I wish I had received your letter two months ago, for
I would have worked in "the survival," etc., often in the new edition of
the "Origin," which is now almost printed off, and of which I will, of
course, send you a copy. I will use the term in my next book on Domestic
Animals, etc., from which, by the way, I plainly see that you expect
_much_ too much. The term Natural Selection has now been so largely used
abroad and at home that I doubt whether it could be given up, and with
all its faults I should be sorry to see the attempt made. Whether it
will be rejected must now depend on the "survival of the fittest."
As in time the term must grow intelligible, the objections to its use
will grow weaker and weaker. I doubt whether the use of any term would
have made the subject intelligible to some minds, clear as it is to
others; for do we not see, even to the present day, Malthus on
Population absurdly misunderstood? This reflection about Malthus has
often comforted me when I have been vexed at the misstatement of my
views.
As for M. Janet,[55] he is a metaphysician, and such gentlemen are so
acute that I think they often misunderstand common folk.
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