Again: "There are, it must be admitted, cases of special difficulty on the theory of natural selection" (p. 460). "On" has become " opposed to "; it is not easy to see why this alteration was made, unless because " opposed to is longer. Again: "Turning to geographical distribution, the difficulties encountered on the theory of descent with modification are grave enough." "Grave" has become "serious," but there is no other change (p. 461). Again: As on the theory of natural selection an interminable number of intermediate forms must have existed," etc. (p. 462). "On" has become "according to "-which is certainly longer, but does not appear to possess any other advantage over "on." It is not easy to understand why Mr. Darwin should have strained at such a gnat as on," though feeling no discomfort in such an expression as an interminable number." Again: "This is the most forcible of the many objections which may be urged against my theory. . theory," etc. (p. 463). The "my" in each case became For certainly, on my "the" in 1869. "Such is the sum of the several chief objections and difficulties which may be justly urged against my theory" (p. 465). My " became "the" in 1869. Again: "Grave as these several difficulties are, in my judgment they do not overthrow the theory of descent with modification" (p. 466). This now stands, "Serious as these several objections are, in my judgment they are by no means sufficient to overthrow the theory of descent with subsequent modification"; which, again, is longer, and shows at what little, little gnats Mr. Darwin could strain, but is no material amendment on the original passage. Again: "The theory of natural selection, even if we looked no further than this, seems to me to be in itself probable" (p. 469). This now stands, "The theory of natural selection, even if we look no further than this, seems to be in the highest degree probable." It is not only probable, but was very sufficiently proved long before Mr. Darwin was born, only it must be the right natural selection and not Mr. Charles Darwin's. Again: It is inexplicable, on the theory of creation, why a part developed, etc., . . . but, on my view, this part has undergone," etc. (p. 474). "On my view" became " on our view" in 1869. Again: Glancing at instincts, marvellous as some are, they offer no greater difficulty than does corporeal structure on the theory of the natural selection of successive, slight, but profitable modifications" (p. 474). Again: On the view of all the species of the same genus having descended from a common parent, and having inherited much in common, we can understand how it is," etc. (p. 474). Again: "If we admit that the geological record is imperfect in an extreme degree, then such facts as the record gives, support the theory of descent with modification. The extinction of species . . . almost inevitably follows on the principle of natural selection” (p. 475). The word "almost "has got a great deal to answer for. Again: "We can understand, on the theory of descent with modification, most of the great leading facts in Distribution" (p. 476). Again: "The existence of closely allied or representative species in any two areas, implies, on the theory of descent with modification, that the same parents formerly inhabited both areas.... It must be admitted that these facts receive no explanation on the theory of creation. . . . The fact. . . is intelligible on the theory of natural selection, with its contingencies of extinction and divergence of character " (p. 478). Again: "Innumerable other such facts at once explain themselves on the theory of descent with slow and slight successive modifications” (p. 479). Again: Any one whose disposition leads him to attach more weight to unexplained difficulties than to the explanation of a certain number of facts, will certainly reject my theory" (p. 482). "My theory" became " the theory" in 1869. From this point to the end of the book the claim is so ubiquitous, either expressly or by implication, that it is difficult to know what not to quote. I must, however, content myself with only a few more extracts. Mr. Darwin says: "It may be asked how far I extend the doctrine of the modification of species" (p. 482). Again: Analogy would lead me one step further, namely, to the belief that all animals and plants have descended from some one prototype. Therefore I should infer from analogy that probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some one primordial form, into which life was first breathed." From an amoeba- Adam, in fact, though not in name. This last sentence is now completely altered, as well it might be. Again: "When the views entertained in this volume on the origin of Species, or when analogous views are generally admitted, we can dimly foresee that there will be a considerable revolution in natural history" (p. 484). Possibly. This now stands, "When the views advanced by me in this volume, and by Mr. Wallace, or when analogous views on the origin of species are generally admitted, we can dimly foresee," etc. When the Origin of Species came out we knew nothing of any analogous views, and Mr. Darwin's words passed unnoticed. I do not say that he knew they would, but he certainly ought to have known. Again: "A grand and almost untrodden field of inquiry will be opened, on the causes and laws of variation, on correlation of growth, on the effects of use and disuse, on the direct action of external conditions, and so forth" (p. 486). Buffon and Lamarck had trodden this field to some purpose, but not a hint to this effect is vouchsafed to us. Again: "When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Silurian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled. We can so far take a prophetic glance into futurity as to foretell that it will be the common and widely-spread species, belonging to the larger and dominant groups, which will ultimately prevail and procreate new and dominant species" (pp. 488, 489). There is no alteration in this except that " Silurian" has become "Cambrian." The idyllic paragraph with which Mr. Darwin concludes his book contains no more special claim to the theory of descent en bloc than many another which I have allowed to pass unnoticed; it has been, moreover, dealt with in an earlier chapter (chapter 12). CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE EXCISED "MY'S " HAVE QUOTED IN ALL NINETY-SEVEN PASsages, as near as I can make them, in which Mr. Darwin claimed the theory of descent, either expressly by speaking of "my theory in such connection that the theory of descent ought to be, and, as the event has shown, was, understood as being intended, or by implication, as in the opening passages of the Origin of Species, in which he tells us how he had thought the matter out without acknowledging obligation of any kind to earlier writers. The original edition of the Origin of Species contained 490 pp., exclusive of index; a claim, therefore, more or less explicit, to the theory of descent was made on the average about once in every five pages throughout the book from end to end; the claims were most prominent in the most important parts, that is to say, at the beginning and end of the work, and this made them more effective than they are made even by their frequency. A more ubiquitous claim than this it would be hard to find in the case of any writer advancing a new theory; it is difficult, therefore, to understand how Mr. Grant Allen could have allowed himself to say that Mr. Darwin laid no sort of claim to originality or proprietorship" in the theory of descent with modification. 66 Nevertheless I have only found one place where Mr. Darwin pinned himself down beyond possibility of retreat, however ignominious, by using the words "my theory of descent with modification." He often, as I have said, speaks of " my theory," and then shortly afterwards of descent with modification," under such circumstances that no one who had not been brought up in the school of Mr. Gladstone could doubt that the two expressions referred to the same thing. He seems to have felt that he must be a poor wriggler if he could not wriggle out of this; give him any loophole, however small, and Mr. Darwin could trust himself to get out through it; but he did not like saying what left no loophole at all, and "my theory of descent with modification" closed all exits so firmly that it is surprising Origin of Species, 1st ed., p. 381. 1 |