PRESIDENTIAL ADDEESS. 13 



will be victorious, and will, therefore, be naturally selected; 

 or, in other words, "nature selects the best individual 

 out of each generation for life." These, again, transmit 

 their characteristics to their descendants, thus tending by 

 the survival of the fittest to perpetuate those individuals 

 best adapted to their surroundings. When it is of advan- 

 tage to man to utilize this law of nature, changes in a 

 species of plants or animals may be, and are, brought 

 about very quickly, witness the extraordinary varieties of 

 pigeons, all of which have probably descended from the 

 rock pigeon ; or the varieties of sheep, cattle, or dogs, 

 perpetuated by selecting such as possess any highly 

 developed characteristic that can be considered beautiful 

 or advantageous to themselves or to man. If, then, man 

 can produce, and has produced, great results by artificial 

 selection, what may not natural selection effect? 



"]\Ian selects for his own good, Nature for that of the 

 being whom she tends." "Can we wonder, then," says 

 Darwin, " that Nature's productions should be far truer 

 in character than man's productions, that they should be 

 infinitely better adapted to the most complex conditions 

 of life, and should plainly bear the stamp of far higher 

 workmanship." 



When we see leaf eating insects green, and bark feeders 

 mottled grey, the alpine ptarmigan white in winter, the 

 red grouse the colour of heather, we must believe that 

 these tints are of service to these birds and insects in 

 preserving them from danger. Hence, through the lapse 

 of ages those insects or birds which by any peculiarity of 

 form or colour are best adapted to escape from the ravages 

 of other animals or the sport of man, would survive and 

 be the means of perpetuating those very peculiarities 

 which are of advantage to them in the struggle for 

 existence. 



