XIV. 



GENERAL DISCUSSIONS. 



DARWIN'S general discussions of the 

 various subjects that he worked out in 

 such minute detail are models both of clearness 

 and of exhaustiveness. The reasoning of the 

 second volume of the "Variation of Animals 

 and Plants under Domestication " is long sus- 

 tained and characterized by the use of enor- 

 mous numbers of facts. The latter is one of 

 the chief characteristics of his reasoning. He 

 was frequently compelled, as in the case of 

 the "Origin of Species," by the limits within 

 which he was obliged to condense his materials, 

 to substitute general statements for long series 

 of facts. The generalizations were condensa- 

 tions of the detailed facts, which were too 

 bulky for his pages. This is the reason why his 

 discussions leave the impression of an almost 

 infinite reserve of evidence; and rightly seem 

 to convey much more to the reader than is 

 actually written on the page. 



Among Darwin's many exhaustive discus- 



