Origin of Species Variorum

→ modification — Transitions — Absence 1859 1860 1861 1869

modification—Transitions—Absence 1866

modification — Absence 1872

→ varieties — Transitions 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

varieties—Transitions 1866

→ life — Diversified 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

life—Diversified 1866

→ species — Species 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

species—Species 1866

→ allies — Organs 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

allies—Organs 1866

→ perfection — Modes 1869 1872

perfection — Means 1859 1860 1861

perfection—Modes 1866

→ transition — Cases 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

transition—Cases 1866

→ difficulty — Natura 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

difficulty—Natura 1866

→ saltum — Organs 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

saltum—Organs 1866

→ importance — Organs 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

importance—Organs 1866

→ perfect — The 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

perfect—The 1866

→ having 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

the reader has 1872

→ staggered; 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

in some degree staggered; 1872

→ animal with widely-different 1869

animal with wholly different 1859 1860 1861 1866

other animal with widely different 1872

→ structure and habits? 1869

habits? 1859 1860 1861 1866

habits and structure? 1872

CHAPTER VI.

DIFFICULTIES

OF THE

THEORY.

Difficulties

the theory of descent with →modification — Transitions — Absence or rarity of transitional →varieties — Transitions in habits of →life — Diversified habits in the same →species — Species with habits widely different from those of their →allies — Organs of extreme →perfection — Modes of →transition — Cases of →difficulty — Natura non facit →saltum — Organs of small →importance — Organs not in all cases absolutely →perfect — The law of Unity of Type and of the Conditions of Existence embraced by the theory of Natural Selection.

LONG before →having arrived at this part of my work, a crowd of difficulties will have occurred to

him.

the reader.

Some of them are so

grave

serious

that to this day I can

never

hardly

reflect on them without being →staggered; but, to the best of my judgment, the

~~greater~~

greater

number are only apparent, and those that are real are

greater not,

not,

I think, fatal to

the

theory.

These difficulties and objections may be classed under the following

heads:— Firstly,

heads:—Firstly,

heads:— First,

heads:—First,

why, if species have descended from other species by

~~insensibly~~

insensibly

fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all nature in

confusion

confusion,

instead of the species being, as we see them, well defined?

Secondly, is it possible that an animal having, for instance, the structure and habits of a bat, could have been formed by the modification of some →animal with widely-different →structure and habits? Can we believe that natural selection could produce, on the one hand,

an organ

organs

of trifling importance, such as the tail of a giraffe, which serves as a fly-flapper, and, on the other hand,