DARWINISM 93 



that something hag been inherited from the ancestor which 

 causes resemblance in one or more characters — physical or 

 mental. 



2. Variation. — But the expression of the inheritance is 

 seldom, if ever, perfect. Eyes are a little less or a little 

 more brown; stature is never just the same; one-half the 

 face may resemble a given ancestor more than another; 

 petals may be more or less red or blue; no two oranges 

 taste exactly alike; no two maple leaves are of precisely 

 the same shape. There is inheritance, but inheritance is 

 usually expressed with modifications or variations of the 

 ancestral type. 



3. Fitness for Environment. — It is common knowledge 

 that living things must be adjusted to their environment. 

 Poor adjustment means sickness or weakness; complete 

 or nearly complete lack of adjustment means death. 

 Water-lilies, for example, cannot live in the desert, 

 cacti cannot live in salt marshes; cocoanuts cannot be 

 grown except in subtropical or tropical climates, edelweiss 

 will not grow in the tropics. This is because these various 

 kinds of plants are so organized that they cannot adjust 

 themselves to external conditions, beyond certain more or 

 less definite limits or extremes. A cactus is fit to live in 

 the desert because it is protected by its structure against 

 excessive loss of water, and has special provision for 

 storing up water that may be used in time of drought. 

 Deciduous tress are fitted to live in temperate regions, 

 partly because their deciduous habit and their formation 

 of scaly buds enables them to withstand the drought of 

 winter. Negroes live without discomfort under the trop- 

 ical sun because they are protected by the black pigment 

 in their skin. And so, in countless ways, we might illus- 



