THE BACKGROUND OF DARWINISM—ADAPTATIONS 205 
general adaptiveness involved in the idea of ‘“‘the web of life,” are part 
of the background of Darwinism and were in the mind of Darwin when 
he thought out the great generalization called “natural selection.” 
The “web of life” idea has been admirably presented by Professor 
Thomson, Scotland’s most skilful and prolific biological writer. The 
present writer feels that no student of evolution should miss the oppor- 
tunity of getting into the spirit of Darwinism with this distinguished 
author, and to make this desideratum easily attainable, the chapter 
is quoted unchanged as part of the general text and immediately 
follows this discussion. 
