That natural selection generally act with extreme slowness I fully admit.

It can act only when there are places in the natural polity of a district which can be better occupied by the modification of some of its existing inhabitants.

The occurrence of such places will often depend on physical changes, which generally take place very slowly, and on the immigration of better adapted forms being prevented.

As some few of the old inhabitants become modified the mutual relations of others will often be disturbed; and this will create new places, ready to be filled up by better adapted forms; but all this will take place very slowly.

Although all the individuals of the same species differ in some slight degree from each other, it would often be long before differences of the right nature in various parts of the organisation might occur.