VARIATION. 115 



knowledged imperfections of the geological 

 record ; and expresses his belief that the gaps 

 between different fossil types, which enable 

 naturalists to classify animals into distinct 

 genera and species, would be filled up by 

 new discoveries. 



It is remarkable, however, as Darwin him- 

 self points out, that no example of the gradual 

 transformation of a single species into another 

 has been preserved, even in deep strata 

 whose formation must have involved enormous 

 lapses of time, and also, that the less special- 

 ised animals, presumably not so well equipped 

 as the higher species, should survive and 

 exist at the same time as their more highly 

 equipped successors. 



The inconsistencies between his theory and 

 admitted facts Darwin endeavours to recon- 

 cile ineffectually, as we think ; but his 

 explanations are too long for quotation, and 

 we must refer the reader to the ' Origin of 

 Species' (chap, x.) 



But leaving the dead past, we have, in an 

 existing family of insects, a living record of 

 the process of evolution far more instructive 

 than could possibly be presented by fossil 

 remains, however complete, because we can 

 observe the specific differences not only in 

 physique but also in the habits and instincts 



