332 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



the county elevens of English cricketers. We shall have 

 a body of some hundreds of picked men, all of whom are 

 probably above the average as runners, are exceptionally 

 quick with eye and hand, and are all more or less active 

 and muscular. They vary, of course, in their special 

 capacities, whether as batters, bowlers, fielders, or wicket- 

 keepers, but it is certain that most of them would take a 

 high place in almost any form of athleticism to which 

 they chose to apply themselves. Yet these men would not 

 resemble each other closely in stature or proportions. We 

 should find among them tall and short, slender and stout ; 

 and among those of the same height proportions would 

 differ, some being long-legged, others short-legged, and 

 perhaps no two of the lot would be found to have exactly 

 the same proportions in all measurable parts of the body. 

 We are thus shown that a high average result of strength 

 and activity can be reached by very various combinations 

 of the bones and muscles of the limbs and other variable 

 parts, and we can hardly doubt that almost all of these 

 men could be rendered still more efficient cricketers or 

 athletes by some slight improvement in their organisation. 

 One would run better if his legs were longer, another 

 would throw and bowl better if his arms were shorter and 

 more muscular; and such changes would be effective 

 because these parts are now imperfectly co-ordinated with 

 the rest of the body. 



The considerations suggested by this illustrative case 

 immensely increase the facilities for the improvement of 

 any faculty required by natural selection, and they enable 

 us to understand the process by which both natural and 

 artificial selection have been able to modify the form and 

 qualities of so many animals. It is not, as Mr. Spencer's 

 argument assumes, by the selection of improvements in 

 any special bone, or muscle, or limb that these modifi- 

 cations have been effected, but by the selection of the 

 capacities or qualities resulting from the infinitely varied 

 combination of variations that are always occiirring. Horses 

 have been improved by preserving the swiftest for racing, 

 the strongest for the plough, and a combination of speed, 

 endurance, and jumping for the hunting field. Improved 



