At Montevideo in November the mail from home included a copy of the second volume of Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, a refutation of Lamarckism in which there was no shared ancestry of different species or overall progress to match the gradual geological change, but a continuing cycle in which species mysteriously appeared, closely adapted to their "centres of creation", then became extinct when the environment changed to their disadvantage.
En Montevideo en novembro o correo que chegara de casa incluía unha copia do segundo volume de Principles of Geology de Charles Lyell, unha refutación do lamarckismo na cal non había antepasados compartidos por diferentes especies ou un progreso global que concordase co cambio xeolóxico gradual, senón un ciclo continuo no cal as especies aparecían misteriosamente, moi adaptados aos seus "centros de creación", e despois extinguíanse cando o ambiente cambiaba desvantaxosamente.