THE PROBLEM STATED J 



The term " natural selection," applied by Mr. Darwin to his 

 theory of evolution, is in itself a highly expressive designation. It 

 indicates an analogy with that process of " selection " whereby man 

 chooses the animals he intends to breed from. As by human 

 agency, the special features of any given race may be brought to the 

 front in the progeny, or as other characteristics may similarly be 

 obliterated by gradual changes in the appearance, size, colour, and 

 structure of the animal and plant units, so it is contended an analo- 

 gous principle that of "natural selection" is traceable in the world 

 around us. This process naturally tends to effect in nature the same 

 or allied variations in species which man produces for a given end. 

 In this view, natural selection is simply the natural result of a series 

 of interactions between animal and plant life and its surroundings ; 

 and the gist of the process may be summed up in the statement that 

 in the process of selection the weeded- out units die off, whilst the 

 " selected " and stronger units, coming to the front, perpetuate their 

 race, and thus tend, through their superiority and strength, to evolve 

 new races and species. 



It is an easy matter to summarise, in a series of propositions, the 

 chief data upon which Mr. Darwin's theory rests. These proposi- 

 tions are as follows : 



Firstly. Every species of animals and plants tends to vary to a 

 greater or less degree from the specific type. No two indi- 

 viduals are alike in every respect; each inherits from its 

 parents a general likeness or resemblance to the species, 

 whilst it tends at the same time to diverge from the parental 

 form. 



Secondly. These variations are capable of being transmitted to 

 offspring ; in other words, by natural laws of inheritance, the 

 variations of the parents appear in the progeny along with 

 the natural characters of the species. This much is proved 

 in the " artificial selection " by man, for breeding, of those 

 animals whose characters it is desired should be transmitted 

 to offspring. 



Thirdly. More animals and plants are produced than can pos- 

 sibly survive. Each species tends to increase in geometrical 

 progression, and all the individuals produced could not find 

 food, or even surface-area whereon to dwell. 



Fourthly. The world itself (i.e. the surroundings of animals and 

 plants) is continually undergoing alteration and change, 

 represented by climatal variation, the rising and sinking of 

 land, &c. 



Fifthly. There ensues a " struggle for existence " on the part of 



