• INTRODUCTION 



rect Equilibration," deals briefly with his view 

 of the range of effectiveness of " Natural Se- 

 lection," and in the second volume of the Bio- 

 logy (in a note to § 373, chapter xiii. of Part 

 VI.) Spencer states, in an interesting way, his 

 own view of his historical relation to the Dar- 

 winian doctrine regarding the selective factors 

 in the evolutionary process. 



In seeking for the distinctive features of 

 Fiske*s thought, we here need look no further, 

 in case of these chapters, into his relations to 

 the contemporary literature. His occasional use 

 of evolutionary illustrations derived from the 

 history of language is characteristic of his own 

 habits as a student. The philological theories 

 to which he appeals in a discussion of chapter ix. 

 have been, as I gather from hearsay, consid- 

 erably modified in the recent progress of the 

 Science of Language ; and Fiske would, if writing 

 at present, here revise some of his statements. 

 Throughout these chapters, as before, we find 

 Fiske frequently independent in the choice of 

 his illustrative material, even where he is ex- 

 pounding the theories of others. 



19. In chapter xii., on "Adjustment, Di- 

 rect and Indirect," Fiske makes a transition to 

 a closer relation to Spencer's distinctive views 

 of the nature of life, and of the factors of or- 

 ganic evolution. The transition is accomplished 

 Ixiv 



