X OBITUARY 287 



cqnviction by observing that although the 

 " Origin " has been close on thirty years before the 

 world, the strangest misconceptions of the 

 essential nature of the theory therein advocated 

 are still put forth by serious writers. 



Although, then, the present occasion is not 

 suitable for any detailed criticism of the theory, or 

 of the objections which have been brought against 

 it, it may not be out of place to endeavour to 

 separate the substance of the theory from its 

 accidents ; and to show that a variety not only of 

 hostile comments, but of friendly would-be im- 

 provements lose their raison d'etre to the careful 

 student. Observation proves the existence among 

 al] living beings of phenomena of three kinds, de- 

 noted by the terms heredity, variation, and multi- 

 plication. Progeny tend to resemble their parents ; 

 nevertheless all their organs and functions are sus- 

 ceptible of departing more or less from the average 

 parental character ; and their number is in excess 

 of that of their parents. Severe competition for 

 the means of living, or the struggle for existence, 

 is a necessary consequence of unlimited multipli- 

 cation ; while selection, or the preservation of 

 favourable variations and the extinction of others, 

 is a necessary consequence of severe competition. 

 " Favourable variations " are those which are 

 better adapted to surrounding conditions. It 



same opinion. Sir J. Hooker writes, " It is the very hardest 

 book to read, to full profit, that I ever tried." (II. p. 242.) 



