MENDELISM 233 



natural selection. Consequently, any new characters 

 found in animals or plants must be supposed to be of 

 some definite use to the individual, otherwise it could 

 not have developed through the action of natural selection. 

 But there are plenty of characters to which it is exceed- 

 ingly difficult to ascribe any utility, and the ingenuity 

 of the supporters of this view has often been severely 

 taxed to account for their existence. On the more 

 modern view this difficulty is avoided. The origin of a 

 new variation is independent of natural selection, and 

 provided that it is not directly harmful, there is no reason 

 why it should not persist. In this way we are released 

 from the burden of discovering a utilitarian motive 

 behind all the multitudinous characters of living organ- 

 isms. For we now recognise that the function of natural 

 selection is selection and not creation. It has nothing 

 to do with the formation of the new variation. It merely 

 decides whether it is to survive or to be eliminated " 

 (Punnett). 



You will now, I hope, have grasped how fundamental 

 has been the change in our conception of the evolutionary 

 process in consequence of the acceptance of the Mendelian 

 principles. Time will not permit mer to go into further 

 detail on the subject, but I would remind you that on 

 these principles rest the new sciences of Genetics and 

 Eugenics, and recommend you to study Punnett's little 

 work on Mendelism for yourselves. The books and 

 papers quoted therein will guide you in your further 

 investigations into this most interesting and important 

 department of biological science. 



