322 DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF. 



opposite side ; and most geologists and paleontologists 

 are much shaken in their former belief. Those who be- 

 lieve that the geological record is in any degree perfect 

 will undoubtedly at once reject the theory. For my part, 

 following out Lyell's metaphor, I look at the geological 

 record as a history of the world imperfectly kept, and 

 written in a changing dialect ; of this history we possess 

 the last volume alone, relating only to two or three coun- 

 tries. Of this volume, only here and there a short chapter 

 has been preserved ; and of each page, only here and there 

 a few lines. Each word of the slowly-changing language, 

 more or less different in the successive chapters, may 

 represent the forms of life which are entombed in our 

 consecutive formations, and which falsely appear to us 

 to have been abruptly introduced. On this view, the 

 difficulties above discussed are greatly diminished, or even 

 disappear. 



HOW COULD THE TKANSITIONAL FOEM HAVE SUBSISTED ? 



_ „ 138 It has been asked by the opponents of such 

 views as I hold, how, for instance, could a 

 land carnivorous animal have been converted into one 

 with aquatic habits ; for how could the animal in its 

 transitional state have subsisted ? It would be easy to 

 show that there now exist carnivorous animals presenting 

 close intermediate grades from strictly terrestrial to aquatic 

 habits ; and, as each exists by a struggle for life, it is clear 

 that each must be well adapted to its place in nature. 

 Look at the Mustela vison of North America, which 

 has webbed feet, and which resembles an otter in its fur, 

 short legs, and form of tail. During the summer this 

 animal dives for and preys on fish, but during the long 

 winter it leaves the frozen waters, and preys, like other 



