Orra White Hitchcock drew this Paleontological Chart under the direction of her husband Edward, in 1840. The chart was included in 31 editions of his Elementary Geology until 1860. Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published in late 1859, and Hitchcock did not want his chart to give the appearance of support for Darwin's theories of "transmutation" or evolution—not because he thought evolution incompatible with a belief in God, but because he did not think the evidence strong enough—so the chart did not appear in editions after this date.
The chart on the left is for plants and on the right for animals. They are thought to be among the first "Tree of Life"-type depictions. The model of the Tree of Life replaced the "Great Chain of Being", developed from ancient Greek sources during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. It showed all basic life forms in a single continuous march from simple and primitive to the apex of existence, man.