Chapter XIV 
Darwin and Descent with Modification (continued ) 
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 in the “‘ Origin of Species ” 
in which the theory of descent with modification in its 
widest sense is claimed expressly or by implication. I shall 
quote from the original edition, which, it should be remem- 
bered, consisted 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 am capable, that 
the view which most naturalists entertain, and which I 
formerly entertained—namely, that each species has been 
independently created—is erroneous. I am fully convinced 
that species are not immutable, but that those belonging 
to what are called the same genera are lineal descendants 
of some other and generally extinct species, in the same 
M 177 
