Page - 144 - in The Origin of Species

144 ORIGIN OF SPECIES its summit, so we occasionally see an animal like the Ornitho- rhynchus or Lepidosiren. which in some small degree con- nects by its affinities two large branches of life, and which has apparently been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramifications.