etc., were undoubtedly "brought strongly before" Mr. Darwin's "mind in South America," yet some of them had perhaps already been brought before it at an earlier time, which he did not happen to remember at the moment of writing his letter to Professor Haeckel and the opening paragraph of the Origin of Species.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: DARWIN AND DESCENT WITH

MODIFICATION (continued)

HAVE SAID ENOUGH TO SHOW THAT MR. Darwin claimed to have been the originator of the theory of descent with modification as distinctly as any writer usually claims any theory; but it will probably save the reader trouble in the end if I bring together a good many, though not, probably, all (for I much disliked the task, and discharged it perfunctorily), of the passages in the Origin of Species in which the theory of descent with modification in its widest sense is claimed expressly or by implication. I shall quote from the original edition, which, it should be remembered, consisted of the very unusually large number of four thousand copies, and from which no important deviation was made either by addition or otherwise until a second edition of two thousand further copies had been sold; the "Historical Sketch," etc., being first given with the third edition. The italics, which I have employed so as to catch the reader's eye, are mine, not Mr. Darwin's. Mr. Darwin writes:

"Although much remains obscure, and will long remain obscure, I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate study and dispassionate judgment of which I am capable, that the view which most naturalists entertain, and which I formerly entertained— namely, that each species has been independently created-is erroneous. I am fully convinced that species are not immutable, but that those belonging to what are called the same genera are lineal descendants of some other and generally extinct species, in the same manner as the acknowledged varieties of any one species are the descendants of that species. Furthermore, I am convinced that natural selection" (or the preservation of fortunate races) "has been the main but not exclusive means of modification " (p. 6).

It is not here expressly stated that the theory of the mutability of species is Mr. Darwin's own; this, nevertheless, is the inference which the great majority of his readers were likely to draw, and did draw, from Mr. Darwin's words.

Again:

"It is not that all large genera are now varying much,

and are thus increasing in the number of their species, or that no small genera are now multiplying and increasing; for if this had been so it would have been fatal to my theory; inasmuch as geology," etc. (p. 56).

The words "my theory "stand in all the editions.

Again:

"This relation has a clear meaning on my view of the subject; I look upon all the species of any genus as having as certainly descended from the same progenitor, as have the two sexes of any one of the species" (p. 157).

My view" here, especially in the absence of reference to any other writer as having held the same opinion, implies as its most natural interpretation that descent pure and simple is Mr. Darwin's view. Substitute "the theory of descent" for " my view," and we do not feel that we are misinterpreting the author's meaning. The words " my

view" remain in all editions.

Again:

'Long before having arrived at this part of my work, a crowd of difficulties will have occurred to the reader. Some of them are so grave that to this day I can never reflect on them without being staggered; but to the best of my belief the greater number are only apparent, and those that are real are not, I think, fatal to my theory.

"These difficulties and objections may be classed under the following heads: Firstly, if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations, why do we not everywhere see...?" etc. (p. 171).

We infer from this that "my theory" is the theory" that species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations "-that is to say, that it is the theory of descent with modification; for the theory that is being objected to is obviously the theory of descent in toto, and not a mere detail in connection with that theory.

The words "my theory" were altered in 1872, with the sixth edition of the Origin of Species, into "the theory"; but I am chiefly concerned with the first edition of the work, my

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object being to show that Mr. Darwin was led into his false position as regards natural selection by a desire to claim the theory of descent with modification; if he claimed it in the first edition, this is enough to give colour to the view which I take; but it must be remembered that descent with modification remained, by the passage just quoted "my theory," for thirteen years, and even when in 1869 and 1872, for a reason that I can only guess at, my theory" became generally "the theory," this did not make it become any one else's theory. It is hard to say whose or what it became, if the words are to be construed technically; practically, however, with all ingenuous readers," the theory " remained as much Mr. Darwin's theory as though the words " theory " had been retained, and Mr. Darwin cannot be supposed so simple-minded as not to have known this would be the case. Moreover, it appears, from the next page but one to the one last quoted, that Mr. Darwin claimed the theory of descent with modification generally, even to the last, for we there read, " By my theory these allied species have descended from a common parent," and the " my has been allowed, for some reason not quite obvious, to survive the general massacre of Mr. Darwin's "my's " which occurred in 1869 and 1872.

Again:

my

"He who believes that each being has been created as we now see it, must occasionally have felt surprise when he has met," etc. (p. 185).

Here the argument evidently lies between descent and independent acts of creation. This appears from the paragraph immediately following, which begins, "He who believes in separate and innumerable acts of creation," etc. We therefore understand descent to be the theory so frequently spoken of by Mr. Darwin as "my."

Again:

"He who will go thus far, if he find on finishing this treatise that large bodies of facts, otherwise inexplicable, can be explained by the theory of descent, ought not to hesitate

to go farther, and to admit that a structure even as perfect as an eagle's eye might be formed by natural selection, although in this case he does not know any of the transitional grades (p. 188).

The natural inference from this is that descent and natural selection are one and the same thing.

Again:

"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find out no such case. No doubt many organs exist of which we do not know the transitional grades, more especially if we look to muchisolated species, round which, according to my theory, there has been much extinction" (p. 189).

This makes" my theory "to be" the theory that complex organs have arisen by numerous, successive, slight modifications"; that is to say, to be the theory of descent with modification. The first of the two my theory's" in the passage last quoted has been allowed to stand. The second became "the theory" in 1872. It is obvious, therefore, that "the theory "" means my theory"; it is not so obvious why the change should have been made at all, nor why the one "my theory" should have been taken and the other left, but I will return to this question.

Again, Mr. Darwin writes:

Although we must be extremely cautious in concluding that any organ could not possibly have been produced by small, successive, transitional gradations, yet, undoubtedly grave cases of difficulty occur, some of which will be discussed in my future work" (p. 192).

This, as usual, implies descent with modification to be the theory that Mr. Darwin is trying to make good.

Again:

"I have been astonished how rarely an organ can be named towards which no transitional variety is known to lead.. Why, on the theory of creation, should this be so?

...