142 THE FALLACIES OF NATURAL SELECTION. 



may reasonably be required of it, if it enable its select 

 to hold their own ? 



Such implication is negatived, not only by the un- 

 favorable conditions under nature, but by all of the 

 facts which bear upon the problem. The many " rudi- 

 mentary organs," which, he says Natural Selection has 

 reduced to their present condition; from a perfectly 

 developed state; and the many " long-lost characters," 

 which, he says, lie latent in organisms, militate against 

 his assumption. 



The very order, in which he arrays his argument, 

 exposes the above fallacies, and reveals still others. 



i. The first proposition which he lays down, is, that 

 there is an ever-recurring Struggle for Existence, 

 among all animals and plants under nature, entailing 

 the extinction of many such animals and plants ; which 

 Struggle for Existence, in the order of time, precedes 

 the Selection, and is absolutely necessary to such 

 Selection. 



He avers, that all organisms, under nature, have had 

 to struggle hard for their existence. 



" More individuals are born, than can possibly sur- 

 vive. A grain in the balance will determine which 

 individuals shall live, and which shall die" (p. 552, 

 Origin of Species). 



Even "the strongest and most vigorous" have had 

 to enter into competition with their fellows, and with 

 other species, for the means of existence ; and have 

 had to withstand, in each generation, the action of 

 adverse climatic influences, of want of food, and of the 

 other hard conditions which entailed the extinction of 



