First Germ of the "Species Work" 351 



After pointing out how impossible it would be for a naturalist to 

 prove that a newly discovered species was really newly created 1 , Lyell 

 argued that no satisfactory evidence of the way in which these new 

 forms were created, had as yet been discovered, but that he enter- 

 tained the hope of a possible solution of the problem being found in 

 the study of the geological record. 



It is not difficult, in reading these chapters of Lyell's great work, 

 to realise what an effect they would have on the mind of Darwin, as 

 new facts were collected and fresh observations concerning extinct 

 and recent forms were made in his travels. We are not surprised 

 to find him writing home, " I am become a zealous disciple of 

 Mr Lyell's views, as known in his admirable book. Geologising in 

 South America, I am tempted to carry parts to a greater extent even 

 than he does 2 ." 



Lyell's anticipation that the study of the geological record might 

 afford a clue to the discovery of how new species originate was 

 remarkably fulfilled, within a few months, by Darwin's discovery of 

 fossil bones in the red Pampean mud. 



It is very true that, as Huxley remarked, Darwin's knowledge of 

 comparative anatomy must have been, at that time, slight ; but that 

 he recognised the remarkable resemblances between the extinct and 

 existing mammals of South America is proved beyond all question 

 by a passage in his letter to Henslow, written November 24th, 1832: 

 " I have been very lucky with fossil bones ; I have fragments of at 

 least six distinct animals.... I found a large surface of osseous 

 polygonal plates.... Immediately I saw them I thought they must 

 belong to an enormous armadillo, living species of which genus are 

 so abundant here," and he goes on to say that he has " the lower jaw 

 of some large animal which, from the molar teeth, I should think 

 belonged to the Edentata 3 ." 



Having found this important clue, Darwin followed it up with 

 characteristic perseverance. In his quest for more fossil bones he 

 was indefatigable. Mr Francis Darwin tells us, " I have often heard 

 him speak of the despair with which he had to break off* the projecting 

 extremity of a huge, partly excavated bone, when the boat waiting 

 for him would wait no longer 4 ." Writing to Haeckel in 1864, Darwin 

 says : " I shall never forget my astonishment when I dug out a gigantic 

 piece of armour, like that of the living armadillo 5 ." 



1 Mr F. Darwin has pointed out that his father (like Lyell) often used the term 

 "creation" in speaking of the origin of new species (L. L. n. chap. 1). 



2 L. L. i. p. 263. 



3 M. L. i. pp. 11, 12. See Extracts of Letters addressed to Prof. Henslow by C. Dartcin 

 (1835), p. 7. 



* L. L. i. p. 276 (footnote). 



5 Haeckel, History of Creation, Vol. i. p. 134, London, 1876. 



