Origin of Species Variorum

→ OMIT 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872

CHAP. IX. GEOLOGICAL RECORD. 1859

→ only 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872

distinct species from their European representatives, and by other conchologists as only 1866

→ by the future geologist only by his 1872

only by the future geologist 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

→ is 1861 1866 1869 1872

seems to me 1859 1860

→ as we shall see in the next chapter, is certainly 1872

is entirely 1861 1866 1869

→ forms." If 1872

forms." We clearly see this if 1861

forms." We clearly see this if 1866 1869

→ species, recent and extinct, 1872

recent and extinct species 1861 1866 1869

→ OMIT 1872

for in this case 1861 1866 1869

→ OMIT 1872

in most cases 1861 1866 1869

↑ 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.

→ together nearly all existing and extinct 1872

all known 1861 1866

nearly all our existing species with extinct 1869

→ ought not to be expected; yet this has been repeatedly advanced as a most serious objection 1869 1872

not having been effected by geology is the most obvious of the many objections which may be urged 1861 1866

↑ 1 blocks not present in 1861 1866 1869 1872; present in 1859 1860

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.

→ It may 1869 1872

Hence it will 1859 1860 1861 1866

→ on the causes of the imperfection of the geological record under 1861 1866 1869 1872

under 1859 1860

→ OMIT 1872

of the whole world 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869

→ Not 1869 1872

I suspect that not 1859 1860 1861 1866

numerous

numerous,

fine,

intermediate

intermediate,

fossil links, by asking →OMIT

our-selves

ourselves

whether, for instance, geologists at some future period will be able to

prove,

prove

that our different breeds of cattle, sheep, horses, and dogs

have

are

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 varieties, are really

varieties

varieties,

or are, as it is called, specifically distinct. This could be effected →by the future geologist only by his discovering in a fossil state numerous intermediate

gra- dations;

gradations;

and such success →is improbable in the highest degree.

It has been asserted over and over again, by writers who believe in the immutability of species, that geology

has

....

yielded

yields

no linking forms. This

assertion

assertion,

→as we shall see in the next chapter, is certainly erroneous. As

Mr.

Sir J.

Lubbock has

recently

....

remarked,

"Every

species is a link between other allied →forms." If we take a genus having a score of →species, recent and extinct, and destroy four-fifths of

them;

them,

→OMIT no one

will

....

doubt

doubts

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 →OMIT will stand more distinct from other allied genera. ↑ What geological research has not

revealed

revealed,

is the former existence of infinitely numerous gradations, as fine as existing varieties, connecting →together nearly all existing and extinct species.

And

But

this →ought not to be expected; yet this has been repeatedly advanced as a most serious objection against my views. ↑

→It may be worth while to sum up the

fore-going

foregoing

remarks,

remarks

→on the causes of the imperfection of the geological record under an imaginary illustration. The Malay Archipelago is

....

about the size of Europe from the North Cape to the Mediterranean, and from Britain to Russia; and therefore equals all the geological

forma- tions

formations

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

whilst

most of our formations were accumulating. The Malay Archipelago is one of the richest regions →OMIT in organic beings; yet if all the species were to be collected which have ever lived there, how imperfectly would they represent the natural history of the world!

But we have every reason to believe that the terrestrial productions of the archipelago would be preserved in an

excessively

extremely

imperfect manner in the formations which we suppose to be there accumulating. →Not many of the strictly littoral