The Origin of Species

Charles Darwin
Introduction
WHEN on board H.M.S. Beagle, as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the
inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the resent to the ast inhabitants of that
continent. !hese facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of secies " that m#ster# of
m#steries, as it has been called b# one of our greatest hilosohers. $n m# return home, it occurred to me,
in %&'(, that something might erhas be made out on this )uestion b# atientl# accumulating and
reflecting on all sorts of facts which could ossibl# ha*e an# bearing on it. After fi*e #ears+ work I allowed
m#self to seculate on the sub,ect, and drew u some short notes- these I enlarged in %&.. into a sketch of
the conclusions, which then seemed to me robable/ from that eriod to the resent da# I ha*e steadil#
ursued the same ob,ect. I hoe that I ma# be e0cused for entering on these ersonal details, as I gi*e
them to show that I ha*e not been hast# in coming to a decision.
M# work is now nearl# finished- but as it will take me two or three more #ears to comlete it, and as m#
health is far from strong, I ha*e been urged to ublish this Abstract. I ha*e more eseciall# been induced to
do this, as Mr Wallace, who is now stud#ing the natural histor# of the Mala# archielago, has arri*ed at
almost e0actl# the same general conclusions that I ha*e on the origin of secies. 1ast #ear he sent to me a
memoir on this sub,ect, with a re)uest that I would forward it to Sir 2harles 1#ell, who sent it to the 1innean
Societ#, and it is ublished in the third *olume of the ,ournal of that Societ#. Sir 2. 1#ell and 3r Hooker, who
both knew of m# work " the latter ha*ing read m# sketch of %&.. " honoured me b# thinking it ad*isable
to ublish, with Mr Wallace+s e0cellent memoir, some brief e0tracts from m# manuscrits.
!his Abstract, which I now ublish, must necessaril# be imerfect. I cannot here gi*e references and
authorities for m# se*eral statements- and I must trust to the reader reosing some confidence in m#
accurac#. No doubt errors will ha*e cret in, though I hoe I ha*e alwa#s been cautious in trusting to good
authorities alone. I can here gi*e onl# the general conclusions at which I ha*e arri*ed, with a few facts in
illustration, but which, I hoe, in most cases will suffice. No one can feel more sensible than I do of the
necessit# of hereafter ublishing in detail all the facts, with references, on which m# conclusions ha*e been
grounded- and I hoe in a future work to do this. 4or I am well aware that scarcel# a single oint is
discussed in this *olume on which facts cannot be adduced, often aarentl# leading to conclusions directl#
oosite to those at which I ha*e arri*ed. A fair result can be obtained onl# b# full# stating and balancing
the facts and arguments on both sides of each )uestion- and this cannot ossibl# be here done.
I much regret that want of sace re*ents m# ha*ing the satisfaction of acknowledging the generous
assistance which I ha*e recei*ed from *er# man# naturalists, some of them ersonall# unknown to me. I
cannot, howe*er, let this oortunit# ass without e0ressing m# dee obligations to 3r Hooker, who for the
last fifteen #ears has aided me in e*er# ossible wa# b# his large stores of knowledge and his e0cellent
,udgement.
In considering the $rigin of Secies, it is )uite concei*able that a naturalist, reflecting on the mutual
affinities of organic beings, on their embr#ological relations, their geograhical distribution, geological
succession, and other such facts, might come to the conclusion that each secies had not been
indeendentl# created, but had descended, like *arieties, from other secies. Ne*ertheless, such a
conclusion, e*en if well founded, would be unsatisfactor#, until it could be shown how the innumerable
secies inhabiting this world ha*e been modified so as to ac)uire that erfection of structure and co5
adatation which most ,ustl# e0cites our admiration. Naturalists continuall# refer to e0ternal conditions, such
as climate, food, 6c., as the onl# ossible cause of *ariation. In one *er# limited sense, as we shall
hereafter see, this ma# be true- but it is reosterous to attribute to mere e0ternal conditions, the structure,
for instance, of the woodecker, with its feet, tail, beak, and tongue, so admirabl# adated to catch insects
under the bark of trees. In the case of the misseltoe, which draws its nourishment from certain trees, which
has seeds that must be transorted b# certain birds, and which has flowers with searate se0es absolutel#
re)uiring the agenc# of certain insects to bring ollen from one flower to the other, it is e)uall# reosterous
to account for the structure of this arasite, with its relations to se*eral distinct organic beings, b# the effects
of e0ternal conditions, or of habit, or of the *olition of the lant itself.
!he author of the +7estiges of 2reation+ would, I resume, sa# that, after a certain unknown number of
generations, some bird had gi*en birth to a woodecker, and some lant to the misseltoe, and that these
had been roduced erfect as we now see them- but this assumtion seems to me to be no e0lanation, for
it lea*es the case of the coadatations of organic beings to each other and to their h#sical conditions of
life, untouched and une0lained.
It is, therefore, of the highest imortance to gain a clear insight into the means of modification and
coadatation. At the commencement of m# obser*ations it seemed to me robable that a careful stud# of
domesticated animals and of culti*ated lants would offer the best chance of making out this obscure
roblem. Nor ha*e I been disaointed- in this and in all other erle0ing cases I ha*e in*ariabl# found that
our knowledge, imerfect though it be, of *ariation under domestication, afforded the best and safest clue. I
ma# *enture to e0ress m# con*iction of the high *alue of such studies, although the# ha*e been *er#
commonl# neglected b# naturalists.
4rom these considerations, I shall de*ote the first chater of this Abstract to 7ariation under 3omestication.
We shall thus see that a large amount of hereditar# modification is at least ossible, and, what is e)uall# or
more imortant, we shall see how great is the ower of man in accumulating b# his Selection successi*e
slight *ariations. I will then ass on to the *ariabilit# of secies in a state of nature- but I shall, unfortunatel#,
be comelled to treat this sub,ect far too briefl#, as it can be treated roerl# onl# b# gi*ing long catalogues
of facts. We shall, howe*er, be enabled to discuss what circumstances are most fa*ourable to *ariation. In
the ne0t chater the Struggle for E0istence amongst all organic beings throughout the world, which
ine*itabl# follows from their high geometrical owers of increase, will be treated of. !his is the doctrine of
Malthus, alied to the whole animal and *egetable kingdoms. As man# more indi*iduals of each secies
are born than can ossibl# sur*i*e- and as, conse)uentl#, there is a fre)uentl# recurring struggle for
e0istence, it follows that an# being, if it *ar# howe*er slightl# in an# manner rofitable to itself, under the
comle0 and sometimes *ar#ing conditions of life, will ha*e a better chance of sur*i*ing, and thus be
naturall# selected. 4rom the strong rincile of inheritance, an# selected *ariet# will tend to roagate its
new and modified form.
!his fundamental sub,ect of Natural Selection will be treated at some length in the fourth chater- and we
shall then see how Natural Selection almost ine*itabl# causes much E0tinction of the less imro*ed forms of
life and induces what I ha*e called 3i*ergence of 2haracter. In the ne0t chater I shall discuss the comle0
and little known laws of *ariation and of correlation of growth. In the four succeeding chaters, the most
aarent and gra*est difficulties on the theor# will be gi*en/ namel#, first, the difficulties of transitions, or
understanding how a simle being or a simle organ can be changed and erfected into a highl# de*eloed
being or elaboratel# constructed organ- secondl# the sub,ect of Instinct, or the mental owers of animals,
thirdl#, H#bridism, or the infertilit# of secies and the fertilit# of *arieties when intercrossed- and fourthl#, the
imerfection of the 8eological 9ecord. In the ne0t chater I shall consider the geological succession of
organic beings throughout time- in the ele*enth and twelfth, their geograhical distribution throughout
sace- in the thirteenth, their classification or mutual affinities, both when mature and in an embr#onic
condition. In the last chater I shall gi*e a brief recaitulation of the whole work, and a few concluding
remarks.:
No one ought to feel surrise at much remaining as #et une0lained in regard to the origin of secies and
*arieties, if he makes due allowance for our rofound ignorance in regard to the mutual relations of all the
beings which li*e around us. Who can e0lain wh# one secies ranges widel# and is *er# numerous, and
wh# another allied secies has a narrow range and is rare; <et these relations are of the highest
imortance, for the# determine the resent welfare, and, as I belie*e, the future success and modification of
e*er# inhabitant of this world. Still less do we know of the mutual relations of the innumerable inhabitants of
the world during the man# ast geological eochs in its histor#. Although much remains obscure, and will
long remain obscure, I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate stud# and disassionate ,udgement
of which I am caable, that the *iew which most naturalists entertain, and which I formerl# entertained "
namel#, that each secies has been indeendentl# created " is erroneous. I am full# con*inced that
secies are not immutable- but that those belonging to what are called the same genera are lineal
descendants of some other and generall# e0tinct secies, in the same manner as the acknowledged
*arieties of an# one secies are the descendants of that secies. 4urthermore, I am con*inced that Natural
Selection has been the main but not e0clusi*e means of modification.
Chapter 14 - Recapitulation and Conclusion
9ecaitulation of the difficulties on the theor# of Natural Selection 9ecaitulation of the general and
secial circumstances in its fa*our 2auses of the general belief in the immutabilit# of secies How far
the theor# of natural selection ma# be e0tended Effects of its adotion on the stud# of Natural histor#
2oncluding remarks
As this whole *olume is one long argument, it ma# be con*enient to the reader to ha*e the leading facts and
inferences briefl# recaitulated.
!hat man# and gra*e ob,ections ma# be ad*anced against the theor# of descent with modification through
natural selection, I do not den#. I ha*e endea*oured to gi*e to them their full force. Nothing at first can
aear more difficult to belie*e than that the more comle0 organs and instincts should ha*e been
erfected not b# means suerior to, though analogous with, human reason, but b# the accumulation of
innumerable slight *ariations, each good for the indi*idual ossessor. Ne*ertheless, this difficult#, though
aearing to our imagination insuerabl# great, cannot be considered real if we admit the following
roositions, namel#, 55 that gradations in the erfection of an# organ or instinct, which we ma# consider,
either do now e0ist or could ha*e e0isted, each good of its kind, 55 that all organs and instincts are, in e*er
so slight a degree, *ariable, 55 and, lastl#, that there is a struggle for e0istence leading to the reser*ation of
each rofitable de*iation of structure or instinct. !he truth of these roositions cannot, I think, be disuted.
It is, no doubt, e0tremel# difficult e*en to con,ecture b# what gradations man# structures ha*e been
erfected, more eseciall# amongst broken and failing grous of organic beings- but we see so man#
strange gradations in nature, as is roclaimed b# the canon, =Natura non facit saltum,+ that we ought to be
e0tremel# cautious in sa#ing that an# organ or instinct, or an# whole being, could not ha*e arri*ed at its
resent state b# man# graduated stes. !here are, it must be admitted, cases of secial difficult# on the
theor# of natural selection- and one of the most curious of these is the e0istence of two or three defined
castes of workers or sterile females in the same communit# of ants but I ha*e attemted to show how this
difficult# can be mastered. With resect to the almost uni*ersal sterilit# of secies when first crossed, which
forms so remarkable a contrast with the almost uni*ersal fertilit# of *arieties when crossed, I must refer the
reader to the recaitulation of the facts gi*en at the end of the eighth chater, which seem to me
conclusi*el# to show that this sterilit# is no more a secial endowment than is the incaacit# of two trees to
be grafted together, but that it is incidental on constitutional differences in the reroducti*e s#stems of the
intercrossed secies. We see the truth of this conclusion in the *ast difference in the result, when the same
two secies are crossed recirocall#- that is, when one secies is first used as the father and then as the
mother.
!he fertilit# of *arieties when intercrossed and of their mongrel offsring cannot be considered as uni*ersal-
nor is their *er# general fertilit# surrising when we remember that it is not likel# that either their
constitutions or their reroducti*e s#stems should ha*e been rofoundl# modified. Moreo*er, most of the
*arieties which ha*e been e0erimentised on ha*e been roduced under domestication- and as
domestication aarentl# tends to eliminate sterilit#, we ought not to e0ect it also to roduce sterilit#.
!he sterilit# of h#brids is a *er# different case from that of first crosses, for their reroducti*e organs are
more or less functionall# imotent- whereas in first crosses the organs on both sides are in a erfect
condition. As we continuall# see that organisms of all kinds are rendered in some degree sterile from their
constitutions ha*ing been disturbed b# slightl# different and new conditions of life, we need not feel surrise
at h#brids being in some degree sterile, for their constitutions can hardl# fail to ha*e been disturbed from
being comounded of two distinct organisations. !his arallelism is suorted b# another arallel, but
directl# oosite, class of facts- namel#, that the *igour and fertilit# of all organic beings are increased b#
slight changes in their conditions of life, and that the offsring of slightl# modified forms or *arieties ac)uire
from being crossed increased *igour and fertilit#. So that, on the one hand, considerable changes in the
conditions of life and crosses between greatl# modified forms, lessen fertilit#- and on the other hand, lesser
changes in the conditions of life and crosses between less modified forms, increase fertilit#.
!urning to geograhical distribution, the difficulties encountered on the theor# of descent with modification
are gra*e enough. All the indi*iduals of the same secies, and all the secies of the same genus, or e*en
higher grou, must ha*e descended from common arents- and therefore, in howe*er distant and isolated
arts of the world the# are now found, the# must in the course of successi*e generations ha*e assed from
some one art to the others. We are often wholl# unable e*en to con,ecture how this could ha*e been
effected. <et, as we ha*e reason to belie*e that some secies ha*e retained the same secific form for *er#
long eriods, enormousl# long as measured b# #ears, too much stress ought not to be laid on the
occasional wide diffusion of the same secies- for during *er# long eriods of time there will alwa#s be a
good chance for wide migration b# man# means. A broken or interruted range ma# often be accounted for
b# the e0tinction of the secies in the intermediate regions. It cannot be denied that we are as #et *er#
ignorant of the full e0tent of the *arious climatal and geograhical changes which ha*e affected the earth
during modern eriods- and such changes will ob*iousl# ha*e greatl# facilitated migration. As an e0amle, I
ha*e attemted to show how otent has been the influence of the 8lacial eriod on the distribution both of
the same and of reresentati*e secies throughout the world. We are as #et rofoundl# ignorant of the
man# occasional means of transort. With resect to distinct secies of the same genus inhabiting *er#
distant and isolated regions, as the rocess of modification has necessaril# been slow, all the means of
migration will ha*e been ossible during a *er# long eriod- and conse)uentl# the difficult# of the wide
diffusion of secies of the same genus is in some degree lessened.
As on the theor# of natural selection an interminable number of intermediate forms must ha*e e0isted,
linking together all the secies in each grou b# gradations as fine as our resent *arieties, it ma# be asked,
Wh# do we not see these linking forms all around us; Wh# are not all organic beings blended together in an
ine0tricable chaos; With resect to e0isting forms, we should remember that we ha*e no right to e0ect
>e0ceting in rare cases: to disco*er directly connecting links between them, but onl# between each and
some e0tinct and sulanted form. E*en on a wide area, which has during a long eriod remained
continuous, and of which the climate and other conditions of life change insensibl# in going from a district
occuied b# one secies into another district occuied b# a closel# allied secies, we ha*e no ,ust right to
e0ect often to find intermediate *arieties in the intermediate ?one. 4or we ha*e reason to belie*e that onl#
a few secies are undergoing change at an# one eriod- and all changes are slowl# effected. I ha*e also
shown that the intermediate *arieties which will at first robabl# e0ist in the intermediate ?ones, will be liable
to be sulanted b# the allied forms on either hand- and the latter, from e0isting in greater numbers, will
generall# be modified and imro*ed at a )uicker rate than the intermediate *arieties, which e0ist in lesser
numbers- so that the intermediate *arieties will, in the long run, be sulanted and e0terminated.
$n this doctrine of the e0termination of an infinitude of connecting links, between the li*ing and e0tinct
inhabitants of the world, and at each successi*e eriod between the e0tinct and still older secies, wh# is
not e*er# geological formation charged with such links; Wh# does not e*er# collection of fossil remains
afford lain e*idence of the gradation and mutation of the forms of life; We meet with no such e*idence,
and this is the most ob*ious and forcible of the man# ob,ections which ma# be urged against m# theor#.
Wh#, again, do whole grous of allied secies aear, though certainl# the# often falsel# aear, to ha*e
come in suddenl# on the se*eral geological stages; Wh# do we not find great iles of strata beneath the
Silurian s#stem, stored with the remains of the rogenitors of the Silurian grous of fossils; 4or certainl# on
m# theor# such strata must somewhere ha*e been deosited at these ancient and utterl# unknown eochs
in the world+s histor#.
I can answer these )uestions and gra*e ob,ections onl# on the suosition that the geological record is far
more imerfect than most geologists belie*e. It cannot be ob,ected that there has not been time sufficient
for an# amount of organic change- for the lase of time has been so great as to be utterl# inareciable b#
the human intellect. !he number of secimens in all our museums is absolutel# as nothing comared with
the countless generations of countless secies which certainl# ha*e e0isted. We should not be able to
recognise a secies as the arent of an# one or more secies if we were to e0amine them e*er so closel#,
unless we likewise ossessed man# of the intermediate links between their ast or arent and resent
states- and these man# links we could hardl# e*er e0ect to disco*er, owing to the imerfection of the
geological record. Numerous e0isting doubtful forms could be named which are robabl# *arieties- but who
will retend that in future ages so man# fossil links will be disco*ered, that naturalists will be able to decide,
on the common *iew, whether or not these doubtful forms are *arieties; As long as most of the links
between an# two secies are unknown, if an# one link or intermediate *ariet# be disco*ered, it will siml# be
classed as another and distinct secies. $nl# a small ortion of the world has been geologicall# e0lored.
$nl# organic beings of certain classes can be reser*ed in a fossil condition, at least in an# great number.
Widel# ranging secies *ar# most, and *arieties are often at first local, 55 both causes rendering the
disco*er# of intermediate links less likel#. 1ocal *arieties will not sread into other and distant regions until
the# are considerabl# modified and imro*ed- and when the# do sread, if disco*ered in a geological
formation, the# will aear as if suddenl# created there, and will be siml# classed as new secies. Most
formations ha*e been intermittent in their accumulation- and their duration, I am inclined to belie*e, has
been shorter than the a*erage duration of secific forms. Successi*e formations are searated from each
other b# enormous blank inter*als of time- for fossiliferous formations, thick enough to resist future
degradation, can be accumulated onl# where much sediment is deosited on the subsiding bed of the sea.
3uring the alternate eriods of ele*ation and of stationar# le*el the record will be blank. 3uring these latter
eriods there will robabl# be more *ariabilit# in the forms of life- during eriods of subsidence, more
e0tinction.
With resect to the absence of fossiliferous formations beneath the lowest Silurian strata, I can onl# recur to
the h#othesis gi*en in the ninth chater. !hat the geological record is imerfect all will admit- but that it is
imerfect to the degree which I re)uire, few will be inclined to admit. If we look to long enough inter*als of
time, geolog# lainl# declares that all secies ha*e changed- and the# ha*e changed in the manner which
m# theor# re)uires, for the# ha*e changed slowl# and in a graduated manner. We clearl# see this in the
fossil remains from consecuti*e formations in*ariabl# being much more closel# related to each other, than
are the fossils from formations distant from each other in time.
Such is the sum of the se*eral chief ob,ections and difficulties which ma# ,ustl# be urged against m# theor#-
and I ha*e now briefl# recaitulated the answers and e0lanations which can be gi*en to them. I ha*e felt
these difficulties far too hea*il# during man# #ears to doubt their weight. But it deser*es esecial notice that
the more imortant ob,ections relate to )uestions on which we are confessedl# ignorant- nor do we know
how ignorant we are. We do not know all the ossible transitional gradations between the simlest and the
most erfect organs- it cannot be retended that we know all the *aried means of 3istribution during the
long lase of #ears, or that we know how imerfect the 8eological 9ecord is. 8ra*e as these se*eral
difficulties are, in m# ,udgement the# do not o*erthrow the theor# of descent with modification.
Now let us turn to the other side of the argument. @nder domestication we see much *ariabilit#. !his seems
to be mainl# due to the reroducti*e s#stem being eminentl# suscetible to changes in the conditions of life
so that this s#stem, when not rendered imotent, fails to reroduce offsring e0actl# like the arent5form.
7ariabilit# is go*erned b# man# comle0 laws, 55 b# correlation of growth, b# use and disuse, and b# the
direct action of the h#sical conditions of life. !here is much difficult# in ascertaining how much modification
our domestic roductions ha*e undergone- but we ma# safel# infer that the amount has been large, and that
modifications can be inherited for long eriods. As long as the conditions of life remain the same, we ha*e
reason to belie*e that a modification, which has alread# been inherited for man# generations, ma# continue
to be inherited for an almost infinite number of generations. $n the other hand we ha*e e*idence that
*ariabilit#, when it has once come into la#, does not wholl# cease- for new *arieties are still occasionall#
roduced b# our most ancientl# domesticated roductions.
Man does not actuall# roduce *ariabilit#- he onl# unintentionall# e0oses organic beings to new conditions
of life, and then nature acts on the organisation, and causes *ariabilit#. But man can and does select the
*ariations gi*en to him b# nature, and thus accumulate them in an# desired manner. He thus adats
animals and lants for his own benefit or leasure. He ma# do this methodicall#, or he ma# do it
unconsciousl# b# reser*ing the indi*iduals most useful to him at the time, without an# thought of altering
the breed. It is certain that he can largel# influence the character of a breed b# selecting, in each successi*e
generation, indi*idual differences so slight as to be )uite inareciable b# an uneducated e#e. !his rocess
of selection has been the great agenc# in the roduction of the most distinct and useful domestic breeds.
!hat man# of the breeds roduced b# man ha*e to a large e0tent the character of natural secies, is shown
b# the ine0tricable doubts whether *er# man# of them are *arieties or aboriginal secies.
!here is no ob*ious reason wh# the rinciles which ha*e acted so efficientl# under domestication should
not ha*e acted under nature. In the reser*ation of fa*oured indi*iduals and races, during the constantl#5
recurrent Struggle for E0istence, we see the most owerful and e*er5acting means of selection. !he
struggle for e0istence ine*itabl# follows from the high geometrical ratio of increase which is common to all
organic beings. !his high rate of increase is ro*ed b# calculation, b# the effects of a succession of eculiar
seasons, and b# the results of naturalisation, as e0lained in the third chater. More indi*iduals are born
than can ossibl# sur*i*e. A grain in the balance will determine which indi*idual shall li*e and which shall
die, 55 which *ariet# or secies shall increase in number, and which shall decrease, or finall# become
e0tinct. As the indi*iduals of the same secies come in all resects into the closest cometition with each
other, the struggle will generall# be most se*ere between them- it will be almost e)uall# se*ere between the
*arieties of the same secies, and ne0t in se*erit# between the secies of the same genus. But the struggle
will often be *er# se*ere between beings most remote in the scale of nature. !he slightest ad*antage in one
being, at an# age or during an# season, o*er those with which it comes into cometition, or better
adatation in howe*er slight a degree to the surrounding h#sical conditions, will turn the balance.
With animals ha*ing searated se0es there will in most cases be a struggle between the males for
ossession of the females. !he most *igorous indi*iduals, or those which ha*e most successfull# struggled
with their conditions of life, will generall# lea*e most rogen#. But success will often deend on ha*ing
secial weaons or means of defence, or on the charms of the males- and the slightest ad*antage will lead
to *ictor#.
As geolog# lainl# roclaims that each land has undergone great h#sical changes, we might ha*e
e0ected that organic beings would ha*e *aried under nature, in the same wa# as the# generall# ha*e
*aried under the changed conditions of domestication. And if there be an# *ariabilit# under nature, it would
be an unaccountable fact if natural selection had not come into la#. It has often been asserted, but the
assertion is )uite incaable of roof, that the amount of *ariation under nature is a strictl# limited )uantit#.
Man, though acting on e0ternal characters alone and often cariciousl#, can roduce within a short eriod a
great result b# adding u mere indi*idual differences in his domestic roductions- and e*er# one admits that
there are at least indi*idual differences in secies under nature. But, besides such differences, all
naturalists ha*e admitted the e0istence of *arieties, which the# think sufficientl# distinct to be worth# of
record in s#stematic works. No one can draw an# clear distinction between indi*idual differences and slight
*arieties- or between more lainl# marked *arieties and subsecies, and secies. 1et it be obser*ed how
naturalists differ in the rank which the# assign to the man# reresentati*e forms in Euroe and North
America.
If then we ha*e under nature *ariabilit# and a owerful agent alwa#s read# to act and select, wh# should we
doubt that *ariations in an# wa# useful to beings, under their e0cessi*el# comle0 relations of life, would be
reser*ed, accumulated, and inherited; Wh#, if man can b# atience select *ariations most useful to
himself, should nature fail in selecting *ariations useful, under changing conditions of life, to her li*ing
roducts; What limit can be ut to this ower, acting during long ages and rigidl# scrutinising the whole
constitution, structure, and habits of each creature, " fa*ouring the good and re,ecting the bad; I can see
no limit to this ower, in slowl# and beautifull# adating each form to the most comle0 relations of life. !he
theor# of natural selection, e*en if we looked no further than this, seems to me to be in itself robable. I
ha*e alread# recaitulated, as fairl# as I could, the oosed difficulties and ob,ections/ now let us turn to the
secial facts and arguments in fa*our of the theor#.
$n the *iew that secies are onl# strongl# marked and ermanent *arieties, and that each secies first
e0isted as a *ariet#, we can see wh# it is that no line of demarcation can be drawn between secies,
commonl# suosed to ha*e been roduced b# secial acts of creation, and *arieties which are
acknowledged to ha*e been roduced b# secondar# laws. $n this same *iew we can understand how it is
that in each region where man# secies of a genus ha*e been roduced, and where the# now flourish,
these same secies should resent man# *arieties- for where the manufactor# of secies has been acti*e,
we might e0ect, as a general rule, to find it still in action- and this is the case if *arieties be inciient
secies. Moreo*er, the secies of the large genera, which afford the greater number of *arieties or inciient
secies, retain to a certain degree the character of *arieties- for the# differ from each other b# a less
amount of difference than do the secies of smaller genera. !he closel# allied secies also of the larger
genera aarentl# ha*e restricted ranges, and the# are clustered in little grous round other secies 55 in
which resects the# resemble *arieties. !hese are strange relations on the *iew of each secies ha*ing
been indeendentl# created, but are intelligible if all secies first e0isted as *arieties.
As each secies tends b# its geometrical ratio of reroduction to increase inordinatel# in number- and as the
modified descendants of each secies will be enabled to increase b# so much the more as the# become
more di*ersified in habits and structure, so as to be enabled to sei?e on man# and widel# different laces in
the econom# of nature, there will be a constant tendenc# in natural selection to reser*e the most di*ergent
offsring of an# one secies. Hence during a long5continued course of modification, the slight differences,
characteristic of *arieties of the same secies, tend to be augmented into the greater differences
characteristic of secies of the same genus. New and imro*ed *arieties will ine*itabl# sulant and
e0terminate the older, less imro*ed and intermediate *arieties- and thus secies are rendered to a large
e0tent defined and distinct ob,ects. 3ominant secies belonging to the larger grous tend to gi*e birth to
new and dominant forms- so that each large grou tends to become still larger, and at the same time more
di*ergent in character. But as all grous cannot thus succeed in increasing in si?e, for the world would not
hold them, the more dominant grous beat the less dominant. !his tendenc# in the large grous to go on
increasing in si?e and di*erging in character, together with the almost ine*itable contingenc# of much
e0tinction, e0lains the arrangement of all the forms of life, in grous subordinate to grous, all within a few
great classes, which we now see e*er#where around us, and which has re*ailed throughout all time. !his
grand fact of the grouing of all organic beings seems to me utterl# ine0licable on the theor# of creation.
As natural selection acts solel# b# accumulating slight, successi*e, fa*ourable *ariations, it can roduce no
great or sudden modification- it can act onl# b# *er# short and slow stes. Hence the canon of =Natura non
facit saltum,+ which e*er# fresh addition to our knowledge tends to make more strictl# correct, is on this
theor# siml# intelligible. We can lainl# see wh# nature is rodigal in *ariet#, though niggard in inno*ation.
But wh# this should be a law of nature if each secies has been indeendentl# created, no man can e0lain.
Man# other facts are, as it seems to me, e0licable on this theor#. How strange it is that a bird, under the
form of woodecker, should ha*e been created to re# on insects on the ground- that uland geese, which
ne*er or rarel# swim, should ha*e been created with webbed feet- that a thrush should ha*e been created
to di*e and feed on sub5a)uatic insects- and that a etrel should ha*e been created with habits and
structure fitting it for the life of an auk or grebeA and so on in endless other cases. But on the *iew of each
secies constantl# tr#ing to increase in number, with natural selection alwa#s read# to adat the slowl#
*ar#ing descendants of each to an# unoccuied or ill5occuied lace in nature, these facts cease to be
strange, or erhas might e*en ha*e been anticiated.
As natural selection acts b# cometition, it adats the inhabitants of each countr# onl# in relation to the
degree of erfection of their associates- so that we need feel no surrise at the inhabitants of an# one
countr#, although on the ordinar# *iew suosed to ha*e been seciall# created and adated for that
countr#, being beaten and sulanted b# the naturalised roductions from another land. Nor ought we to
mar*el if all the contri*ances in nature be not, as far as we can ,udge, absolutel# erfect- and if some of
them be abhorrent to our ideas of fitness. We need not mar*el at the sting of the bee causing the bee+s own
death- at drones being roduced in such *ast numbers for one single act, and being then slaughtered b#
their sterile sisters- at the astonishing waste of ollen b# our fir5trees- at the instincti*e hatred of the )ueen
bee for her own fertile daughters- at ichneumonidae feeding within the li*e bodies of caterillars- and at
other such cases. !he wonder indeed is, on the theor# of natural selection, that more cases of the want of
absolute erfection ha*e not been obser*ed.
!he comle0 and little known laws go*erning *ariation are the same, as far as we can see, with the laws
which ha*e go*erned the roduction of so5called secific forms. In both cases h#sical conditions seem to
ha*e roduced but little direct effect- #et when *arieties enter an# ?one, the# occasionall# assume some of
the characters of the secies roer to that ?one. In both *arieties and secies, use and disuse seem to
ha*e roduced some effect- for it is difficult to resist this conclusion when we look, for instance, at the
logger5headed duck, which has wings incaable of flight, in nearl# the same condition as in the domestic
duck- or when we look at the burrowing tucutucu, which is occasionall# blind, and then at certain moles,
which are habituall# blind and ha*e their e#es co*ered with skin- or when we look at the blind animals
inhabiting the dark ca*es of America and Euroe. In both *arieties and secies correction of growth seems
to ha*e la#ed a most imortant art, so that when one art has been modified other arts are necessaril#
modified. In both *arieties and secies re*ersions to long5lost characters occur. How ine0licable on the
theor# of creation is the occasional aearance of stries on the shoulder and legs of the se*eral secies of
the horse5genus and in their h#bridsA How siml# is this fact e0lained if we belie*e that these secies ha*e
descended from a stried rogenitor, in the same manner as the se*eral domestic breeds of igeon ha*e
descended from the blue and barred rock5igeonA
$n the ordinar# *iew of each secies ha*ing been indeendentl# created, wh# should the secific
characters, or those b# which the secies of the same genus differ from each other, be more *ariable than
the generic characters in which the# all agree; Wh#, for instance, should the colour of a flower be more
likel# to *ar# in an# one secies of a genus, if the other secies, suosed to ha*e been created
indeendentl#, ha*e differentl# coloured flowers, than if all the secies of the genus ha*e the same coloured
flowers; If secies are onl# well5marked *arieties, of which the characters ha*e become in a high degree
ermanent, we can understand this fact- for the# ha*e alread# *aried since the# branched off from a
common rogenitor in certain characters, b# which the# ha*e come to be secificall# distinct from each
other- and therefore these same characters would be more likel# still to be *ariable than the generic
characters which ha*e been inherited without change for an enormous eriod. It is ine0licable on the
theor# of creation wh# a art de*eloed in a *er# unusual manner in an# one secies of a genus, and
therefore, as we ma# naturall# infer, of great imortance to the secies, should be eminentl# liable to
*ariation- but, on m# *iew, this art has undergone, since the se*eral secies branched off from a common
rogenitor, an unusual amount of *ariabilit# and modification, and therefore we might e0ect this art
generall# to be still *ariable. But a art ma# be de*eloed in the most unusual manner, like the wing of a
bat, and #et not be more *ariable than an# other structure, if the art be common to man# subordinate
forms, that is, if it has been inherited for a *er# long eriod- for in this case it will ha*e been rendered
constant b# long5continued natural selection.
8lancing at instincts, mar*ellous as some are, the# offer no greater difficult# than does cororeal structure
on the theor# of the natural selection of successi*e, slight, but rofitable modifications. We can thus
understand wh# nature mo*es b# graduated stes in endowing different animals of the same class with their
se*eral instincts. I ha*e attemted to show how much light the rincile of gradation throws on the
admirable architectural owers of the hi*e5bee. Habit no doubt sometimes comes into la# in modif#ing
instincts- but it certainl# is not indisensable, as we see, in the case of neuter insects, which lea*e no
rogen# to inherit the effects of long5continued habit. $n the *iew of all the secies of the same genus
ha*ing descended from a common arent, and ha*ing inherited much in common, we can understand how
it is that allied secies, when laced under considerabl# different conditions of life, #et should follow nearl#
the same instincts- wh# the thrush of South America, for instance, lines her nest with mud like our British
secies. $n the *iew of instincts ha*ing been slowl# ac)uired through natural selection we need not mar*el
at some instincts being aarentl# not erfect and liable to mistakes, and at man# instincts causing other
animals to suffer.
If secies be onl# well5marked and ermanent *arieties, we can at once see wh# their crossed offsring
should follow the same comle0 laws in their degrees and kinds of resemblance to their arents, 55 in being
absorbed into each other b# successi*e crosses, and in other such oints, 55 as do the crossed offsring of
acknowledged *arieties. $n the other hand, these would be strange facts if secies ha*e been
indeendentl# created, and *arieties ha*e been roduced b# secondar# laws.
If we admit that the geological record is imerfect in an e0treme degree, then such facts as the record gi*es,
suort the theor# of descent with modification. New secies ha*e come on the stage slowl# and at
successi*e inter*als- and the amount of change, after e)ual inter*als of time, is widel# different in different
grous. !he e0tinction of secies and of whole grous of secies, which has la#ed so consicuous a art
in the histor# of the organic world, almost ine*itabl# follows on the rincile of natural selection- for old
forms will be sulanted b# new and imro*ed forms. Neither single secies nor grous of secies reaear
when the chain of ordinar# generation has once been broken. !he gradual diffusion of dominant forms, with
the slow modification of their descendants, causes the forms of life, after long inter*als of time, to aear as
if the# had changed simultaneousl# throughout the world. !he fact of the fossil remains of each formation
being in some degree intermediate in character between the fossils in the formations abo*e and below, is
siml# e0lained b# their intermediate osition in the chain of descent. !he grand fact that all e0tinct organic
beings belong to the same s#stem with recent beings, falling either into the same or into intermediate
grous, follows from the li*ing and the e0tinct being the offsring of common arents. As the grous which
ha*e descended from an ancient rogenitor ha*e generall# di*erged in character, the rogenitor with its
earl# descendants will often be intermediate in character in comarison with its later descendants- and thus
we can see wh# the more ancient a fossil is, the oftener it stands in some degree intermediate between
e0isting and allied grous. 9ecent forms are generall# looked at as being, in some *ague sense, higher
than ancient and e0tinct forms- and the# are in so far higher as the later and more imro*ed forms ha*e
con)uered the older and less imro*ed organic beings in the struggle for life. 1astl#, the law of the nB+..&+C
long endurance of allied forms on the same continent, " of marsuials in Australia, of edentata in America,
and other such cases, 55 is intelligible, for within a confined countr#, the recent and the e0tinct will naturall#
be allied b# descent.
1ooking to geograhical distribution, if we admit that there has been during the long course of ages much
migration from one art of the world to another, owing to former climatal and geograhical changes and to
the man# occasional and unknown means of disersal, then we can understand, on the theor# of descent
with modification, most of the great leading facts in 3istribution. We can see wh# there should be so striking
a arallelism in the distribution of organic beings throughout sace, and in their geological succession
throughout time- for in both cases the beings ha*e been connected b# the bond of ordinar# generation, and
the means of modification ha*e been the same. We see the full meaning of the wonderful fact, which must
ha*e struck e*er# tra*eller, namel#, that on the same continent, under the most di*erse conditions, under
heat and cold, on mountain and lowland, on deserts and marshes, most of the inhabitants within each great
class are lainl# related- for the# will generall# be descendants of the same rogenitors and earl# colonists.
$n this same rincile of former migration, combined in most cases with modification, we can understand,
b# the aid of the 8lacial eriod, the identit# of some few lants, and the close alliance of man# others, on
the most distant mountains, under the most different climates- and likewise the close alliance of some of the
inhabitants of the sea in the northern and southern temerate ?ones, though searated b# the whole
intertroical ocean. Although two areas ma# resent the same h#sical conditions of life, we need feel no
surrise at their inhabitants being widel# different, if the# ha*e been for a long eriod comletel# searated
from each other- for as the relation of organism to organism is the most imortant of all relations, and as the
two areas will ha*e recei*ed colonists from some third source or from each other, at *arious eriods and in
different roortions, the course of modification in the two areas will ine*itabl# be different.
$n this *iew of migration, with subse)uent modification, we can see wh# oceanic islands should be
inhabited b# few secies, but of these, that man# should be eculiar. We can clearl# see wh# those animals
which cannot cross wide saces of ocean, as frogs and terrestrial mammals, should not inhabit oceanic
islands- and wh#, on the other hand, new and eculiar secies of bats, which can tra*erse the ocean,
should so often be found on islands far distant from an# continent. Such facts as the resence of eculiar
secies of bats, and the absence of all other mammals, on oceanic islands, are utterl# ine0licable on the
theor# of indeendent acts of creation.
!he e0istence of closel# allied or reresentati*e secies in an# two areas, imlies, on the theor# of descent
with modification, that the same arents formerl# inhabited both areas- and we almost in*ariabl# find that
where*er man# closel# allied secies inhabit two areas, some identical secies common to both still e0ist.
Where*er man# closel# allied #et distinct secies occur, man# doubtful forms and *arieties of the same
secies likewise occur. It is a rule of high generalit# that the inhabitants of each area are related to the
inhabitants of the nearest source whence immigrants might ha*e been deri*ed. We see this in nearl# all the
lants and animals of the 8alaagos archielago, of Duan 4ernande?, and of the other American islands
being related in the most striking manner to the lants and animals of the neighbouring American mainland-
and those of the 2ae de 7erde archielago and other African islands to the African mainland. It must be
admitted that these facts recei*e no e0lanation on the theor# of creation.
!he fact, as we ha*e seen, that all ast and resent organic beings constitute one grand natural s#stem,
with grou subordinate to grou, and with e0tinct grous often falling in between recent grous, is intelligible
on the theor# of natural selection with its contingencies of e0tinction and di*ergence of character. $n these
same rinciles we see how it is, that the mutual affinities of the secies and genera within each class are
so comle0 and circuitous. We see wh# certain characters are far more ser*iceable than others for
classification- 55 wh# adati*e characters, though of aramount imortance to the being, are of hardl# an#
imortance in classification- wh# characters deri*ed from rudimentar# arts, though of no ser*ice to the
being, are often of high classificator# *alue- and wh# embr#ological characters are the most *aluable of all.
!he real affinities of all organic beings are due to inheritance or communit# of descent. !he natural s#stem
is a genealogical arrangement, in which we ha*e to disco*er the lines of descent b# the most ermanent
characters, howe*er slight their *ital imortance ma# be.
!he framework of bones being the same in the hand of a man, wing of a bat, fin of the oroise, and leg of
the horse, 55 the same number of *ertebrae forming the neck of the giraffe and of the elehant, 55 and
innumerable other such facts, at once e0lain themsel*es on the theor# of descent with slow and slight
successi*e modifications. !he similarit# of attern in the wing and leg of a bat, though used for such
different uroses, 55 in the ,aws and legs of a crab, 55 in the etals, stamens, and istils of a flower, is
likewise intelligible on the *iew of the gradual modification of arts or organs, which were alike in the earl#
rogenitor of each class. $n the rincile of successi*e *ariations not alwa#s suer*ening at an earl# age,
and being inherited at a corresonding not earl# eriod of life, we can clearl# see wh# the embr#os of
mammals, birds, retiles, and fishes should be so closel# alike, and should be so unlike the adult forms. We
ma# cease mar*elling at the embr#o of an air5breathing mammal or bird ha*ing branchial slits and arteries
running in loos, like those in a fish which has to breathe the air dissol*ed in water, b# the aid of well5
de*eloed branchiae.
3isuse, aided sometimes b# natural selection, will often tend to reduce an organ, when it has become
useless b# changed habits or under changed conditions of life- and we can clearl# understand on this *iew
the meaning of rudimentar# organs. But disuse and selection will generall# act on each creature, when it
has come to maturit# and has to la# its full art in the struggle for e0istence, and will thus ha*e little ower
of acting on an organ during earl# life- hence the organ will not be much reduced or rendered rudimentar# at
this earl# age. !he calf, for instance, has inherited teeth, which ne*er cut through the gums of the uer
,aw, from an earl# rogenitor ha*ing well5de*eloed teeth- and we ma# belie*e, that the teeth in the mature
animal were reduced, during successi*e generations, b# disuse or b# the tongue and alate ha*ing been
fitted b# natural selection to browse without their aid- whereas in the calf, the teeth ha*e been left
untouched b# selection or disuse, and on the rincile of inheritance at corresonding ages ha*e been
inherited from a remote eriod to the resent da#. $n the *iew of each organic being and each searate
organ ha*ing been seciall# created, how utterl# ine0licable it is that arts, like the teeth in the embr#onic
calf or like the shri*elled wings under the soldered wing5co*ers of some beetles, should thus so fre)uentl#
bear the lain stam of inutilit#A Nature ma# be said to ha*e taken ains to re*eal, b# rudimentar# organs
and b# homologous structures, her scheme of modification, which it seems that we wilfull# will not
understand.
I ha*e now recaitulated the chief facts and considerations which ha*e thoroughl# con*inced me that
secies ha*e changed, and are still slowl# changing b# the reser*ation and accumulation of successi*e
slight fa*ourable *ariations. Wh#, it ma# be asked, ha*e all the most eminent li*ing naturalists and
geologists re,ected this *iew of the mutabilit# of secies; It cannot be asserted that organic beings in a state
of nature are sub,ect to no *ariation- it cannot be ro*ed that the amount of *ariation in the course of long
ages is a limited )uantit#- no clear distinction has been, or can be, drawn between secies and well5marked
*arieties. It cannot be maintained that secies when intercrossed are in*ariabl# sterile, and *arieties
in*ariabl# fertile- or that sterilit# is a secial endowment and sign of creation. !he belief that secies were
immutable roductions was almost una*oidable as long as the histor# of the world was thought to be of
short duration- and now that we ha*e ac)uired some idea of the lase of time, we are too at to assume,
without roof, that the geological record is so erfect that it would ha*e afforded us lain e*idence of the
mutation of secies, if the# had undergone mutation.
But the chief cause of our natural unwillingness to admit that one secies has gi*en birth to other and
distinct secies, is that we are alwa#s slow in admitting an# great change of which we do not see the
intermediate stes. !he difficult# is the same as that felt b# so man# geologists, when 1#ell first insisted that
long lines of inland cliffs had been formed, and great *alle#s e0ca*ated, b# the slow action of the coast5
wa*es. !he mind cannot ossibl# gras the full meaning of the term of a hundred million #ears- it cannot
add u and ercei*e the full effects of man# slight *ariations, accumulated during an almost infinite number
of generations.
Although I am full# con*inced of the truth of the *iews gi*en in this *olume under the form of an abstract, I
b# no means e0ect to con*ince e0erienced naturalists whose minds are stocked with a multitude of facts
all *iewed, during a long course of #ears, from a oint of *iew directl# oosite to mine. It is so eas# to hide
our ignorance under such e0ressions as the =lan of creation,+ =unit# of design,+ 6c., and to think that we
gi*e an e0lanation when we onl# restate a fact. An# one whose disosition leads him to attach more
weight to une0lained difficulties than to the e0lanation of a certain number of facts will certainl# re,ect m#
theor#. A few naturalists, endowed with much fle0ibilit# of mind, and who ha*e alread# begun to doubt on
the immutabilit# of secies, ma# be influenced b# this *olume- but I look with confidence to the future, to
#oung and rising naturalists, who will be able to *iew both sides of the )uestion with imartialit#. Whoe*er is
led to belie*e that secies are mutable will do good ser*ice b# conscientiousl# e0ressing his con*iction- for
onl# thus can the load of re,udice b# which this sub,ect is o*erwhelmed be remo*ed.
Se*eral eminent naturalists ha*e of late ublished their belief that a multitude of reuted secies in each
genus are not real secies- but that other secies are real, that is, ha*e been indeendentl# created. !his
seems to me a strange conclusion to arri*e at. !he# admit that a multitude of forms, which till latel# the#
themsel*es thought were secial creations, and which are still thus looked at b# the ma,orit# of naturalists,
and which conse)uentl# ha*e e*er# e0ternal characteristic feature of true secies, 55 the# admit that these
ha*e been roduced b# *ariation, but the# refuse to e0tend the same *iew to other and *er# slightl# different
forms. Ne*ertheless the# do not retend that the# can define, or e*en con,ecture, which are the created
forms of life, and which are those roduced b# secondar# laws. !he# admit *ariation as a vera causa in one
case, the# arbitraril# re,ect it in another, without assigning an# distinction in the two cases. !he da# will
come when this will be gi*en as a curious illustration of the blindness of reconcei*ed oinion. !hese
authors seem no more startled at a miraculous act of creation than at an ordinar# birth. But do the# reall#
belie*e that at innumerable eriods in the earth+s histor# certain elemental atoms ha*e been commanded
suddenl# to flash into li*ing tissues; 3o the# belie*e that at each suosed act of creation one indi*idual or
man# were roduced; Were all the infinitel# numerous kinds of animals and lants created as eggs or seed,
or as full grown; and in the case of mammals, were the# created bearing the false marks of nourishment
from the mother+s womb; Although naturalists *er# roerl# demand a full e0lanation of e*er# difficult#
from those who belie*e in the mutabilit# of secies, on their own side the# ignore the whole sub,ect of the
first aearance of secies in what the# consider re*erent silence.
It ma# be asked how far I e0tend the doctrine of the modification of secies. !he )uestion is difficult to
answer, because the more distinct the forms are which we ma# consider, b# so much the arguments fall
awa# in force. But some arguments of the greatest weight e0tend *er# far. All the members of whole
classes can be connected together b# chains of affinities, and all can be classified on the same rincile, in
grous subordinate to grous. 4ossil remains sometimes tend to fill u *er# wide inter*als between e0isting
orders. $rgans in a rudimentar# condition lainl# show that an earl# rogenitor had the organ in a full#
de*eloed state- and this in some instances necessaril# imlies an enormous amount of modification in the
descendants. !hroughout whole classes *arious structures are formed on the same attern, and at an
embr#onic age the secies closel# resemble each other. !herefore I cannot doubt that the theor# of descent
with modification embraces all the members of the same class. I belie*e that animals ha*e descended from
at most onl# four or fi*e rogenitors, and lants from an e)ual or lesser number.
Analog# would lead me one ste further, namel#, to the belief that all animals and lants ha*e descended
from some one rotot#e. But analog# ma# be a deceitful guide. Ne*ertheless all li*ing things ha*e much in
common, in their chemical comosition, their germinal *esicles, their cellular structure, and their laws of
growth and reroduction. We see this e*en in so trifling a circumstance as that the same oison often
similarl# affects lants and animals- or that the oison secreted b# the gall5fl# roduces monstrous growths
on the wild rose or oak5tree. !herefore I should infer from analog# that robabl# all the organic beings which
ha*e e*er li*ed on this earth ha*e descended from some one rimordial form, into which life was first
breathed.
When the *iews entertained in this *olume on the origin of secies, or when analogous *iews are generall#
admitted, we can diml# foresee that there will be a considerable re*olution in natural histor#. S#stematists
will be able to ursue their labours as at resent- but the# will not be incessantl# haunted b# the shadow#
doubt whether this or that form be in essence a secies. !his I feel sure, and I seak after e0erience, will
be no slight relief. !he endless disutes whether or not some fift# secies of British brambles are true
secies will cease. S#stematists will ha*e onl# to decide >not that this will be eas#: whether an# form be
sufficientl# constant and distinct from other forms, to be caable of definition- and if definable, whether the
differences be sufficientl# imortant to deser*e a secific name. !his latter oint will become a far more
essential consideration than it is at resent- for differences, howe*er slight, between an# two forms, if not
blended b# intermediate gradations, are looked at b# most naturalists as sufficient to raise both forms to the
rank of secies. Hereafter we shall be comelled to acknowledge that the onl# distinction between secies
and well5marked *arieties is, that the latter are known, or belie*ed, to be connected at the resent da# b#
intermediate gradations, whereas secies were formerl# thus connected. Hence, without )uite re,ecting the
consideration of the resent e0istence of intermediate gradations between an# two forms, we shall be led to
weigh more carefull# and to *alue higher the actual amount of difference between them. It is )uite ossible
that forms now generall# acknowledged to be merel# *arieties ma# hereafter be thought worth# of secific
names, as with the rimrose and cowsli- and in this case scientific and common language will come into
accordance. In short, we shall ha*e to treat secies in the same manner as those naturalists treat genera,
who admit that genera are merel# artificial combinations made for con*enience. !his ma# not be a cheering
rosect- but we shall at least be freed from the *ain search for the undisco*ered and undisco*erable
essence of the term secies.
!he other and more general deartments of natural histor# will rise greatl# in interest. !he terms used b#
naturalists of affinit#, relationshi, communit# of t#e, aternit#, morholog#, adati*e characters,
rudimentar# and aborted organs, 6c., will cease to be metahorical, and will ha*e a lain signification.
When we no longer look at an organic being as a sa*age looks at a shi, as at something wholl# be#ond his
comrehension- when we regard e*er# roduction of nature as one which has had a histor#- when we
contemlate e*er# comle0 structure and instinct as the summing u of man# contri*ances, each useful to
the ossessor, nearl# in the same wa# as when we look at an# great mechanical in*ention as the summing
u of the labour, the e0erience, the reason, and e*en the blunders of numerous workmen- when we thus
*iew each organic being, how far more interesting, I seak from e0erience, will the stud# of natural histor#
becomeA
A grand and almost untrodden field of in)uir# will be oened, on the causes and laws of *ariation, on
correlation of growth, on the effects of use and disuse, on the direct action of e0ternal conditions, and so
forth. !he stud# of domestic roductions will rise immensel# in *alue. A new *ariet# raised b# man will be a
far more imortant and interesting sub,ect for stud# than one more secies added to the infinitude of alread#
recorded secies. $ur classifications will come to be, as far as the# can be so made, genealogies- and will
then trul# gi*e what ma# be called the lan of creation. !he rules for classif#ing will no doubt become
simler when we ha*e a definite ob,ect in *iew. We ossess no edigrees or armorial bearings- and we
ha*e to disco*er and trace the man# di*erging lines of descent in our natural genealogies, b# characters of
an# kind which ha*e long been inherited. 9udimentar# organs will seak infallibl# with resect to the nature
of long5lost structures. Secies and grous of secies, which are called aberrant, and which ma# fancifull#
be called li*ing fossils, will aid us in forming a icture of the ancient forms of life. Embr#olog# will re*eal to
us the structure, in some degree obscured, of the rotot#es of each great class.
When we can feel assured that all the indi*iduals of the same secies, and all the closel# allied secies of
most genera, ha*e within a not *er# remote eriod descended from one arent, and ha*e migrated from
some one birthlace- and when we better know the man# means of migration, then, b# the light which
geolog# now throws, and will continue to throw, on former changes of climate and of the le*el of the land,
we shall surel# be enabled to trace in an admirable manner the former migrations of the inhabitants of the
whole world. E*en at resent, b# comaring the differences of the inhabitants of the sea on the oosite
sides of a continent, and the nature of the *arious inhabitants of that continent in relation to their aarent
means of immigration, some light can be thrown on ancient geograh#.
!he noble science of 8eolog# loses glor# from the e0treme imerfection of the record. !he crust of the
earth with its embedded remains must not be looked at as a well5filled museum, but as a oor collection
made at ha?ard and at rare inter*als. !he accumulation of each great fossiliferous formation will be
recognised as ha*ing deended on an unusual concurrence of circumstances, and the blank inter*als
between the successi*e stages as ha*ing been of *ast duration. But we shall be able to gauge with some
securit# the duration of these inter*als b# a comarison of the receding and succeeding organic forms. We
must be cautious in attemting to correlate as strictl# contemoraneous two formations, which include few
identical secies, b# the general succession of their forms of life. As secies are roduced and
e0terminated b# slowl# acting and still e0isting causes, and not b# miraculous acts of creation and b#
catastrohes- and as the most imortant of all causes of organic change is one which is almost indeendent
of altered and erhas suddenl# altered h#sical conditions, namel#, the mutual relation of organism to
organism, 55 the imro*ement of one being entailing the imro*ement or the e0termination of others- it
follows, that the amount of organic change in the fossils of consecuti*e formations robabl# ser*es as a fair
measure of the lase of actual time. A number of secies, howe*er, keeing in a bod# might remain for a
long eriod unchanged, whilst within this same eriod, se*eral of these secies, b# migrating into new
countries and coming into cometition with foreign associates, might become modified- so that we must not
o*errate the accurac# of organic change as a measure of time. 3uring earl# eriods of the earth+s histor#,
when the forms of life were robabl# fewer and simler, the rate of change was robabl# slower- and at the
first dawn of life, when *er# few forms of the simlest structure e0isted, the rate of change ma# ha*e been
slow in an e0treme degree. !he whole histor# of the world, as at resent known, although of a length )uite
incomrehensible b# us, will hereafter be recognised as a mere fragment of time, comared with the ages
which ha*e elased since the first creature, the rogenitor of innumerable e0tinct and li*ing descendants,
was created.
In the distant future I see oen fields for far more imortant researches. Es#cholog# will be based on a new
foundation, that of the necessar# ac)uirement of each mental ower and caacit# b# gradation. 1ight will be
thrown on the origin of man and his histor#.
Authors of the highest eminence seem to be full# satisfied with the *iew that each secies has been
indeendentl# created. !o m# mind it accords better with what we know of the laws imressed on matter b#
the 2reator, that the roduction and e0tinction of the ast and resent inhabitants of the world should ha*e
been due to secondar# causes, like those determining the birth and death of the indi*idual. When I *iew all
beings not as secial creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which li*ed long before
the first bed of the Silurian s#stem was deosited, the# seem to me to become ennobled. Dudging from the
ast, we ma# safel# infer that not one li*ing secies will transmit its unaltered likeness to a distant futurit#.
And of the secies now li*ing *er# few will transmit rogen# of an# kind to a far distant futurit#- for the
manner in which all organic beings are groued, shows that the greater number of secies of each genus,
and all the secies of man# genera, ha*e left no descendants, but ha*e become utterl# e0tinct. We can so
far take a rohetic glance into futurit# as to foretel that it will be the common and widel#5sread secies,
belonging to the larger and dominant grous, which will ultimatel# re*ail and rocreate new and dominant
secies. As all the li*ing forms of life are the lineal descendants of those which li*ed long before the Silurian
eoch, we ma# feel certain that the ordinar# succession b# generation has ne*er once been broken, and
that no catacl#sm has desolated the whole world. Hence we ma# look with some confidence to a secure
future of e)uall# inareciable length. And as natural selection works solel# b# and for the good of each
being, all cororeal and mental endowments will tend to rogress towards erfection.
It is interesting to contemlate an entangled bank, clothed with man# lants of man# kinds, with birds
singing on the bushes, with *arious insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the dam earth,
and to reflect that these elaboratel# constructed forms, so different from each other, and deendent on each
other in so comle0 a manner, ha*e all been roduced b# laws acting around us. !hese laws, taken in the
largest sense, being 8rowth with 9eroduction- inheritance which is almost imlied b# reroduction-
7ariabilit# from the indirect and direct action of the e0ternal conditions of life, and from use and disuse- a
9atio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for 1ife, and as a conse)uence to Natural Selection,
entailing 3i*ergence of 2haracter and the E0tinction of less5imro*ed forms. !hus, from the war of nature,
from famine and death, the most e0alted ob,ect which we are caable of concei*ing, namel#, the roduction
of the higher animals, directl# follows. !here is grandeur in this *iew of life, with its se*eral owers, ha*ing
been originall# breathed into a few forms or into one- and that, whilst this lanet has gone c#cling on
according to the fi0ed law of gra*it#, from so simle a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most
wonderful ha*e been, and are being, e*ol*ed.