The foundations of The origin of species : a sketch written in 1842 / edited by Francis Darwin.
- Charles Darwin
- Date:
- 1909
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The foundations of The origin of species : a sketch written in 1842 / edited by Francis Darwin. Source: Wellcome Collection.
58/94 page 26
![past ages mere [gaps] pages preserved1. Lyell’s doctrine carried to extreme,—we shall understand difficulty if it be asked:—what chance of series of gradation between cattle by (illegible) at age (illegible) as far back as Miocene2? We know then cattle existed. Compare number of living,—immense dura¬ tion of each period,—fewness of fossils. This only refers to consecutiveness of history of organisms of each formation. The foregoing argument will show firstly, that formations are distinct merely from want of fossils (of intermediate beds), and secondly, that each for¬ mation is full of gaps, has been advanced to account for fewness of preserved organisms compared to what have lived on the world. The very same argument explains why in older formations the organisms appear to come on and disappear sud¬ denly,—but in [later] tertiary not quite suddenly3, in later tertiary gradually,—becoming rare and disappearing,—some have disappeared within man’s time. It is obvious that our theory requires gradual and nearly uniform introduction, possibly more sudden extermination,—subsidence of continent of Australia &c., &c. Our theory requires that the first form which existed of each of the great divisions would present points intermediate between existing ones, but im¬ mensely different. Most geologists believe Silurian4 fossils are those which first existed in the whole world, 1 See Note 3, p. 27. 2 Compare Origin, Ed. i. p. 298, vi. p. 437. “We shall, perhaps, best perceive the improbability of our being enabled to connect species by numerous, fine, intermediate, fossil links, by asking ourselves whether, for instance, geologists at some future period will be able to prove that our different breeds of cattle, sheep, horses, and dogs have descended from a single stock or from several aboriginal stocks.” 3 The sudden appearance of groups of allied species in the lowest known fossiliferous strata is discussed in the Origin, Ed. i. p. 306, vi. p. 446. The gradual appearance in the later strata occurs in the Origin, Ed. i. p. 312, vi. p. 453. 4 Compare Origin, Ed. i. p. 307, vi. p. 448.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31351761_0060.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
