SELECTION 145 



organic forms which assumed the operation 

 of no causes but such as could be proved 

 to be actually at work. We wanted, not to 

 pin our faith to that or any other speculation, 

 but to get hold of clear and definite concep- 

 tions which could be brought face to face 

 with facts and have their validity tested. 

 The * Origin' provided us with the working 

 hypothesis we sought. ..." 



Of "the quintessence of Darwinism," then, 

 a brief account is needed, and this may be 

 best given by following as closely as possible 

 upon the lines of the magnum opus itself, 

 although the full title of this "The Origin 

 of Species by means of Natural Selection, or 

 the Preservation of Favoured Races in the 

 Struggle for Life," is its own best and 

 briefest summary. 



ANALYSIS OF "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES." 

 After mentioning that his first light upon 

 the origin of species was derived from his 

 early distributional studies, Darwin points 

 out that 'a naturalist, reflecting on the 

 mutual affinities of organic beings, on their 

 embryological relations, their geographical 

 distribution, geological succession, and such 

 other facts, might come to the conclusion 

 that species had not been independently 

 created, but had descended like varieties 

 from other species. Nevertheless, such a 



