Snakes act on the same principle which makes the hen ruffle her feathers
and expand her wings when a dog approaches her chickens. But I have not
space here to enlarge on the many ways by which animals endeavour to
frighten away their enemies.
Natural selection will never produce in a being any structure more
injurious than beneficial to that being, for natural selection acts solely
by and for the good of each. No organ will be formed, as Paley has
remarked, for the purpose of causing pain or for doing an injury to its
possessor. If a fair balance be struck between the good and evil caused by
each part, each will be found on the whole advantageous. After the lapse
of time, under changing conditions of life, if any part comes to be
injurious, it will be modified; or if it be not so, the being will become
extinct, as myriads have become extinct.
Natural selection tends only to make each organic being as perfect as, or
slightly more perfect than the other inhabitants of the same country with
which it comes into competition. And we see that this is the standard of
perfection attained under nature. The endemic productions of New Zealand,
for instance, are perfect, one compared with another; but they are now
rapidly yielding before the advancing legions of plants and animals
introduced from Europe. Natural selection will not produce absolute
perfection, nor do we always meet, as far as we can judge, with this high
standard under nature.
Pages:
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322