366 GEORGE JOHN ROMANES 1894 



I am not against your criticism of natural 

 selection, for I have always thought there must 

 be some other additional principle of adaptation at 

 work. 



Grand Hotel, Costebelle, Hyeres (Var) : March 12. 



Dear Mr. Henslow, — My husband has much 

 enjoyed your long and clear letter which I have 

 just read to him. He is too ill to reply himself, 

 but he will dictate a few notes to me to send to 

 you. 



Yours very truly, 



Ethel Eomanes. 



(a) I cry ' Peccavi ' as regards natural selection 

 co-operating with self-adaptation. Since you show 

 that, even if it does, you are not concerned with 

 this fact — i.e. of the development of the adaptation, 

 but only with its origin. 



(b) All the same, however, we must remember 

 that where high elaboration of mechanism is con- 

 cerned, the question as to the causes of its develop- 

 ment become of more importance than those of its 

 origin; e.g. even if self-adaptation be conceived 

 capable of making a first step towards producing 

 the exquisite mechanism of a bivalve shell, by 

 discriminate variation, how is it conceivable that it 

 should go on through the odd millions of successive 

 steps of improvement needed to produce the perfect 

 mechanism in which the great wonder of adaptation 

 really occurs ? 



I can conceive of no natural process to accomplish 



