Contributions to the theory of natural selection. A series of essays ... By Alfred Russel Wallace ...

ILLUSTRATIVE OF NATURAL SELECTZO.0 197
side, and the various islands of the Moluccas on the
other, were equally well explored by me; and no less
than twelve of the genera are not found in any other
island of the archipelago. I have shown in the present
essay that, in the Papilionide, it has far more species of
its own than any other island, and a greater proportion
of peculiar species than many of the large groups of
islands in the archipelago-and that it gives to a large
number of the species and varieties which inhabit it,
1st, an increase of size, and, 2ndcl, a peculiar modification in the form of the wings, which stamp upon the
most dissimilar insects a mark distinctive of their
common birth-place.
What, I would ask, are we to do with phenomena
such as these? Are we to rest content with that very
simple, but at the same time very unsatisfying explanation, that all these insects and other animals were
created exactly as they are, and originally placed exactly where they are, by the inscrutable will of their
Creator, and that we have nothing to do but to register
the facts and wonder? Was this single island selected
for a fantastic display of creative power, merely to excite a, childlike and unreasoning admiration? Is all
this appearance of gradual modification by the action of
natural causes-a modification the successive steps of
which we can almost trace-all delusive? Is this harnolly between the most diverse groups, all presenting
analogous phenomena, and indicating a dependence
upon physical changes of which we have independent
evidence, all false testimony? If I could think so, the