MR. GRANT ALLEN'S "CHARLES DARWIN." 251 



The author of the " Yestiges " did, doubtless, suppose 

 that " some bird " had given birth to a woodpecker, or 

 more strictly, that a couple of birds had done so — 

 and this is all that Mr. Darwin has committed himself 

 to — but no one better knew that these two birds 

 would, according to the author of the "Vestiges," be 

 just as much woodpeckers, and just as little wood- 

 peckers, as they would be with Mr. Darwin himself. 

 Mr. Chambers did not suppose that a woodpecker 

 became a woodpecker per saltwm though born of some 

 widely different bird, but Mr. Darwin's words have no 

 application unless they convey this impression. The 

 reader will note that though the impression is con- 

 veyed, Mr. Darwin avoids conveying it categorically. 

 I suppose this is what Mr. Allen means by saying that 

 he " made all things sure behind him." Mr. Chambers 

 did indeed believe in occasional sports ; so did Mr. 

 Darwin, and we have seen that in the later editions of 

 the " Origin of Species " he found himself constrained 

 to lay greater stress on these than he had originally 

 done. Substantially, Mr. Chambers held much the 

 same opinion as to the suddenness or slowness of 

 modification as Mr. Darwin did, nor can it be doubted 

 that Mr. Darwin knew this perfectly well. 



What I have said about the woodpecker applies also 

 to the mistletoe. Besides, it was Mr. Darwin's busi- 

 ness not to " presume " anything about the matter ; 

 his business was to tell us what the author of the 

 " Vestiges " had said, or to refer us to the page of the 

 " Vestiges " on which we should find this. I suppose 

 he was too busy " collecting, amassing, investigating," 



