1885.] 
Mr. Darwin's Masterpiece. 445 
advice the Zn ° f the Theor y>” no attempt to 
having been ™ dod * rme of descent with modification 
sdeSfon lc Vu the Previ ° US cha P ters > which treat of 
“ Difficulties nf ti contents > however, commence with 
-but beW tf 16 7 he0Vy ° f Descent with Modification.” 
.. beiievfthaf the . rea ; der 7 turns the P a ge he is asked “ Can we 
and an eve \ 1 sel f ctl ° n * could produce” a giraffe’s tail 
“ through ^nnt i ar *i U? tln( ^ s be acquired and modified 
analogous w 1 Se f h6llon ? ” Mr. Samuel Butler, citing 
. ° m - P 1 P ' 4 ° 6 ’ 4l6 ’ and 419 . remarks:- 
was onre t hl f d ° mi5dead -” . Or, again, where descent 
edition fed SQ tUra ! se J e(ftl0n ls substituted in a later 
fashion the' ’ P i 1 1 ?^’ ed ' 6 ’ P* I 45 )- In corresponding 
fashion the appellations “ my,” “ our,” and “ the ” theory 
« the d o r lminate y en ;P lo yed. “ My view ” pitted against 
whh di' stHb"?- VIGW ° f Cr ? ati ° n ” ° n P' 351 . in connexion 
silnlv M may refer t0 descent with modification 
thT? - h ' 6 !? the summa ry on natural selection it is stated 
h S ryu , m . tyof ^Pe is explained by unity of 
bvhridic P ' 1 V ^ ls similarly used in connection with 
y . sm on p. 236; and in like manner “ our theory ” is 
spoken of in connection with distribution at p. ^0, here 
ie cning to evolution, whereas the same expression on 
P- 375 presumably refers to natural selection, and yet again 
nn T U 1011 ° n i P " Lastl y’ t ^ e “ v ' ew here maintained,” 
° PP- 854 and 389, refers to evolution, distribution and 
(i f L P 0 °-y ^ in .^ heie under discussion, though the phrase 
through variation and natural selection ” is appended on 
P ?'/w and & 3, pa ! seontol ogy being here the subjeCt-matter 
of debate. Now (limiting our questioning to the last sen- 
tence) areweto mfer that Mr. Darwin found support for 
natural selection in palaeontology rather than in distribution 
and morphology ? 
„ fJ r \ D " w ‘ n feared that wiH indeed be thought that 
[be had] an overweening confidence ” in his theory, and 
^e it was who remarked “ Great is the power of steady mis- 
lepiesentation (pp. 231, 421). Well, overweening or no, 
s confidence was such as to permit a very steady repre- 
sentation of the view that “ through variation and natural 
„ seJe ction was an indispensable appendage to the phrase 
descent with modification,” and this notwithstanding a 
recognition of a modern school of saltatory evolutionists 
and the circumstance that the Historical Sketch mentions 
}et other agencies than saltation and selection as advocated 
* The italics are mine throughout unless otherwise stated, 
