522 EVOLUTION 
number of elephants in the world remains practically the same, 
many must perish for every one that survives. 
Survival of the Fittest. — If only a few of the vast number of 
living things which come into the world survive, then the ques- 
tion as to what individuals survive arises. Darwin’s answer 
is that the survivors are those individuals having those varia- 
tions which adjust them most perfectly to their surroundings. 
Thus a vigorous growing plant will soon get out of the shade of 
its neighbors and will also get a larger proportion of the water 
and mineral substances of the soil. It will therefore succeed in 
crowding out the less vigorous plants around it. Also the 
plant that succeeds in developing the best protective structures 
against drought, heat, bright sunshine, or animals will have an 
advantage over the less fortunate ones, and will therefore sur- 
vive while the others perish. The better adaptation may be 
in the production of more seeds, in better methods of dissemi- 
nating the seeds, or in numerous other ways. Among animals 
the strongest, fleetest, most cunning, or best equipped for 
fighting are the fittest and survive to the expense of those not 
so well equipped for the struggle. To this process of natural 
selection Herbert Spencer applied the phrase “ survival of the 
fittest.” It is obvious, however, that this process in nature is 
more a rejection of the unfit than a selection of the fit, and it 
has been suggested that “ natural rejection ’’ would be a more 
appropriate phrase for the process than ‘ natural selection.” 
The rejection of the unfit makes room for the fit to live and 
perpetuate their variations through offspring. 
Although the variations which are useful may be slight at 
first, through successive generations of selection Darwin as- 
sumed that they become more marked and finally new char- 
acters are established and thus new species formed. Of course 
there are many variations which are neither of advantage nor of 
disadvantage to the individual. According to Darwin only 
those variations that are of advantage or disadvantage to the 
individual are affected by natural selection. 
Objections to Darwinism. — Darwin’s theory aroused bitter 
antagonism among theologians because they thought it elimi- 
nated God from the plan of Creation. Darwin was even accused 
of teaching that man descended from monkeys. But Dar- 
win’s theory neither eliminates God nor does it teach that man 
