40 ANIMAL LIFE AND HUMAN PEOGRESS 



laid upon " competition " by the exponents of the theory of 

 Natural Selection. 



A very high authority, Professor Thomas Hunt Morgan, has 

 arrived at practically the same opinion by a very different chain 

 of reasoning. I will quote his words {A Critique of the Theory 

 of Evolution, Princeton, 1916, p. 87) : — 



" Such a view " (I propose to consider his view later on) 

 " gives us a somewhat different picture of the process of 

 evolution from the old idea of a ferocious struggle between the 

 individuals of a species with the survival of the fittest and the 

 annihilation of the less fit. Evolution assumes a more peaceful 

 aspect. New and advantageous characters survive by incor- 

 porating themselves into the race, improving it and opening 

 to it new opportunities. In other words, the emphasis may 

 be placed less on the competition between the individuals of a 

 species (because the destruction of the less fit does not in 

 itself lead to anything that is new) than on the appearance of 

 new characters and modifications of old characters that 

 become incorporated in the species, for on these depends the 

 evolution of the race." 



Let us distinguish, then, between " competition " and 

 "predacity." The "War of Nature," upon which Darwin and 

 his followers lay so much stress, exists, as we all know, and the 

 part it has played in the evolution of animal organisation is 

 clearly of great importance. But it is not fratricidal. There 

 are beasts of prey and beasts preyed upon. To return to 

 my second quotation from the Origin of Species, these two sets 

 of creatures " are related in a most essential yet often hidden 

 manner " and have, on the one hand, developed claws, fangs, 

 speed, cunning and strength ; on the other hand, protective 

 organs, means of concealment, fleetness, wariness and many 

 other qualities, according to the category to which they belong. 

 Not the least important of the quahties developed by animals 

 that serve as food is fecundity. The species is saved from 

 extinction by its inordinate fertihty, and I think it may safely 

 be said that the ratio of increase of a predaceous animal is 

 never so high as that of the animals on which it habitually 

 preys. If it were, it is obvious that the carnivores in every 



