On the view that species are only strongly marked and permanent
varieties, and that each species first existed as a variety, we can see why
it is that no line of demarcation can be drawn between species, commonly
supposed to have been produced by special acts of creation, and varieties
which are acknowledged to have been produced by secondary laws. On this same
view we can understand how it is that in each region where many species of
a genus have been produced, and where they now flourish, these same species
should present many varieties; for where the manufactory of species has been
active, we might expect, as a general rule, to find it still in action; and
this is the case if varieties be incipient species.