80 FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION. 
a long ancestral history. Their bodies are full of con- 
cessions to environment, and their functions are all in 
the line of obedience to those conditions in life in which 
their ancestors have been thrown. 
We recognise that man is the highest in structure 
among living beings. This fact implies that in his phys- 
ical structure are the greatest concessions to environ- 
ment. In his functions the most perfect obedience is 
made possible. His power of choice among competing 
lines of action but emphasizes the need of choosing the 
best action. The best action is the safe action—safe 
for the individual, safe for the species, for only those 
races survive who care for their young as they care for 
themselves. 
The greatness of the human intellect depends on the 
progressive concessions to environment by which the 
human brain through the ages has been gradually 
built up. 
Ill. Zudividuality—-No two organisms are exactly 
alike. There is in each individual of whatever species 
“a divine initiative” which prevents it from being the 
slavish copy of any which have gone before. The “sur- 
vival of the fittest’ rests on the existence of different 
degrees and kinds of fitness. This it is the part of the 
laws of variation to produce. Every step in divergence 
or specialization gives room for more life. The abun- 
dance of life is dependent upon its variety. Thus the 
world is never full, for there is always room for organ- 
isms better or differently adapted to each set of its 
varied conditions. The arrangement of double parent- 
age tends to promote variety in life. Each new indi- 
vidual has all the ancestors of its father as well as all 
those of its mother, and with each one these are brought 
into new combinations. The process of amphimixis, the 
mingling of the hereditary characters of the two germ 
