" Natural Selection " 53 



begin. And it is quite easy to understand how the 

 numbers would soon be restored after they had been 

 reduced to nearly the vanishing-point, if eventually 

 the famine came to a conclusion. At first the males 

 would have to roam far in order to secure food, and the 

 female would have ample time and opportunity to 

 see that her young were secluded in safety for the 

 necessary period. And thus in a comparatively short 

 time the population would come back to its former 

 standard and continue in direct ratio to the means of 

 subsistence. 



But it must be said that Dewar and Finn have shown 

 far more insight in regard to the Darwinian hypothesis 

 than any other British naturalists. For instance, in 

 regard to this very matter they write : " We are 

 inclined to think that neither the food limit nor the 

 beasts of prey are a very important check on the multipli- 

 cation of organisms," and they point out that the lion 

 was never so numerous as to reach the limit of its food 

 supply, and that " vast herds of herbivores were to be 

 seen in those districts where lions were most plentiful." 



Moreover, they have the courage to attack the 

 generally accepted theories of animal coloration, which 

 are really ingenious devices to uphold the founda- 

 tions of a stronghold now, at last, showing signs of 

 collapse. 



Climate, damp, pestilence and parasites, all men- 

 tioned by Darwin as " checks," are next dealt with by 

 Dewar and Finn, and in regard to these all that can 

 be said is that the discussion by these scientists would 

 have been very different if only they had understood 

 the operation of the cannibal habit and its universality. 

 But, as we have already pointed out, they do show a 

 glimmering of the light, and we have no doubt in time 

 would have discovered it, for it is mentioned on page 

 353, and deserves to be fully quoted : "A check on 



