232 LUCK, OR CUNNING ? 



evitaHy follows on the principle of natural selection " 



(P- 475)- 



The word " almost " has got a great deal to answer for. 



Again : — 



" We can understand, on the theory of descent with 

 modification, most of the great leading facts in Dis- 

 tribution " (p. 476). 



Again : — 



The existence of closely allied or representative 

 species in any two areas, implies, on the theory of de- 

 scent with modification, that the same parents formerly 

 inhabited both areas. ... It must be admitted that 

 these facts receive no explanation on the theory of 

 creation. . . . The fact ... is intelligible on the 

 theory of natural selection, with its contingencies of 

 extinction and divergence of character" (p. 478). 



Again : — 



"Innumerable other such facts at once explain 

 themselves on the theory of descent with slow and slight 

 successive modifications" (p. 479). 



Again : — 



" Any one whose disposition leads him to attach 

 more weight to unexplained diflBculties than to the 

 explanation of a certain number of facts, will certainly 

 reject my theory" (p. 482). 



"My theory" became "the theory" in 1869. 



From this point to the end of the book the claim 

 is so ubiquitous, either expressly or by implication, 

 that it is difficult to know what not to quote. I must, 

 however, content myself with only a few more extracts. 

 Mr. Darwin says : — 



