The result of this
would be the formation of new species. Here then I had at last got a
theory by which to work; but I was so anxious to avoid prejudice that I
determined not for some time to write even the briefest sketch of it. In
June, 1842, I first allowed myself the satisfaction of writing a very
brief abstract of my theory in pencil in thirty-five pages; and this was
enlarged during the summer of 1844 into one of two hundred thirty pages,
which I had fairly copied out and still possess.
But at that time I overlooked one problem of great importance; and it is
astonishing to me, except on the principle of Columbus and his egg, how
I could have overlooked it and its solution. This problem is the
tendency in organic beings descended from the same stock to diverge in
character as they become modified. That they have diverged greatly is
obvious from the manner in which species of all kinds can be classed
under genera, genera under families, families under sub-orders and so
on; and I can remember the very spot in the road, while riding in my
carriage, that, to my joy, the solution occurred to me; and this was
long after I had come to Down.
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