NATURAL SELECTION 



as a chief cause of adaptive change, the illustri- 

 ous naturalist not only left the causes of vege- 

 table variation unexplained, but even in the 

 zoological department laid open the way for 

 malicious misrepresentations which the unin- 

 structedzeal of theological adversaries has gladly 

 transferred to the account of Mr. Darwin. Some 

 time ago a clergyman in New York, lecturing 

 about Darwinism, sarcastically alluded to " the 

 bear which took to swimming, and so became a 

 whale." Had this worthy person condescended 

 to study the subject about which he thought 

 himself fit to enlighten the public, he would 

 soon have discovered that his funny remark is 

 not even a parody upon any opinion held by 

 Mr. Darwin. In so far as it is applicable to any 

 opinion ever held by a scientific writer, it may 

 perhaps be accepted as a parody, though at best 

 a very far-fetched and feeble one, of the hypo- 

 thesis of Lamarck. 



It is now time to explain what the Darwinian 

 theory is. At the outset we may observe that 

 while it is a common error to speak of Mr. 

 Darwin as if he were the originator of the de- 

 rivation theory, the opposite error is not un- 

 frequently committed of alluding to him as if 

 he had contributed nothing to the establishment 

 of that theory save the doctrine of natural se- 



physically, as the continuous manifestation of an <* inherent 

 tendency " toward perfection. 



9 



