36 A NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION. 



conclude that the brocade of the Duchess 

 was evolved from the mat of the savage 

 by selection, or by environment, or by 

 " spontaneous " variation. 



We know that for every new fabric and 

 every new pattern of the web, the ingenuity 

 of man had to devise a new combination of 

 force, or to prepare a different design. 



Again, as the foetus of the mammal ex- 

 hibits in its growth successive phases in 

 the evolution of life, so successive steps in 

 the evolution of the loom may be recognised 

 in the weaving of complicated fabrics. For 

 example, in manufacturing a damask table- 

 cloth, having a plain border surrounding a 

 twilled square with a pattern of flowers in 

 the centre, the loom weaves first the border 

 on the simple plan of crossed threads the 

 method of the primitive loom ; a develop- 

 ment is indicated in the weaving of the 

 outer portion of the square the threads 

 are crossed in a new fashion to throw up 

 a simple pattern and then a further stage 

 is exhibited in the centrepiece of flowers. 

 To change the centre pattern from flowers 

 to, say, shells, the same combinations that 

 wove the first and second stages of the 

 tablecloth with flowers, weave also the 

 same stages of that with the shell centre. 



