CHAP. IX. GEOLOGICAL RECORD. CHAP. IX. GEOLOGICAL RECORD. 1859 |
OMIT 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
ourselves ourselves 1859 1860 1869 1872 | our-selves 1861 1866 |
whether, for instance, geologists at some future period will be able to
prove, prove, 1859 1860 | prove 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
that our different breeds of cattle, sheep, horses, and dogs
have have 1859 1860 1861 1866 | are 1869 1872 |
descended from a single stock or from several aboriginal stocks; or, again, whether certain sea-shells inhabiting the shores of North America, which are ranked by some conchologists as distinct species from their European representatives, and by other conchologists as
only only 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872 |
distinct species from their European representatives, and by other conchologists as only 1866 |
varieties, are really
varieties varieties 1859 1860 | varieties, 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
or are, as it is called, specifically distinct. This could be effected
only by the future geologist only by the future geologist 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
by the future geologist only by his 1872 |
discovering in a fossil state numerous intermediate
gradations; gradations; 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872 | gra- dations; 1866 |
and such success
seems to me seems to me 1859 1860 |
is 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
improbable in the highest degree. ↑4 blocks not present in 1859 1860; present in 1861 1866 1869 1872 | It has been asserted over and over again, by writers who believe in the immutability of species, that geology has
yielded
no linking forms.
This assertion
is entirely
erroneous.
As Mr.
Lubbock has recently
remarked, "Every
species is a link between other allied forms." We clearly see this if
we take a genus having a score of recent and extinct species
and destroy four-fifths of them;
for in this case
no one will
doubt
that the remainder will stand much more distinct from each other.
If the extreme forms in the genus happen to have been thus destroyed, the genus itself in most cases
will stand more distinct from other allied genera.
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↑2 blocks not present in 1859 1860 1872; present in 1861 1866 1869 | The camel and the pig, or the horse and the tapir, are now obviously very distinct forms; but if we add the several fossil quadrupeds which have already been discovered to the families including the camel and pig, these forms become joined by links not extremely wide apart.
The chain of linking forms does not, however, in these cases, or in any case, run straight from the one living form to the other, but takes a circuitous sweep through the forms which lived during long past
ages.
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↑2 blocks not present in 1859 1860; present in 1861 1866 1869 1872 | What geological research has not revealed
is the former existence of infinitely numerous gradations, as fine as existing varieties, connecting all known
species.
And
this not having been effected by geology is the most obvious of the many objections which may be urged
against my views.
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Geological research, though it has added numerous species to existing and extinct genera, and has made the intervals between some few groups less wide than they otherwise would have been, yet has done scarcely anything in breaking down the distinction between species, by connecting them together by numerous, fine, intermediate varieties; and this not having been effected, is probably the gravest and most obvious of all the many objections which may be urged against my views.
Hence it will Hence it will 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
It may 1869 1872 |
be worth while to sum up the
foregoing foregoing 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872 | fore-going 1866 |
remarks, remarks, 1859 1860 | remarks 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
under under 1859 1860 |
on the causes of the imperfection of the geological record under 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
an imaginary illustration. The Malay Archipelago is
of of 1859 1860 | of 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
about the size of Europe from the North Cape to the Mediterranean, and from Britain to Russia; and therefore equals all the geological
formations formations 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872 | forma- tions 1866 |
which have been examined with any accuracy, excepting those of the United States of America. I fully agree with Mr. Godwin-Austen, that the present condition of the Malay Archipelago, with its numerous large islands separated by wide and shallow seas, probably represents the former state of Europe,
when when 1859 | whilst 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
most of our formations were accumulating. The Malay Archipelago is one of the richest regions
of the whole world of the whole world 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
OMIT 1872 |
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