Alfred Russel Wallace 



which I think must ultimately force Darwin's views on 

 any and every reflecting mind. Isolated difficulties and 

 objections are nothing against this vast cumulative argu- 

 ment. The human mind cannot go on for ever accumulat- 

 ing facts which remain unconnected and without any mutual 

 bearing and bound together by no law. The evidence for the 

 production of the organic world by the simple laws of in- 

 heritance is exactly of the same nature as that for the pro- 

 duction of the present surface of the earth — hills and valleys, 

 plains, rocks, strata, volcanoes, and all their fossil remains 

 — by the slow and natural action of natural causes now in 

 operation. The mind that will ultimately reject Darwin 

 must (to be consistent) reject Lyell also. The same argu- 

 ments of apparent stability which are thought to disprove 

 that organic species can change will also disprove any 

 change in the inorganic world, and you must believe with 

 your forefathers that each hill and each river, each inland 

 lake and continent, were created as they stand, with their 

 various strata and their various fossils — all appearances 

 and arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. I can 

 only recommend you to read again Darwin- s account of 

 the horse family and its comparison with pigeons; and if 

 that does not convince and stagger you, then you are un- 

 convertible. I do not expect Mr. Darwin's larger work 

 will add anything to the general strength of his argument. 

 It will consist chiefly of the details (often numerical) and 

 experiments and calculations of which he has already given 

 the summaries and results. It will therefore be more con- 

 fusing and less interesting to the general reader. It will 

 prove to scientific men the accuracy of his details, and 

 point out the sources of his information, but as not one 

 in a thousand readers will ever test these details and re- 

 ferences the smaller work will remain for general purposes 

 the best. . . . 



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