80 THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 



treme forms iu the genus happen to have been thus 

 destroyed, the genus itself will stand more distinet from 

 other allied genera. What geological research has not 

 revealed, is the former existence of infinitely numerous 

 gradations, as fine as existing varieties, connecting to- 

 gether nearly all existing and extinct s})ecies. But this 

 ought not to be expected; yet this has been repeatedly 

 advanced as a most serious objection against my views. 



It may be worth while to sum up the foregoing re- 

 marks on the causes of the imperfection of the geologi- 

 cal record under an imaginary illustration. The Malay 

 Archipelago is about the size of Europe from the North 

 Cape to the Mediterranean, and from Britain to Bussia; 

 and therefore equals all the geological formations which 

 have been examined with any accuracy, excepting those 

 of the United States of America. I fully agree with Mr. 

 Godwin-Austen, that the present condition of the Malay 

 Archipelago, with its numerous large islands separated by 

 wide and shallow seas, probably represents the former 

 state of Europe, while most of our formations were 

 accumulating. The Malay Archipelago is one of the 

 richest regions in organic beings; yet if all the species 

 were to be collected which have ever lived there, how 

 imperfectly would they represent the natural history of 

 the world! 



But we have every reason to believe that the terres- 

 trial productions of the archipelago would be preserved 

 in an extremely imperfect manner in the formations 

 which we suppose to be there accumulating. Not many 

 of the strictly littoral animals, or of those which lived 

 on naked submarine rocks, would be imbedded; and 

 those imbedded in gravel or sand would not endure to 



