CHAP, xvii METAPHYSICS OF NATURAL SELECTION 213 



not in animals but only in man that we are told of 

 an " arrest of the body." The old sort of struggle 

 continues in the higher brutes, and the old lines of 

 progress are prolonged. In one respect therefore 

 the old and the new forces, the slow and the swift, 

 are added to each other; in another respect, if 

 we look to the growth of intelligence alone, the 

 two forces must be said to blend. And the blend- 

 ing is in part an interference or a conflict. To a 

 certain extent, intelligence is so thoroughly novel 

 as to hamper its older comrade. If birds build 

 nests not by instinct but by teaching, stupid birds 

 which would otherwise have died off will learn the 

 essentials of life (like stupid men), and survive ! 

 So far, then, natural selection is thwarted. But only 

 so far. It is not until Intelligence has become 

 Reason that it proves strong enough to suspend 

 natural selection. Among the animals, struggle still 

 lasts, and the stupid bird will die out or " tend " to 

 die out in times of difficulty ; though it will not 

 vanish so promptly as it would have done if there 

 had been no intelligence in the case, and if natural 

 selection, or what is called natural selection, had 

 been lord of all. The intelligent race will gain 

 additional marks as against all non-intelligent races ; 

 within the intelligent race itself, the prize will still 

 go to the best to the cleverest or swiftest or 

 strongest. 



Can we finally decide whether or not we ought to 

 believe in A as an actual process ? Is there any 

 region in which " natural selection " acts alone ? Or 

 more broadly is it legitimate to regard natural 

 selection A as the great evolutionary force in nature? 



