CHAPTER V 
THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION (Continued) 
OBJECTIONS TO THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION 
ALTHOUGH in the preceding chapter a number of criticisms 
have been made of the special parts of the theory of natural 
‘selection, there still remain to be considered some further 
objections that have been made since the first publication of 
the theory. It is a fortunate circumstance from every point 
of view that Darwin himself was able in the later editions of 
the ‘Origin of Species” to reply to those criticisms that he 
thought of sufficient importance. He says :— 
“Long before the reader has arrived at this part of my 
work, a crowd of difficulties will have occurred to him. Some 
of them are so serious that to this day I can hardly reflect on 
them without being in some degree staggered; but, to the 
best of my judgment, the greater number are only apparent, 
and those that are real are not, I think, fatal to the theory.” 
The first difficulty is this: ‘ Why, if species have descended 
from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere 
see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all nature 
in confusion, instead of the species being, as we see them, 
well defined ?” 
The answer that Darwin gives is, that by competition the 
new form will crowd out its own less-improved parent form, 
and other less-favored forms. But is this a sufficient or satis- 
factory answer? If we recall what Darwin has said on the 
advantage that those forms will have, in which a great num- 
ber of new variations appear to fit them to the great diversity 
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