76 THE METHOD OF DARWIN. 



Even good naturalists have frequently regarded 

 a short description sufficient for ordinary pur- 

 poses of identification as even preferable to a 

 minute enumeration of details. Darwin not 

 only gave an example of the permanent worth 

 of the latter method of specific description in 

 his "Monograph of the Cirripedia," but his 

 book on the " Origin of Species " is one of the 

 finest examples extant of the fact that a short 

 statement of any subject to be valuable and 

 forcible must be an abridgment of and be 

 based upon a vast mass of details. In a corre- 

 spondence with Hugh Strickland he expresses 

 himself almost savagely in condemnation of 

 the wretchedly poor work of species describers; 

 he had unusually good reason to feel aggrieved 

 because the nature of his work compelled him 

 to use so much of the work of others. But he 

 did far less for the improvement of specific 

 description by personal example in the Mon- 

 ograph of Cirripedia, and by personal condem- 

 nation of the poor work of others, than he did 

 indirectly by his general theories of descent 

 and natural selection. The doctrine that species 

 had their origin in varieties and in individual 

 variations has changed the purpose of specific 

 description. Identification and classification 

 have been made processes subsidiary to some- 



