70 LIFE OF 



in accommodation to the changes which must con- 

 tinue in the inanimate and habitable earth, the idea 

 struck me as the grandest which I had ever conceived, 

 so far as regards the attributes of the Presiding 

 Mind." 



In a succeeding paragraph, Lyell very remarkably fore- 

 shadows Darwin's " natural selection '' and " struggle for 

 existence." He speaks of a species being rendered more 

 prolific in order to perpetuate its existence; "but this 

 would perhaps make it press too hard upon other species 

 at other times. Now if it be an insect it may be made 

 in one of its transformations to resemble a dead stick, or 

 a leaf, or a lichen, or a stone, so as to be somewhat less 

 easily found by its enemies ; or if this would make it too 

 strong, an occasional variety of the species may have this 

 advantage conferred on it ; or if this would be still too 

 much, one sex of a certain variety. Probably there is 

 scarcely a dash of colour on the wing or body of which the 

 choice would be quite arbitrary, or which might not affect its 

 duration for thousands of years" The significance of the 

 last sentence is immense, and when we reflect that this 

 bold but cautious thinker was in constant intercourse 

 with Darwin, we can readily comprehend why the second 

 edition of the Journal was so enthusiastically dedicated 

 to Lyell. On page 48 1 of the " Origin of Species," Darwin 

 acknowledges that the belief that species were immutable 

 productions was almost unavoidable, as long as the history 

 of the world was thought to be of short duration : which 

 affords another proof how profoundly Lyell's views on the 

 long duration of the past history of the globe, and its 

 modification by the slow operation of existing causes, in- 



