70 Malthusianism and the 



by these considerations. It is quite evident that the 

 checks of the prolific herbivora and carnivora cannot 

 apply to man. From the quotation given above it is 

 evident that the " doctrine of Malthus " was adopted 

 by Darwin and extended, in that he applied it mis- 

 takenly to the " whole animal and vegetable kingdom." 



The doctrine of Malthus, to put it briefly, is simply 

 that the growth of population tends to outrun the 

 means of subsistence. He compared the potential 

 increase of population with the potential increase of 

 food supply obtained from the production of the soil ; 

 and enunciated the famous formula : that whereas the 

 food production of the soil, even under the most 

 favourable circumstances, cannot be supposed to in- 

 crease in successive generations in more than an 

 arithmetical ratio, or as i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, population is able 

 to increase in successive generations in a geometrical 

 ratio, or as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, doubling itself in the 

 course of each generation; and deduced the general 

 conclusion that population tends to increase faster 

 than the food supply. If this were true, then ulti- 

 mately there could be nothing in store for the race but 

 extinction. Paulin deals with this matter, and proves 

 to a demonstration that the population does not tend 

 to outrun the means of subsistence, and that the 

 accomplishment of such disaster as Malthus forecasts 

 is impossible — just as impossible as in the case of the 

 carnivora. 



War, famine, and pestilence have been great de- 

 stroyers of large numbers of men, and were believed to 

 be the checks which had operated in the prevention of 

 excess of population in the past history of mankind. 

 Experience and observation abundantly testify that 

 where population has increased, the means of living 

 have increased in an equal degree, and in almost every 

 case in a much greater degree. That this must neces- 



