[page] 549

The Origin of Species, by CHARLES DARWIN. (Published by D. Appleton and Co.)

Mr. Darwin enjoys a wide European reputation as a scientific naturalist. His account of the

researches made by him, while attached to Captain Fitzroy's Exploring Expedition on the South American coast, abounds in important information, expressed in a style of admirable vigor and lucidity. The present work is essentially a treatise on classification, discussing the origin of the lea ding divisions in natural history, and tracing the infinite varieties of organization to a small number of primitive individuals. He calls in question the prevailing idea that the different species of animals and plants have descended from a different origin, arguing that they are only strongly marked and permanent varieties, not produced by special acts of creation, but the result of secondary laws, of which he suggests an ingenious and plausible explanation. He maintains still further not only that species have experienced essential changes in the course of ages by the operation of natural, causes, but that they are still gradually changing by the preservation and accumulation of successive slight favorable variations. His views are urged with scientific modes ty and candor, but with a striking array of facts, and will doubtless challenge discussion and criticism among observers with whom the philosophical study of natural history is a specialty.