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It may be noted that there are some useful variations, 
which are produced by transforming influences in such a 
way as to exclude the action of Natural Selection. 
If variations which are not useful have arisen from 
other causes than the action of Natural Selection, and 
change of conditions has rendered them of possible utility, 
it does not follow that Natural Selection will come into 
play. They may have arisen first, apart from utility, and 
they may then have been utilised by the intelligence ol 
animals. Browning, in his Pippa Passes, states a case 
which may be taken as illustrative of this principle:— 
“ Have you not seen me range our coppice yonder 
In search of a distorted ash ?■—I find 
The wry spoilt branch a natural perfect bow.” 
But it is only those useful variations, the utility of which 
has led to their selection at every stage of development, 
which have been produced by Natural Selection. 
Mr. Darwin says that, “ when a variation is of the 
slightest use to any being,” we cannot tell how much is 
due to transforming and how much to selecting influences. 
But we must remember that Natural Selection acts by 
life and death. A useful variation, to be useful from the 
point of view of Natural Selection, must make a difference 
of life and death, and we can hardly believe that “ a varia 
tion of the slightest use ” can have been produced by 
Natural Selection. The illustration which he gives as to 
his doubt on this matter does not seem to be particularly 
well chosen. He does not know whether the better fur 
is produced by transforming or selecting influences, and 
he adds that climate has some direct influence on the 
hair of our domestic quadrupeds. But the facts of the 
case are hardly such as to justify this statement. 
No better illustration of organic sensitiveness to exter 
nal conditions could be found than the following account,