' As
fast as the faculties are multiplied, so fast does it become
possible for the several members of a species to have various
kinds of superiorities over one another. While one saves its life
by higher speed, another does the like by clearer vision, another
by keener scent, another by quicker hearing, another by greater
strength, another by unusual power of enduring cold or hunger,
another by special sagacity, another by special timidity, another
by special courage; and others by other bodily and mental
attributes. Now it is unquestionably true that, other things
equal, each of these attributes, giving its possessor an extra
chance of life, is likely to be transmitted to posterity. But
there seems no reason to suppose that it will be increased in
subsequent generations by natural selection. That it may be thus
increased, the individuals not possessing more than average
endowments of it must be more frequently killed off than
individuals highly endowed with it; and this can happen only when
the attribute is one of greater importance, for the time being,
than most of the other attributes. If those members of the
species which have but ordinary shares of it, nevertheless
survive by virtue of other superiorities which they severally
possess, then it is not easy to see how this particular attribute
can be developed by natural selection in subsequent generations.
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