et hnbecitlitate Darwiniana. 41 



its possessor the qualification of being fittest 

 in every struggle, and decisively to determine 

 his survival in all struggles throughout life 

 (against all other contingencies or endow- 

 ments whatever), and then, notwithstanding 

 intercrossing (which is quietly disregarded), 

 to be handed down to his descendants, and 

 necessarily determine their survival in the 

 same way, in scecula scsculorum^ increasing 

 like a snowball as it rolls on, till ultimately, 

 after aeons of survival determined by the 

 infinitesimal, there arises a new organic and 

 specific form the spider, for example. Poor 

 little arachnid ! how did you manage to sur- 

 vive during all those aeons while your organs 

 were ' accumulating ' ? And what were you 

 like? And were the flies, your future prey, 

 'accumulating'' along parallel lines, so as to 

 be ready to jump into your web exactly 

 when it was made ? What an astounding 

 coincidence ! Yet there is something still 



