Darwin’s Claim to Descent 173 
about them further ; especially as we did not know who 
they were, nor what they had written, and Mr. Darwin did 
not tell us. It would be better and less trouble to take the 
goods with which it was plain Mr. Darwin was going to 
provide us, and ask no questions. We have seen that even 
tolerably obvious conclusions were rather slow in occurring 
to poor simple-minded Mr. Darwin, and may be sure that 
it never once occurred to him that the British public would 
be likely to argue thus; he had no intention of playing 
the scientific confidence trick upon us. I dare say not, 
but unfortunately the result has closely resembled the 
one that would have ensued if Mr. Darwin had had such an 
intention. 
The claim to originality made so distinctly in the opening 
sentences of the ‘‘ Origin of Species ”’ is repeated in a letter 
to Professor Haeckel, written October 8, 1864, and giving 
an account of the development of his belief in descent with 
modification. This letter, part of which is quoted by Mr. 
Allen,* is given on p. 134 of the English translation of 
Professor Haeckel’s “‘ History of Creation,’’f and runs as 
follows :— 
“In South America three classes of facts were brought 
strongly before my mind. Firstly, the manner in which 
closely allied species replace species in going southward. 
Secondly, the close affinity of the species inhabiting the 
islands near South America to those proper to the continent. 
This struck me profoundly, especially the difference of the 
species in the adjoining islets in the Galapagos Archipelago. 
Thirdly, the relation of the living Edentata and Rodentia 
to the extinct species. I shall never forget my astonishment 
when I dug out a gigantic piece of armour like that of the 
living armadillo. 
“ Reflecting on these facts, and collecting analogous 
ones, it seemed to me probable that allied species were 
descended from a common ancestor. But during several 
* “Charles Darwin,” p. 67. t H.S. King & Co., 1876. 
