I havent made myself clearapologies  Of course I dont dispute your quotes and thanks for taking the time to dig them up  The key issue is that there wasnt agreement on some type of evolution or progression until c   Two points   for our purposes  isnt welldescribed by the early th century  extinction of species and the appearance of new ones is not evolution   Better description By the midth 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 Im trying to get at  I appreciate your patience within this imperfect form of communication