COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



rived at ; " for the eyes of the higher insects, 

 which are excellent visual organs, differ very 

 widely in structure from those of the cuttle-fish 

 and the higher vertebrates. Here, therefore, 

 is a difficulty ; and it is still further increased 

 if the alleged fact be true, that there is a simi- 

 larly close correspondence between the auditory 

 structures in the vertebrates and in the cuttle- 

 fish. 



In presenting these difficulties I have closely 

 followed Mr. Mivart, whose scientific argu- 

 ments are usually stated with a clearness and 

 precision which one would gladly see paralleled 

 in the philosophic discussions by which they are 

 supplemented. I have selected these arguments 

 because they seem to me to constitute the 

 strongest portion of the case which Mr. Miv- 

 art has brought to bear against the theory of 

 natural selection — and also because by seeing 

 whither they tend, we shall begin to see how 

 the theory of natural selection must be sup- 

 plemented, before it can become a complete 

 explanation of the phenomena with which it 

 deals. 



Now we must at the outset admit that nat- 

 ural selection must act upon every individual 

 variation which is distinctly advantageous or in- 

 jurious to the species, — always preserving the 

 former and rejecting the latter. This process 

 must equally go on, whether the variation is a 



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