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Bu-M 9 

 Lib, 



PREFACE. 



THE opinions of Mr. Darwin have now been for many 

 years before the world. His own book on ' The Origin 

 of Species by means of Natural Selection,' unfolds and 

 supports them with admirable clearness of argument. Far 

 from being an abstruse and tedious work, it carries the 

 reader on with unflagging interest to the close. Observa- 

 tions and experiments, some the most simple, some the 

 most elaborate, notes on natural history, as well from every 

 quarter of the globe as from almost every province of nature, 

 are brought to bear upon the subject without confusion of 

 thought or embarrassment of style. The language flows 

 easily in its calm, temperate, unegotistical course. There 

 is no disguising of objections, no seeking of opponents. There 

 is an evident searching after truth. Of its form or of its 

 shadow the author's mind as evidently retains a bright 

 clear vision, and what he sees he tries to make others see 

 as clearly as he sees it himself. The suspicion and dislike 

 which are aroused in some minds by the very name of 

 Darwinism cannot be retained by those who read Mr. 

 Darwin's own description of his theory and the grounds 

 which slowly led him to adopt it. Few readers can be 

 dull enough to feel no charm at finding the most unlooked- 

 for results deduced from the simplest illustrations, from old 

 familiar facts, from every-day occurrences, or at finding what 



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