5 2 THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCES OF 



the island has been stocked from the continent 

 with these types — either by winds, currents, 

 floating trees, or numerous other modes of trans- 

 port — and that, after settling in the island, some 

 of these imported types have retained their 

 specific characters, while others have varied so 

 as to become specific types peculiar to that 

 island. The Galapagos Archipelago islands are 

 particularly instructive in this connection ; for 

 while the whole group of islands lies at a 

 distance of over five hundred miles from the 

 shores of South America, the constituent islands 

 are separated from one another by straits varying 

 from twenty to thirty miles. Now, to quote 

 from Darwin, " Each separate island of the 

 Galapagos Archipelago is tenanted, and the fact 

 is a marvellous one, by many distinct species ; 

 but these species are related to each other in a 

 very much closer manner than to the inhabitants 

 of the American continent." That is to say, 



