﻿Origin 
  of 
  Wild 
  Species 
  599 
  

  

  or 
  even 
  a 
  wholly 
  indifferent 
  one, 
  might 
  easily 
  be 
  

   produced, 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  so, 
  long 
  ago, 
  and 
  

   would 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  simply 
  exist 
  as 
  a 
  sys- 
  

   tematic 
  variety. 
  If 
  produced 
  anew 
  somewhere 
  

   the 
  botanist 
  would 
  take 
  it 
  for 
  the 
  old 
  variety 
  

   and 
  would 
  omit 
  to 
  make 
  any 
  inquiry 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  

   local 
  origin. 
  

  

  Thousands 
  of 
  seeds 
  with 
  perhaps 
  wide 
  circles 
  

   of 
  variability 
  are 
  ripened 
  each 
  year, 
  but 
  only 
  

   those 
  that 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  existing 
  old 
  narrow 
  

   circles 
  survive. 
  How 
  different 
  would 
  Nature 
  

   appear 
  to 
  us 
  if 
  she 
  were 
  free 
  to 
  evolve 
  all 
  her 
  

   potentialities 
  ! 
  

  

  Darwin 
  himself 
  was 
  struck 
  with 
  this 
  lack 
  of 
  

   harmony 
  between 
  common 
  observations 
  and 
  the 
  

   probable 
  real 
  state 
  of 
  things. 
  He 
  discussed 
  

   it 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  cranesbill 
  of 
  the 
  

   Pyrenees 
  (Geranium 
  pyrenaiciim). 
  He 
  de- 
  

   scribed 
  how 
  this 
  fine 
  little 
  plant, 
  which 
  has 
  never 
  

   been 
  extensively 
  cultivated, 
  had 
  escaped 
  from 
  a 
  

   garden 
  in 
  Staffordshire 
  and 
  had 
  succeeded 
  in 
  

   multiplying 
  itself 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  occupy 
  a 
  large 
  area. 
  

   In 
  doing 
  so 
  it 
  had 
  evidently 
  found 
  place 
  for 
  an 
  

   uncommonly 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  plantlets 
  from 
  its 
  

   seeds 
  and 
  correspondingly 
  it 
  had 
  commenced 
  to 
  

   vary 
  in 
  almost 
  all 
  organs 
  and 
  qualities 
  and 
  

   nearly 
  in 
  all 
  imaginable 
  directions. 
  It 
  dis- 
  

   played 
  under 
  these 
  exceptional 
  circumstances 
  a 
  

   capacity 
  which 
  never 
  had 
  been 
  exceeded 
  and 
  

  

  