230 Darwin, and after Darwin. 



species, which are nearly all peculiar, and in some 

 cases go to constitute peculiar genera. The same 

 remarks apply to the twenty species of land-shells. 

 Lastly, of the total number of flowering plants (332 

 species) more than one half (174 species) are pecu- 

 liar. It is observable in the case of these peculiar 

 species of plants — as also of the peculiar species of 

 birds — that many of them are restricted to single 

 islands. It is also observable that, with regard both 

 to the fauna and flora, the Galapagos Islands as a 

 whole are very much richer in peculiar species than 

 either the Azores or Bermudas, notwithstanding 

 that both the latter are considerably more remote 

 from their nearest continents. This difference, which 

 at first sight appears to make against the evolu- 

 tionary interpretation, really tends to confirm it. 

 For the Galapagos Islands are situated in a calm 

 region of the globe, unvisited by those periodic 

 storms and hurricanes which sweep over the North 

 Atlantic, and which every year convey some strag- 

 gling birds, insects, seeds, &c., to the Azores and 

 Bermudas. Notwithstanding their somewhat greater 

 isolation geographically, therefore, the Azores and 

 Bermudas are really less isolated biologically than 

 are the Galapagos Islands ; and hence the less degree 

 of peculiarity on the part of their endemic species. 

 But, on the theory of special creation, it is impos- 

 sible to understand why there should be any such 

 correlation between the prevalence of gales and a 

 comparative inertness of creative activity. And, as 

 we have seen, it is equally impossible on this theory 

 to understand why there should be a further corre- 

 lation between the degree of peculiarity on the part 



