f 204 ) 



CHAPTER XIV. 



DAEWIN AND DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION {continued). 



I HAVE said enough to show that Mr. Darwin claimed 

 to have been the originator of the theory of descent 

 with modification as distinctly as any writer usually 

 claims any theory ; but it will probably save the reader 

 trouble in the end if I bring together a good many, 

 though not, probably, all (for I much disliked the task, 

 and discharged it perfunctorily), of the passages ia the 

 " Origin of Species " in which the theory of descent 

 with modification in its widest sense is claimed ex- 

 pressly or by imphcation. I shall quote from the 

 original edition, which, it should be remembered, con- 

 sisted of the very unusually large number of four 

 thousand copies, and from which no important devia- 

 tion was made either by addition or otherwise until 

 a second edition of two thousand further copies had 

 been sold ; the " Historical Sketch," &c., being first 

 given with the third edition. The italics, which I 

 have employed so as to catch the reader's eye, are 

 mine, not Mr. Darwin's. Mr. Darwin writes : — 



" Although much remains obscure, and will long 

 remain obscure, I can entertain no doubt, after the most 

 deliberate study and dispassionate judgment of which I 



