192 THEORY OF EVOLUTION 



Owing then to this property of the germ 

 plasm to duphcate itself in a large number of 

 samples not only is an opportunity furnished to 

 an advantageous variation to become exten- 

 sively multiplied, but the presence of a large 

 number of individuals of a given sort preju- 

 dices the probable future result. 



The question may be raised as to whether it 

 is desirable to call selection a creative process. 

 There are so many supernatural and m3rstical 

 implications that hang around the term creative 

 that one can not be too careful in stating in 

 what sense the term is to be used. If by crea- 

 tive is meant that something is made out of 

 nothing, then of course there is no need for the 

 scientist to try to answer such a question. But 

 if by a creative process is meant that something 

 is made out of something else, then there are 

 two alternatives to be reckoned with. 



First, if it were true that selection of an indi- 

 vidual of a certain kind determines that new 

 variations in the same direction occur as a con- 

 sequence of the selection, then selection would 

 certainly be creative. How this could occur 

 might be quite unintelligible, but of course it 



