The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume II by Charles Darwin, Francis Darwin

Transcript of a Facsimile of a Page from a Note-Book Of 1837

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—led to comprehend true affinities. My theory would give zest to recent & Fossil Comparative Anatomy: it would lead to study of instincts, heredity, & mind heredity, whole metaphysics, it would lead to closest examination of hybridity & generation, causes of change in order to know what we have come from & to what we tend, to what circumstances favour crossing & what prevents it, this & direct examination of direct passages of structure in species, might lead to laws of change, which would then be main object of study, to guide our speculations.

Next: Chapter I: The Publication of the 'Origin of Species.'