I haven t made myself clearapologies Of course I don t dispute your quotes and thanks for taking the time to dig them up The key issue is that there wasn t agreement on some type of evolution or progression until c 1840 Two points for our purposes 1840 isn t well described by the early 19th century extinction of species and the appearance of new ones is not evolution Better description By the mid 19th century the diversity of extant organisms plus the fossil record had convinced scientists that species changed over time however the details by which these changes occurred remained unclear Imperfect sentence but accurately conveys the relevant history Do you see what I m trying to get at I appreciate your patience within this imperfect form of communication