74 ABSENCE OF INTEEMEDIATB VARIETIES [Chap. X. 



numerous gradations^ as fine as existing varieties, con- 

 necting together nearly all existing and extinct species. 

 But this ought not to be expected; yet this has been 

 repeatedly advanced as a most serious objection against 

 my views. 



It may be worth while to sum up the foregoing 

 remarks on the causes of the imperfection of the geo- 

 logical record under an imaginary illustration. The 

 Malay Archipelago is about the size of Europe from the 

 North Cape to the Mediterranean, and from Britain to 

 Eussia; and therefore equals all the geological forma- 

 tions which have been examined with any accuracy, 

 excepting those of the United States of America. I 

 fully agree with Mr. Godwin-Austen, that the present 

 condition of the Malay Archipelago, with its numerous 

 large islands separated by wide and shallow seas, prob- 

 ably represents the former state of Europe, whilst 

 most of our formations were accumulating. The Malay 

 Archipelago is one of the richest regions in organic 

 beings; yet if all the species were to be collected which 

 have ever lived there, how imperfectly would they 

 represent the natural history of the world! 



But we have every reason to believe that the ter- 

 restrial productions of the archipelago would be pre- 

 served in an extremely imperfect manner in the forma- 

 tions which we suppose to be there accumulating. Not 

 many of the strictly littoral animals, or of those which 

 lived on naked submarine rocks, would be embedded; 

 and those embedded in gravel or sand would not en- 

 dure to a distant epoch. Wherever sediment did not 

 accumulate on the bed of the sea, or where it did not 

 accumulate at a sufficient rate to protect organic bodies 

 from decay, no remains could be preserved. 



