84 Luck, or Cunning ? 
theory to the author, being, as I have said, carried away by 
the three large ‘‘ Origins of Species ’’ (which we understood 
as much the same thing as descent with modification), and 
finding, as I shall show in a later chapter, that descent 
was ubiquitously claimed throughout the work, either 
expressly or by implication, as Mr. Darwin’s theory. It is 
not easy to see how any one with ordinary instincts could 
hesitate to believe that Mr. Darwin was entitled to claim 
what he claimed with so much insistance. If ars est 
celave aviem Mr. Darwin must be allowed to have been a 
consummate artist, for it took us years to understand the 
ins and outs of what had been done. 
I may say in passing that we never see the “ Origin of 
Species ’’ spoken of as ‘‘ On the Origin of Species, &c.,” or 
as “‘ The Origin of Species, &c.”” (the word “ on”’ being 
dropped in the latest editions). The distinctive feature of 
the book Jies, according to its admirers, in the ‘‘ &c.,”’ but 
they never give it. To avoid pedantry I shall continue to 
speak of the “‘ Origin of Species.” 
At any rate it will be admitted that Mr. Darwin did not 
make his title-page express his meaning so clearly that his 
readers could readily catch the point of difference between 
himself and his grandfather and Lamarck ; nevertheless 
the point just touched upon involves the only essential 
difference between the systems of Mr. Charles Darwin and 
those of his three most important predecessors. All four 
writers agree that animals and plants descend with modifi- 
cation ; all agree that the fittest alone survive ; all agree 
about the important consequences of the geometrical ratio 
of increase ; Mr. Charles Darwin has said more about these 
last two points than his predecessors did, but all three were 
alike cognisant of the facts and attached the same import- 
ance to them, and would have been astonished at its being 
supposed possible that they disputed them. The fittest 
alone survive; yes—but the fittest from among what ? 
Here comes the point of divergence ; the fittest from among 
