It is probable that some did then believe in evolution, but they were either silent or expressed themselves so ambiguously that it was not easy to understand their meaning.

Now, things are wholly changed, and almost every naturalist admits the great principle of evolution.

There are, however, some who still think that species have suddenly given birth, through quite unexplained means, to new and totally different forms.
But, as I have attempted to show, weighty evidence can be opposed to the admission of great and abrupt modifications.

Under a scientific point of view, and as leading to further investigation, but little advantage is gained by believing that new forms are suddenly developed in an inexplicable manner from old and widely different forms, over the old belief in the creation of species from the dust of the earth.
It may be asked how far I extend the doctrine of the modification of species.

The question is difficult to answer, because the more distinct the forms are which we consider, by so much the arguments in favour of community of descent become fewer in number and less in force.