ADAPTATION AND SELECTION IN NATURE. 109 



is best," and it has a flavonr of optimism which Mr. Spencer 

 claims is an essential ingi-edient in his philosophy of 

 evolution. 



It is evident, then, tliat a somewhat amended dictionary is 

 required, if one is to explain at all accnvately the subject- 

 matter of much of the writings of evolutionists, and it is not 

 the least of their claims to be heard that they have dared, 

 and successfully, to twist the meanings of three or four 

 "well-known words to their pm'poses of conveying a certain 

 line of thought, and the meanings are now generally under- 

 stood. One has no right to complain of this, and the Duke 

 of Argyll's protest was of too academic a character to weigh 

 Avith the scientific world, and accordingly it fell somewhat 

 flat. But it is not out of place to mention this character of 

 some of the evolutionist vocabulary, because certain of the 

 terms in question will be referred to later in this paper. 



Adaptation. — The conception of adaptation has become so 

 widely used in biological writings as to tleserve critical 

 study, for through such comprehensive terms many errors of 

 the first importance may be allowed to creej) into our mode 

 •of thought. 



Adaptation is a term in general use in scientific works on 

 account of the ease with which any intelligent and personal 

 element may be excluded from its application. No one can 

 object to a literary tool being employed for business 

 purposes, as long as no subtle root-error is thereby admitted 

 into a system. In regard to this term " adaptation," there is 

 some danger that this may happen, as I think will appear if 

 we look at it closely. Adaptation has become in certain 

 Avays the equivalent of the older term "means," which 

 always connoted the further idea of end. " Adjustment " is 

 another modern term virtually synonymous with adaptation. 

 The conception of adaptation is of immense range in biology, 

 so much so that Weismann was well justified in his statement, 

 " Everything is adapted in animated nature and has been 

 from the beginnings of life." But in this great range of 

 application comes in one element of danger. 



The primary meaning of the word is "fitted to." This is a 

 somewhat complex word, for it signifies that one thing is 

 fitted to another thing or condition of things, and as used 

 in general language before it was annexed by scientific 

 writers, it contained the further idea of something being- 

 fitted to another by an active agent for a purpose. There 

 are in it, then, properly four ideas : — 1st. The thing adapted. 



