32 ORGANIC EVOLUTION 



CHAPTER V 



THE FACTOES OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION- 

 NATURAL SELECTION 



Natural selection, or the principle of the survival 

 of the fittest, takes precedence of all the other 

 factors of organic evolution, by reason of its potency. 

 It may therefore be considered first, though its re- 

 cognition by no means marks the first epoch in 

 evolutionary thought. Exactly how 'potent it is we 

 must later consider. 



Centuries before Christ, Empedocles had sug- 

 gested that, of the atoms conceived by his master 

 Democritus, some would nicely harmonise with 

 their conditions, whilst others would not. The 

 former would persist or " survive," the latter would 

 disappear. The same idea occurred in the early years 

 of the nineteenth century, independently, to Dr. Wells 

 and to Matthew Hay — in their case in reference not 

 to atoms but organisms. In 1851 Spencer ex- 

 pressed the same idea in his " Social Statics " — this 

 time in reference neither to atoms nor organisms 

 but to societies. In spite of the assertions com- 

 monly made by interested writers, the idea does 

 not occur in Cardinal Newman's " Essay on the 

 Development of Christian Doctrine," which I have 

 read for the purpose of deciding this point. Thus 

 the reason why " the evolutionists have never had 

 the honesty to acknowledge their indebtedness to 

 Newman " is that there is no debt to acknowledge. 



