operate with each other in the preservation of 

 the common life of all? 



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