326 ADAPTIVENESS AND PURPOSIVENESS 



(1) The raw materials of adaptations are variations or 

 mutations the precious idiosyncrasies of structure and func- 

 tion that are continually cropping up, that keep the realm 

 of organisms on the move. Some of these variations may 

 be accidental and some necessitated, but of many, especially 

 those which may be called ' new departures ', all we can 

 say is that they arise, apparently from within the arcana 

 I of the germ-cells. They look like expressions of inherent 

 creative spontaneity, like experiments in self-expression. 

 And it must be remembered that a germ-cell is not an 

 ordinary cell, but a condensed implicit individuality, rich 

 in the gains of the past, rich in possibilities for the future, 

 a psycho-physical being telescoped down. In any case, 

 while our ignorance of the origin of variations remains, as 

 in Darwin's day, profound, there is no reason why the 

 argumentum ad ignorantiam should favour mechanistic in- 

 terpretation. The fact is that we cannot at present give 

 a mechanical account of the origin of the crop of variations 

 from which Nature's weeding removes the tares. We always 

 reckon without our host in Biology when we leave life out. 



(2) An important idea, which we cannot at present elab- 

 orate, is that the variations or new departures which take 

 hold must not be inconsistent with the already established 

 organic architecture. Just as the architect or the crystal 

 must build congruently, so the varying organism must not 

 contradict itself. The novelty must be in keeping or har- 

 mony with what has preceded, with what has already jus- 

 tified itself as fit. There are very few monsters to be seen 

 in wild Nature, for they express a contradiction in terms 

 and cannot live in natural conditions. Nay more, very 

 few monsters ever appear in wild Nature, for the germ-cell 

 must be a viable unity, and even in its experiments it is 



