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diff --git a/2087.txt b/2087.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..093fdaa --- /dev/null +++ b/2087.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19457 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, +Volume I (of II), by Charles Darwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II) + Edited by His Son + +Author: Charles Darwin + +Editor: Francis Darwin + +Release Date: February 1999 [EBook #2087] +Last Updated: July 28, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LETTERS OF DARWIN *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher + + + + + + +THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN + +By Charles Darwin + + +Including An Autobiographical Chapter + + +Edited By His Son Francis Darwin + + + + +VOLUME I + + + + +PREFACE + +In choosing letters for publication I have been largely guided by the +wish to illustrate my father's personal character. But his life was so +essentially one of work, that a history of the man could not be written +without following closely the career of the author. Thus it comes +about that the chief part of the book falls into chapters whose titles +correspond to the names of his books. + +In arranging the letters I have adhered as far as possible to +chronological sequence, but the character and variety of his researches +make a strictly chronological order an impossibility. It was his habit +to work more or less simultaneously at several subjects. Experimental +work was often carried on as a refreshment or variety, while books +entailing reasoning and the marshalling of large bodies of facts were +being written. Moreover, many of his researches were allowed to +drop, and only resumed after an interval of years. Thus a rigidly +chronological series of letters would present a patchwork of subjects, +each of which would be difficult to follow. The Table of Contents will +show in what way I have attempted to avoid this result. + +In printing the letters I have followed (except in a few cases) the +usual plan of indicating the existence of omissions or insertions. My +father's letters give frequent evidence of having been written when he +was tired or hurried, and they bear the marks of this circumstance. In +writing to a friend, or to one of his family, he frequently omitted the +articles: these have been inserted without the usual indications, except +in a few instances, where it is of special interest to preserve intact +the hurried character of the letter. Other small words, such as "of", +"to", etc., have been inserted usually within brackets. I have not +followed the originals as regards the spelling of names, the use of +capitals, or in the matter of punctuation. My father underlined many +words in his letters; these have not always been given in italics,--a +rendering which would unfairly exaggerate their effect. + +The Diary or Pocket-book, from which quotations occur in the following +pages, has been of value as supplying a frame-work of facts round which +letters may be grouped. It is unfortunately written with great brevity, +the history of a year being compressed into a page or less; and contains +little more than the dates of the principal events of his life, together +with entries as to his work, and as to the duration of his more serious +illnesses. He rarely dated his letters, so that but for the Diary it +would have been all but impossible to unravel the history of his books. +It has also enabled me to assign dates to many letters which would +otherwise have been shorn of half their value. + +Of letters addressed to my father I have not made much use. It was his +custom to file all letters received, and when his slender stock of files +("spits" as he called them) was exhausted, he would burn the letters of +several years, in order that he might make use of the liberated "spits." +This process, carried on for years, destroyed nearly all letters +received before 1862. After that date he was persuaded to keep the more +interesting letters, and these are preserved in an accessible form. + +I have attempted to give, in Chapter III., some account of his manner +of working. During the last eight years of his life I acted as his +assistant, and thus had an opportunity of knowing something of his +habits and methods. + +I have received much help from my friends in the course of my work. +To some I am indebted for reminiscences of my father, to others for +information, criticisms, and advice. To all these kind coadjutors +I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness. The names of some occur in +connection with their contributions, but I do not name those to whom I +am indebted for criticisms or corrections, because I should wish to bear +alone the load of my short-comings, rather than to let any of it fall on +those who have done their best to lighten it. + +It will be seen how largely I am indebted to Sir Joseph Hooker for the +means of illustrating my father's life. The readers of these pages +will, I think, be grateful to Sir Joseph for the care with which he has +preserved his valuable collection of letters, and I should wish to add +my acknowledgment of the generosity with which he has placed it at my +disposal, and for the kindly encouragement given throughout my work. + +To Mr. Huxley I owe a debt of thanks, not only for much kind help, but +for his willing compliance with my request that he should contribute a +chapter on the reception of the 'Origin of Species.' + +Finally, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the courtesy of the publishers +of the 'Century Magazine' who have freely given me the use of their +illustrations. To Messrs. Maull and Fox and Messrs. Elliott and Fry I am +also indebted for their kindness in allowing me the use of reproductions +of their photographs. + +FRANCIS DARWIN. + +Cambridge, October, 1887. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +VOLUME I. + + +CHAPTER 1.I.--The Darwin Family. + +CHAPTER 1.II.--Autobiography. + +CHAPTER 1.III.--Reminiscences. + + +LETTERS. + +CHAPTER 1.IV.--Cambridge Life--1828-1831. + +CHAPTER 1.V.--The Appointment to the 'Beagle'--1831. + +CHAPTER 1.VI.--The Voyage--1831-1836. + +CHAPTER 1.VII.--London and Cambridge--1836-1842. + +CHAPTER 1.VIII.--Religion. + +CHAPTER 1.IX.--Life at Down--1842-1854. + +CHAPTER 1.X.--The Growth of the 'Origin of Species.' + +CHAPTER 1.XI.--The Growth of the 'Origin of +Species'--Letters--1843-1856. + +CHAPTER 1.XII.--The Unfinished Book--May 1856-June 1858. + +CHAPTER 1.XIII.--The Writing of the 'Origin of Species'--June 18, +1858--November 1859. + +CHAPTER 1.XIV.--Professor Huxley on the Reception of the 'Origin of +Species.' + + + + +LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN. + + + + +VOLUME I. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.I. -- THE DARWIN FAMILY. + +The earliest records of the family show the Darwins to have been +substantial yeomen residing on the northern borders of Lincolnshire, +close to Yorkshire. The name is now very unusual in England, but I +believe that it is not unknown in the neighbourhood of Sheffield and in +Lancashire. Down to the year 1600 we find the name spelt in a variety +of ways--Derwent, Darwen, Darwynne, etc. It is possible, therefore, that +the family migrated at some unknown date from Yorkshire, Cumberland, or +Derbyshire, where Derwent occurs as the name of a river. + +The first ancestor of whom we know was one William Darwin, who lived, +about the year 1500, at Marton, near Gainsborough. His great grandson, +Richard Darwyn, inherited land at Marton and elsewhere, and in his will, +dated 1584, "bequeathed the sum of 3s. 4d. towards the settynge up of +the Queene's Majestie's armes over the quearie (choir) doore in the +parishe churche of Marton." (We owe a knowledge of these earlier members +of the family to researches amongst the wills at Lincoln, made by the +well-known genealogist, Colonel Chester.) + +The son of this Richard, named William Darwin, and described as +"gentleman," appears to have been a successful man. Whilst retaining his +ancestral land at Marton, he acquired through his wife and by purchase +an estate at Cleatham, in the parish of Manton, near Kirton Lindsey, and +fixed his residence there. This estate remained in the family down +to the year 1760. A cottage with thick walls, some fish-ponds and old +trees, now alone show where the "Old Hall" once stood, and a field is +still locally known as the "Darwin Charity," from being subject to a +charge in favour of the poor of Marton. William Darwin must, at least in +part, have owed his rise in station to his appointment in 1613 by James +I. to the post of Yeoman of the Royal Armoury of Greenwich. The office +appears to have been worth only 33 pounds a year, and the duties were +probably almost nominal; he held the post down to his death during the +Civil Wars. + +The fact that this William was a royal servant may explain why his +son, also named William, served when almost a boy for the King, as +"Captain-Lieutenant" in Sir William Pelham's troop of horse. On the +partial dispersion of the royal armies, and the retreat of the remainder +to Scotland, the boy's estates were sequestrated by the Parliament, but +they were redeemed on his signing the Solemn League and Covenant, and on +his paying a fine which must have struck his finances severely; for in +a petition to Charles II. he speaks of his almost utter ruin from having +adhered to the royal cause. + +During the Commonwealth, William Darwin became a barrister of Lincoln's +Inn, and this circumstance probably led to his marriage with the +daughter of Erasmus Earle, serjeant-at-law; hence his great-grandson, +Erasmus Darwin, the Poet, derived his Christian name. He ultimately +became Recorder of the city of Lincoln. + +The eldest son of the Recorder, again called William, was born in +1655, and married the heiress of Robert Waring, a member of a good +Staffordshire family. This lady inherited from the family of Lassells, +or Lascelles, the manor and hall of Elston, near Newark, which has +remained ever since in the family. (Captain Lassells, or Lascelles, of +Elston was military secretary to Monk, Duke of Albemarle, during the +Civil Wars. A large volume of account books, countersigned in many +places by Monk, are now in the possession of my cousin Francis Darwin. +The accounts might possibly prove of interest to the antiquarian or +historian. A portrait of Captain Lassells in armour, although used at +one time as an archery-target by some small boys of our name, was not +irretrievably ruined.) A portrait of this William Darwin at Elston shows +him as a good-looking young man in a full-bottomed wig. + +This third William had two sons, William, and Robert who was educated +as a barrister. The Cleatham property was left to William, but on the +termination of his line in daughters reverted to the younger brother, +who had received Elston. On his mother's death Robert gave up his +profession and resided ever afterwards at Elston Hall. Of this Robert, +Charles Darwin writes (What follows is quoted from Charles Darwin's +biography of his grandfather, forming the preliminary notice to Ernst +Krause's interesting essay, 'Erasmus Darwin,' London, 1879, page 4.):-- + +"He seems to have had some taste for science, for he was an early +member of the well-known Spalding Club; and the celebrated antiquary +Dr. Stukeley, in 'An Account of the almost entire Sceleton of a large +Animal,' etc., published in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' April and +May 1719, begins the paper as follows: 'Having an account from my friend +Robert Darwin, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, a person of curiosity, of a human +sceleton impressed in stone, found lately by the rector of Elston,' etc. +Stukeley then speaks of it as a great rarity, 'the like whereof has not +been observed before in this island to my knowledge.' Judging from a +sort of litany written by Robert, and handed down in the family, he +was a strong advocate of temperance, which his son ever afterwards so +strongly advocated:-- + + From a morning that doth shine, + From a boy that drinketh wine, + From a wife that talketh Latine, + Good Lord deliver me! + +"It is suspected that the third line may be accounted for by his wife, +the mother of Erasmus, having been a very learned lady. The eldest son +of Robert, christened Robert Waring, succeeded to the estate of Elston, +and died there at the age of ninety-two, a bachelor. He had a strong +taste for poetry, like his youngest brother Erasmus. Robert also +cultivated botany, and, when an oldish man, he published his 'Principia +Botanica.' This book in MS. was beautifully written, and my father [Dr. +R.W. Darwin] declared that he believed it was published because his old +uncle could not endure that such fine caligraphy should be wasted. +But this was hardly just, as the work contains many curious notes on +biology--a subject wholly neglected in England in the last century. The +public, moreover, appreciated the book, as the copy in my possession is +the third edition." + +The second son, William Alvey, inherited Elston, and transmitted it to +his granddaughter, the late Mrs. Darwin, of Elston and Creskeld. A third +son, John, became rector of Elston, the living being in the gift of the +family. The fourth son, the youngest child, was Erasmus Darwin, the poet +and philosopher. + +TABLE OF RELATIONSHIP. (An incomplete list of family members.) + +ROBERT DARWIN of Elston, 1682-1754, had three sons, William Alvey +Darwin, 1726-1783, Robert Waring Darwin, 1724-1816, and Erasmus Darwin, +1731-1802. + +William Alvey Darwin, 1726-1783, had a son, William Brown Darwin, 1774- +1841, and a daughter, Anne Darwin. + +William Brown Darwin, 1774-1841, had two daughters, Charlotte Darwin and +Sarah Darwin. + +Charlotte Darwin married Francis Rhodes, now Francis Darwin of Creskeld +and Elston. + +Sarah Darwin married Edward Noel. + +Anne Darwin married Samuel Fox and had a son, William Darwin Fox. + +ERASMUS DARWIN, 1731-1802, married (1) MARY HOWARD, 1740-1770, with whom +he had two sons, Charles Darwin, 1758-1778, and ROBERT WARING DARWIN, +and (2) Eliz. Chandos-Pole, 1747-1832, with whom he had a daughter, +Violetta Darwin, and a son, Francis Sacheverel Darwin. + +ROBERT WARING DARWIN, 1767-1848, married SUSANNAH WEDGWOOD and had a +son, CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN, b. February 12, 1809, d. April 19, 1882. + +Violetta Darwin married Samuel Tertius Galton and had a son, Francis +Galton. + +Francis Sacheverel Darwin, 1786-1859, had two sons, Reginald Darwin and +Edward Darwin, "High Elms." + +The table above shows Charles Darwin's descent from Robert, and his +relationship to some other members of the family, whose names occur in +his correspondence. Among these are included William Darwin Fox, one of +his earliest correspondents, and Francis Galton, with whom he maintained +a warm friendship for many years. Here also occurs the name of Francis +Sacheverel Darwin, who inherited a love of natural history from Erasmus, +and transmitted it to his son Edward Darwin, author (under the name of +"High Elms") of a 'Gamekeeper's Manual' (4th Edition 1863), which shows +keen observation of the habits of various animals. + +It is always interesting to see how far a man's personal characteristics +can be traced in his forefathers. Charles Darwin inherited the tall +stature, but not the bulky figure of Erasmus; but in his features +there is no traceable resemblance to those of his grandfather. Nor, +it appears, had Erasmus the love of exercise and of field-sports, so +characteristic of Charles Darwin as a young man, though he had, like +his grandson, an indomitable love of hard mental work. Benevolence and +sympathy with others, and a great personal charm of manner, were common +to the two. Charles Darwin possessed, in the highest degree, that +"vividness of imagination" of which he speaks as strongly characteristic +of Erasmus, and as leading "to his overpowering tendency to theorise +and generalise." This tendency, in the case of Charles Darwin, was fully +kept in check by the determination to test his theories to the utmost. +Erasmus had a strong love of all kinds of mechanism, for which Charles +Darwin had no taste. Neither had Charles Darwin the literary temperament +which made Erasmus a poet as well as a philosopher. He writes of Erasmus +('Life of Erasmus Darwin,' page 68.): "Throughout his letters I have +been struck with his indifference to fame, and the complete absence of +all signs of any over-estimation of his own abilities, or of the success +of his works." These, indeed, seem indications of traits most strikingly +prominent in his own character. Yet we get no evidence in Erasmus of +the intense modesty and simplicity that marked Charles Darwin's whole +nature. But by the quick bursts of anger provoked in Erasmus, at the +sight of any inhumanity or injustice, we are again reminded of him. + +On the whole, however, it seems to me that we do not know enough of the +essential personal tone of Erasmus Darwin's character to attempt more +than a superficial comparison; and I am left with an impression that, in +spite of many resemblances, the two men were of a different type. It +has been shown that Miss Seward and Mrs. Schimmelpenninck have +misrepresented Erasmus Darwin's character. (Ibid., pages 77, 79, etc.) +It is, however, extremely probable that the faults which they exaggerate +were to some extent characteristic of the man; and this leads me to +think that Erasmus had a certain acerbity or severity of temper which +did not exist in his grandson. + +The sons of Erasmus Darwin inherited in some degree his intellectual +tastes, for Charles Darwin writes of them as follows: + +"His eldest son, Charles (born September 3, 1758), was a young man of +extraordinary promise, but died (May 15, 1778) before he was twenty-one +years old, from the effects of a wound received whilst dissecting +the brain of a child. He inherited from his father a strong taste for +various branches of science, for writing verses, and for mechanics...He +also inherited stammering. With the hope of curing him, his father sent +him to France, when about eight years old (1766-'67), with a private +tutor, thinking that if he was not allowed to speak English for a time, +the habit of stammering might be lost; and it is a curious fact, that in +after years, when speaking French, he never stammered. At a very early +age he collected specimens of all kinds. When sixteen years old he +was sent for a year to [Christ Church] Oxford, but he did not like the +place, and thought (in the words of his father) that the 'vigour of his +mind languished in the pursuit of classical elegance like Hercules at +the distaff, and sighed to be removed to the robuster exercise of +the medical school of Edinburgh.' He stayed three years at Edinburgh, +working hard at his medical studies, and attending 'with diligence all +the sick poor of the parish of Waterleith, and supplying them with the +necessary medicines.' The Aesculapian Society awarded him its first +gold medal for an experimental inquiry on pus and mucus. Notices of +him appeared in various journals; and all the writers agree about his +uncommon energy and abilities. He seems like his father to have +excited the warm affection of his friends. Professor Andrew Duncan... +spoke...about him with the warmest affection forty-seven years after his +death when I was a young medical student at Edinburgh... + +"About the character of his second son, Erasmus (born 1759), I have +little to say, for though he wrote poetry, he seems to have had none +of the other tastes of his father. He had, however, his own peculiar +tastes, viz., genealogy, the collecting of coins, and statistics. When +a boy he counted all the houses in the city of Lichfield, and found out +the number of inhabitants in as many as he could; he thus made a census, +and when a real one was first made, his estimate was found to be nearly +accurate. His disposition was quiet and retiring. My father had a very +high opinion of his abilities, and this was probably just, for he would +not otherwise have been invited to travel with, and pay long visits to, +men so distinguished in different ways as Boulton the engineer, and Day +the moralist and novelist." His death by suicide, in 1799, seems to have +taken place in a state of incipient insanity. + +Robert Waring, the father of Charles Darwin, was born May 30, 1766, and +entered the medical profession like his father. He studied for a few +months at Leyden, and took his M.D. (I owe this information to the +kindness of Professor Rauwenhoff, Director of the Archives at Leyden. +He quotes from the catalogue of doctors that "Robertus Waring Darwin, +Anglo-britannus," defended (February 26, 1785) in the Senate a +Dissertation on the coloured images seen after looking at a bright +object, and "Medicinae Doctor creatus est a clar. Paradijs." The +archives of Leyden University are so complete that Professor Rauwenhoff +is able to tell me that my grandfather lived together with a certain +"Petrus Crompton, Anglus," in lodgings in the Apothekersdijk. Dr. +Darwin's Leyden dissertation was published in the 'Philosophical +Transactions,' and my father used to say that the work was in fact due +to Erasmus Darwin.--F.D.) at that University on February 26, 1785. "His +father" (Erasmus) "brought ('Life of Erasmus Darwin,' page 85.) him to +Shrewsbury before he was twenty-one years old (1787), and left him 20 +pounds, saying, 'Let me know when you want more, and I will send it +you.' His uncle, the rector of Elston, afterwards also sent him +20 pounds, and this was the sole pecuniary aid which he ever +received...Erasmus tells Mr. Edgeworth that his son Robert, after being +settled in Shrewsbury for only six months, 'already had between forty +and fifty patients.' By the second year he was in considerable, and ever +afterwards in very large, practice." + +Robert Waring Darwin married (April 18, 1796) Susannah, the daughter +of his father's friend, Josiah Wedgwood, of Etruria, then in her +thirty-second year. We have a miniature of her, with a remarkably sweet +and happy face, bearing some resemblance to the portrait by Sir Joshua +Reynolds of her father; a countenance expressive of the gentle and +sympathetic nature which Miss Meteyard ascribes to her. ('A Group of +Englishmen,' by Miss Meteyard, 1871.) She died July 15, 1817, thirty-two +years before her husband, whose death occurred on November 13, 1848. Dr. +Darwin lived before his marriage for two or three years on St. John's +Hill; afterwards at the Crescent, where his eldest daughter Marianne +was born; lastly at the "Mount," in the part of Shrewsbury known as +Frankwell, where the other children were born. This house was built +by Dr. Darwin about 1800, it is now in the possession of Mr. Spencer +Phillips, and has undergone but little alteration. It is a large, plain, +square, red-brick house, of which the most attractive feature is the +pretty green-house, opening out of the morning-room. + +The house is charmingly placed, on the top of a steep bank leading down +to the Severn. The terraced bank is traversed by a long walk, leading +from end to end, still called "the Doctor's Walk." At one point in this +walk grows a Spanish chestnut, the branches of which bend back parallel +to themselves in a curious manner, and this was Charles Darwin's +favourite tree as a boy, where he and his sister Catherine had each +their special seat. + +The Doctor took a great pleasure in his garden, planting it with +ornamental trees and shrubs, and being especially successful in +fruit-trees; and this love of plants was, I think, the only taste +kindred to natural history which he possessed. Of the "Mount +pigeons," which Miss Meteyard describes as illustrating Dr. Darwin's +natural-history taste, I have not been able to hear from those most +capable of knowing. Miss Meteyard's account of him is not quite accurate +in a few points. For instance, it is incorrect to describe Dr. Darwin as +having a philosophical mind; his was a mind especially given to detail, +and not to generalising. Again, those who knew him intimately describe +him as eating remarkably little, so that he was not "a great feeder, +eating a goose for his dinner, as easily as other men do a partridge." +('A Group of Englishmen,' page 263.) In the matter of dress he was +conservative, and wore to the end of his life knee-breeches and drab +gaiters, which, however, certainly did not, as Miss Meteyard says, +button above the knee--a form of costume chiefly known to us in +grenadiers of Queen Anne's day, and in modern wood-cutters and +ploughboys. + +Charles Darwin had the strongest feeling of love and respect for his +father's memory. His recollection of everything that was connected with +him was peculiarly distinct, and he spoke of him frequently; generally +prefacing an anecdote with some such phrase as, "My father, who was +the wisest man I ever knew, etc..." It was astonishing how clearly he +remembered his father's opinions, so that he was able to quote some +maxims or hint of his in most cases of illness. As a rule, he put small +faith in doctors, and thus his unlimited belief in Dr. Darwin's medical +instinct and methods of treatment was all the more striking. + +His reverence for him was boundless and most touching. He would have +wished to judge everything else in the world dispassionately, but +anything his father had said was received with almost implicit faith. +His daughter Mrs. Litchfield remembers him saying that he hoped none +of his sons would ever believe anything because he said it, unless they +were themselves convinced of its truth,--a feeling in striking contrast +with his own manner of faith. + +A visit which Charles Darwin made to Shrewsbury in 1869 left on the mind +of his daughter who accompanied him a strong impression of his love for +his old home. The then tenant of the Mount showed them over the house, +etc., and with mistaken hospitality remained with the party during the +whole visit. As they were leaving, Charles Darwin said, with a pathetic +look of regret, "If I could have been left alone in that green-house +for five minutes, I know I should have been able to see my father in his +wheel-chair as vividly as if he had been there before me." + +Perhaps this incident shows what I think is the truth, that the memory +of his father he loved the best, was that of him as an old man. Mrs. +Litchfield has noted down a few words which illustrate well his feeling +towards his father. She describes him as saying with the most tender +respect, "I think my father was a little unjust to me when I was young, +but afterwards I am thankful to think I became a prime favourite with +him." She has a vivid recollection of the expression of happy reverie +that accompanied these words, as if he were reviewing the whole +relation, and the remembrance left a deep sense of peace and gratitude. + +What follows was added by Charles Darwin to his autobiographical +'Recollections,' and was written about 1877 or 1878. + +"I may here add a few pages about my father, who was in many ways a +remarkable man. + +"He was about 6 feet 2 inches in height, with broad shoulders, and very +corpulent, so that he was the largest man whom I ever saw. When he +last weighed himself, he was 24 stone, but afterwards increased much in +weight. His chief mental characteristics were his powers of observation +and his sympathy, neither of which have I ever seen exceeded or even +equalled. His sympathy was not only with the distresses of others, but +in a greater degree with the pleasures of all around him. This led him +to be always scheming to give pleasure to others, and, though hating +extravagance, to perform many generous actions. For instance, Mr. B--, +a small manufacturer in Shrewsbury, came to him one day, and said he +should be bankrupt unless he could at once borrow 10,000 pounds, but +that he was unable to give any legal security. My father heard his +reasons for believing that he could ultimately repay the money, and +from [his] intuitive perception of character felt sure that he was to +be trusted. So he advanced this sum, which was a very large one for him +while young, and was after a time repaid. + +"I suppose that it was his sympathy which gave him unbounded power of +winning confidence, and as a consequence made him highly successful as a +physician. He began to practise before he was twenty-one years old, and +his fees during the first year paid for the keep of two horses and a +servant. On the following year his practice was large, and so continued +for about sixty years, when he ceased to attend on any one. His great +success as a doctor was the more remarkable, as he told me that he +at first hated his profession so much that if he had been sure of the +smallest pittance, or if his father had given him any choice, nothing +should have induced him to follow it. To the end of his life, the +thought of an operation almost sickened him, and he could scarcely +endure to see a person bled--a horror which he has transmitted to +me--and I remember the horror which I felt as a schoolboy in reading +about Pliny (I think) bleeding to death in a warm bath... + +"Owing to my father's power of winning confidence, many patients, +especially ladies, consulted him when suffering from any misery, as +a sort of Father-Confessor. He told me that they always began by +complaining in a vague manner about their health, and by practice he +soon guessed what was really the matter. He then suggested that they +had been suffering in their minds, and now they would pour out their +troubles, and he heard nothing more about the body...Owing to +my father's skill in winning confidence he received many strange +confessions of misery and guilt. He often remarked how many miserable +wives he had known. In several instances husbands and wives had gone on +pretty well together for between twenty and thirty years, and then hated +each other bitterly; this he attributed to their having lost a common +bond in their young children having grown up. + +"But the most remarkable power which my father possessed was that of +reading the characters, and even the thoughts of those whom he saw even +for a short time. We had many instances of the power, some of which +seemed almost supernatural. It saved my father from ever making (with +one exception, and the character of this man was soon discovered) an +unworthy friend. A strange clergyman came to Shrewsbury, and seemed +to be a rich man; everybody called on him, and he was invited to many +houses. My father called, and on his return home told my sisters on no +account to invite him or his family to our house; for he felt sure that +the man was not to be trusted. After a few months he suddenly bolted, +being heavily in debt, and was found out to be little better than an +habitual swindler. Here is a case of trustfulness which not many men +would have ventured on. An Irish gentleman, a complete stranger, called +on my father one day, and said that he had lost his purse, and that it +would be a serious inconvenience to him to wait in Shrewsbury until he +could receive a remittance from Ireland. He then asked my father to lend +him 20 pounds, which was immediately done, as my father felt certain +that the story was a true one. As soon as a letter could arrive from +Ireland, one came with the most profuse thanks, and enclosing, as he +said, a 20 pound Bank of England note, but no note was enclosed. I asked +my father whether this did not stagger him, but he answered 'not in +the least.' On the next day another letter came with many apologies for +having forgotten (like a true Irishman) to put the note into his letter +of the day before...(A gentleman) brought his nephew, who was insane +but quite gentle, to my father; and the young man's insanity led him to +accuse himself of all the crimes under heaven. When my father afterwards +talked over the matter with the uncle, he said, 'I am sure that your +nephew is really guilty of...a heinous crime.' Whereupon [the gentleman] +said, 'Good God, Dr. Darwin, who told you; we thought that no human +being knew the fact except ourselves!' My father told me the story many +years after the event, and I asked him how he distinguished the true +from the false self-accusations; and it was very characteristic of my +father that he said he could not explain how it was. + +"The following story shows what good guesses my father could make. Lord +Shelburne, afterwards the first Marquis of Lansdowne, was famous (as +Macaulay somewhere remarks) for his knowledge of the affairs of Europe, +on which he greatly prided himself. He consulted my father medically, +and afterwards harangued him on the state of Holland. My father had +studied medicine at Leyden, and one day [while there] went a long walk +into the country with a friend who took him to the house of a clergyman +(we will say the Rev. Mr. A--, for I have forgotten his name), who had +married an Englishwoman. My father was very hungry, and there was little +for luncheon except cheese, which he could never eat. The old lady was +surprised and grieved at this, and assured my father that it was an +excellent cheese, and had been sent her from Bowood, the seat of Lord +Shelburne. My father wondered why a cheese should be sent her from +Bowood, but thought nothing more about it until it flashed across his +mind many years afterwards, whilst Lord Shelburne was talking about +Holland. So he answered, 'I should think from what I saw of the Rev. Mr. +A--, that he was a very able man, and well acquainted with the state +of Holland.' My father saw that the Earl, who immediately changed the +conversation was much startled. On the next morning my father received a +note from the Earl, saying that he had delayed starting on his journey, +and wished particularly to see my father. When he called, the Earl said, +'Dr. Darwin, it is of the utmost importance to me and to the Rev. +Mr. A-- to learn how you have discovered that he is the source of my +information about Holland.' So my father had to explain the state of +the case, and he supposed that Lord Shelburne was much struck with +his diplomatic skill in guessing, for during many years afterwards he +received many kind messages from him through various friends. I think +that he must have told the story to his children; for Sir C. Lyell asked +me many years ago why the Marquis of Lansdowne (the son or grand-son +of the first marquis) felt so much interest about me, whom he had never +seen, and my family. When forty new members (the forty thieves as they +were then called) were added to the Athenaeum Club, there was much +canvassing to be one of them; and without my having asked any one, +Lord Lansdowne proposed me and got me elected. If I am right in my +supposition, it was a queer concatenation of events that my father not +eating cheese half-a-century before in Holland led to my election as a +member of the Athenaeum. + +"The sharpness of his observation led him to predict with remarkable +skill the course of any illness, and he suggested endless small details +of relief. I was told that a young doctor in Shrewsbury, who disliked my +father, used to say that he was wholly unscientific, but owned that his +power of predicting the end of an illness was unparalleled. Formerly +when he thought that I should be a doctor, he talked much to me about +his patients. In the old days the practice of bleeding largely was +universal, but my father maintained that far more evil was thus caused +than good done; and he advised me if ever I was myself ill not to allow +any doctor to take more than an extremely small quantity of blood. Long +before typhoid fever was recognised as distinct, my father told me that +two utterly distinct kinds of illness were confounded under the name +of typhus fever. He was vehement against drinking, and was convinced of +both the direct and inherited evil effects of alcohol when habitually +taken even in moderate quantity in a very large majority of cases. But +he admitted and advanced instances of certain persons who could drink +largely during their whole lives without apparently suffering any evil +effects, and he believed that he could often beforehand tell who would +thus not suffer. He himself never drank a drop of any alcoholic fluid. +This remark reminds me of a case showing how a witness under the most +favourable circumstances may be utterly mistaken. A gentleman-farmer was +strongly urged by my father not to drink, and was encouraged by being +told that he himself never touched any spirituous liquor. Whereupon the +gentleman said, 'Come, come, Doctor, this won't do--though it is very +kind of you to say so for my sake--for I know that you take a very +large glass of hot gin and water every evening after your dinner.' (This +belief still survives, and was mentioned to my brother in 1884 by an +old inhabitant of Shrewsbury.--F.D.) So my father asked him how he knew +this. The man answered, 'My cook was your kitchen-maid for two or three +years, and she saw the butler every day prepare and take to you the +gin and water.' The explanation was that my father had the odd habit of +drinking hot water in a very tall and large glass after his dinner; and +the butler used first to put some cold water in the glass, which the +girl mistook for gin, and then filled it up with boiling water from the +kitchen boiler. + +"My father used to tell me many little things which he had found useful +in his medical practice. Thus ladies often cried much while telling him +their troubles, and thus caused much loss of his precious time. He soon +found that begging them to command and restrain themselves, always made +them weep the more, so that afterwards he always encouraged them to go +on crying, saying that this would relieve them more than anything else, +and with the invariable result that they soon ceased to cry, and he +could hear what they had to say and give his advice. When patients who +were very ill craved for some strange and unnatural food, my father +asked them what had put such an idea into their heads; if they answered +that they did not know, he would allow them to try the food, and often +with success, as he trusted to their having a kind of instinctive +desire; but if they answered that they had heard that the food in +question had done good to some one else, he firmly refused his assent. + +"He gave one day an odd little specimen of human nature. When a very +young man he was called in to consult with the family physician in the +case of a gentleman of much distinction in Shropshire. The old doctor +told the wife that the illness was of such a nature that it must +end fatally. My father took a different view and maintained that the +gentleman would recover: he was proved quite wrong in all respects (I +think by autopsy) and he owned his error. He was then convinced that he +should never again be consulted by this family; but after a few months +the widow sent for him, having dismissed the old family doctor. My +father was so much surprised at this, that he asked a friend of the +widow to find out why he was again consulted. The widow answered her +friend, that 'she would never again see the odious old doctor who said +from the first that her husband would die, while Dr. Darwin always +maintained that he would recover!' In another case my father told a lady +that her husband would certainly die. Some months afterwards he saw +the widow, who was a very sensible woman, and she said, 'You are a very +young man, and allow me to advise you always to give, as long as you +possibly can, hope to any near relative nursing a patient. You made me +despair, and from that moment I lost strength.' My father said that +he had often since seen the paramount importance, for the sake of the +patient, of keeping up the hope and with it the strength of the nurse in +charge. This he sometimes found difficult to do compatibly with truth. +One old gentleman, however, caused him no such perplexity. He was sent +for by Mr.P--, who said, 'From all that I have seen and heard of you I +believe that you are the sort of man who will speak the truth, and if I +ask, you will tell me when I am dying. Now I much desire that you should +attend me, if you will promise, whatever I may say, always to declare +that I am not going to die.' My father acquiesced on the understanding +that his words should in fact have no meaning. + +"My father possessed an extraordinary memory, especially for dates, so +that he knew, when he was very old, the day of the birth, marriage, and +death of a multitude of persons in Shropshire; and he once told me that +this power annoyed him; for if he once heard a date, he could not forget +it; and thus the deaths of many friends were often recalled to his mind. +Owing to his strong memory he knew an extraordinary number of curious +stories, which he liked to tell, as he was a great talker. He was +generally in high spirits, and laughed and joked with every one--often +with his servants--with the utmost freedom; yet he had the art of making +every one obey him to the letter. Many persons were much afraid of him. +I remember my father telling us one day, with a laugh, that several +persons had asked him whether Miss --, a grand old lady in Shropshire, +had called on him, so that at last he enquired why they asked him; and +he was told that Miss --, whom my father had somehow mortally offended, +was telling everybody that she would call and tell 'that fat old doctor +very plainly what she thought of him.' She had already called, but +her courage had failed, and no one could have been more courteous and +friendly. As a boy, I went to stay at the house of --, whose wife was +insane; and the poor creature, as soon as she saw me, was in the most +abject state of terror that I ever saw, weeping bitterly and asking me +over and over again, 'Is your father coming?' but was soon pacified. +On my return home, I asked my father why she was so frightened, and +he answered he was very glad to hear it, as he had frightened her on +purpose, feeling sure that she would be kept in safety and much happier +without any restraint, if her husband could influence her, whenever she +became at all violent, by proposing to send for Dr. Darwin; and these +words succeeded perfectly during the rest of her long life. + +"My father was very sensitive, so that many small events annoyed him or +pained him much. I once asked him, when he was old and could not walk, +why he did not drive out for exercise; and he answered, 'Every road out +of Shrewsbury is associated in my mind with some painful event.' Yet he +was generally in high spirits. He was easily made very angry, but his +kindness was unbounded. He was widely and deeply loved. + +"He was a cautious and good man of business, so that he hardly ever lost +money by an investment, and left to his children a very large property. +I remember a story showing how easily utterly false beliefs originate +and spread. Mr. E --, a squire of one of the oldest families in +Shropshire, and head partner in a bank, committed suicide. My father was +sent for as a matter of form, and found him dead. I may mention, by the +way, to show how matters were managed in those old days, that because +Mr. E -- was a rather great man, and universally respected, no inquest +was held over his body. My father, in returning home, thought it proper +to call at the bank (where he had an account) to tell the managing +partners of the event, as it was not improbable that it would cause a +run on the bank. Well, the story was spread far and wide, that my father +went into the bank, drew out all his money, left the bank, came back +again, and said, 'I may just tell you that Mr. E -- has killed himself,' +and then departed. It seems that it was then a common belief that money +withdrawn from a bank was not safe until the person had passed out +through the door of the bank. My father did not hear this story till +some little time afterwards, when the managing partner said that he had +departed from his invariable rule of never allowing any one to see the +account of another man, by having shown the ledger with my father's +account to several persons, as this proved that my father had not drawn +out a penny on that day. It would have been dishonourable in my father +to have used his professional knowledge for his private advantage. +Nevertheless, the supposed act was greatly admired by some persons; +and many years afterwards, a gentleman remarked, 'Ah, Doctor, what a +splendid man of business you were in so cleverly getting all your money +safe out of that bank!' + +"My father's mind was not scientific, and he did not try to generalize +his knowledge under general laws; yet he formed a theory for almost +everything which occurred. I do not think I gained much from him +intellectually; but his example ought to have been of much moral service +to all his children. One of his golden rules (a hard one to follow) was, +'Never become the friend of any one whom you cannot respect.'" + +Dr. Darwin had six children (Of these Mrs. Wedgwood is now the sole +survivor.): Marianne, married Dr. Henry Parker; Caroline, married +Josiah Wedgwood; Erasmus Alvey; Susan, died unmarried; Charles Robert; +Catherine, married Rev. Charles Langton. + +The elder son, Erasmus, was born in 1804, and died unmarried at the age +of seventy-seven. + +He, like his brother, was educated at Shrewsbury School and at Christ's +College, Cambridge. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and in London, and +took the degree of Bachelor of Medicine at Cambridge. He never made any +pretence of practising as a doctor, and, after leaving Cambridge, lived +a quiet life in London. + +There was something pathetic in Charles Darwin's affection for his +brother Erasmus, as if he always recollected his solitary life, and the +touching patience and sweetness of his nature. He often spoke of him +as "Poor old Ras," or "Poor dear old Philos"--I imagine Philos +(Philosopher) was a relic of the days when they worked at chemistry +in the tool-house at Shrewsbury--a time of which he always preserved a +pleasant memory. Erasmus being rather more than four years older than +Charles Darwin, they were not long together at Cambridge, but previously +at Edinburgh they lived in the same lodgings, and after the Voyage they +lived for a time together in Erasmus' house in Great Marlborough Street. +At this time also he often speaks with much affection of Erasmus in his +letters to Fox, using words such as "my dear good old brother." In later +years Erasmus Darwin came to Down occasionally, or joined his brother's +family in a summer holiday. But gradually it came about that he could +not, through ill health, make up his mind to leave London, and then they +only saw each other when Charles Darwin went for a week at a time to his +brother's house in Queen Anne Street. + +The following note on his brother's character was written by Charles +Darwin at about the same time that the sketch of his father was added to +the 'Recollections.':-- + +"My brother Erasmus possessed a remarkably clear mind with extensive +and diversified tastes and knowledge in literature, art, and even in +science. For a short time he collected and dried plants, and during +a somewhat longer time experimented in chemistry. He was extremely +agreeable, and his wit often reminded me of that in the letters and +works of Charles Lamb. He was very kind-hearted...His health from his +boyhood had been weak, and as a consequence he failed in energy. His +spirits were not high, sometimes low, more especially during early +and middle manhood. He read much, even whilst a boy, and at school +encouraged me to read, lending me books. Our minds and tastes +were, however, so different, that I do not think I owe much to him +intellectually. I am inclined to agree with Francis Galton in believing +that education and environment produce only a small effect on the mind +of any one, and that most of our qualities are innate." + +Erasmus Darwin's name, though not known to the general public, may +be remembered from the sketch of his character in Carlyle's +'Reminiscences,' which I here reproduce in part:-- + +"Erasmus Darwin, a most diverse kind of mortal, came to seek us out very +soon ('had heard of Carlyle in Germany, etc.') and continues ever +since to be a quiet house-friend, honestly attached; though his visits +latterly have been rarer and rarer, health so poor, I so occupied, etc., +etc. He had something of original and sarcastically ingenious in him, +one of the sincerest, naturally truest, and most modest of men; elder +brother of Charles Darwin (the famed Darwin on Species of these days) to +whom I rather prefer him for intellect, had not his health quite doomed +him to silence and patient idleness...My dear one had a great favour for +this honest Darwin always; many a road, to shops and the like, he drove +her in his cab (Darwingium Cabbum comparable to Georgium Sidus) in those +early days when even the charge of omnibuses was a consideration, and +his sparse utterances, sardonic often, were a great amusement to her. 'A +perfect gentleman,' she at once discerned him to be, and of sound worth +and kindliness in the most unaffected form." (Carlyle's 'Reminiscences,' +vol. ii. page 208.) + +Charles Darwin did not appreciate this sketch of his brother; he thought +Carlyle had missed the essence of his most lovable nature. + +I am tempted by the wish of illustrating further the character of one +so sincerely beloved by all Charles Darwin's children, to reproduce a +letter to the "Spectator" (September 3, 1881) by his cousin Miss Julia +Wedgwood. + +"A portrait from Mr. Carlyle's portfolio not regretted by any who loved +the original, surely confers sufficient distinction to warrant a few +words of notice, when the character it depicts is withdrawn from mortal +gaze. Erasmus, the only brother of Charles Darwin, and the faithful +and affectionate old friend of both the Carlyles, has left a circle of +mourners who need no tribute from illustrious pen to embalm the memory +so dear to their hearts; but a wider circle must have felt some interest +excited by that tribute, and may receive with a certain attention the +record of a unique and indelible impression, even though it be made only +on the hearts of those who cannot bequeath it, and with whom, therefore, +it must speedily pass away. They remember it with the same distinctness +as they remember a creation of genius; it has in like manner enriched +and sweetened life, formed a common meeting-point for those who had +no other; and, in its strong fragrance of individuality, enforced that +respect for the idiosyncracies of human character without which moral +judgment is always hard and shallow, and often unjust. Carlyle was one +to find a peculiar enjoyment in the combination of liveliness and repose +which gave his friend's society an influence at once stimulating and +soothing, and the warmth of his appreciation was not made known first +in its posthumous expression; his letters of anxiety nearly thirty +years ago, when the frail life which has been prolonged to old age +was threatened by serious illness, are still fresh in my memory. The +friendship was equally warm with both husband and wife. I remember +well a pathetic little remonstrance from her elicited by an avowal from +Erasmus Darwin, that he preferred cats to dogs, which she felt a slur +on her little 'Nero;' and the tones in which she said, 'Oh, but you +are fond of dogs! you are too kind not to be,' spoke of a long vista of +small, gracious kindnesses, remembered with a tender gratitude. He was +intimate also with a person whose friends, like those of Mr. Carlyle, +have not always had cause to congratulate themselves on their place in +her gallery,--Harriet Martineau. I have heard him more than once call +her a faithful friend, and it always seemed to me a curious tribute +to something in the friendship that he alone supplied; but if she had +written of him at all, I believe the mention, in its heartiness of +appreciation, would have afforded a rare and curious meeting-point with +the other 'Reminiscences,' so like and yet so unlike. It is not possible +to transfer the impression of a character; we can only suggest it by +means of some resemblance; and it is a singular illustration of that +irony which checks or directs our sympathies, that in trying to give +some notion of the man whom, among those who were not his kindred, +Carlyle appears to have most loved, I can say nothing more descriptive +than that he seems to me to have had something in common with the man +whom Carlyle least appreciated. The society of Erasmus Darwin had, to my +mind, much the same charm as the writings of Charles Lamb. There was +the same kind of playfulness, the same lightness of touch, the same +tenderness, perhaps the same limitations. On another side of his nature, +I have often been reminded of him by the quaint, delicate humour, the +superficial intolerance, the deep springs of pity, the peculiar mixture +of something pathetic with a sort of gay scorn, entirely remote from +contempt, which distinguish the Ellesmere of Sir Arthur Helps' earlier +dialogues. Perhaps we recall such natures most distinctly, when such a +resemblance is all that is left of them. The character is not merged +in the creation; and what we lose in the power to communicate our +impression, we seem to gain in its vividness. Erasmus Darwin has +passed away in old age, yet his memory retains something of a youthful +fragrance; his influence gave much happiness, of a kind usually +associated with youth, to many lives besides the illustrious one whose +records justify, though certainly they do not inspire, the wish to place +this fading chaplet on his grave." + +The foregoing pages give, in a fragmentary manner, as much perhaps as +need be told of the family from which Charles Darwin came, and may serve +as an introduction to the autobiographical chapter which follows. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.II. -- AUTOBIOGRAPHY. + +[My father's autobiographical recollections, given in the present +chapter, were written for his children,--and written without any +thought that they would ever be published. To many this may seem an +impossibility; but those who knew my father will understand how it was +not only possible, but natural. The autobiography bears the heading, +'Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character,' and end +with the following note:-- + +"Aug.3, 1876. This sketch of my life was begun about May 28th at +Hopedene (Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's house in Surrey.), and since then I +have written for nearly an hour on most afternoons." It will easily be +understood that, in a narrative of a personal and intimate kind written +for his wife and children, passages should occur which must here be +omitted; and I have not thought it necessary to indicate where +such omissions are made. It has been found necessary to make a few +corrections of obvious verbal slips, but the number of such alterations +has been kept down to the minimum.--F.D.] + +A German Editor having written to me for an account of the development +of my mind and character with some sketch of my autobiography, I have +thought that the attempt would amuse me, and might possibly interest +my children or their children. I know that it would have interested me +greatly to have read even so short and dull a sketch of the mind of my +grandfather, written by himself, and what he thought and did, and how he +worked. I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if +I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life. Nor have +I found this difficult, for life is nearly over with me. I have taken no +pains about my style of writing. + +I was born at Shrewsbury on February 12th, 1809, and my earliest +recollection goes back only to when I was a few months over four years +old, when we went to near Abergele for sea-bathing, and I recollect some +events and places there with some little distinctness. + +My mother died in July 1817, when I was a little over eight years old, +and it is odd that I can remember hardly anything about her except +her death-bed, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed +work-table. In the spring of this same year I was sent to a day-school +in Shrewsbury, where I stayed a year. I have been told that I was much +slower in learning than my younger sister Catherine, and I believe that +I was in many ways a naughty boy. + +By the time I went to this day-school (Kept by Rev. G. Case, minister of +the Unitarian Chapel in the High Street. Mrs. Darwin was a Unitarian +and attended Mr. Case's chapel, and my father as a little boy went there +with his elder sisters. But both he and his brother were christened and +intended to belong to the Church of England; and after his early boyhood +he seems usually to have gone to church and not to Mr. Case's. It +appears ("St. James' Gazette", Dec. 15, 1883) that a mural tablet has +been erected to his memory in the chapel, which is now known as the +'Free Christian Church.') my taste for natural history, and more +especially for collecting, was well developed. I tried to make out +the names of plants (Rev. W.A. Leighton, who was a schoolfellow of my +father's at Mr. Case's school, remembers his bringing a flower to school +and saying that his mother had taught him how by looking at the inside +of the blossom the name of the plant could be discovered. Mr. Leighton +goes on, "This greatly roused my attention and curiosity, and I enquired +of him repeatedly how this could be done?"--but his lesson was naturally +enough not transmissible.--F.D.), and collected all sorts of things, +shells, seals, franks, coins, and minerals. The passion for collecting +which leads a man to be a systematic naturalist, a virtuoso, or a miser, +was very strong in me, and was clearly innate, as none of my sisters or +brother ever had this taste. + +One little event during this year has fixed itself very firmly in my +mind, and I hope that it has done so from my conscience having been +afterwards sorely troubled by it; it is curious as showing that +apparently I was interested at this early age in the variability of +plants! I told another little boy (I believe it was Leighton, who +afterwards became a well-known lichenologist and botanist), that I could +produce variously coloured polyanthuses and primroses by watering them +with certain coloured fluids, which was of course a monstrous fable, and +had never been tried by me. I may here also confess that as a little boy +I was much given to inventing deliberate falsehoods, and this was always +done for the sake of causing excitement. For instance, I once gathered +much valuable fruit from my father's trees and hid it in the shrubbery, +and then ran in breathless haste to spread the news that I had +discovered a hoard of stolen fruit. + +I must have been a very simple little fellow when I first went to the +school. A boy of the name of Garnett took me into a cake shop one day, +and bought some cakes for which he did not pay, as the shopman trusted +him. When we came out I asked him why he did not pay for them, and he +instantly answered, "Why, do you not know that my uncle left a great +sum of money to the town on condition that every tradesman should give +whatever was wanted without payment to any one who wore his old hat and +moved [it] in a particular manner?" and he then showed me how it was +moved. He then went into another shop where he was trusted, and asked +for some small article, moving his hat in the proper manner, and of +course obtained it without payment. When we came out he said, "Now if +you like to go by yourself into that cake-shop (how well I remember its +exact position) I will lend you my hat, and you can get whatever you +like if you move the hat on your head properly." I gladly accepted the +generous offer, and went in and asked for some cakes, moved the old hat +and was walking out of the shop, when the shopman made a rush at me, so +I dropped the cakes and ran for dear life, and was astonished by being +greeted with shouts of laughter by my false friend Garnett. + +I can say in my own favour that I was as a boy humane, but I owed this +entirely to the instruction and example of my sisters. I doubt indeed +whether humanity is a natural or innate quality. I was very fond of +collecting eggs, but I never took more than a single egg out of a bird's +nest, except on one single occasion, when I took all, not for their +value, but from a sort of bravado. + +I had a strong taste for angling, and would sit for any number of hours +on the bank of a river or pond watching the float; when at Maer (The +house of his uncle, Josiah Wedgwood.) I was told that I could kill the +worms with salt and water, and from that day I never spitted a living +worm, though at the expense probably of some loss of success. + +Once as a very little boy whilst at the day school, or before that time, +I acted cruelly, for I beat a puppy, I believe, simply from enjoying +the sense of power; but the beating could not have been severe, for +the puppy did not howl, of which I feel sure, as the spot was near +the house. This act lay heavily on my conscience, as is shown by my +remembering the exact spot where the crime was committed. It probably +lay all the heavier from my love of dogs being then, and for a long time +afterwards, a passion. Dogs seemed to know this, for I was an adept in +robbing their love from their masters. + +I remember clearly only one other incident during this year whilst at +Mr. Case's daily school,--namely, the burial of a dragoon soldier; and +it is surprising how clearly I can still see the horse with the man's +empty boots and carbine suspended to the saddle, and the firing over the +grave. This scene deeply stirred whatever poetic fancy there was in me. + +In the summer of 1818 I went to Dr. Butler's great school in Shrewsbury, +and remained there for seven years still Midsummer 1825, when I was +sixteen years old. I boarded at this school, so that I had the great +advantage of living the life of a true schoolboy; but as the distance +was hardly more than a mile to my home, I very often ran there in the +longer intervals between the callings over and before locking up at +night. This, I think, was in many ways advantageous to me by keeping up +home affections and interests. I remember in the early part of my school +life that I often had to run very quickly to be in time, and from being +a fleet runner was generally successful; but when in doubt I prayed +earnestly to God to help me, and I well remember that I attributed my +success to the prayers and not to my quick running, and marvelled how +generally I was aided. + +I have heard my father and elder sister say that I had, as a very young +boy, a strong taste for long solitary walks; but what I thought about I +know not. I often became quite absorbed, and once, whilst returning to +school on the summit of the old fortifications round Shrewsbury, which +had been converted into a public foot-path with no parapet on one side, +I walked off and fell to the ground, but the height was only seven or +eight feet. Nevertheless the number of thoughts which passed through my +mind during this very short, but sudden and wholly unexpected fall, was +astonishing, and seem hardly compatible with what physiologists have, I +believe, proved about each thought requiring quite an appreciable amount +of time. + +Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than +Dr. Butler's school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being +taught, except a little ancient geography and history. The school as a +means of education to me was simply a blank. During my whole life I have +been singularly incapable of mastering any language. Especial attention +was paid to verse-making, and this I could never do well. I had many +friends, and got together a good collection of old verses, which by +patching together, sometimes aided by other boys, I could work into any +subject. Much attention was paid to learning by heart the lessons of the +previous day; this I could effect with great facility, learning forty or +fifty lines of Virgil or Homer, whilst I was in morning chapel; but +this exercise was utterly useless, for every verse was forgotten +in forty-eight hours. I was not idle, and with the exception of +versification, generally worked conscientiously at my classics, not +using cribs. The sole pleasure I ever received from such studies, was +from some of the odes of Horace, which I admired greatly. + +When I left the school I was for my age neither high nor low in it; and +I believe that I was considered by all my masters and by my father as a +very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect. To my +deep mortification my father once said to me, "You care for nothing but +shooting, dogs, and rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself +and all your family." But my father, who was the kindest man I ever +knew and whose memory I love with all my heart, must have been angry and +somewhat unjust when he used such words. + +Looking back as well as I can at my character during my school life, the +only qualities which at this period promised well for the future, +were, that I had strong and diversified tastes, much zeal for whatever +interested me, and a keen pleasure in understanding any complex subject +or thing. I was taught Euclid by a private tutor, and I distinctly +remember the intense satisfaction which the clear geometrical proofs +gave me. I remember, with equal distinctness, the delight which my uncle +gave me (the father of Francis Galton) by explaining the principle +of the vernier of a barometer with respect to diversified tastes, +independently of science, I was fond of reading various books, and +I used to sit for hours reading the historical plays of Shakespeare, +generally in an old window in the thick walls of the school. I read also +other poetry, such as Thomson's 'Seasons,' and the recently published +poems of Byron and Scott. I mention this because later in life I +wholly lost, to my great regret, all pleasure from poetry of any kind, +including Shakespeare. In connection with pleasure from poetry, I may +add that in 1822 a vivid delight in scenery was first awakened in my +mind, during a riding tour on the borders of Wales, and this has lasted +longer than any other aesthetic pleasure. + +Early in my school days a boy had a copy of the 'Wonders of the World,' +which I often read, and disputed with other boys about the veracity of +some of the statements; and I believe that this book first gave me a +wish to travel in remote countries, which was ultimately fulfilled +by the voyage of the "Beagle". In the latter part of my school life +I became passionately fond of shooting; I do not believe that any +one could have shown more zeal for the most holy cause than I did for +shooting birds. How well I remember killing my first snipe, and my +excitement was so great that I had much difficulty in reloading my gun +from the trembling of my hands. This taste long continued, and I became +a very good shot. When at Cambridge I used to practise throwing up my +gun to my shoulder before a looking-glass to see that I threw it up +straight. Another and better plan was to get a friend to wave about a +lighted candle, and then to fire at it with a cap on the nipple, and if +the aim was accurate the little puff of air would blow out the candle. +The explosion of the cap caused a sharp crack, and I was told that the +tutor of the college remarked, "What an extraordinary thing it is, Mr. +Darwin seems to spend hours in cracking a horse-whip in his room, for I +often hear the crack when I pass under his windows." + +I had many friends amongst the schoolboys, whom I loved dearly, and I +think that my disposition was then very affectionate. + +With respect to science, I continued collecting minerals with much +zeal, but quite unscientifically--all that I cared about was a new-NAMED +mineral, and I hardly attempted to classify them. I must have observed +insects with some little care, for when ten years old (1819) I went for +three weeks to Plas Edwards on the sea-coast in Wales, I was very much +interested and surprised at seeing a large black and scarlet Hemipterous +insect, many moths (Zygaena), and a Cicindela which are not found in +Shropshire. I almost made up my mind to begin collecting all the insects +which I could find dead, for on consulting my sister I concluded that it +was not right to kill insects for the sake of making a collection. From +reading White's 'Selborne,' I took much pleasure in watching the +habits of birds, and even made notes on the subject. In my simplicity I +remember wondering why every gentleman did not become an ornithologist. + +Towards the close of my school life, my brother worked hard at +chemistry, and made a fair laboratory with proper apparatus in the +tool-house in the garden, and I was allowed to aid him as a servant in +most of his experiments. He made all the gases and many compounds, and +I read with great care several books on chemistry, such as Henry and +Parkes' 'Chemical Catechism.' The subject interested me greatly, and we +often used to go on working till rather late at night. This was the best +part of my education at school, for it showed me practically the meaning +of experimental science. The fact that we worked at chemistry somehow +got known at school, and as it was an unprecedented fact, I was +nicknamed "Gas." I was also once publicly rebuked by the head-master, +Dr. Butler, for thus wasting my time on such useless subjects; and he +called me very unjustly a "poco curante," and as I did not understand +what he meant, it seemed to me a fearful reproach. + +As I was doing no good at school, my father wisely took me away at a +rather earlier age than usual, and sent me (Oct. 1825) to Edinburgh +University with my brother, where I stayed for two years or sessions. My +brother was completing his medical studies, though I do not believe he +ever really intended to practise, and I was sent there to commence +them. But soon after this period I became convinced from various small +circumstances that my father would leave me property enough to subsist +on with some comfort, though I never imagined that I should be so rich a +man as I am; but my belief was sufficient to check any strenuous efforts +to learn medicine. + +The instruction at Edinburgh was altogether by lectures, and these were +intolerably dull, with the exception of those on chemistry by Hope; but +to my mind there are no advantages and many disadvantages in lectures +compared with reading. Dr. Duncan's lectures on Materia Medica at 8 +o'clock on a winter's morning are something fearful to remember. Dr.-- +made his lectures on human anatomy as dull as he was himself, and the +subject disgusted me. It has proved one of the greatest evils in my life +that I was not urged to practise dissection, for I should soon have got +over my disgust; and the practice would have been invaluable for all +my future work. This has been an irremediable evil, as well as my +incapacity to draw. I also attended regularly the clinical wards in the +hospital. Some of the cases distressed me a good deal, and I still have +vivid pictures before me of some of them; but I was not so foolish as to +allow this to lessen my attendance. I cannot understand why this part +of my medical course did not interest me in a greater degree; for during +the summer before coming to Edinburgh I began attending some of the poor +people, chiefly children and women in Shrewsbury: I wrote down as full +an account as I could of the case with all the symptoms, and read them +aloud to my father, who suggested further inquiries and advised me what +medicines to give, which I made up myself. At one time I had at least a +dozen patients, and I felt a keen interest in the work. My father, who +was by far the best judge of character whom I ever knew, declared that +I should make a successful physician,--meaning by this one who would +get many patients. He maintained that the chief element of success was +exciting confidence; but what he saw in me which convinced him that I +should create confidence I know not. I also attended on two occasions +the operating theatre in the hospital at Edinburgh, and saw two very +bad operations, one on a child, but I rushed away before they were +completed. Nor did I ever attend again, for hardly any inducement would +have been strong enough to make me do so; this being long before the +blessed days of chloroform. The two cases fairly haunted me for many a +long year. + +My brother stayed only one year at the University, so that during the +second year I was left to my own resources; and this was an advantage, +for I became well acquainted with several young men fond of natural +science. One of these was Ainsworth, who afterwards published his +travels in Assyria; he was a Wernerian geologist, and knew a little +about many subjects. Dr. Coldstream was a very different young man, +prim, formal, highly religious, and most kind-hearted; he afterwards +published some good zoological articles. A third young man was Hardie, +who would, I think, have made a good botanist, but died early in +India. Lastly, Dr. Grant, my senior by several years, but how I became +acquainted with him I cannot remember; he published some first-rate +zoological papers, but after coming to London as Professor in University +College, he did nothing more in science, a fact which has always been +inexplicable to me. I knew him well; he was dry and formal in manner, +with much enthusiasm beneath this outer crust. He one day, when we were +walking together, burst forth in high admiration of Lamarck and his +views on evolution. I listened in silent astonishment, and as far as +I can judge without any effect on my mind. I had previously read the +'Zoonomia' of my grandfather, in which similar views are maintained, but +without producing any effect on me. Nevertheless it is probable that the +hearing rather early in life such views maintained and praised may +have favoured my upholding them under a different form in my 'Origin of +Species.' At this time I admired greatly the 'Zoonomia;' but on reading +it a second time after an interval of ten or fifteen years, I was much +disappointed; the proportion of speculation being so large to the facts +given. + +Drs. Grant and Coldstream attended much to marine Zoology, and I often +accompanied the former to collect animals in the tidal pools, which I +dissected as well as I could. I also became friends with some of the +Newhaven fishermen, and sometimes accompanied them when they trawled +for oysters, and thus got many specimens. But from not having had any +regular practice in dissection, and from possessing only a wretched +microscope, my attempts were very poor. Nevertheless I made one +interesting little discovery, and read, about the beginning of the year +1826, a short paper on the subject before the Plinian Society. This was +that the so-called ova of Flustra had the power of independent movement +by means of cilia, and were in fact larvae. In another short paper I +showed that the little globular bodies which had been supposed to be +the young state of Fucus loreus were the egg-cases of the wormlike +Pontobdella muricata. + +The Plinian Society was encouraged and, I believe, founded by Professor +Jameson: it consisted of students and met in an underground room in +the University for the sake of reading papers on natural science and +discussing them. I used regularly to attend, and the meetings had a +good effect on me in stimulating my zeal and giving me new congenial +acquaintances. One evening a poor young man got up, and after stammering +for a prodigious length of time, blushing crimson, he at last slowly +got out the words, "Mr. President, I have forgotten what I was going to +say." The poor fellow looked quite overwhelmed, and all the members +were so surprised that no one could think of a word to say to cover his +confusion. The papers which were read to our little society were not +printed, so that I had not the satisfaction of seeing my paper in print; +but I believe Dr. Grant noticed my small discovery in his excellent +memoir on Flustra. + +I was also a member of the Royal Medical Society, and attended pretty +regularly; but as the subjects were exclusively medical, I did not much +care about them. Much rubbish was talked there, but there were some good +speakers, of whom the best was the present Sir J. Kay-Shuttleworth. Dr. +Grant took me occasionally to the meetings of the Wernerian Society, +where various papers on natural history were read, discussed, and +afterwards published in the 'Transactions.' I heard Audubon deliver +there some interesting discourses on the habits of N. American birds, +sneering somewhat unjustly at Waterton. By the way, a negro lived in +Edinburgh, who had travelled with Waterton, and gained his livelihood +by stuffing birds, which he did excellently: he gave me lessons for +payment, and I used often to sit with him, for he was a very pleasant +and intelligent man. + +Mr. Leonard Horner also took me once to a meeting of the Royal Society +of Edinburgh, where I saw Sir Walter Scott in the chair as President, +and he apologised to the meeting as not feeling fitted for such a +position. I looked at him and at the whole scene with some awe and +reverence, and I think it was owing to this visit during my youth, and +to my having attended the Royal Medical Society, that I felt the honour +of being elected a few years ago an honorary member of both these +Societies, more than any other similar honour. If I had been told at +that time that I should one day have been thus honoured, I declare that +I should have thought it as ridiculous and improbable, as if I had been +told that I should be elected King of England. + +During my second year at Edinburgh I attended --'s lectures on Geology +and Zoology, but they were incredibly dull. The sole effect they +produced on me was the determination never as long as I lived to read +a book on Geology, or in any way to study the science. Yet I feel sure +that I was prepared for a philosophical treatment of the subject; for +an old Mr. Cotton in Shropshire, who knew a good deal about rocks, +had pointed out to me two or three years previously a well-known large +erratic boulder in the town of Shrewsbury, called the "bell-stone"; he +told me that there was no rock of the same kind nearer than Cumberland +or Scotland, and he solemnly assured me that the world would come to an +end before any one would be able to explain how this stone came where +it now lay. This produced a deep impression on me, and I meditated over +this wonderful stone. So that I felt the keenest delight when I first +read of the action of icebergs in transporting boulders, and I gloried +in the progress of Geology. Equally striking is the fact that I, though +now only sixty-seven years old, heard the Professor, in a field lecture +at Salisbury Craigs, discoursing on a trapdyke, with amygdaloidal +margins and the strata indurated on each side, with volcanic rocks all +around us, say that it was a fissure filled with sediment from above, +adding with a sneer that there were men who maintained that it had +been injected from beneath in a molten condition. When I think of this +lecture, I do not wonder that I determined never to attend to Geology. + +From attending --'s lectures, I became acquainted with the curator +of the museum, Mr. Macgillivray, who afterwards published a large +and excellent book on the birds of Scotland. I had much interesting +natural-history talk with him, and he was very kind to me. He gave me +some rare shells, for I at that time collected marine mollusca, but with +no great zeal. + +My summer vacations during these two years were wholly given up to +amusements, though I always had some book in hand, which I read with +interest. During the summer of 1826 I took a long walking tour with +two friends with knapsacks on our backs through North wales. We walked +thirty miles most days, including one day the ascent of Snowdon. I +also went with my sister a riding tour in North Wales, a servant with +saddle-bags carrying our clothes. The autumns were devoted to shooting +chiefly at Mr. Owen's, at Woodhouse, and at my Uncle Jos's (Josiah +Wedgwood, the son of the founder of the Etruria Works.) at Maer. My zeal +was so great that I used to place my shooting-boots open by my bed-side +when I went to bed, so as not to lose half a minute in putting them on +in the morning; and on one occasion I reached a distant part of the Maer +estate, on the 20th of August for black-game shooting, before I could +see: I then toiled on with the game-keeper the whole day through thick +heath and young Scotch firs. + +I kept an exact record of every bird which I shot throughout the whole +season. One day when shooting at Woodhouse with Captain Owen, the eldest +son, and Major Hill, his cousin, afterwards Lord Berwick, both of whom I +liked very much, I thought myself shamefully used, for every time after +I had fired and thought that I had killed a bird, one of the two acted +as if loading his gun, and cried out, "You must not count that bird, +for I fired at the same time," and the gamekeeper, perceiving the joke, +backed them up. After some hours they told me the joke, but it was no +joke to me, for I had shot a large number of birds, but did not know how +many, and could not add them to my list, which I used to do by making a +knot in a piece of string tied to a button-hole. This my wicked friends +had perceived. + +How I did enjoy shooting! But I think that I must have been +half-consciously ashamed of my zeal, for I tried to persuade myself +that shooting was almost an intellectual employment; it required so much +skill to judge where to find most game and to hunt the dogs well. + +One of my autumnal visits to Maer in 1827 was memorable from meeting +there Sir J. Mackintosh, who was the best converser I ever listened +to. I heard afterwards with a glow of pride that he had said, "There +is something in that young man that interests me." This must have been +chiefly due to his perceiving that I listened with much interest to +everything which he said, for I was as ignorant as a pig about his +subjects of history, politics, and moral philosophy. To hear of praise +from an eminent person, though no doubt apt or certain to excite vanity, +is, I think, good for a young man, as it helps to keep him in the right +course. + +My visits to Maer during these two or three succeeding years were quite +delightful, independently of the autumnal shooting. Life there was +perfectly free; the country was very pleasant for walking or riding; +and in the evening there was much very agreeable conversation, not +so personal as it generally is in large family parties, together with +music. In the summer the whole family used often to sit on the steps +of the old portico, with the flower-garden in front, and with the steep +wooded bank opposite the house reflected in the lake, with here and +there a fish rising or a water-bird paddling about. Nothing has left a +more vivid picture on my mind than these evenings at Maer. I was +also attached to and greatly revered my Uncle Jos; he was silent and +reserved, so as to be a rather awful man; but he sometimes talked openly +with me. He was the very type of an upright man, with the clearest +judgment. I do not believe that any power on earth could have made him +swerve an inch from what he considered the right course. I used to apply +to him in my mind the well-known ode of Horace, now forgotten by me, in +which the words "nec vultus tyranni, etc.," come in. (Justum et tenacem +propositi virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium Non vultus instantis +tyranni Mente quatit solida.) + +CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831. + +After having spent two sessions in Edinburgh, my father perceived, or +he heard from my sisters, that I did not like the thought of being a +physician, so he proposed that I should become a clergyman. He was very +properly vehement against my turning into an idle sporting man, which +then seemed my probable destination. I asked for some time to consider, +as from what little I had heard or thought on the subject I had scruples +about declaring my belief in all the dogmas of the Church of England; +though otherwise I liked the thought of being a country clergyman. +Accordingly I read with care 'Pearson on the Creed,' and a few other +books on divinity; and as I did not then in the least doubt the strict +and literal truth of every word in the Bible, I soon persuaded myself +that our Creed must be fully accepted. + +Considering how fiercely I have been attacked by the orthodox, it seems +ludicrous that I once intended to be a clergyman. Nor was this intention +and my father's wish ever formerly given up, but died a natural death +when, on leaving Cambridge, I joined the "Beagle" as naturalist. If the +phrenologists are to be trusted, I was well fitted in one respect to be +a clergyman. A few years ago the secretaries of a German psychological +society asked me earnestly by letter for a photograph of myself; and +some time afterwards I received the proceedings of one of the meetings, +in which it seemed that the shape of my head had been the subject of a +public discussion, and one of the speakers declared that I had the bump +of reverence developed enough for ten priests. + +As it was decided that I should be a clergyman, it was necessary that I +should go to one of the English universities and take a degree; but as +I had never opened a classical book since leaving school, I found to +my dismay, that in the two intervening years I had actually forgotten, +incredible as it may appear, almost everything which I had learnt, +even to some few of the Greek letters. I did not therefore proceed to +Cambridge at the usual time in October, but worked with a private tutor +in Shrewsbury, and went to Cambridge after the Christmas vacation, early +in 1828. I soon recovered my school standard of knowledge, and could +translate easy Greek books, such as Homer and the Greek Testament, with +moderate facility. + +During the three years which I spent at Cambridge my time was wasted, +as far as the academical studies were concerned, as completely as at +Edinburgh and at school. I attempted mathematics, and even went during +the summer of 1828 with a private tutor (a very dull man) to Barmouth, +but I got on very slowly. The work was repugnant to me, chiefly from my +not being able to see any meaning in the early steps in algebra. This +impatience was very foolish, and in after years I have deeply regretted +that I did not proceed far enough at least to understand something of +the great leading principles of mathematics, for men thus endowed seem +to have an extra sense. But I do not believe that I should ever have +succeeded beyond a very low grade. With respect to Classics I did +nothing except attend a few compulsory college lectures, and the +attendance was almost nominal. In my second year I had to work for a +month or two to pass the Little-Go, which I did easily. Again, in my +last year I worked with some earnestness for my final degree of B.A., +and brushed up my Classics, together with a little Algebra and Euclid, +which latter gave me much pleasure, as it did at school. In order to +pass the B.A. examination, it was also necessary to get up Paley's +'Evidences of Christianity,' and his 'Moral Philosophy.' This was done +in a thorough manner, and I am convinced that I could have written out +the whole of the 'Evidences' with perfect correctness, but not of course +in the clear language of Paley. The logic of this book and, as I may +add, of his 'Natural Theology,' gave me as much delight as did Euclid. +The careful study of these works, without attempting to learn any part +by rote, was the only part of the academical course which, as I then +felt and as I still believe, was of the least use to me in the education +of my mind. I did not at that time trouble myself about Paley's +premises; and taking these on trust, I was charmed and convinced by the +long line of argumentation. By answering well the examination questions +in Paley, by doing Euclid well, and by not failing miserably in +Classics, I gained a good place among the oi polloi or crowd of men who +do not go in for honours. Oddly enough, I cannot remember how high I +stood, and my memory fluctuates between the fifth, tenth, or twelfth, +name on the list. (Tenth in the list of January 1831.) + +Public lectures on several branches were given in the University, +attendance being quite voluntary; but I was so sickened with lectures at +Edinburgh that I did not even attend Sedgwick's eloquent and interesting +lectures. Had I done so I should probably have become a geologist +earlier than I did. I attended, however, Henslow's lectures on Botany, +and liked them much for their extreme clearness, and the admirable +illustrations; but I did not study botany. Henslow used to take his +pupils, including several of the older members of the University, field +excursions, on foot or in coaches, to distant places, or in a barge +down the river, and lectured on the rarer plants and animals which were +observed. These excursions were delightful. + +Although, as we shall presently see, there were some redeeming features +in my life at Cambridge, my time was sadly wasted there, and worse than +wasted. From my passion for shooting and for hunting, and, when this +failed, for riding across country, I got into a sporting set, including +some dissipated low-minded young men. We used often to dine together in +the evening, though these dinners often included men of a higher stamp, +and we sometimes drank too much, with jolly singing and playing at cards +afterwards. I know that I ought to feel ashamed of days and evenings +thus spent, but as some of my friends were very pleasant, and we were +all in the highest spirits, I cannot help looking back to these times +with much pleasure. + +But I am glad to think that I had many other friends of a widely +different nature. I was very intimate with Whitley (Rev. C. Whitley, +Hon. Canon of Durham, formerly Reader in Natural Philosophy in +Durham University.), who was afterwards Senior Wrangler, and we used +continually to take long walks together. He inoculated me with a taste +for pictures and good engravings, of which I bought some. I frequently +went to the Fitzwilliam Gallery, and my taste must have been fairly +good, for I certainly admired the best pictures, which I discussed with +the old curator. I read also with much interest Sir Joshua Reynolds' +book. This taste, though not natural to me, lasted for several years, +and many of the pictures in the National Gallery in London gave me +much pleasure; that of Sebastian del Piombo exciting in me a sense of +sublimity. + +I also got into a musical set, I believe by means of my warm-hearted +friend, Herbert (The late John Maurice Herbert, County Court Judge of +Cardiff and the Monmouth Circuit.), who took a high wrangler's degree. +From associating with these men, and hearing them play, I acquired a +strong taste for music, and used very often to time my walks so as to +hear on week days the anthem in King's College Chapel. This gave me +intense pleasure, so that my backbone would sometimes shiver. I am sure +that there was no affectation or mere imitation in this taste, for I +used generally to go by myself to King's College, and I sometimes hired +the chorister boys to sing in my rooms. Nevertheless I am so utterly +destitute of an ear, that I cannot perceive a discord, or keep time +and hum a tune correctly; and it is a mystery how I could possibly have +derived pleasure from music. + +My musical friends soon perceived my state, and sometimes amused +themselves by making me pass an examination, which consisted in +ascertaining how many tunes I could recognise when they were played +rather more quickly or slowly than usual. 'God save the King,' when thus +played, was a sore puzzle. There was another man with almost as bad an +ear as I had, and strange to say he played a little on the flute. Once I +had the triumph of beating him in one of our musical examinations. + +But no pursuit at Cambridge was followed with nearly so much eagerness +or gave me so much pleasure as collecting beetles. It was the mere +passion for collecting, for I did not dissect them, and rarely compared +their external characters with published descriptions, but got them +named anyhow. I will give a proof of my zeal: one day, on tearing off +some old bark, I saw two rare beetles, and seized one in each hand; then +I saw a third and new kind, which I could not bear to lose, so that I +popped the one which I held in my right hand into my mouth. Alas! it +ejected some intensely acrid fluid, which burnt my tongue so that I was +forced to spit the beetle out, which was lost, as was the third one. + +I was very successful in collecting, and invented two new methods; I +employed a labourer to scrape during the winter, moss off old trees +and place it in a large bag, and likewise to collect the rubbish at the +bottom of the barges in which reeds are brought from the fens, and thus +I got some very rare species. No poet ever felt more delighted at +seeing his first poem published than I did at seeing, in Stephens' +'Illustrations of British Insects,' the magic words, "captured by C. +Darwin, Esq." I was introduced to entomology by my second cousin W. +Darwin Fox, a clever and most pleasant man, who was then at Christ's +College, and with whom I became extremely intimate. Afterwards I became +well acquainted, and went out collecting, with Albert Way of Trinity, +who in after years became a well-known archaeologist; also with H. +Thompson of the same College, afterwards a leading agriculturist, +chairman of a great railway, and Member of Parliament. It seems +therefore that a taste for collecting beetles is some indication of +future success in life! + +I am surprised what an indelible impression many of the beetles which +I caught at Cambridge have left on my mind. I can remember the exact +appearance of certain posts, old trees and banks where I made a good +capture. The pretty Panagaeus crux-major was a treasure in those days, +and here at Down I saw a beetle running across a walk, and on picking it +up instantly perceived that it differed slightly from P. crux-major, +and it turned out to be P. quadripunctatus, which is only a variety or +closely allied species, differing from it very slightly in outline. I +had never seen in those old days Licinus alive, which to an uneducated +eye hardly differs from many of the black Carabidous beetles; but my +sons found here a specimen, and I instantly recognised that it was new +to me; yet I had not looked at a British beetle for the last twenty +years. + +I have not as yet mentioned a circumstance which influenced my whole +career more than any other. This was my friendship with Professor +Henslow. Before coming up to Cambridge, I had heard of him from my +brother as a man who knew every branch of science, and I was accordingly +prepared to reverence him. He kept open house once every week when +all undergraduates, and some older members of the University, who were +attached to science, used to meet in the evening. I soon got, through +Fox, an invitation, and went there regularly. Before long I became +well acquainted with Henslow, and during the latter half of my time at +Cambridge took long walks with him on most days; so that I was called by +some of the dons "the man who walks with Henslow;" and in the evening I +was very often asked to join his family dinner. His knowledge was great +in botany, entomology, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. His strongest +taste was to draw conclusions from long-continued minute observations. +His judgment was excellent, and his whole mind well balanced; but I +do not suppose that any one would say that he possessed much original +genius. He was deeply religious, and so orthodox that he told me one day +he should be grieved if a single word of the Thirty-nine Articles were +altered. His moral qualities were in every way admirable. He was free +from every tinge of vanity or other petty feeling; and I never saw a man +who thought so little about himself or his own concerns. His temper was +imperturbably good, with the most winning and courteous manners; yet, +as I have seen, he could be roused by any bad action to the warmest +indignation and prompt action. + +I once saw in his company in the streets of Cambridge almost as horrid +a scene as could have been witnessed during the French Revolution. Two +body-snatchers had been arrested, and whilst being taken to prison had +been torn from the constable by a crowd of the roughest men, who dragged +them by their legs along the muddy and stony road. They were covered +from head to foot with mud, and their faces were bleeding either from +having been kicked or from the stones; they looked like corpses, but +the crowd was so dense that I got only a few momentary glimpses of the +wretched creatures. Never in my life have I seen such wrath painted on +a man's face as was shown by Henslow at this horrid scene. He tried +repeatedly to penetrate the mob; but it was simply impossible. He then +rushed away to the mayor, telling me not to follow him, but to get more +policemen. I forget the issue, except that the two men were got into the +prison without being killed. + +Henslow's benevolence was unbounded, as he proved by his many excellent +schemes for his poor parishioners, when in after years he held the +living of Hitcham. My intimacy with such a man ought to have been, and I +hope was, an inestimable benefit. I cannot resist mentioning a trifling +incident, which showed his kind consideration. Whilst examining some +pollen-grains on a damp surface, I saw the tubes exserted, and instantly +rushed off to communicate my surprising discovery to him. Now I do not +suppose any other professor of botany could have helped laughing at my +coming in such a hurry to make such a communication. But he agreed how +interesting the phenomenon was, and explained its meaning, but made me +clearly understand how well it was known; so I left him not in the +least mortified, but well pleased at having discovered for myself so +remarkable a fact, but determined not to be in such a hurry again to +communicate my discoveries. + +Dr. Whewell was one of the older and distinguished men who sometimes +visited Henslow, and on several occasions I walked home with him at +night. Next to Sir J. Mackintosh he was the best converser on grave +subjects to whom I ever listened. Leonard Jenyns (The well-known Soame +Jenyns was cousin to Mr. Jenyns' father.), who afterwards published some +good essays in Natural History (Mr. Jenyns (now Blomefield) described +the fish for the Zoology of the "Beagle"; and is author of a long series +of papers, chiefly Zoological.), often stayed with Henslow, who was his +brother-in-law. I visited him at his parsonage on the borders of the +Fens [Swaffham Bulbeck], and had many a good walk and talk with him +about Natural History. I became also acquainted with several other men +older than me, who did not care much about science, but were friends of +Henslow. One was a Scotchman, brother of Sir Alexander Ramsay, and tutor +of Jesus College: he was a delightful man, but did not live for many +years. Another was Mr. Dawes, afterwards Dean of Hereford, and famous +for his success in the education of the poor. These men and others of +the same standing, together with Henslow, used sometimes to take distant +excursions into the country, which I was allowed to join, and they were +most agreeable. + +Looking back, I infer that there must have been something in me a little +superior to the common run of youths, otherwise the above-mentioned men, +so much older than me and higher in academical position, would never +have allowed me to associate with them. Certainly I was not aware of any +such superiority, and I remember one of my sporting friends, Turner, +who saw me at work with my beetles, saying that I should some day be a +Fellow of the Royal Society, and the notion seemed to me preposterous. + +During my last year at Cambridge, I read with care and profound interest +Humboldt's 'Personal Narrative.' This work, and Sir J. Herschel's +'Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy,' stirred up in me +a burning zeal to add even the most humble contribution to the noble +structure of Natural Science. No one or a dozen other books influenced +me nearly so much as these two. I copied out from Humboldt long passages +about Teneriffe, and read them aloud on one of the above-mentioned +excursions, to (I think) Henslow, Ramsay, and Dawes, for on a previous +occasion I had talked about the glories of Teneriffe, and some of the +party declared they would endeavour to go there; but I think that they +were only half in earnest. I was, however, quite in earnest, and got +an introduction to a merchant in London to enquire about ships; but +the scheme was, of course, knocked on the head by the voyage of the +"Beagle". + +My summer vacations were given up to collecting beetles, to some +reading, and short tours. In the autumn my whole time was devoted to +shooting, chiefly at Woodhouse and Maer, and sometimes with young Eyton +of Eyton. Upon the whole the three years which I spent at Cambridge were +the most joyful in my happy life; for I was then in excellent health, +and almost always in high spirits. + +As I had at first come up to Cambridge at Christmas, I was forced to +keep two terms after passing my final examination, at the commencement +of 1831; and Henslow then persuaded me to begin the study of geology. +Therefore on my return to Shropshire I examined sections, and coloured +a map of parts round Shrewsbury. Professor Sedgwick intended to visit +North Wales in the beginning of August to pursue his famous geological +investigations amongst the older rocks, and Henslow asked him to allow +me to accompany him. (In connection with this tour my father used +to tell a story about Sedgwick: they had started from their inn one +morning, and had walked a mile or two, when Sedgwick suddenly stopped, +and vowed that he would return, being certain "that damned scoundrel" +(the waiter) had not given the chambermaid the sixpence intrusted to +him for the purpose. He was ultimately persuaded to give up the project, +seeing that there was no reason for suspecting the waiter of especial +perfidy.--F.D.) Accordingly he came and slept at my father's house. + +A short conversation with him during this evening produced a strong +impression on my mind. Whilst examining an old gravel-pit near +Shrewsbury, a labourer told me that he had found in it a large worn +tropical Volute shell, such as may be seen on the chimney-pieces of +cottages; and as he would not sell the shell, I was convinced that he +had really found it in the pit. I told Sedgwick of the fact, and he at +once said (no doubt truly) that it must have been thrown away by some +one into the pit; but then added, if really embedded there it would be +the greatest misfortune to geology, as it would overthrow all that +we know about the superficial deposits of the Midland Counties. These +gravel-beds belong in fact to the glacial period, and in after years I +found in them broken arctic shells. But I was then utterly astonished at +Sedgwick not being delighted at so wonderful a fact as a tropical shell +being found near the surface in the middle of England. Nothing +before had ever made me thoroughly realise, though I had read various +scientific books, that science consists in grouping facts so that +general laws or conclusions may be drawn from them. + +Next morning we started for Llangollen, Conway, Bangor, and Capel Curig. +This tour was of decided use in teaching me a little how to make out the +geology of a country. Sedgwick often sent me on a line parallel to +his, telling me to bring back specimens of the rocks and to mark the +stratification on a map. I have little doubt that he did this for my +good, as I was too ignorant to have aided him. On this tour I had a +striking instance of how easy it is to overlook phenomena, however +conspicuous, before they have been observed by any one. We spent many +hours in Cwm Idwal, examining all the rocks with extreme care, as +Sedgwick was anxious to find fossils in them; but neither of us saw +a trace of the wonderful glacial phenomena all around us; we did not +notice the plainly scored rocks, the perched boulders, the lateral and +terminal moraines. Yet these phenomena are so conspicuous that, as +I declared in a paper published many years afterwards in the +'Philosophical Magazine' ('Philosophical Magazine,' 1842.), a house +burnt down by fire did not tell its story more plainly than did this +valley. If it had still been filled by a glacier, the phenomena would +have been less distinct than they now are. + +At Capel Curig I left Sedgwick and went in a straight line by compass +and map across the mountains to Barmouth, never following any track +unless it coincided with my course. I thus came on some strange wild +places, and enjoyed much this manner of travelling. I visited Barmouth +to see some Cambridge friends who were reading there, and thence +returned to Shrewsbury and to Maer for shooting; for at that time +I should have thought myself mad to give up the first days of +partridge-shooting for geology or any other science. + +"VOYAGE OF THE 'BEAGLE' FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836." + +On returning home from my short geological tour in North Wales, I found +a letter from Henslow, informing me that Captain Fitz-Roy was willing to +give up part of his own cabin to any young man who would volunteer to go +with him without pay as naturalist to the Voyage of the "Beagle". I +have given, as I believe, in my MS. Journal an account of all the +circumstances which then occurred; I will here only say that I was +instantly eager to accept the offer, but my father strongly objected, +adding the words, fortunate for me, "If you can find any man of common +sense who advises you to go I will give my consent." So I wrote that +evening and refused the offer. On the next morning I went to Maer to +be ready for September 1st, and, whilst out shooting, my uncle (Josiah +Wedgwood.) sent for me, offering to drive me over to Shrewsbury and talk +with my father, as my uncle thought it would be wise in me to accept the +offer. My father always maintained that he was one of the most sensible +men in the world, and he at once consented in the kindest manner. I had +been rather extravagant at Cambridge, and to console my father, said, +"that I should be deuced clever to spend more than my allowance whilst +on board the 'Beagle';" but he answered with a smile, "But they tell me +you are very clever." + +Next day I started for Cambridge to see Henslow, and thence to London +to see Fitz-Roy, and all was soon arranged. Afterwards, on becoming very +intimate with Fitz-Roy, I heard that I had run a very narrow risk of +being rejected, on account of the shape of my nose! He was an ardent +disciple of Lavater, and was convinced that he could judge of a man's +character by the outline of his features; and he doubted whether any one +with my nose could possess sufficient energy and determination for the +voyage. But I think he was afterwards well satisfied that my nose had +spoken falsely. + +Fitz-Roy's character was a singular one, with very many noble features: +he was devoted to his duty, generous to a fault, bold, determined, and +indomitably energetic, and an ardent friend to all under his sway. He +would undertake any sort of trouble to assist those whom he thought +deserved assistance. He was a handsome man, strikingly like a gentleman, +with highly courteous manners, which resembled those of his maternal +uncle, the famous Lord Castlereagh, as I was told by the Minister at +Rio. Nevertheless he must have inherited much in his appearance from +Charles II., for Dr. Wallich gave me a collection of photographs which +he had made, and I was struck with the resemblance of one to Fitz-Roy; +and on looking at the name, I found it Ch. E. Sobieski Stuart, Count +d'Albanie, a descendant of the same monarch. + +Fitz-Roy's temper was a most unfortunate one. It was usually worst in +the early morning, and with his eagle eye he could generally detect +something amiss about the ship, and was then unsparing in his blame. He +was very kind to me, but was a man very difficult to live with on the +intimate terms which necessarily followed from our messing by ourselves +in the same cabin. We had several quarrels; for instance, early in the +voyage at Bahia, in Brazil, he defended and praised slavery, which I +abominated, and told me that he had just visited a great slave-owner, +who had called up many of his slaves and asked them whether they were +happy, and whether they wished to be free, and all answered "No." I then +asked him, perhaps with a sneer, whether he thought that the answer of +slaves in the presence of their master was worth anything? This made him +excessively angry, and he said that as I doubted his word we could not +live any longer together. I thought that I should have been compelled to +leave the ship; but as soon as the news spread, which it did quickly, +as the captain sent for the first lieutenant to assuage his anger by +abusing me, I was deeply gratified by receiving an invitation from all +the gun-room officers to mess with them. But after a few hours Fitz-Roy +showed his usual magnanimity by sending an officer to me with an apology +and a request that I would continue to live with him. + +His character was in several respects one of the most noble which I have +ever known. + +The voyage of the "Beagle" has been by far the most important event in +my life, and has determined my whole career; yet it depended on so +small a circumstance as my uncle offering to drive me thirty miles to +Shrewsbury, which few uncles would have done, and on such a trifle as +the shape of my nose. I have always felt that I owe to the voyage the +first real training or education of my mind; I was led to attend +closely to several branches of natural history, and thus my powers of +observation were improved, though they were always fairly developed. + +The investigation of the geology of all the places visited was far more +important, as reasoning here comes into play. On first examining a new +district nothing can appear more hopeless than the chaos of rocks; but +by recording the stratification and nature of the rocks and fossils +at many points, always reasoning and predicting what will be found +elsewhere, light soon begins to dawn on the district, and the structure +of the whole becomes more or less intelligible. I had brought with me +the first volume of Lyell's 'Principles of Geology,' which I studied +attentively; and the book was of the highest service to me in many ways. +The very first place which I examined, namely St. Jago in the Cape de +Verde islands, showed me clearly the wonderful superiority of Lyell's +manner of treating geology, compared with that of any other author, +whose works I had with me or ever afterwards read. + +Another of my occupations was collecting animals of all classes, briefly +describing and roughly dissecting many of the marine ones; but from not +being able to draw, and from not having sufficient anatomical knowledge, +a great pile of MS. which I made during the voyage has proved almost +useless. I thus lost much time, with the exception of that spent in +acquiring some knowledge of the Crustaceans, as this was of service when +in after years I undertook a monograph of the Cirripedia. + +During some part of the day I wrote my Journal, and took much pains in +describing carefully and vividly all that I had seen; and this was good +practice. My Journal served also, in part, as letters to my home, and +portions were sent to England whenever there was an opportunity. + +The above various special studies were, however, of no importance +compared with the habit of energetic industry and of concentrated +attention to whatever I was engaged in, which I then acquired. +Everything about which I thought or read was made to bear directly +on what I had seen or was likely to see; and this habit of mind was +continued during the five years of the voyage. I feel sure that it +was this training which has enabled me to do whatever I have done in +science. + +Looking backwards, I can now perceive how my love for science gradually +preponderated over every other taste. During the first two years my old +passion for shooting survived in nearly full force, and I shot myself +all the birds and animals for my collection; but gradually I gave up my +gun more and more, and finally altogether, to my servant, as shooting +interfered with my work, more especially with making out the geological +structure of a country. I discovered, though unconsciously and +insensibly, that the pleasure of observing and reasoning was a much +higher one than that of skill and sport. That my mind became developed +through my pursuits during the voyage is rendered probable by a remark +made by my father, who was the most acute observer whom I ever saw, of a +sceptical disposition, and far from being a believer in phrenology; for +on first seeing me after the voyage, he turned round to my sisters, and +exclaimed, "Why, the shape of his head is quite altered." + +To return to the voyage. On September 11th (1831), I paid a flying visit +with Fitz-Roy to the "Beagle" at Plymouth. Thence to Shrewsbury to wish +my father and sisters a long farewell. On October 24th I took up my +residence at Plymouth, and remained there until December 27th, when the +"Beagle" finally left the shores of England for her circumnavigation of +the world. We made two earlier attempts to sail, but were driven back +each time by heavy gales. These two months at Plymouth were the most +miserable which I ever spent, though I exerted myself in various ways. +I was out of spirits at the thought of leaving all my family and friends +for so long a time, and the weather seemed to me inexpressibly gloomy. +I was also troubled with palpitation and pain about the heart, and like +many a young ignorant man, especially one with a smattering of medical +knowledge, was convinced that I had heart disease. I did not consult any +doctor, as I fully expected to hear the verdict that I was not fit for +the voyage, and I was resolved to go at all hazards. + +I need not here refer to the events of the voyage--where we went and +what we did--as I have given a sufficiently full account in my published +Journal. The glories of the vegetation of the Tropics rise before my +mind at the present time more vividly than anything else; though +the sense of sublimity, which the great deserts of Patagonia and the +forest-clad mountains of Tierra del Fuego excited in me, has left an +indelible impression on my mind. The sight of a naked savage in his +native land is an event which can never be forgotten. Many of my +excursions on horseback through wild countries, or in the boats, some +of which lasted several weeks, were deeply interesting: their discomfort +and some degree of danger were at that time hardly a drawback, and none +at all afterwards. I also reflect with high satisfaction on some of +my scientific work, such as solving the problem of coral islands, and +making out the geological structure of certain islands, for instance, +St. Helena. Nor must I pass over the discovery of the singular relations +of the animals and plants inhabiting the several islands of the +Galapagos archipelago, and of all of them to the inhabitants of South +America. + +As far as I can judge of myself, I worked to the utmost during the +voyage from the mere pleasure of investigation, and from my strong +desire to add a few facts to the great mass of facts in Natural +Science. But I was also ambitious to take a fair place among scientific +men,--whether more ambitious or less so than most of my fellow-workers, +I can form no opinion. + +The geology of St. Jago is very striking, yet simple: a stream of lava +formerly flowed over the bed of the sea, formed of triturated recent +shells and corals, which it has baked into a hard white rock. Since then +the whole island has been upheaved. But the line of white rock revealed +to me a new and important fact, namely, that there had been afterwards +subsidence round the craters, which had since been in action, and had +poured forth lava. It then first dawned on me that I might perhaps write +a book on the geology of the various countries visited, and this made me +thrill with delight. That was a memorable hour to me, and how distinctly +I can call to mind the low cliff of lava beneath which I rested, with +the sun glaring hot, a few strange desert plants growing near, and +with living corals in the tidal pools at my feet. Later in the voyage, +Fitz-Roy asked me to read some of my Journal, and declared it would be +worth publishing; so here was a second book in prospect! + +Towards the close of our voyage I received a letter whilst at Ascension, +in which my sisters told me that Sedgwick had called on my father, and +said that I should take a place among the leading scientific men. I +could not at the time understand how he could have learnt anything of +my proceedings, but I heard (I believe afterwards) that Henslow had +read some of the letters which I wrote to him before the Philosophical +Society of Cambridge (Read at the meeting held November 16, 1835, and +printed in a pamphlet of 31 pages for distribution among the members +of the Society.), and had printed them for private distribution. My +collection of fossil bones, which had been sent to Henslow, also excited +considerable attention amongst palaeontologists. After reading this +letter, I clambered over the mountains of Ascension with a bounding +step, and made the volcanic rocks resound under my geological hammer. +All this shows how ambitious I was; but I think that I can say with +truth that in after years, though I cared in the highest degree for the +approbation of such men as Lyell and Hooker, who were my friends, I +did not care much about the general public. I do not mean to say that a +favourable review or a large sale of my books did not please me greatly, +but the pleasure was a fleeting one, and I am sure that I have never +turned one inch out of my course to gain fame. + +FROM MY RETURN TO ENGLAND (OCTOBER 2, 1836) TO MY MARRIAGE (JANUARY 29, +1839.) + +These two years and three months were the most active ones which I ever +spent, though I was occasionally unwell, and so lost some time. After +going backwards and forwards several times between Shrewsbury, +Maer, Cambridge, and London, I settled in lodgings at Cambridge (In +Fitzwilliam Street.) on December 13th, where all my collections were +under the care of Henslow. I stayed here three months, and got my +minerals and rocks examined by the aid of Professor Miller. + +I began preparing my 'Journal of Travels,' which was not hard work, +as my MS. Journal had been written with care, and my chief labour was +making an abstract of my more interesting scientific results. I sent +also, at the request of Lyell, a short account of my observations on +the elevation of the coast of Chile to the Geological Society. ('Geolog. +Soc. Proc. ii. 1838, pages 446-449.) + +On March 7th, 1837, I took lodgings in Great Marlborough Street in +London, and remained there for nearly two years, until I was married. +During these two years I finished my Journal, read several papers before +the Geological Society, began preparing the MS. for my 'Geological +Observations,' and arranged for the publication of the 'Zoology of the +Voyage of the "Beagle".' In July I opened my first note-book for facts +in relation to the Origin of Species, about which I had long reflected, +and never ceased working for the next twenty years. + +During these two years I also went a little into society, and acted as +one of the honorary secretaries of the Geological Society. I saw a great +deal of Lyell. One of his chief characteristics was his sympathy with +the work of others, and I was as much astonished as delighted at the +interest which he showed when, on my return to England, I explained to +him my views on coral reefs. This encouraged me greatly, and his advice +and example had much influence on me. During this time I saw also a good +deal of Robert Brown; I used often to call and sit with him during his +breakfast on Sunday mornings, and he poured forth a rich treasure of +curious observations and acute remarks, but they almost always related +to minute points, and he never with me discussed large or general +questions in science. + +During these two years I took several short excursions as a relaxation, +and one longer one to the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, an account of +which was published in the 'Philosophical Transactions.' (1839, pages +39-82.) This paper was a great failure, and I am ashamed of it. Having +been deeply impressed with what I had seen of the elevation of the land +of South America, I attributed the parallel lines to the action of +the sea; but I had to give up this view when Agassiz propounded his +glacier-lake theory. Because no other explanation was possible under our +then state of knowledge, I argued in favour of sea-action; and my error +has been a good lesson to me never to trust in science to the principle +of exclusion. + +As I was not able to work all day at science, I read a good deal during +these two years on various subjects, including some metaphysical books; +but I was not well fitted for such studies. About this time I took much +delight in Wordsworth's and Coleridge's poetry; and can boast that I +read the 'Excursion' twice through. Formerly Milton's 'Paradise Lost' +had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of +the "Beagle", when I could take only a single volume, I always chose +Milton. + +FROM MY MARRIAGE, JANUARY 29, 1839, AND RESIDENCE IN UPPER GOWER STREET, +TO OUR LEAVING LONDON AND SETTLING AT DOWN, SEPTEMBER 14, 1842. + +(After speaking of his happy married life, and of his children, he +continues:--) + +During the three years and eight months whilst we resided in London, I +did less scientific work, though I worked as hard as I possibly could, +than during any other equal length of time in my life. This was owing +to frequently recurring unwellness, and to one long and serious illness. +The greater part of my time, when I could do anything, was devoted to +my work on 'Coral Reefs,' which I had begun before my marriage, and of +which the last proof-sheet was corrected on May 6th, 1842. This book, +though a small one, cost me twenty months of hard work, as I had to read +every work on the islands of the Pacific and to consult many charts. It +was thought highly of by scientific men, and the theory therein given +is, I think, now well established. + +No other work of mine was begun in so deductive a spirit as this, for +the whole theory was thought out on the west coast of South America, +before I had seen a true coral reef. I had therefore only to verify and +extend my views by a careful examination of living reefs. But it should +be observed that I had during the two previous years been incessantly +attending to the effects on the shores of South America of the +intermittent elevation of the land, together with denudation and the +deposition of sediment. This necessarily led me to reflect much on the +effects of subsidence, and it was easy to replace in imagination the +continued deposition of sediment by the upward growth of corals. To do +this was to form my theory of the formation of barrier-reefs and atolls. + +Besides my work on coral-reefs, during my residence in London, I read +before the Geological Society papers on the Erratic Boulders of South +America ('Geolog. Soc. Proc.' iii. 1842.), on Earthquakes ('Geolog. +Trans. v. 1840.), and on the Formation by the Agency of Earth-worms of +Mould. ('Geolog. Soc. Proc. ii. 1838.) I also continued to superintend +the publication of the 'Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle".' Nor did +I ever intermit collecting facts bearing on the origin of species; and I +could sometimes do this when I could do nothing else from illness. + +In the summer of 1842 I was stronger than I had been for some time, and +took a little tour by myself in North Wales, for the sake of observing +the effects of the old glaciers which formerly filled all the larger +valleys. I published a short account of what I saw in the 'Philosophical +Magazine.' ('Philosophical Magazine,' 1842.) This excursion interested +me greatly, and it was the last time I was ever strong enough to climb +mountains or to take long walks such as are necessary for geological +work. + +During the early part of our life in London, I was strong enough to go +into general society, and saw a good deal of several scientific men, and +other more or less distinguished men. I will give my impressions with +respect to some of them, though I have little to say worth saying. + +I saw more of Lyell than of any other man, both before and after +my marriage. His mind was characterised, as it appeared to me, by +clearness, caution, sound judgment, and a good deal of originality. When +I made any remark to him on Geology, he never rested until he saw the +whole case clearly, and often made me see it more clearly than I had +done before. He would advance all possible objections to my suggestion, +and even after these were exhausted would long remain dubious. A second +characteristic was his hearty sympathy with the work of other scientific +men. (The slight repetition here observable is accounted for by the +notes on Lyell, etc., having been added in April, 1881, a few years +after the rest of the 'Recollections' were written.) + +On my return from the voyage of the "Beagle", I explained to him +my views on coral-reefs, which differed from his, and I was greatly +surprised and encouraged by the vivid interest which he showed. His +delight in science was ardent, and he felt the keenest interest in the +future progress of mankind. He was very kind-hearted, and thoroughly +liberal in his religious beliefs, or rather disbeliefs; but he was a +strong theist. His candour was highly remarkable. He exhibited this by +becoming a convert to the Descent theory, though he had gained much +fame by opposing Lamarck's views, and this after he had grown old. He +reminded me that I had many years before said to him, when discussing +the opposition of the old school of geologists to his new views, "What +a good thing it would be if every scientific man was to die when sixty +years old, as afterwards he would be sure to oppose all new doctrines." +But he hoped that now he might be allowed to live. + +The science of Geology is enormously indebted to Lyell--more so, as I +believe, than to any other man who ever lived. When [I was] starting on +the voyage of the "Beagle", the sagacious Henslow, who, like all other +geologists, believed at that time in successive cataclysms, advised me +to get and study the first volume of the 'Principles,' which had then +just been published, but on no account to accept the views therein +advocated. How differently would any one now speak of the 'Principles'! +I am proud to remember that the first place, namely, St. Jago, in the +Cape de Verde archipelago, in which I geologised, convinced me of the +infinite superiority of Lyell's views over those advocated in any other +work known to me. + +The powerful effects of Lyell's works could formerly be plainly seen in +the different progress of the science in France and England. The present +total oblivion of Elie de Beaumont's wild hypotheses, such as his +'Craters of Elevation' and 'Lines of Elevation' (which latter hypothesis +I heard Sedgwick at the Geological Society lauding to the skies), may be +largely attributed to Lyell. + +I saw a good deal of Robert Brown, "facile Princeps Botanicorum," as he +was called by Humboldt. He seemed to me to be chiefly remarkable for +the minuteness of his observations, and their perfect accuracy. His +knowledge was extraordinarily great, and much died with him, owing to +his excessive fear of ever making a mistake. He poured out his knowledge +to me in the most unreserved manner, yet was strangely jealous on some +points. I called on him two or three times before the voyage of the +"Beagle", and on one occasion he asked me to look through a microscope +and describe what I saw. This I did, and believe now that it was the +marvellous currents of protoplasm in some vegetable cell. I then asked +him what I had seen; but he answered me, "That is my little secret." + +He was capable of the most generous actions. When old, much out of +health, and quite unfit for any exertion, he daily visited (as Hooker +told me) an old man-servant, who lived at a distance (and whom he +supported), and read aloud to him. This is enough to make up for any +degree of scientific penuriousness or jealousy. + +I may here mention a few other eminent men, whom I have occasionally +seen, but I have little to say about them worth saying. I felt a high +reverence for Sir J. Herschel, and was delighted to dine with him at his +charming house at the Cape of Good Hope, and afterwards at his London +house. I saw him, also, on a few other occasions. He never talked much, +but every word which he uttered was worth listening to. + +I once met at breakfast at Sir R. Murchison's house the illustrious +Humboldt, who honoured me by expressing a wish to see me. I was a little +disappointed with the great man, but my anticipations probably were too +high. I can remember nothing distinctly about our interview, except that +Humboldt was very cheerful and talked much. + +--reminds me of Buckle whom I once met at Hensleigh Wedgwood's. I was +very glad to learn from him his system of collecting facts. He told me +that he bought all the books which he read, and made a full index, to +each, of the facts which he thought might prove serviceable to him, and +that he could always remember in what book he had read anything, for his +memory was wonderful. I asked him how at first he could judge what facts +would be serviceable, and he answered that he did not know, but that a +sort of instinct guided him. From this habit of making indices, he was +enabled to give the astonishing number of references on all sorts of +subjects, which may be found in his 'History of Civilisation.' This book +I thought most interesting, and read it twice, but I doubt whether his +generalisations are worth anything. Buckle was a great talker, and I +listened to him saying hardly a word, nor indeed could I have done so +for he left no gaps. When Mrs. Farrer began to sing, I jumped up and +said that I must listen to her; after I had moved away he turned around +to a friend and said (as was overheard by my brother), "Well, Mr. +Darwin's books are much better than his conversation." + +Of other great literary men, I once met Sydney Smith at Dean Milman's +house. There was something inexplicably amusing in every word which he +uttered. Perhaps this was partly due to the expectation of being amused. +He was talking about Lady Cork, who was then extremely old. This was the +lady who, as he said, was once so much affected by one of his charity +sermons, that she BORROWED a guinea from a friend to put in the plate. +He now said "It is generally believed that my dear old friend Lady Cork +has been overlooked," and he said this in such a manner that no one +could for a moment doubt that he meant that his dear old friend had been +overlooked by the devil. How he managed to express this I know not. + +I likewise once met Macaulay at Lord Stanhope's (the historian's) house, +and as there was only one other man at dinner, I had a grand opportunity +of hearing him converse, and he was very agreeable. He did not talk at +all too much; nor indeed could such a man talk too much, as long as he +allowed others to turn the stream of his conversation, and this he did +allow. + +Lord Stanhope once gave me a curious little proof of the accuracy and +fulness of Macaulay's memory: many historians used often to meet at +Lord Stanhope's house, and in discussing various subjects they would +sometimes differ from Macaulay, and formerly they often referred to some +book to see who was right; but latterly, as Lord Stanhope noticed, no +historian ever took this trouble, and whatever Macaulay said was final. + +On another occasion I met at Lord Stanhope's house, one of his parties +of historians and other literary men, and amongst them were Motley and +Grote. After luncheon I walked about Chevening Park for nearly an hour +with Grote, and was much interested by his conversation and pleased by +the simplicity and absence of all pretension in his manners. + +Long ago I dined occasionally with the old Earl, the father of the +historian; he was a strange man, but what little I knew of him I +liked much. He was frank, genial, and pleasant. He had strongly marked +features, with a brown complexion, and his clothes, when I saw him, +were all brown. He seemed to believe in everything which was to others +utterly incredible. He said one day to me, "Why don't you give up your +fiddle-faddle of geology and zoology, and turn to the occult sciences!" +The historian, then Lord Mahon, seemed shocked at such a speech to me, +and his charming wife much amused. + +The last man whom I will mention is Carlyle, seen by me several times at +my brother's house, and two or three times at my own house. His talk was +very racy and interesting, just like his writings, but he sometimes +went on too long on the same subject. I remember a funny dinner at my +brother's, where, amongst a few others, were Babbage and Lyell, both of +whom liked to talk. Carlyle, however, silenced every one by haranguing +during the whole dinner on the advantages of silence. After dinner +Babbage, in his grimmest manner, thanked Carlyle for his very +interesting lecture on silence. + +Carlyle sneered at almost every one: one day in my house he called +Grote's 'History' "a fetid quagmire, with nothing spiritual about it." I +always thought, until his 'Reminiscences' appeared, that his sneers were +partly jokes, but this now seems rather doubtful. His expression was +that of a depressed, almost despondent yet benevolent man; and it is +notorious how heartily he laughed. I believe that his benevolence was +real, though stained by not a little jealousy. No one can doubt about +his extraordinary power of drawing pictures of things and men--far more +vivid, as it appears to me, than any drawn by Macaulay. Whether his +pictures of men were true ones is another question. + +He has been all-powerful in impressing some grand moral truths on the +minds of men. On the other hand, his views about slavery were revolting. +In his eyes might was right. His mind seemed to me a very narrow one; +even if all branches of science, which he despised, are excluded. It is +astonishing to me that Kingsley should have spoken of him as a man +well fitted to advance science. He laughed to scorn the idea that a +mathematician, such as Whewell, could judge, as I maintained he could, +of Goethe's views on light. He thought it a most ridiculous thing that +any one should care whether a glacier moved a little quicker or a little +slower, or moved at all. As far as I could judge, I never met a man with +a mind so ill adapted for scientific research. + +Whilst living in London, I attended as regularly as I could the +meetings of several scientific societies, and acted as secretary to the +Geological Society. But such attendance, and ordinary society, suited my +health so badly that we resolved to live in the country, which we both +preferred and have never repented of. + +RESIDENCE AT DOWN FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 1842, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1876. + +After several fruitless searches in Surrey and elsewhere, we found this +house and purchased it. I was pleased with the diversified appearance +of vegetation proper to a chalk district, and so unlike what I had been +accustomed to in the Midland counties; and still more pleased with the +extreme quietness and rusticity of the place. It is not, however, quite +so retired a place as a writer in a German periodical makes it, who +says that my house can be approached only by a mule-track! Our fixing +ourselves here has answered admirably in one way, which we did not +anticipate, namely, by being very convenient for frequent visits from +our children. + +Few persons can have lived a more retired life than we have done. +Besides short visits to the houses of relations, and occasionally to the +seaside or elsewhere, we have gone nowhere. During the first part of +our residence we went a little into society, and received a few friends +here; but my health almost always suffered from the excitement, violent +shivering and vomiting attacks being thus brought on. I have therefore +been compelled for many years to give up all dinner-parties; and this +has been somewhat of a deprivation to me, as such parties always put me +into high spirits. From the same cause I have been able to invite here +very few scientific acquaintances. + +My chief enjoyment and sole employment throughout life has been +scientific work; and the excitement from such work makes me for the +time forget, or drives quite away, my daily discomfort. I have therefore +nothing to record during the rest of my life, except the publication +of my several books. Perhaps a few details how they arose may be worth +giving. + +MY SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS. + +In the early part of 1844, my observations on the volcanic islands +visited during the voyage of the "Beagle" were published. In 1845, +I took much pains in correcting a new edition of my 'Journal of +Researches,' which was originally published in 1839 as part of +Fitz-Roy's work. The success of this, my first literary child, always +tickles my vanity more than that of any of my other books. Even to this +day it sells steadily in England and the United States, and has been +translated for the second time into German, and into French and other +languages. This success of a book of travels, especially of a scientific +one, so many years after its first publication, is surprising. Ten +thousand copies have been sold in England of the second edition. In 1846 +my 'Geological Observations on South America' were published. I record +in a little diary, which I have always kept, that my three geological +books ('Coral Reefs' included) consumed four and a half years' steady +work; "and now it is ten years since my return to England. How much time +have I lost by illness?" I have nothing to say about these three books +except that to my surprise new editions have lately been called for. +('Geological Observations,' 2nd Edit.1876. 'Coral Reefs,' 2nd Edit. +1874.) + +In October, 1846, I began to work on 'Cirripedia.' When on the coast of +Chile, I found a most curious form, which burrowed into the shells of +Concholepas, and which differed so much from all other Cirripedes that +I had to form a new sub-order for its sole reception. Lately an allied +burrowing genus has been found on the shores of Portugal. To understand +the structure of my new Cirripede I had to examine and dissect many +of the common forms; and this gradually led me on to take up the whole +group. I worked steadily on this subject for the next eight years, and +ultimately published two thick volumes (Published by the Ray Society.), +describing all the known living species, and two thin quartos on the +extinct species. I do not doubt that Sir E. Lytton Bulwer had me in his +mind when he introduced in one of his novels a Professor Long, who had +written two huge volumes on limpets. + +Although I was employed during eight years on this work, yet I record in +my diary that about two years out of this time was lost by illness. On +this account I went in 1848 for some months to Malvern for hydropathic +treatment, which did me much good, so that on my return home I was able +to resume work. So much was I out of health that when my dear father +died on November 13th, 1848, I was unable to attend his funeral or to +act as one of his executors. + +My work on the Cirripedia possesses, I think, considerable value, as +besides describing several new and remarkable forms, I made out the +homologies of the various parts--I discovered the cementing apparatus, +though I blundered dreadfully about the cement glands--and lastly I +proved the existence in certain genera of minute males complemental to +and parasitic on the hermaphrodites. This latter discovery has at last +been fully confirmed; though at one time a German writer was pleased to +attribute the whole account to my fertile imagination. The Cirripedes +form a highly varying and difficult group of species to class; and my +work was of considerable use to me, when I had to discuss in the 'Origin +of Species' the principles of a natural classification. Nevertheless, I +doubt whether the work was worth the consumption of so much time. + +From September 1854 I devoted my whole time to arranging my huge pile +of notes, to observing, and to experimenting in relation to the +transmutation of species. During the voyage of the "Beagle" I had been +deeply impressed by discovering in the Pampean formation great fossil +animals covered with armour like that on the existing armadillos; +secondly, by the manner in which closely allied animals replace one +another in proceeding southwards over the Continent; and thirdly, by +the South American character of most of the productions of the Galapagos +archipelago, and more especially by the manner in which they differ +slightly on each island of the group; none of the islands appearing to +be very ancient in a geological sense. + +It was evident that such facts as these, as well as many others, could +only be explained on the supposition that species gradually become +modified; and the subject haunted me. But it was equally evident that +neither the action of the surrounding conditions, nor the will of the +organisms (especially in the case of plants) could account for the +innumerable cases in which organisms of every kind are beautifully +adapted to their habits of life--for instance, a woodpecker or a +tree-frog to climb trees, or a seed for dispersal by hooks or plumes. I +had always been much struck by such adaptations, and until these could +be explained it seemed to me almost useless to endeavour to prove by +indirect evidence that species have been modified. + +After my return to England it appeared to me that by following the +example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting all facts which bore in +any way on the variation of animals and plants under domestication and +nature, some light might perhaps be thrown on the whole subject. My +first note-book was opened in July 1837. I worked on true Baconian +principles, and without any theory collected facts on a wholesale scale, +more especially with respect to domesticated productions, by printed +enquiries, by conversation with skilful breeders and gardeners, and by +extensive reading. When I see the list of books of all kinds which +I read and abstracted, including whole series of Journals and +Transactions, I am surprised at my industry. I soon perceived that +selection was the keystone of man's success in making useful races of +animals and plants. But how selection could be applied to organisms +living in a state of nature remained for some time a mystery to me. + +In October 1838, that is, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic +enquiry, I happened to read for amusement 'Malthus on Population,' +and being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which +everywhere goes on from long-continued observation of the habits of +animals and plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances +favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable +ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of new +species. Here then I had at last got a theory by which to work; but I +was so anxious to avoid prejudice, that I determined not for some time +to write even the briefest sketch of it. In June 1842 I first allowed +myself the satisfaction of writing a very brief abstract of my theory in +pencil in 35 pages; and this was enlarged during the summer of 1844 into +one of 230 pages, which I had fairly copied out and still possess. + +But at that time I overlooked one problem of great importance; and it is +astonishing to me, except on the principle of Columbus and his egg, +how I could have overlooked it and its solution. This problem is the +tendency in organic beings descended from the same stock to diverge in +character as they become modified. That they have diverged greatly is +obvious from the manner in which species of all kinds can be classed +under genera, genera under families, families under sub-orders and +so forth; and I can remember the very spot in the road, whilst in my +carriage, when to my joy the solution occurred to me; and this was +long after I had come to Down. The solution, as I believe, is that the +modified offspring of all dominant and increasing forms tend to become +adapted to many and highly diversified places in the economy of nature. + +Early in 1856 Lyell advised me to write out my views pretty fully, and +I began at once to do so on a scale three or four times as extensive as +that which was afterwards followed in my 'Origin of Species;' yet it +was only an abstract of the materials which I had collected, and I got +through about half the work on this scale. But my plans were overthrown, +for early in the summer of 1858 Mr. Wallace, who was then in the Malay +archipelago, sent me an essay "On the Tendency of Varieties to depart +indefinitely from the Original Type;" and this essay contained exactly +the same theory as mine. Mr. Wallace expressed the wish that if I +thought well of his essay, I should sent it to Lyell for perusal. + +The circumstances under which I consented at the request of Lyell and +Hooker to allow of an abstract from my MS., together with a letter to +Asa Gray, dated September 5, 1857, to be published at the same time with +Wallace's Essay, are given in the 'Journal of the Proceedings of the +Linnean Society,' 1858, page 45. I was at first very unwilling +to consent, as I thought Mr. Wallace might consider my doing so +unjustifiable, for I did not then know how generous and noble was his +disposition. The extract from my MS. and the letter to Asa Gray had +neither been intended for publication, and were badly written. Mr. +Wallace's essay, on the other hand, was admirably expressed and +quite clear. Nevertheless, our joint productions excited very little +attention, and the only published notice of them which I can remember +was by Professor Haughton of Dublin, whose verdict was that all that +was new in them was false, and what was true was old. This shows how +necessary it is that any new view should be explained at considerable +length in order to arouse public attention. + +In September 1858 I set to work by the strong advice of Lyell and Hooker +to prepare a volume on the transmutation of species, but was often +interrupted by ill-health, and short visits to Dr. Lane's delightful +hydropathic establishment at Moor Park. I abstracted the MS. begun on a +much larger scale in 1856, and completed the volume on the same reduced +scale. It cost me thirteen months and ten days' hard labour. It was +published under the title of the 'Origin of Species,' in November 1859. +Though considerably added to and corrected in the later editions, it has +remained substantially the same book. + +It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It was from the first highly +successful. The first small edition of 1250 copies was sold on the day +of publication, and a second edition of 3000 copies soon afterwards. +Sixteen thousand copies have now (1876) been sold in England; and +considering how stiff a book it is, this is a large sale. It has been +translated into almost every European tongue, even into such languages +as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, and Russian. It has also, according to +Miss Bird, been translated into Japanese (Miss Bird is mistaken, as I +learn from Prof. Mitsukuri.--F.D.), and is there much studied. Even an +essay in Hebrew has appeared on it, showing that the theory is contained +in the Old Testament! The reviews were very numerous; for some time I +collected all that appeared on the 'Origin' and on my related books, and +these amount (excluding newspaper reviews) to 265; but after a time I +gave up the attempt in despair. Many separate essays and books on the +subject have appeared; and in Germany a catalogue or bibliography on +"Darwinismus" has appeared every year or two. + +The success of the 'Origin' may, I think, be attributed in large part to +my having long before written two condensed sketches, and to my having +finally abstracted a much larger manuscript, which was itself an +abstract. By this means I was enabled to select the more striking facts +and conclusions. I had, also, during many years followed a golden rule, +namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought +came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a +memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience +that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory +than favourable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were +raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted +to answer. + +It has sometimes been said that the success of the 'Origin' proved "that +the subject was in the air," or "that men's minds were prepared for it." +I do not think that this is strictly true, for I occasionally sounded +not a few naturalists, and never happened to come across a single one +who seemed to doubt about the permanence of species. Even Lyell and +Hooker, though they would listen with interest to me, never seemed to +agree. I tried once or twice to explain to able men what I meant by +Natural Selection, but signally failed. What I believe was strictly +true is that innumerable well-observed facts were stored in the minds +of naturalists ready to take their proper places as soon as any theory +which would receive them was sufficiently explained. Another element +in the success of the book was its moderate size; and this I owe to the +appearance of Mr. Wallace's essay; had I published on the scale in which +I began to write in 1856, the book would have been four or five times as +large as the 'Origin,' and very few would have had the patience to read +it. + +I gained much by my delay in publishing from about 1839, when the theory +was clearly conceived, to 1859; and I lost nothing by it, for I cared +very little whether men attributed most originality to me or Wallace; +and his essay no doubt aided in the reception of the theory. I was +forestalled in only one important point, which my vanity has always made +me regret, namely, the explanation by means of the Glacial period of +the presence of the same species of plants and of some few animals on +distant mountain summits and in the arctic regions. This view pleased me +so much that I wrote it out in extenso, and I believe that it was read +by Hooker some years before E. Forbes published his celebrated memoir +('Geolog. Survey Mem.,' 1846.) on the subject. In the very few points in +which we differed, I still think that I was in the right. I have never, +of course, alluded in print to my having independently worked out this +view. + +Hardly any point gave me so much satisfaction when I was at work on +the 'Origin,' as the explanation of the wide difference in many classes +between the embryo and the adult animal, and of the close resemblance of +the embryos within the same class. No notice of this point was taken, as +far as I remember, in the early reviews of the 'Origin,' and I recollect +expressing my surprise on this head in a letter to Asa Gray. Within late +years several reviewers have given the whole credit to Fritz Muller and +Hackel, who undoubtedly have worked it out much more fully, and in some +respects more correctly than I did. I had materials for a whole chapter +on the subject, and I ought to have made the discussion longer; for it +is clear that I failed to impress my readers; and he who succeeds in +doing so deserves, in my opinion, all the credit. + +This leads me to remark that I have almost always been treated honestly +by my reviewers, passing over those without scientific knowledge as +not worthy of notice. My views have often been grossly misrepresented, +bitterly opposed and ridiculed, but this has been generally done, as I +believe, in good faith. On the whole I do not doubt that my works have +been over and over again greatly overpraised. I rejoice that I have +avoided controversies, and this I owe to Lyell, who many years ago, +in reference to my geological works, strongly advised me never to get +entangled in a controversy, as it rarely did any good and caused a +miserable loss of time and temper. + +Whenever I have found out that I have blundered, or that my work has +been imperfect, and when I have been contemptuously criticised, and even +when I have been overpraised, so that I have felt mortified, it has +been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself that "I +have worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more +than this." I remember when in Good Success Bay, in Tierra del Fuego, +thinking (and, I believe, that I wrote home to the effect) that I could +not employ my life better than in adding a little to Natural Science. +This I have done to the best of my abilities, and critics may say what +they like, but they cannot destroy this conviction. + +During the two last months of 1859 I was fully occupied in preparing a +second edition of the 'Origin,' and by an enormous correspondence. +On January 1st, 1860, I began arranging my notes for my work on the +'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication;' but it was not +published until the beginning of 1868; the delay having been caused +partly by frequent illnesses, one of which lasted seven months, and +partly by being tempted to publish on other subjects which at the time +interested me more. + +On May 15th, 1862, my little book on the 'Fertilisation of Orchids,' +which cost me ten months' work, was published: most of the facts had +been slowly accumulated during several previous years. During the summer +of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I was led to attend +to the cross-fertilisation of flowers by the aid of insects, from having +come to the conclusion in my speculations on the origin of species, that +crossing played an important part in keeping specific forms constant. I +attended to the subject more or less during every subsequent summer; and +my interest in it was greatly enhanced by having procured and read +in November 1841, through the advice of Robert Brown, a copy of C.K. +Sprengel's wonderful book, 'Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur.' For +some years before 1862 I had specially attended to the fertilisation +of our British orchids; and it seemed to me the best plan to prepare as +complete a treatise on this group of plants as well as I could, rather +than to utilise the great mass of matter which I had slowly collected +with respect to other plants. + +My resolve proved a wise one; for since the appearance of my book, a +surprising number of papers and separate works on the fertilisation of +all kinds of flowers have appeared: and these are far better done than +I could possibly have effected. The merits of poor old Sprengel, so long +overlooked, are now fully recognised many years after his death. + +During the same year I published in the 'Journal of the Linnean Society' +a paper "On the Two Forms, or Dimorphic Condition of Primula," +and during the next five years, five other papers on dimorphic and +trimorphic plants. I do not think anything in my scientific life has +given me so much satisfaction as making out the meaning of the structure +of these plants. I had noticed in 1838 or 1839 the dimorphism of Linum +flavum, and had at first thought that it was merely a case of unmeaning +variability. But on examining the common species of Primula I found that +the two forms were much too regular and constant to be thus viewed. I +therefore became almost convinced that the common cowslip and primrose +were on the high road to become dioecious;--that the short pistil in the +one form, and the short stamens in the other form were tending towards +abortion. The plants were therefore subjected under this point of view +to trial; but as soon as the flowers with short pistils fertilised with +pollen from the short stamens, were found to yield more seeds than any +other of the four possible unions, the abortion-theory was knocked on +the head. After some additional experiment, it became evident that the +two forms, though both were perfect hermaphrodites, bore almost the same +relation to one another as do the two sexes of an ordinary animal. With +Lythrum we have the still more wonderful case of three forms standing in +a similar relation to one another. I afterwards found that the offspring +from the union of two plants belonging to the same forms presented a +close and curious analogy with hybrids from the union of two distinct +species. + +In the autumn of 1864 I finished a long paper on 'Climbing Plants,' and +sent it to the Linnean Society. The writing of this paper cost me four +months; but I was so unwell when I received the proof-sheets that I was +forced to leave them very badly and often obscurely expressed. The paper +was little noticed, but when in 1875 it was corrected and published as a +separate book it sold well. I was led to take up this subject by reading +a short paper by Asa Gray, published in 1858. He sent me seeds, and +on raising some plants I was so much fascinated and perplexed by the +revolving movements of the tendrils and stems, which movements are +really very simple, though appearing at first sight very complex, that +I procured various other kinds of climbing plants, and studied the +whole subject. I was all the more attracted to it, from not being at all +satisfied with the explanation which Henslow gave us in his lectures, +about twining plants, namely, that they had a natural tendency to grow +up in a spire. This explanation proved quite erroneous. Some of the +adaptations displayed by Climbing Plants are as beautiful as those of +Orchids for ensuring cross-fertilisation. + +My 'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication' was begun, as +already stated, in the beginning of 1860, but was not published until +the beginning of 1868. It was a big book, and cost me four years and two +months' hard labour. It gives all my observations and an immense number +of facts collected from various sources, about our domestic productions. +In the second volume the causes and laws of variation, inheritance, +etc., are discussed as far as our present state of knowledge permits. +Towards the end of the work I give my well-abused hypothesis of +Pangenesis. An unverified hypothesis is of little or no value; but if +any one should hereafter be led to make observations by which some such +hypothesis could be established, I shall have done good service, as an +astonishing number of isolated facts can be thus connected together and +rendered intelligible. In 1875 a second and largely corrected edition, +which cost me a good deal of labour, was brought out. + +My 'Descent of Man' was published in February, 1871. As soon as I had +become, in the year 1837 or 1838, convinced that species were mutable +productions, I could not avoid the belief that man must come under +the same law. Accordingly I collected notes on the subject for my own +satisfaction, and not for a long time with any intention of publishing. +Although in the 'Origin of Species' the derivation of any particular +species is never discussed, yet I thought it best, in order that no +honourable man should accuse me of concealing my views, to add that by +the work "light would be thrown on the origin of man and his history." +It would have been useless and injurious to the success of the book to +have paraded, without giving any evidence, my conviction with respect to +his origin. + +But when I found that many naturalists fully accepted the doctrine of +the evolution of species, it seemed to me advisable to work up such +notes as I possessed, and to publish a special treatise on the origin of +man. I was the more glad to do so, as it gave me an opportunity of +fully discussing sexual selection--a subject which had always greatly +interested me. This subject, and that of the variation of our +domestic productions, together with the causes and laws of variation, +inheritance, and the intercrossing of plants, are the sole subjects +which I have been able to write about in full, so as to use all the +materials which I have collected. The 'Descent of Man' took me three +years to write, but then as usual some of this time was lost by ill +health, and some was consumed by preparing new editions and other minor +works. A second and largely corrected edition of the 'Descent' appeared +in 1874. + +My book on the 'Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals' was +published in the autumn of 1872. I had intended to give only a chapter +on the subject in the 'Descent of Man,' but as soon as I began to put my +notes together, I saw that it would require a separate treatise. + +My first child was born on December 27th, 1839, and I at once commenced +to make notes on the first dawn of the various expressions which he +exhibited, for I felt convinced, even at this early period, that the +most complex and fine shades of expression must all have had a gradual +and natural origin. During the summer of the following year, 1840, +I read Sir C. Bell's admirable work on expression, and this greatly +increased the interest which I felt in the subject, though I could not +at all agree with his belief that various muscles had been specially +created for the sake of expression. From this time forward I +occasionally attended to the subject, both with respect to man and our +domesticated animals. My book sold largely; 5267 copies having been +disposed of on the day of publication. + +In the summer of 1860 I was idling and resting near Hartfield, where two +species of Drosera abound; and I noticed that numerous insects had been +entrapped by the leaves. I carried home some plants, and on giving them +insects saw the movements of the tentacles, and this made me think +it probable that the insects were caught for some special purpose. +Fortunately a crucial test occurred to me, that of placing a large +number of leaves in various nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous fluids of +equal density; and as soon as I found that the former alone excited +energetic movements, it was obvious that here was a fine new field for +investigation. + +During subsequent years, whenever I had leisure, I pursued my +experiments, and my book on 'Insectivorous Plants' was published in July +1875--that is, sixteen years after my first observations. The delay in +this case, as with all my other books, has been a great advantage to me; +for a man after a long interval can criticise his own work, almost as +well as if it were that of another person. The fact that a plant should +secrete, when properly excited, a fluid containing an acid and ferment, +closely analogous to the digestive fluid of an animal, was certainly a +remarkable discovery. + +During this autumn of 1876 I shall publish on the 'Effects of Cross +and Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom.' This book will form a +complement to that on the 'Fertilisation of Orchids,' in which I showed +how perfect were the means for cross-fertilisation, and here I shall +show how important are the results. I was led to make, during eleven +years, the numerous experiments recorded in this volume, by a mere +accidental observation; and indeed it required the accident to be +repeated before my attention was thoroughly aroused to the remarkable +fact that seedlings of self-fertilised parentage are inferior, even +in the first generation, in height and vigour to seedlings of +cross-fertilised parentage. I hope also to republish a revised edition +of my book on Orchids, and hereafter my papers on dimorphic and +trimorphic plants, together with some additional observations on allied +points which I never have had time to arrange. My strength will then +probably be exhausted, and I shall be ready to exclaim "Nunc dimittis." + +WRITTEN MAY 1ST, 1881. + +'The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilisation' was published in the +autumn of 1876; and the results there arrived at explain, as I believe, +the endless and wonderful contrivances for the transportal of pollen +from one plant to another of the same species. I now believe, however, +chiefly from the observations of Hermann Muller, that I ought to +have insisted more strongly than I did on the many adaptations for +self-fertilisation; though I was well aware of many such adaptations. A +much enlarged edition of my 'Fertilisation of Orchids' was published in +1877. + +In this same year 'The Different Forms of Flowers, etc.,' appeared, +and in 1880 a second edition. This book consists chiefly of the several +papers on Heterostyled flowers originally published by the Linnean +Society, corrected, with much new matter added, together with +observations on some other cases in which the same plant bears two kinds +of flowers. As before remarked, no little discovery of mine ever gave me +so much pleasure as the making out the meaning of heterostyled flowers. +The results of crossing such flowers in an illegitimate manner, I +believe to be very important, as bearing on the sterility of hybrids; +although these results have been noticed by only a few persons. + +In 1879, I had a translation of Dr. Ernst Krause's 'Life of Erasmus +Darwin' published, and I added a sketch of his character and habits from +material in my possession. Many persons have been much interested by +this little life, and I am surprised that only 800 or 900 copies were +sold. + +In 1880 I published, with [my son] Frank's assistance, our 'Power of +Movement in Plants.' This was a tough piece of work. The book bears +somewhat the same relation to my little book on 'Climbing Plants,' which +'Cross-Fertilisation' did to the 'Fertilisation of Orchids;' for in +accordance with the principle of evolution it was impossible to account +for climbing plants having been developed in so many widely different +groups unless all kinds of plants possess some slight power of movement +of an analogous kind. This I proved to be the case; and I was further +led to a rather wide generalisation, viz. that the great and important +classes of movements, excited by light, the attraction of gravity, etc., +are all modified forms of the fundamental movement of circumnutation. It +has always pleased me to exalt plants in the scale of organised beings; +and I therefore felt an especial pleasure in showing how many and what +admirably well adapted movements the tip of a root possesses. + +I have now (May 1, 1881) sent to the printers the MS. of a little book +on 'The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms.' This +is a subject of but small importance; and I know not whether it will +interest any readers (Between November 1881 and February 1884, 8500 +copies have been sold.), but it has interested me. It is the completion +of a short paper read before the Geological Society more than forty +years ago, and has revived old geological thoughts. + +I have now mentioned all the books which I have published, and these +have been the milestones in my life, so that little remains to be said. +I am not conscious of any change in my mind during the last thirty +years, excepting in one point presently to be mentioned; nor, indeed, +could any change have been expected unless one of general deterioration. +But my father lived to his eighty-third year with his mind as lively as +ever it was, and all his faculties undimmed; and I hope that I may die +before my mind fails to a sensible extent. I think that I have become +a little more skilful in guessing right explanations and in devising +experimental tests; but this may probably be the result of mere +practice, and of a larger store of knowledge. I have as much difficulty +as ever in expressing myself clearly and concisely; and this difficulty +has caused me a very great loss of time; but it has had the compensating +advantage of forcing me to think long and intently about every sentence, +and thus I have been led to see errors in reasoning and in my own +observations or those of others. + +There seems to be a sort of fatality in my mind leading me to put at +first my statement or proposition in a wrong or awkward form. Formerly +I used to think about my sentences before writing them down; but for +several years I have found that it saves time to scribble in a vile hand +whole pages as quickly as I possibly can, contracting half the words; +and then correct deliberately. Sentences thus scribbled down are often +better ones than I could have written deliberately. + +Having said thus much about my manner of writing, I will add that with +my large books I spend a good deal of time over the general arrangement +of the matter. I first make the rudest outline in two or three pages, +and then a larger one in several pages, a few words or one word standing +for a whole discussion or series of facts. Each one of these headings is +again enlarged and often transferred before I begin to write in extenso. +As in several of my books facts observed by others have been very +extensively used, and as I have always had several quite distinct +subjects in hand at the same time, I may mention that I keep from thirty +to forty large portfolios, in cabinets with labelled shelves, into which +I can at once put a detached reference or memorandum. I have bought many +books, and at their ends I make an index of all the facts that concern +my work; or, if the book is not my own, write out a separate abstract, +and of such abstracts I have a large drawer full. Before beginning +on any subject I look to all the short indexes and make a general and +classified index, and by taking the one or more proper portfolios I have +all the information collected during my life ready for use. + +I have said that in one respect my mind has changed during the last +twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry +of many kinds, such as the works of Milton, Gray, Byron, Wordsworth, +Coleridge, and Shelley, gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy +I took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical +plays. I have also said that formerly pictures gave me considerable, and +music very great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read +a line of poetry: I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found +it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost +my taste for pictures or music. Music generally sets me thinking too +energetically on what I have been at work on, instead of giving me +pleasure. I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me +the exquisite delight which it formerly did. On the other hand, novels +which are works of the imagination, though not of a very high order, +have been for years a wonderful relief and pleasure to me, and I often +bless all novelists. A surprising number have been read aloud to me, and +I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily--against +which a law ought to be passed. A novel, according to my taste, does not +come into the first class unless it contains some person whom one can +thoroughly love, and if a pretty woman all the better. + +This curious and lamentable loss of the higher aesthetic tastes is all +the odder, as books on history, biographies, and travels (independently +of any scientific facts which they may contain), and essays on all sorts +of subjects interest me as much as ever they did. My mind seems to +have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large +collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of +that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I +cannot conceive. A man with a mind more highly organised or better +constituted than mine, would not, I suppose, have thus suffered; and +if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some +poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps +the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active +through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may +possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral +character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature. + +My books have sold largely in England, have been translated into many +languages, and passed through several editions in foreign countries. I +have heard it said that the success of a work abroad is the best test +of its enduring value. I doubt whether this is at all trustworthy; but +judged by this standard my name ought to last for a few years. Therefore +it may be worth while to try to analyse the mental qualities and the +conditions on which my success has depended; though I am aware that no +man can do this correctly. + +I have no great quickness of apprehension or wit which is so remarkable +in some clever men, for instance, Huxley. I am therefore a poor critic: +a paper or book, when first read, generally excites my admiration, +and it is only after considerable reflection that I perceive the weak +points. My power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought +is very limited; and therefore I could never have succeeded with +metaphysics or mathematics. My memory is extensive, yet hazy: it +suffices to make me cautious by vaguely telling me that I have observed +or read something opposed to the conclusion which I am drawing, or +on the other hand in favour of it; and after a time I can generally +recollect where to search for my authority. So poor in one sense is my +memory, that I have never been able to remember for more than a few days +a single date or a line of poetry. + +Some of my critics have said, "Oh, he is a good observer, but he has +no power of reasoning!" I do not think that this can be true, for the +'Origin of Species' is one long argument from the beginning to the end, +and it has convinced not a few able men. No one could have written +it without having some power of reasoning. I have a fair share of +invention, and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly +successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher +degree. + +On the favourable side of the balance, I think that I am superior to the +common run of men in noticing things which easily escape attention, and +in observing them carefully. My industry has been nearly as great as it +could have been in the observation and collection of facts. What is far +more important, my love of natural science has been steady and ardent. + +This pure love has, however, been much aided by the ambition to be +esteemed by my fellow naturalists. From my early youth I have had the +strongest desire to understand or explain whatever I observed,--that is, +to group all facts under some general laws. These causes combined have +given me the patience to reflect or ponder for any number of years over +any unexplained problem. As far as I can judge, I am not apt to follow +blindly the lead of other men. I have steadily endeavoured to keep my +mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I +cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown +to be opposed to it. Indeed, I have had no choice but to act in this +manner, for with the exception of the Coral Reefs, I cannot remember a +single first-formed hypothesis which had not after a time to be given +up or greatly modified. This has naturally led me to distrust greatly +deductive reasoning in the mixed sciences. On the other hand, I am not +very sceptical,--a frame of mind which I believe to be injurious to the +progress of science. A good deal of scepticism in a scientific man is +advisable to avoid much loss of time, but I have met with not a few +men, who, I feel sure, have often thus been deterred from experiment +or observations, which would have proved directly or indirectly +serviceable. + +In illustration, I will give the oddest case which I have known. A +gentleman (who, as I afterwards heard, is a good local botanist) wrote +to me from the Eastern counties that the seed or beans of the common +field-bean had this year everywhere grown on the wrong side of the pod. +I wrote back, asking for further information, as I did not understand +what was meant; but I did not receive any answer for a very long time. +I then saw in two newspapers, one published in Kent and the other in +Yorkshire, paragraphs stating that it was a most remarkable fact that +"the beans this year had all grown on the wrong side." So I thought +there must be some foundation for so general a statement. Accordingly, +I went to my gardener, an old Kentish man, and asked him whether he had +heard anything about it, and he answered, "Oh, no, sir, it must be a +mistake, for the beans grow on the wrong side only on leap-year, and +this is not leap-year." I then asked him how they grew in common years +and how on leap-years, but soon found that he knew absolutely nothing of +how they grew at any time, but he stuck to his belief. + +After a time I heard from my first informant, who, with many apologies, +said that he should not have written to me had he not heard the +statement from several intelligent farmers; but that he had since spoken +again to every one of them, and not one knew in the least what he had +himself meant. So that here a belief--if indeed a statement with no +definite idea attached to it can be called a belief--had spread over +almost the whole of England without any vestige of evidence. + +I have known in the course of my life only three intentionally falsified +statements, and one of these may have been a hoax (and there have +been several scientific hoaxes) which, however, took in an American +Agricultural Journal. It related to the formation in Holland of a new +breed of oxen by the crossing of distinct species of Bos (some of which +I happen to know are sterile together), and the author had the impudence +to state that he had corresponded with me, and that I had been deeply +impressed with the importance of his result. The article was sent to me +by the editor of an English Agricultural Journal, asking for my opinion +before republishing it. + +A second case was an account of several varieties, raised by the author +from several species of Primula, which had spontaneously yielded a +full complement of seed, although the parent plants had been carefully +protected from the access of insects. This account was published before +I had discovered the meaning of heterostylism, and the whole statement +must have been fraudulent, or there was neglect in excluding insects so +gross as to be scarcely credible. + +The third case was more curious: Mr. Huth published in his book on +'Consanguineous Marriage' some long extracts from a Belgian author, who +stated that he had interbred rabbits in the closest manner for very +many generations, without the least injurious effects. The account was +published in a most respectable Journal, that of the Royal Society of +Belgium; but I could not avoid feeling doubts--I hardly know why, except +that there were no accidents of any kind, and my experience in breeding +animals made me think this very improbable. + +So with much hesitation I wrote to Professor Van Beneden, asking him +whether the author was a trustworthy man. I soon heard in answer that +the Society had been greatly shocked by discovering that the whole +account was a fraud. (The falseness of the published statements on which +Mr. Huth relied has been pointed out by himself in a slip inserted in +all the copies of his book which then remained unsold.) The writer had +been publicly challenged in the Journal to say where he had resided and +kept his large stock of rabbits while carrying on his experiments, which +must have consumed several years, and no answer could be extracted from +him. + +My habits are methodical, and this has been of not a little use for +my particular line of work. Lastly, I have had ample leisure from not +having to earn my own bread. Even ill-health, though it has annihilated +several years of my life, has saved me from the distractions of society +and amusement. + +Therefore my success as a man of science, whatever this may have +amounted to, has been determined, as far as I can judge, by complex +and diversified mental qualities and conditions. Of these, the most +important have been--the love of science--unbounded patience in long +reflecting over any subject--industry in observing and collecting +facts--and a fair share of invention as well as of common sense. With +such moderate abilities as I possess, it is truly surprising that I +should have influenced to a considerable extent the belief of scientific +men on some important points. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.III. -- REMINISCENCES OF MY FATHER'S EVERYDAY LIFE. + +It is my wish in the present chapter to give some idea of my father's +everyday life. It has seemed to me that I might carry out this object +in the form of a rough sketch of a day's life at Down, interspersed +with such recollections as are called up by the record. Many of these +recollections, which have a meaning for those who knew my father, will +seem colourless or trifling to strangers. Nevertheless, I give them +in the hope that they may help to preserve that impression of his +personality which remains on the minds of those who knew and loved +him--an impression at once so vivid and so untranslatable into words. + +Of his personal appearance (in these days of multiplied photographs) it +is hardly necessary to say much. He was about six feet in height, but +scarcely looked so tall, as he stooped a good deal; in later days he +yielded to the stoop; but I can remember seeing him long ago swinging +his arms back to open out his chest, and holding himself upright with a +jerk. He gave one the idea that he had been active rather than strong; +his shoulders were not broad for his height, though certainly not +narrow. As a young man he must have had much endurance, for on one of +the shore excursions from the "Beagle", when all were suffering from +want of water, he was one of the two who were better able than the rest +to struggle on in search of it. As a boy he was active, and could jump a +bar placed at the height of the "Adam's apple" in his neck. + +He walked with a swinging action, using a stick heavily shod with iron, +which he struck loudly against the ground, producing as he went round +the "Sand-walk" at Down, a rhythmical click which is with all of us a +very distinct remembrance. As he returned from the midday walk, often +carrying the waterproof or cloak which had proved too hot, one could see +that the swinging step was kept up by something of an effort. Indoors +his step was often slow and laboured, and as he went upstairs in the +afternoon he might be heard mounting the stairs with a heavy footfall, +as if each step were an effort. When interested in his work he moved +about quickly and easily enough, and often in the middle of dictating +he went eagerly into the hall to get a pinch of snuff, leaving the study +door open, and calling out the last words of his sentence as he went. +Indoors he sometimes used an oak stick like a little alpenstock, and +this was a sign that he felt giddiness. + +In spite of his strength and activity, I think he must always have had a +clumsiness of movement. He was naturally awkward with his hands, and +was unable to draw at all well. (The figure representing the aggregated +cell-contents in 'Insectivorous Plants' was drawn by him.) This he +always regretted much, and he frequently urged the paramount necessity +of a young naturalist making himself a good draughtsman. + +He could dissect well under the simple microscope, but I think it was by +dint of his great patience and carefulness. It was characteristic of him +that he thought many little bits of skilful dissection something almost +superhuman. He used to speak with admiration of the skill with which he +saw Newport dissect a humble bee, getting out the nervous system with +a few cuts of a fine pair of scissors, held, as my father used to show, +with the elbow raised, and in an attitude which certainly would render +great steadiness necessary. He used to consider cutting sections a great +feat, and in the last year of his life, with wonderful energy, took the +pains to learn to cut sections of roots and leaves. His hand was not +steady enough to hold the object to be cut, and he employed a common +microtome, in which the pith for holding the object was clamped, and the +razor slid on a glass surface in making the sections. He used to laugh +at himself, and at his own skill in section-cutting, at which he would +say he was "speechless with admiration." On the other hand, he must have +had accuracy of eye and power of co-ordinating his movements, since he +was a good shot with a gun as a young man, and as a boy was skilful +in throwing. He once killed a hare sitting in the flower-garden at +Shrewsbury by throwing a marble at it, and, as a man, he once killed a +cross-beak with a stone. He was so unhappy at having uselessly killed +the cross-beak that he did not mention it for years, and then explained +that he should never have thrown at it if he had not felt sure that his +old skill had gone from him. + +When walking he had a fidgetting movement with his fingers, which he has +described in one of his books as the habit of an old man. When he sat +still he often took hold of one wrist with the other hand; he sat with +his legs crossed, and from being so thin they could be crossed very far, +as may be seen in one of the photographs. He had his chair in the study +and in the drawing-room raised so as to be much higher than ordinary +chairs; this was done because sitting on a low or even an ordinary chair +caused him some discomfort. We used to laugh at him for making his tall +drawing-room chair still higher by putting footstools on it, and then +neutralising the result by resting his feet on another chair. + +His beard was full and almost untrimmed, the hair being grey and +white, fine rather than coarse, and wavy or frizzled. His moustache was +somewhat disfigured by being cut short and square across. He became very +bald, having only a fringe of dark hair behind. + +His face was ruddy in colour, and this perhaps made people think him +less of an invalid than he was. He wrote to Dr. Hooker (June 13, 1849), +"Every one tells me that I look quite blooming and beautiful; and most +think I am shamming, but you have never been one of those." And it must +be remembered that at this time he was miserably ill, far worse than +in later years. His eyes were bluish grey under deep overhanging +brows, with thick bushy projecting eyebrows. His high forehead was +much wrinkled, but otherwise his face was not much marked or lined. His +expression showed no signs of the continual discomfort he suffered. + +When he was excited with pleasant talk his whole manner was wonderfully +bright and animated, and his face shared to the full in the general +animation. His laugh was a free and sounding peal, like that of a man +who gives himself sympathetically and with enjoyment to the person and +the thing which have amused him. He often used some sort of gesture +with his laugh, lifting up his hands or bringing one down with a slap. +I think, generally speaking, he was given to gesture, and often used his +hands in explaining anything (e.g. the fertilisation of a flower) in a +way that seemed rather an aid to himself than to the listener. He did +this on occasions when most people would illustrate their explanations +by means of a rough pencil sketch. + +He wore dark clothes, of a loose and easy fit. Of late years he gave up +the tall hat even in London, and wore a soft black one in winter, and +a big straw hat in summer. His usual out-of-doors dress was the short +cloak in which Elliot and Fry's photograph represents him leaning +against the pillar of the verandah. Two peculiarities of his indoor +dress were that he almost always wore a shawl over his shoulders, and +that he had great loose cloth boots lined with fur which he could slip +on over his indoor shoes. Like most delicate people he suffered from +heat as well as from chilliness; it was as if he could not hit the +balance between too hot and too cold; often a mental cause would make +him too hot, so that he would take off his coat if anything went wrong +in the course of his work. + +He rose early, chiefly because he could not lie in bed, and I think he +would have liked to get up earlier than he did. He took a short turn +before breakfast, a habit which began when he went for the first time to +a water-cure establishment. This habit he kept up till almost the end +of his life. I used, as a little boy, to like going out with him, and I +have a vague sense of the red of the winter sunrise, and a recollection +of the pleasant companionship, and a certain honour and glory in it. He +used to delight me as a boy by telling me how, in still earlier walks, +on dark winter mornings, he had once or twice met foxes trotting home at +the dawning. + +After breakfasting alone about 7.45, he went to work at once, +considering the 1 1/2 hour between 8 and 9.30 one of his best working +times. At 9.30 he came into the drawing-room for his letters--rejoicing +if the post was a light one and being sometimes much worried if it was +not. He would then hear any family letters read aloud as he lay on the +sofa. + +The reading aloud, which also included part of a novel, lasted till +about half-past ten, when he went back to work till twelve or a quarter +past. By this time he considered his day's work over, and would often +say, in a satisfied voice, "I'VE done a good day's work." He then went +out of doors whether it was wet or fine; Polly, his white terrier, +went with him in fair weather, but in rain she refused or might be seen +hesitating in the verandah, with a mixed expression of disgust and shame +at her own want of courage; generally, however, her conscience carried +the day, and as soon as he was evidently gone she could not bear to stay +behind. + +My father was always fond of dogs, and as a young man had the power of +stealing away the affections of his sister's pets; at Cambridge, he won +the love of his cousin W.D. Fox's dog, and this may perhaps have been +the little beast which used to creep down inside his bed and sleep at +the foot every night. My father had a surly dog, who was devoted to +him, but unfriendly to every one else, and when he came back from the +"Beagle" voyage, the dog remembered him, but in a curious way, which my +father was fond of telling. He went into the yard and shouted in his old +manner; the dog rushed out and set off with him on his walk, showing no +more emotion or excitement than if the same thing had happened the day +before, instead of five years ago. This story is made use of in the +'Descent of Man,' 2nd Edition, page 74. + +In my memory there were only two dogs which had much connection with my +father. One was a large black and white half-bred retriever, called Bob, +to which we, as children, were much devoted. He was the dog of whom +the story of the "hot-house face" is told in the 'Expression of the +Emotions.' + +But the dog most closely associated with my father was the +above-mentioned Polly, a rough, white fox-terrier. She was a +sharp-witted, affectionate dog; when her master was going away on a +journey, she always discovered the fact by the signs of packing going on +in the study, and became low-spirited accordingly. She began, too, to +be excited by seeing the study prepared for his return home. She was a +cunning little creature, and used to tremble or put on an air of misery +when my father passed, while she was waiting for dinner, just as if she +knew that he would say (as he did often say) that "she was famishing." +My father used to make her catch biscuits off her nose, and had an +affectionate and mock-solemn way of explaining to her before-hand that +she must "be a very good girl." She had a mark on her back where she had +been burnt, and where the hair had re-grown red instead of white, and my +father used to commend her for this tuft of hair as being in accordance +with his theory of pangenesis; her father had been a red bull-terrier, +thus the red hair appearing after the burn showed the presence of latent +red gemmules. He was delightfully tender to Polly, and never showed any +impatience at the attentions she required, such as to be let in at the +door, or out at the verandah window, to bark at "naughty people," +a self-imposed duty she much enjoyed. She died, or rather had to be +killed, a few days after his death. (The basket in which she usually lay +curled up near the fire in his study is faithfully represented in Mr. +Parson's drawing, "The Study at Down.") + +My father's midday walk generally began by a call at the greenhouse, +where he looked at any germinating seeds or experimental plants which +required a casual examination, but he hardly ever did any serious +observing at this time. Then he went on for his constitutional--either +round the "Sand-walk," or outside his own grounds in the immediate +neighbourhood of the house. The "Sand-walk" was a narrow strip of land 1 +1/2 acres in extent, with a gravel-walk round it. On one side of it +was a broad old shaw with fair-sized oaks in it, which made a sheltered +shady walk; the other side was separated from a neighbouring grass field +by a low quickset hedge, over which you could look at what view there +was, a quiet little valley losing itself in the upland country towards +the edge of the Westerham hill, with hazel coppice and larch wood, the +remnants of what was once a large wood, stretching away to the Westerham +road. I have heard my father say that the charm of this simple little +valley helped to make him settle at Down. + +The Sand-walk was planted by my father with a variety of trees, such +as hazel, alder, lime, hornbeam, birch, privet, and dogwood, and with a +long line of hollies all down the exposed side. In earlier times he took +a certain number of turns every day, and used to count them by means of +a heap of flints, one of which he kicked out on the path each time he +passed. Of late years I think he did not keep to any fixed number of +turns, but took as many as he felt strength for. The Sand-walk was our +play-ground as children, and here we continually saw my father as he +walked round. He liked to see what we were doing, and was ever ready +to sympathize in any fun that was going on. It is curious to think how, +with regard to the Sand-walk in connection with my father, my earliest +recollections coincide with my latest; it shows how unvarying his habits +have been. + +Sometimes when alone he stood still or walked stealthily to observe +birds or beasts. It was on one of these occasions that some young +squirrels ran up his back and legs, while their mother barked at them in +an agony from the tree. He always found birds' nests even up to the last +years of his life, and we, as children, considered that he had a special +genius in this direction. In his quiet prowls he came across the less +common birds, but I fancy he used to conceal it from me, as a little +boy, because he observed the agony of mind which I endured at not having +seen the siskin or goldfinch, or whatever it might have been. He used to +tell us how, when he was creeping noiselessly along in the "Big-Woods," +he came upon a fox asleep in the daytime, which was so much astonished +that it took a good stare at him before it ran off. A Spitz dog which +accompanied him showed no sign of excitement at the fox, and he used to +end the story by wondering how the dog could have been so faint-hearted. + +Another favourite place was "Orchis Bank," above the quiet Cudham +valley, where fly- and musk-orchis grew among the junipers, and +Cephalanthera and Neottia under the beech boughs; the little wood +"Hangrove," just above this, he was also fond of, and here I remember +his collecting grasses, when he took a fancy to make out the names of +all the common kinds. He was fond of quoting the saying of one of his +little boys, who, having found a grass that his father had not seen +before, had it laid by his own plate during dinner, remarking, "I are an +extraordinary grass-finder!" + +My father much enjoyed wandering slowly in the garden with my mother or +some of his children, or making one of a party, sitting out on a bench +on the lawn; he generally sat, however, on the grass, and I remember him +often lying under one of the big lime-trees, with his head on the green +mound at its foot. In dry summer weather, when we often sat out, the +big fly-wheel of the well was commonly heard spinning round, and so the +sound became associated with those pleasant days. He used to like to +watch us playing at lawn-tennis, and often knocked up a stray ball for +us with the curved handle of his stick. === Though he took no personal +share in the management of the garden, he had great delight in the +beauty of flowers--for instance, in the mass of Azaleas which generally +stood in the drawing-room. I think he sometimes fused together his +admiration of the structure of a flower and of its intrinsic beauty; +for instance, in the case of the big pendulous pink and white flowers +of Dielytra. In the same way he had an affection, half-artistic, +half-botanical, for the little blue Lobelia. In admiring flowers, he +would often laugh at the dingy high-art colours, and contrast them with +the bright tints of nature. I used to like to hear him admire the beauty +of a flower; it was a kind of gratitude to the flower itself, and a +personal love for its delicate form and colour. I seem to remember +him gently touching a flower he delighted in; it was the same simple +admiration that a child might have. + +He could not help personifying natural things. This feeling came out in +abuse as well as in praise--e.g. of some seedlings--"The little +beggars are doing just what I don't want them to." He would speak in a +half-provoked, half-admiring way of the ingenuity of a Mimosa leaf in +screwing itself out of a basin of water in which he had tried to fix +it. One must see the same spirit in his way of speaking of Sundew, +earth-worms, etc. (Cf. Leslie Stephen's 'Swift,' 1882, page 200, where +Swift's inspection of the manners and customs of servants are compared +to my father's observations on worms, "The difference is," says Mr. +Stephen, "that Darwin had none but kindly feelings for worms.") + +Within my memory, his only outdoor recreation, besides walking, was +riding, which he took to on the recommendation of Dr. Bence Jones, and +we had the luck to find for him the easiest and quietest cob in the +world, named "Tommy." He enjoyed these rides extremely, and devised a +number of short rounds which brought him home in time for lunch. Our +country is good for this purpose, owing to the number of small valleys +which give a variety to what in a flat country would be a dull loop of +road. He was not, I think, naturally fond of horses, nor had he a high +opinion of their intelligence, and Tommy was often laughed at for +the alarm he showed at passing and repassing the same heap of +hedge-clippings as he went round the field. I think he used to feel +surprised at himself, when he remembered how bold a rider he had been, +and how utterly old age and bad health had taken away his nerve. He +would say that riding prevented him thinking much more effectually +than walking--that having to attend to the horse gave him occupation +sufficient to prevent any really hard thinking. And the change of scene +which it gave him was good for spirits and health. + +Unluckily, Tommy one day fell heavily with him on Keston common. This, +and an accident with another horse, upset his nerves, and he was advised +to give up riding. + +If I go beyond my own experience, and recall what I have heard him say +of his love for sport, etc., I can think of a good deal, but much of it +would be a repetition of what is contained in his 'Recollections.' At +school he was fond of bat-fives, and this was the only game at which he +was skilful. He was fond of his gun as quite a boy, and became a good +shot; he used to tell how in South America he killed twenty-three snipe +in twenty-four shots. In telling the story he was careful to add that he +thought they were not quite so wild as English snipe. + +Luncheon at Down came after his midday walk; and here I may say a word +or two about his meals generally. He had a boy-like love of sweets, +unluckily for himself, since he was constantly forbidden to take them. +He was not particularly successful in keeping the "vows," as he called +them, which he made against eating sweets, and never considered them +binding unless he made them aloud. + +He drank very little wine, but enjoyed, and was revived by, the little +he did drink. He had a horror of drinking, and constantly warned his +boys that any one might be led into drinking too much. I remember, in my +innocence as a small boy, asking him if he had been ever tipsy; and he +answered very gravely that he was ashamed to say he had once drunk too +much at Cambridge. I was much impressed, so that I know now the place +where the question was asked. + +After his lunch, he read the newspaper, lying on the sofa in the +drawing-room. I think the paper was the only non-scientific matter which +he read to himself. Everything else, novels, travels, history, was read +aloud to him. He took so wide an interest in life, that there was much +to occupy him in newspapers, though he laughed at the wordiness of +the debates; reading them, I think, only in abstract. His interest in +politics was considerable, but his opinion on these matters was formed +rather by the way than with any serious amount of thought. + +After he read his paper, came his time for writing letters. These, as +well as the MS. of his books, were written by him as he sat in a huge +horse-hair chair by the fire, his paper supported on a board resting +on the arms of the chair. When he had many or long letters to write, he +would dictate them from a rough copy; these rough copies were written on +the backs of manuscript or of proof-sheets, and were almost illegible, +sometimes even to himself. He made a rule of keeping ALL letters that he +received; this was a habit which he learnt from his father, and which he +said had been of great use to him. + +He received many letters from foolish, unscrupulous people, and all of +these received replies. He used to say that if he did not answer them, +he had it on his conscience afterwards, and no doubt it was in great +measure the courtesy with which he answered every one, which produced +the universal and widespread sense of his kindness of nature, which was +so evident on his death. + +He was considerate to his correspondents in other and lesser things, for +instance when dictating a letter to a foreigner he hardly ever failed +to say to me, "You'd better try and write well, as it's to a foreigner." +His letters were generally written on the assumption that they would be +carelessly read; thus, when he was dictating, he was careful to tell me +to make an important clause begin with an obvious paragraph "to catch +his eye," as he often said. How much he thought of the trouble he gave +others by asking questions, will be well enough shown by his letters. It +is difficult to say anything about the general tone of his letters, +they will speak for themselves. The unvarying courtesy of them is very +striking. I had a proof of this quality in the feeling with which Mr. +Hacon, his solicitor, regarded him. He had never seen my father, yet +had a sincere feeling of friendship for him, and spoke especially of +his letters as being such as a man seldom receives in the way of +business:--"Everything I did was right, and everything was profusely +thanked for." + +He had a printed form to be used in replying to troublesome +correspondents, but he hardly ever used it; I suppose he never found an +occasion that seemed exactly suitable. I remember an occasion on which +it might have been used with advantage. He received a letter from a +stranger stating that the writer had undertaken to uphold Evolution at +a debating society, and that being a busy young man, without time for +reading, he wished to have a sketch of my father's views. Even this +wonderful young man got a civil answer, though I think he did not get +much material for his speech. His rule was to thank the donors of books, +but not of pamphlets. He sometimes expressed surprise that so few people +thanked him for his books which he gave away liberally; the letters that +he did receive gave him much pleasure, because he habitually formed so +humble an estimate of the value of all his works, that he was generally +surprised at the interest which they excited. + +In money and business matters he was remarkably careful and exact. He +kept accounts with great care, classifying them, and balancing at the +end of the year like a merchant. I remember the quick way in which +he would reach out for his account-book to enter each cheque paid, as +though he were in a hurry to get it entered before he had forgotten it. +His father must have allowed him to believe that he would be poorer than +he really was, for some of the difficulty experienced in finding a house +in the country must have arisen from the modest sum he felt prepared to +give. Yet he knew, of course, that he would be in easy circumstances, +for in his 'Recollections' he mentions this as one of the reasons for +his not having worked at medicine with so much zeal as he would have +done if he had been obliged to gain his living. + +He had a pet economy in paper, but it was rather a hobby than a real +economy. All the blank sheets of letters received were kept in a +portfolio to be used in making notes; it was his respect for paper that +made him write so much on the backs of his old MS., and in this way, +unfortunately, he destroyed large parts of the original MS. of his +books. His feeling about paper extended to waste paper, and he objected, +half in fun, to the careless custom of throwing a spill into the fire +after it had been used for lighting a candle. + +My father was wonderfully liberal and generous to all his children in +the matter of money, and I have special cause to remember his kindness +when I think of the way in which he paid some Cambridge debts of +mine--making it almost seem a virtue in me to have told him of them. +In his later years he had the kind and generous plan of dividing his +surplus at the year's end among his children. + +He had a great respect for pure business capacity, and often spoke with +admiration of a relative who had doubled his fortune. And of himself +would often say in fun that what he really WAS proud of was the money he +had saved. He also felt satisfaction in the money he made by his books. +His anxiety to save came in a great measure from his fears that his +children would not have health enough to earn their own livings, a +foreboding which fairly haunted him for many years. And I have a dim +recollection of his saying, "Thank God, you'll have bread and cheese," +when I was so young that I was rather inclined to take it literally. + +When letters were finished, about three in the afternoon, he rested in +his bedroom, lying on the sofa and smoking a cigarette, and listening +to a novel or other book not scientific. He only smoked when resting, +whereas snuff was a stimulant, and was taken during working hours. +He took snuff for many years of his life, having learnt the habit at +Edinburgh as a student. He had a nice silver snuff-box given him by +Mrs. Wedgwood of Maer, which he valued much--but he rarely carried it, +because it tempted him to take too many pinches. In one of his early +letters he speaks of having given up snuff for a month, and describes +himself as feeling "most lethargic, stupid, and melancholy." Our former +neighbour and clergyman, Mr. Brodie Innes, tells me that at one time my +father made a resolve not to take snuff except away from home, "a most +satisfactory arrangement for me," he adds, "as I kept a box in my study +to which there was access from the garden without summoning servants, +and I had more frequently, than might have been otherwise the case, +the privilege of a few minutes' conversation with my dear friend." He +generally took snuff from a jar on the hall table, because having to go +this distance for a pinch was a slight check; the clink of the lid of +the snuff jar was a very familiar sound. Sometimes when he was in the +drawing-room, it would occur to him that the study fire must be burning +low, and when some of us offered to see after it, it would turn out that +he also wished to get a pinch of snuff. + +Smoking he only took to permanently of late years, though on his Pampas +rides he learned to smoke with the Gauchos, and I have heard him speak +of the great comfort of a cup of mate and a cigarette when he halted +after a long ride and was unable to get food for some time. + +The reading aloud often sent him to sleep, and he used to regret losing +parts of a novel, for my mother went steadily on lest the cessation of +the sound might wake him. He came down at four o'clock to dress for +his walk, and he was so regular that one might be quite certain it was +within a few minutes of four when his descending steps were heard. + +From about half-past four to half-past five he worked; then he came to +the drawing-room, and was idle till it was time (about six) to go up for +another rest with novel-reading and a cigarette. + +Latterly he gave up late dinner, and had a simple tea at half-past +seven (while we had dinner), with an egg or a small piece of meat. After +dinner he never stayed in the room, and used to apologise by saying he +was an old woman, who must be allowed to leave with the ladies. This +was one of the many signs and results of his constant weakness and +ill-health. Half an hour more or less conversation would make to him +the difference of a sleepless night, and of the loss perhaps of half the +next day's work. + +After dinner he played backgammon with my mother, two games being played +every night; for many years a score of the games which each won was +kept, and in this score he took the greatest interest. He became +extremely animated over these games, bitterly lamenting his bad luck and +exploding with exaggerated mock-anger at my mother's good fortune. + +After backgammon he read some scientific book to himself, either in the +drawing-room, or, if much talking was going on, in the study. + +In the evening, that is, after he had read as much as his strength would +allow, and before the reading aloud began, he would often lie on the +sofa and listen to my mother playing the piano. He had not a good ear, +yet in spite of this he had a true love of fine music. He used to lament +that his enjoyment of music had become dulled with age, yet within my +recollection, his love of a good tune was strong. I never heard him hum +more than one tune, the Welsh song "Ar hyd y nos," which he went through +correctly; he used also, I believe, to hum a little Otaheitan song. +From his want of ear he was unable to recognize a tune when he heard it +again, but he remained constant to what he liked, and would often say, +when an old favourite was played, "That's a fine thing; what is it?" He +liked especially parts of Beethoven's symphonies, and bits of Handel. +He made a little list of all the pieces which he especially liked among +those which my mother played--giving in a few words the impression that +each one made on him--but these notes are unfortunately lost. He was +sensitive to differences in style, and enjoyed the late Mrs. Vernon +Lushington's playing intensely, and in June 1881, when Hans Richter paid +a visit at Down, he was roused to strong enthusiasm by his magnificent +performance on the piano. He much enjoyed good singing, and was moved +almost to tears by grand or pathetic songs. His niece Lady Farrer's +singing of Sullivan's "Will he come" was a never-failing enjoyment +to him. He was humble in the extreme about his own taste, and +correspondingly pleased when he found that others agreed with him. + +He became much tired in the evenings, especially of late years, when +he left the drawing-room about ten, going to bed at half-past ten. His +nights were generally bad, and he often lay awake or sat up in bed +for hours, suffering much discomfort. He was troubled at night by the +activity of his thoughts, and would become exhausted by his mind working +at some problem which he would willingly have dismissed. At night, too, +anything which had vexed or troubled him in the day would haunt him, +and I think it was then that he suffered if he had not answered some +troublesome person's letter. + +The regular readings, which I have mentioned, continued for so many +years, enabled him to get through a great deal of lighter kinds of +literature. He was extremely fond of novels, and I remember well the way +in which he would anticipate the pleasure of having a novel read to him, +as he lay down, or lighted his cigarette. He took a vivid interest both +in plot and characters, and would on no account know beforehand, how +a story finished; he considered looking at the end of a novel as a +feminine vice. He could not enjoy any story with a tragical end, for +this reason he did not keenly appreciate George Eliot, though he often +spoke warmly in praise of 'Silas Marner.' Walter Scott, Miss Austen, and +Mrs. Gaskell, were read and re-read till they could be read no more. He +had two or three books in hand at the same time--a novel and perhaps a +biography and a book of travels. He did not often read out-of-the-way or +old standard books, but generally kept to the books of the day obtained +from a circulating library. + +I do not think that his literary tastes and opinions were on a level +with the rest of his mind. He himself, though he was clear as to what he +thought good, considered that in matters of literary taste, he was +quite outside the pale, and often spoke of what those within it liked or +disliked, as if they formed a class to which he had no claim to belong. + +In all matters of art he was inclined to laugh at professed critics, +and say that their opinions were formed by fashion. Thus in painting, +he would say how in his day every one admired masters who are now +neglected. His love of pictures as a young man is almost a proof that he +must have had an appreciation of a portrait as a work of art, not as +a likeness. Yet he often talked laughingly of the small worth of +portraits, and said that a photograph was worth any number of pictures, +as if he were blind to the artistic quality in a painted portrait. But +this was generally said in his attempts to persuade us to give up the +idea of having his portrait painted, an operation very irksome to him. + +This way of looking at himself as an ignoramus in all matters of art, +was strengthened by the absence of pretence, which was part of his +character. With regard to questions of taste, as well as to more serious +things, he always had the courage of his opinions. I remember, however, +an instance that sounds like a contradiction to this: when he was +looking at the Turners in Mr. Ruskin's bedroom, he did not confess, as +he did afterwards, that he could make out absolutely nothing of what Mr. +Ruskin saw in them. But this little pretence was not for his own sake, +but for the sake of courtesy to his host. He was pleased and amused +when subsequently Mr. Ruskin brought him some photographs of pictures +(I think Vandyke portraits), and courteously seemed to value my father's +opinion about them. + +Much of his scientific reading was in German, and this was a great +labour to him; in reading a book after him, I was often struck at +seeing, from the pencil-marks made each day where he left off, how +little he could read at a time. He used to call German the "Verdammte," +pronounced as if in English. He was especially indignant with Germans, +because he was convinced that they could write simply if they chose, and +often praised Dr. F. Hildebrand for writing German which was as clear +as French. He sometimes gave a German sentence to a friend, a patriotic +German lady, and used to laugh at her if she did not translate it +fluently. He himself learnt German simply by hammering away with a +dictionary; he would say that his only way was to read a sentence a +great many times over, and at last the meaning occurred to him. When he +began German long ago, he boasted of the fact (as he used to tell) to +Sir J. Hooker, who replied, "Ah, my dear fellow, that's nothing; I've +begun it many times." + +In spite of his want of grammar, he managed to get on wonderfully with +German, and the sentences that he failed to make out were generally +really difficult ones. He never attempted to speak German correctly, but +pronounced the words as though they were English; and this made it not +a little difficult to help him, when he read out a German sentence and +asked for a translation. He certainly had a bad ear for vocal sounds, +so that he found it impossible to perceive small differences in +pronunciation. + +His wide interest in branches of science that were not specially his own +was remarkable. In the biological sciences his doctrines make themselves +felt so widely that there was something interesting to him in most +departments of it. He read a good deal of many quite special works, and +large parts of text books, such as Huxley's 'Invertebrate Anatomy,' or +such a book as Balfour's 'Embryology,' where the detail, at any rate, +was not specially in his own line. And in the case of elaborate books of +the monograph type, though he did not make a study of them, yet he felt +the strongest admiration for them. + +In the non-biological sciences he felt keen sympathy with work of which +he could not really judge. For instance, he used to read nearly the +whole of 'Nature,' though so much of it deals with mathematics and +physics. I have often heard him say that he got a kind of satisfaction +in reading articles which (according to himself) he could not +understand. I wish I could reproduce the manner in which he would laugh +at himself for it. + +It was remarkable, too, how he kept up his interest in subjects at which +he had formerly worked. This was strikingly the case with geology. In +one of his letters to Mr. Judd he begs him to pay him a visit, saying +that since Lyell's death he hardly ever gets a geological talk. His +observations, made only a few years before his death, on the upright +pebbles in the drift at Southampton, and discussed in a letter to Mr. +Geikie, afford another instance. Again, in the letters to Dr. Dohrn, he +shows how his interest in barnacles remained alive. I think it was all +due to the vitality and persistence of his mind--a quality I have heard +him speak of as if he felt that he was strongly gifted in that respect. +Not that he used any such phrases as these about himself, but he would +say that he had the power of keeping a subject or question more or less +before him for a great many years. The extent to which he possessed this +power appears when we consider the number of different problems which he +solved, and the early period at which some of them began to occupy him. + +It was a sure sign that he was not well when he was idle at any times +other than his regular resting hours; for, as long as he remained +moderately well, there was no break in the regularity of his life. +Week-days and Sundays passed by alike, each with their stated intervals +of work and rest. It is almost impossible, except for those who watched +his daily life, to realise how essential to his well-being was the +regular routine that I have sketched: and with what pain and difficulty +anything beyond it was attempted. Any public appearance, even of the +most modest kind, was an effort to him. In 1871 he went to the little +village church for the wedding of his elder daughter, but he could +hardly bear the fatigue of being present through the short service. The +same may be said of the few other occasions on which he was present at +similar ceremonies. + +I remember him many years ago at a christening; a memory which has +remained with me, because to us children it seemed an extraordinary and +abnormal occurrence. I remember his look most distinctly at his brother +Erasmus's funeral, as he stood in the scattering of snow, wrapped in a +long black funeral cloak, with a grave look of sad reverie. + +When, after an interval of many years, he again attended a meeting +of the Linnean Society, it was felt to be, and was in fact, a serious +undertaking; one not to be determined on without much sinking of +heart, and hardly to be carried into effect without paying a penalty +of subsequent suffering. In the same way a breakfast-party at Sir James +Paget's, with some of the distinguished visitors to the Medical Congress +(1881), was to him a severe exertion. + +The early morning was the only time at which he could make any effort of +the kind, with comparative impunity. Thus it came about that the visits +he paid to his scientific friends in London were by preference made +as early as ten in the morning. For the same reason he started on his +journeys by the earliest possible train, and used to arrive at the +houses of relatives in London when they were beginning their day. + +He kept an accurate journal of the days on which he worked and those +on which his ill health prevented him from working, so that it would +be possible to tell how many were idle days in any given year. In +this journal--a little yellow Lett's Diary, which lay open on his +mantel-piece, piled on the diaries of previous years--he also entered +the day on which he started for a holiday and that of his return. + +The most frequent holidays were visits of a week to London, either +to his brother's house (6 Queen Anne Street), or to his daughter's (4 +Bryanston Street). He was generally persuaded by my mother to take these +short holidays, when it became clear from the frequency of "bad days," +or from the swimming of his head, that he was being overworked. He +went unwillingly, and tried to drive hard bargains, stipulating, for +instance, that he should come home in five days instead of six. Even +if he were leaving home for no more than a week, the packing had to be +begun early on the previous day, and the chief part of it he would do +himself. The discomfort of a journey to him was, at least latterly, +chiefly in the anticipation, and in the miserable sinking feeling from +which he suffered immediately before the start; even a fairly long +journey, such as that to Coniston, tired him wonderfully little, +considering how much an invalid he was; and he certainly enjoyed it in +an almost boyish way, and to a curious extent. + +Although, as he has said, some of his aesthetic tastes had suffered a +gradual decay, his love of scenery remained fresh and strong. Every walk +at Coniston was a fresh delight, and he was never tired of praising the +beauty of the broken hilly country at the head of the lake. + +One of the happy memories of this time [1879] is that of a delightful +visit to Grasmere: "The perfect day," my sister writes, "and my father's +vivid enjoyment and flow of spirits, form a picture in my mind that I +like to think of. He could hardly sit still in the carriage for turning +round and getting up to admire the view from each fresh point, and even +in returning he was full of the beauty of Rydal Water, though he would +not allow that Grasmere at all equalled his beloved Coniston." + +Besides these longer holidays, there were shorter visits to various +relatives--to his brother-in-law's house, close to Leith Hill, and to +his son near Southampton. He always particularly enjoyed rambling over +rough open country, such as the commons near Leith Hill and Southampton, +the heath-covered wastes of Ashdown Forest, or the delightful "Rough" +near the house of his friend Sir Thomas Farrer. He never was quite idle +even on these holidays, and found things to observe. At Hartfield he +watched Drosera catching insects, etc.; at Torquay he observed the +fertilisation of an orchid (Spiranthes), and also made out the relations +of the sexes in Thyme. + +He was always rejoiced to get home after his holidays; he used greatly +to enjoy the welcome he got from his dog Polly, who would get wild with +excitement, panting, squeaking, rushing round the room, and jumping on +and off the chairs; and he used to stoop down, pressing her face to +his, letting her lick him, and speaking to her with a peculiarly tender, +caressing voice. + +My father had the power of giving to these summer holidays a charm which +was strongly felt by all his family. The pressure of his work at home +kept him at the utmost stretch of his powers of endurance, and when +released from it, he entered on a holiday with a youthfulness of +enjoyment that made his companionship delightful; we felt that we saw +more of him in a week's holiday than in a month at home. + +Some of these absences from home, however, had a depressing effect on +him; when he had been previously much overworked it seemed as though +the absence of the customary strain allowed him to fall into a peculiar +condition of miserable health. + +Besides the holidays which I have mentioned, there were his visits +to water-cure establishments. In 1849, when very ill, suffering from +constant sickness, he was urged by a friend to try the water-cure, +and at last agreed to go to Dr. Gully's establishment at Malvern. His +letters to Mr. Fox show how much good the treatment did him; he seems +to have thought that he had found a cure for his troubles, but, like all +other remedies, it had only a transient effect on him. However, he found +it, at first, so good for him that when he came home he built himself a +douche-bath, and the butler learnt to be his bathman. + +He paid many visits to Moor Park, Dr. Lane's water-cure establishment in +Surrey, not far from Aldershot. These visits were pleasant ones, and +he always looked back to them with pleasure. Dr. Lane has given his +recollections of my father in Dr. Richardson's 'Lecture on Charles +Darwin,' October 22, 1882, from which I quote:-- + +"In a public institution like mine, he was surrounded, of course, by +multifarious types of character, by persons of both sexes, mostly very +different from himself--commonplace people, in short, as the majority +are everywhere, but like to him at least in this, that they were +fellow-creatures and fellow-patients. And never was any one more genial, +more considerate, more friendly, more altogether charming than he +universally was."...He "never aimed, as too often happens with good +talkers, at monopolising the conversation. It was his pleasure rather +to give and take, and he was as good a listener as a speaker. He never +preached nor prosed, but his talk, whether grave or gay (and it was each +by turns), was full of life and salt--racy, bright, and animated." + +Some idea of his relation to his family and his friends may be gathered +from what has gone before; it would be impossible to attempt a complete +account of these relationships, but a slightly fuller outline may not be +out of place. Of his married life I cannot speak, save in the +briefest manner. In his relationship towards my mother, his tender +and sympathetic nature was shown in its most beautiful aspect. In her +presence he found his happiness, and through her, his life,--which +might have been overshadowed by gloom,--became one of content and quiet +gladness. + +The 'Expression of the Emotions' shows how closely he watched his +children; it was characteristic of him that (as I have heard him tell), +although he was so anxious to observe accurately the expression of a +crying child, his sympathy with the grief spoiled his observation. His +note-book, in which are recorded sayings of his young children, shows +his pleasure in them. He seemed to retain a sort of regretful memory +of the childhoods which had faded away, and thus he wrote in his +'Recollections':--"When you were very young it was my delight to play +with you all, and I think with a sigh that such days can never return." + +I may quote, as showing the tenderness of his nature, some sentences +from an account of his little daughter Annie, written a few days after +her death:-- + +"Our poor child, Annie, was born in Gower Street, on March 2, 1841, and +expired at Malvern at mid-day on the 23rd of April, 1851. + +"I write these few pages, as I think in after years, if we live, +the impressions now put down will recall more vividly her chief +characteristics. From whatever point I look back at her, the main +feature in her disposition which at once rises before me, is her +buoyant joyousness, tempered by two other characteristics, namely, her +sensitiveness, which might easily have been overlooked by a stranger, +and her strong affection. Her joyousness and animal spirits radiated +from her whole countenance, and rendered every movement elastic and full +of life and vigour. It was delightful and cheerful to behold her. Her +dear face now rises before me, as she used sometimes to come running +downstairs with a stolen pinch of snuff for me her whole form radiant +with the pleasure of giving pleasure. Even when playing with her +cousins, when her joyousness almost passed into boisterousness, a single +glance of my eye, not of displeasure (for I thank God I hardly ever cast +one on her), but of want of sympathy, would for some minutes alter her +whole countenance. + +"The other point in her character, which made her joyousness and spirits +so delightful, was her strong affection, which was of a most clinging, +fondling nature. When quite a baby, this showed itself in never being +easy without touching her mother, when in bed with her; and quite +lately she would, when poorly, fondle for any length of time one of her +mother's arms. When very unwell, her mother lying down beside her seemed +to soothe her in a manner quite different from what it would have done +to any of our other children. So, again, she would at almost any time +spend half an hour in arranging my hair, 'making it,' as she called +it, 'beautiful,' or in smoothing, the poor dear darling, my collar or +cuffs--in short, in fondling me. + +"Beside her joyousness thus tempered, she was in her manners remarkably +cordial, frank, open, straightforward, natural, and without any shade of +reserve. Her whole mind was pure and transparent. One felt one knew her +thoroughly and could trust her. I always thought, that come what might, +we should have had in our old age at least one loving soul which nothing +could have changed. All her movements were vigorous, active, and usually +graceful. When going round the Sand-walk with me, although I walked +fast, yet she often used to go before, pirouetting in the most elegant +way, her dear face bright all the time with the sweetest smiles. +Occasionally she had a pretty coquettish manner towards me, the memory +of which is charming. She often used exaggerated language, and when I +quizzed her by exaggerating what she had said, how clearly can I now see +the little toss of the head, and exclamation of 'Oh, papa what a shame +of you!' In the last short illness her conduct in simple truth was +angelic. She never once complained; never became fretful; was ever +considerate of others, and was thankful in the most gentle, pathetic +manner for everything done for her. When so exhausted that she could +hardly speak, she praised everything that was given her, and said some +tea 'was beautifully good.' When I gave her some water she said, 'I +quite thank you;' and these, I believe, were the last precious words +ever addressed by her dear lips to me. + +"We have lost the joy of the household, and the solace of our old age. +She must have known how we loved her. Oh, that she could now know how +deeply, how tenderly, we do still and shall ever love her dear joyous +face! Blessings on her! + +"April 30, 1851." + +We his children all took especial pleasure in the games he played at +with us, but I do not think he romped much with us; I suppose his health +prevented any rough play. He used sometimes to tell us stories, which +were considered especially delightful, partly on account of their +rarity. + +The way he brought us up is shown by a little story about my brother +Leonard, which my father was fond of telling. He came into the +drawing-room and found Leonard dancing about on the sofa, which was +forbidden, for the sake of the springs, and said, "Oh, Lenny, Lenny, +that's against all rules," and received for answer, "Then I think you'd +better go out of the room." I do not believe he ever spoke an angry +word to any of his children in his life; but I am certain that it never +entered our heads to disobey him. I well remember one occasion when my +father reproved me for a piece of carelessness; and I can still recall +the feeling of depression which came over me, and the care which he took +to disperse it by speaking to me soon afterwards with especial kindness. +He kept up his delightful, affectionate manner towards us all his life. +I sometimes wonder that he could do so, with such an undemonstrative +race as we are; but I hope he knew how much we delighted in his loving +words and manner. How often, when a man, I have wished when my father +was behind my chair, that he would pass his hand over my hair, as he +used to do when I was a boy. He allowed his grown-up children to laugh +with and at him, and was, generally speaking, on terms of perfect +equality with us. + +He was always full of interest about each one's plans or successes. We +used to laugh at him, and say he would not believe in his sons, because, +for instance, he would be a little doubtful about their taking some bit +of work for which he did not feel sure that they had knowledge enough. +On the other hand, he was only too much inclined to take a favourable +view of our work. When I thought he had set too high a value on anything +that I had done, he used to be indignant and inclined to explode in mock +anger. His doubts were part of his humility concerning what was in any +way connected with himself; his too favourable view of our work was due +to his sympathetic nature, which made him lenient to every one. + +He kept up towards his children his delightful manner of expressing his +thanks; and I never wrote a letter, or read a page aloud to him, without +receiving a few kind words of recognition. His love and goodness towards +his little grandson Bernard were great; and he often spoke of the +pleasure it was to him to see "his little face opposite to him" at +luncheon. He and Bernard used to compare their tastes; e.g., in liking +brown sugar better than white, etc.; the result being, "We always agree, +don't we?" + +My sister writes:-- + +"My first remembrances of my father are of the delights of his playing +with us. He was passionately attached to his own children, although +he was not an indiscriminate child-lover. To all of us he was the most +delightful play-fellow, and the most perfect sympathiser. Indeed it is +impossible adequately to describe how delightful a relation his was to +his family, whether as children or in their later life. + +"It is a proof of the terms on which we were, and also of how much he +was valued as a play-fellow, that one of his sons when about four years +old tried to bribe him with sixpence to come and play in working hours. +We all knew the sacredness of working-time, but that any one should +resist sixpence seemed an impossibility. + +"He must have been the most patient and delightful of nurses. I remember +the haven of peace and comfort it seemed to me when I was unwell, to +be tucked up on the study sofa, idly considering the old geological map +hung on the wall. This must have been in his working hours, for I always +picture him sitting in the horsehair arm-chair by the corner of the +fire. + +"Another mark of his unbounded patience was the way in which we were +suffered to make raids into the study when we had an absolute need of +sticking-plaster, string, pins, scissors, stamps, foot-rule, or hammer. +These and other such necessaries were always to be found in the study, +and it was the only place where this was a certainty. We used to feel it +wrong to go in during work-time; still, when the necessity was great we +did so. I remember his patient look when he said once, 'Don't you think +you could not come in again, I have been interrupted very often.' We +used to dread going in for sticking-plaster, because he disliked to +see that we had cut ourselves, both for our sakes and on account of his +acute sensitiveness to the sight of blood. I well remember lurking about +the passage till he was safe away, and then stealing in for the plaster. + +"Life seems to me, as I look back upon it, to have been very regular in +those early days, and except relations (and a few intimate friends), I +do not think any one came to the house. After lessons, we were always +free to go where we would, and that was chiefly in the drawing-room +and about the garden, so that we were very much with both my father and +mother. We used to think it most delightful when he told us any stories +about the 'Beagle', or about early Shrewsbury days--little bits about +school-life and his boyish tastes. Sometimes too he read aloud to his +children such books as Scott's novels, and I remember a few little +lectures on the steam-engine. + +"I was more or less ill during the five years between my thirteenth and +eighteenth years, and for a long time (years it seems to me) he used to +play a couple of games of backgammon with me every afternoon. He played +them with the greatest spirit, and I remember we used at one time to +keep account of the games, and as this record came out in favour of him, +we kept a list of the doublets thrown by each, as I was convinced that +he threw better than myself. + +"His patience and sympathy were boundless during this weary illness, and +sometimes when most miserable I felt his sympathy to be almost too keen. +When at my worst, we went to my aunt's house at Hartfield, in Sussex, +and as soon as we had made the move safely he went on to Moor Park for +a fortnight's water-cure. I can recall now how on his return I could +hardly bear to have him in the room, the expression of tender sympathy +and emotion in his face was too agitating, coming fresh upon me after +his little absence. + +"He cared for all our pursuits and interests, and lived our lives with +us in a way that very few fathers do. But I am certain that none of +us felt that this intimacy interfered the least with our respect or +obedience. Whatever he said was absolute truth and law to us. He always +put his whole mind into answering any of our questions. One trifling +instance makes me feel how he cared for what we cared for. He had no +special taste for cats, though he admired the pretty ways of a kitten. +But yet he knew and remembered the individualities of my many cats, and +would talk about the habits and characters of the more remarkable ones +years after they had died. + +"Another characteristic of his treatment of his children was his respect +for their liberty, and for their personality. Even as quite a girl, I +remember rejoicing in this sense of freedom. Our father and mother would +not even wish to know what we were doing or thinking unless we wished +to tell. He always made us feel that we were each of us creatures whose +opinions and thoughts were valuable to him, so that whatever there was +best in us came out in the sunshine of his presence. + +"I do not think his exaggerated sense of our good qualities, +intellectual or moral, made us conceited, as might perhaps have been +expected, but rather more humble and grateful to him. The reason being +no doubt that the influence of his character, of his sincerity and +greatness of nature, had a much deeper and more lasting effect than any +small exaltation which his praises or admiration may have caused to our +vanity." + +As head of a household he was much loved and respected; he always spoke +to servants with politeness, using the expression, "would you be +so good," in asking for anything. He was hardly ever angry with his +servants; it shows how seldom this occurred, that when, as a small boy, +I overheard a servant being scolded, and my father speaking angrily, +it impressed me as an appalling circumstance, and I remember running up +stairs out of a general sense of awe. He did not trouble himself about +the management of the garden, cows, etc. He considered the horses so +little his concern, that he used to ask doubtfully whether he might +have a horse and cart to send to Keston for Drosera, or to the Westerham +nurseries for plants, or the like. + +As a host my father had a peculiar charm: the presence of visitors +excited him, and made him appear to his best advantage. At Shrewsbury, +he used to say, it was his father's wish that the guests should be +attended to constantly, and in one of the letters to Fox he speaks +of the impossibility of writing a letter while the house was full +of company. I think he always felt uneasy at not doing more for the +entertainment of his guests, but the result was successful; and, to make +up for any loss, there was the gain that the guests felt perfectly free +to do as they liked. The most usual visitors were those who stayed +from Saturday till Monday; those who remained longer were generally +relatives, and were considered to be rather more my mother's affair than +his. + +Besides these visitors, there were foreigners and other strangers, +who came down for luncheon and went away in the afternoon. He used +conscientiously to represent to them the enormous distance of Down from +London, and the labour it would be to come there, unconsciously taking +for granted that they would find the journey as toilsome as he did +himself. If, however, they were not deterred, he used to arrange their +journeys for them, telling them when to come, and practically when to +go. It was pleasant to see the way in which he shook hands with a guest +who was being welcomed for the first time; his hand used to shoot out +in a way that gave one the feeling that it was hastening to meet the +guest's hands. With old friends his hand came down with a hearty swing +into the other hand in a way I always had satisfaction in seeing. His +good-bye was chiefly characterised by the pleasant way in which he +thanked his guests, as he stood at the door, for having come to see him. + +These luncheons were very successful entertainments, there was no drag +or flagging about them, my father was bright and excited throughout the +whole visit. Professor De Candolle has described a visit to Down, in +his admirable and sympathetic sketch of my father. ('Darwin considere au +point de vue des causes de son succes.'--Geneva, 1882.) He speaks of +his manner as resembling that of a "savant" of Oxford or Cambridge. +This does not strike me as quite a good comparison; in his ease and +naturalness there was more of the manner of some soldiers; a manner +arising from total absence of pretence or affectation. It was this +absence of pose, and the natural and simple way in which he began +talking to his guests, so as to get them on their own lines, which made +him so charming a host to a stranger. His happy choice of matter for +talk seemed to flow out of his sympathetic nature, and humble, vivid +interest in other people's work. + +To some, I think, he caused actual pain by his modesty; I have seen the +late Francis Balfour quite discomposed by having knowledge ascribed to +himself on a point about which my father claimed to be utterly ignorant. + +It is difficult to seize on the characteristics of my father's +conversation. + +He had more dread than have most people of repeating his stories, and +continually said, "You must have heard me tell," or "I dare say I've +told you." One peculiarity he had, which gave a curious effect to his +conversation. The first few words of a sentence would often remind him +of some exception to, or some reason against, what he was going to say; +and this again brought up some other point, so that the sentence would +become a system of parenthesis within parenthesis, and it was often +impossible to understand the drift of what he was saying until he came +to the end of his sentence. He used to say of himself that he was not +quick enough to hold an argument with any one, and I think this was +true. Unless it was a subject on which he was just then at work, he +could not get the train of argument into working order quickly enough. +This is shown even in his letters; thus, in the case of two letters to +Prof. Semper about the effect of isolation, he did not recall the series +of facts he wanted until some days after the first letter had been sent +off. + +When puzzled in talking, he had a peculiar stammer on the first word of +a sentence. I only recall this occurring with words beginning with w; +possibly he had a special difficulty with this letter, for I have heard +him say that as a boy he could not pronounce w, and that sixpence was +offered him if he could say "white wine," which he pronounced "rite +rine." Possibly he may have inherited this tendency from Erasmus +Darwin, who stammered. (My father related a Johnsonian answer of Erasmus +Darwin's: "Don't you find it very inconvenient stammering, Dr. Darwin?" +"No, sir, because I have time to think before I speak, and don't ask +impertinent questions.") + +He sometimes combined his metaphors in a curious way, using such a +phrase as "holding on like life,"--a mixture of "holding on for his +life," and "holding on like grim death." It came from his eager way of +putting emphasis into what he was saying. This sometimes gave an air of +exaggeration where it was not intended; but it gave, too, a noble air +of strong and generous conviction; as, for instance, when he gave his +evidence before the Royal Commission on vivisection and came out with +his words about cruelty, "It deserves detestation and abhorrence." +When he felt strongly about any similar question, he could hardly trust +himself to speak, as he then easily became angry, a thing which he +disliked excessively. He was conscious that his anger had a tendency +to multiply itself in the utterance, and for this reason dreaded (for +example) having to scold a servant. + +It was a great proof of the modesty of his style of talking, that, when, +for instance, a number of visitors came over from Sir John Lubbock's for +a Sunday afternoon call he never seemed to be preaching or lecturing, +although he had so much of the talk to himself. He was particularly +charming when "chaffing" any one, and in high spirits over it. His +manner at such times was light-hearted and boyish, and his refinement +of nature came out most strongly. So, when he was talking to a lady who +pleased and amused him, the combination of raillery and deference in his +manner was delightful to see. + +When my father had several guests he managed them well, getting a talk +with each, or bringing two or three together round his chair. In +these conversations there was always a good deal of fun, and, speaking +generally, there was either a humorous turn in his talk, or a sunny +geniality which served instead. Perhaps my recollection of a pervading +element of humour is the more vivid, because the best talks were with +Mr. Huxley, in whom there is the aptness which is akin to humour, even +when humour itself is not there. My father enjoyed Mr. Huxley's humour +exceedingly, and would often say, "What splendid fun Huxley is!" I think +he probably had more scientific argument (of the nature of a fight) with +Lyell and Sir Joseph Hooker. + +He used to say that it grieved him to find that for the friends of his +later life he had not the warm affection of his youth. Certainly in his +early letters from Cambridge he gives proofs of very strong friendship +for Herbert and Fox; but no one except himself would have said that +his affection for his friends was not, throughout life, of the warmest +possible kind. In serving a friend he would not spare himself, and +precious time and strength were willingly given. He undoubtedly had, +to an unusual degree, the power of attaching his friends to him. He had +many warm friendships, but to Sir Joseph Hooker he was bound by ties +of affection stronger than we often see among men. He wrote in his +'Recollections,' "I have known hardly any man more lovable than Hooker." + +His relationship to the village people was a pleasant one; he treated +them, one and all, with courtesy, when he came in contact with them, and +took an interest in all relating to their welfare. Some time after he +came to live at Down he helped to found a Friendly Club, and served as +treasurer for thirty years. He took much trouble about the club, keeping +its accounts with minute and scrupulous exactness, and taking pleasure +in its prosperous condition. Every Whit-Monday the club used to march +round with band and banner, and paraded on the lawn in front of the +house. There he met them, and explained to them their financial position +in a little speech seasoned with a few well worn jokes. He was often +unwell enough to make even this little ceremony an exertion, but I think +he never failed to meet them. + +He was also treasurer of the Coal Club, which gave him some work, and he +acted for some years as a County Magistrate. + +With regard to my father's interest in the affairs of the village, Mr. +Brodie Innes has been so good as to give me his recollections:-- + +"On my becoming Vicar of Down in 1846, we became friends, and so +continued till his death. His conduct towards me and my family was one +of unvarying kindness, and we repaid it by warm affection. + +"In all parish matters he was an active assistant; in matters +connected with the schools, charities, and other business, his liberal +contribution was ever ready, and in the differences which at times +occurred in that, as in other parishes, I was always sure of his +support. He held that where there was really no important objection, +his assistance should be given to the clergyman, who ought to know the +circumstances best, and was chiefly responsible." + +His intercourse with strangers was marked with scrupulous and rather +formal politeness, but in fact he had few opportunities of meeting +strangers. + +Dr. Lane has described (Lecture by Dr. B.W. Richardson, in St. George's +Hall, October 22, 1882.) how, on the rare occasion of my father +attending a lecture (Dr. Sanderson's) at the Royal Institution, "the +whole assembly...rose to their feet to welcome him," while he seemed +"scarcely conscious that such an outburst of applause could possibly +be intended for himself." The quiet life he led at Down made him feel +confused in a large society; for instance, at the Royal Society's +soirees he felt oppressed by the numbers. The feeling that he ought +to know people, and the difficulty he had in remembering faces in his +latter years, also added to his discomfort on such occasions. He did not +realise that he would be recognised from his photographs, and I remember +his being uneasy at being obviously recognised by a stranger at the +Crystal Palace Aquarium. + +I must say something of his manner of working: one characteristic of it +was his respect for time; he never forgot how precious it was. This +was shown, for instance, in the way in which he tried to curtail his +holidays; also, and more clearly, with respect to shorter periods. He +would often say, that saving the minutes was the way to get work done; +he showed his love of saving the minutes in the difference he felt +between a quarter of an hour and ten minutes' work; he never wasted a +few spare minutes from thinking that it was not worth while to set to +work. I was often struck by his way of working up to the very limit of +his strength, so that he suddenly stopped in dictating, with the words, +"I believe I mustn't do any more." The same eager desire not to lose +time was seen in his quick movements when at work. I particularly +remember noticing this when he was making an experiment on the roots of +beans, which required some care in manipulation; fastening the little +bits of card upon the roots was done carefully and necessarily slowly, +but the intermediate movements were all quick; taking a fresh bean, +seeing that the root was healthy, impaling it on a pin, fixing it on +a cork, and seeing that it was vertical, etc; all these processes were +performed with a kind of restrained eagerness. He always gave one the +impression of working with pleasure, and not with any drag. I have an +image, too, of him as he recorded the result of some experiment, looking +eagerly at each root, etc., and then writing with equal eagerness. I +remember the quick movement of his head up and down as he looked from +the object to the notes. + +He saved a great deal of time through not having to do things twice. +Although he would patiently go on repeating experiments where there +was any good to be gained, he could not endure having to repeat an +experiment which ought, if complete care had been taken, to have +succeeded the first time--and this gave him a continual anxiety that the +experiment should not be wasted; he felt the experiment to be sacred, +however slight a one it was. He wished to learn as much as possible +from an experiment, so that he did not confine himself to observing +the single point to which the experiment was directed, and his power of +seeing a number of other things was wonderful. I do not think he cared +for preliminary or rough observation intended to serve as guides and +to be repeated. Any experiment done was to be of some use, and in this +connection I remember how strongly he urged the necessity of keeping the +notes of experiments which failed, and to this rule he always adhered. + +In the literary part of his work he had the same horror of losing time, +and the same zeal in what he was doing at the moment, and this made him +careful not to be obliged unnecessarily to read anything a second time. + +His natural tendency was to use simple methods and few instruments. The +use of the compound microscope has much increased since his youth, +and this at the expense of the simple one. It strikes us nowadays as +extraordinary that he should have had no compound microscope when he +went his "Beagle" voyage; but in this he followed the advice of Robt. +Brown, who was an authority in such matters. He always had a great +liking for the simple microscope, and maintained that nowadays it was +too much neglected, and that one ought always to see as much as possible +with the simple before taking to the compound microscope. In one of his +letters he speaks on this point, and remarks that he always suspects the +work of a man who never uses the simple microscope. + +His dissecting table was a thick board, let into a window of the study; +it was lower than an ordinary table, so that he could not have worked at +it standing; but this, from wishing to save his strength, he would not +have done in any case. He sat at his dissecting-table on a curious +low stool which had belonged to his father, with a seat revolving on a +vertical spindle, and mounted on large castors, so that he could turn +easily from side to side. His ordinary tools, etc., were lying about on +the table, but besides these a number of odds and ends were kept in a +round table full of radiating drawers, and turning on a vertical axis, +which stood close by his left side, as he sat at his microscope-table. +The drawers were labelled, "best tools," "rough tools," "specimens," +"preparations for specimens," etc. The most marked peculiarity of the +contents of these drawers was the care with which little scraps and +almost useless things were preserved; he held the well-known belief, +that if you threw a thing away you were sure to want it directly--and so +things accumulated. + +If any one had looked at his tools, etc., lying on the table, he would +have been struck by an air of simpleness, make-shift, and oddness. + +At his right hand were shelves, with a number of other odds and ends, +glasses, saucers, tin biscuit boxes for germinating seeds, zinc labels, +saucers full of sand, etc., etc. Considering how tidy and methodical +he was in essential things, it is curious that he bore with so many +make-shifts: for instance, instead of having a box made of a desired +shape, and stained black inside, he would hunt up something like what he +wanted and get it darkened inside with shoe-blacking; he did not care +to have glass covers made for tumblers in which he germinated seeds, +but used broken bits of irregular shape, with perhaps a narrow angle +sticking uselessly out on one side. But so much of his experimenting was +of a simple kind, that he had no need for any elaboration, and I think +his habit in this respect was in great measure due to his desire to +husband his strength, and not waste it on inessential things. + +His way of marking objects may here be mentioned. If he had a number of +things to distinguish, such as leaves, flowers, etc., he tied threads of +different colours round them. In particular he used this method when +he had only two classes of objects to distinguish; thus in the case of +crossed and self-fertilised flowers, one set would be marked with +black and one with white thread, tied round the stalk of the flower. I +remember well the look of two sets of capsules, gathered and waiting to +be weighed, counted, etc., with pieces of black and of white thread to +distinguish the trays in which they lay. When he had to compare two sets +of seedlings, sowed in the same pot, he separated them by a partition of +zinc-plate; and the zinc label, which gave the necessary details about +the experiment, was always placed on a certain side, so that it became +instinctive with him to know without reading the label which were the +"crossed" and which were the "self-fertilised." + +His love of each particular experiment, and his eager zeal not to lose +the fruit of it, came out markedly in these crossing experiments--in +the elaborate care he took not to make any confusion in putting capsules +into wrong trays, etc., etc. I can recall his appearance as he counted +seeds under the simple microscope with an alertness not usually +characterising such mechanical work as counting. I think he personified +each seed as a small demon trying to elude him by getting into the +wrong heap, or jumping away altogether; and this gave to the work the +excitement of a game. He had great faith in instruments, and I do not +think it naturally occurred to him to doubt the accuracy of a scale or +measuring glass, etc. He was astonished when we found that one of +his micrometers differed from the other. He did not require any great +accuracy in most of his measurements, and had not good scales; he had an +old three-foot rule, which was the common property of the household, +and was constantly being borrowed, because it was the only one which +was certain to be in its place--unless, indeed, the last borrower had +forgotten to put it back. For measuring the height of plants he had a +seven-foot deal rod, graduated by the village carpenter. Latterly he +took to using paper scales graduated to millimeters. For small +objects he used a pair of compasses and an ivory protractor. It +was characteristic of him that he took scrupulous pains in making +measurements with his somewhat rough scales. A trifling example of his +faith in authority is that he took his "inch in terms of millimeters" +from an old book, in which it turned out to be inaccurately given. +He had a chemical balance which dated from the days when he worked at +chemistry with his brother Erasmus. Measurements of capacity were made +with an apothecary's measuring glass: I remember well its rough look +and bad graduation. With this, too, I remember the great care he took +in getting the fluid-line on to the graduation. I do not mean by this +account of his instruments that any of his experiments suffered from +want of accuracy in measurement, I give them as examples of his simple +methods and faith in others--faith at least in instrument-makers, whose +whole trade was a mystery to him. + +A few of his mental characteristics, bearing especially on his mode of +working, occur to me. There was one quality of mind which seemed to be +of special and extreme advantage in leading him to make discoveries. +It was the power of never letting exceptions pass unnoticed. Everybody +notices a fact as an exception when it is striking or frequent, but he +had a special instinct for arresting an exception. A point apparently +slight and unconnected with his present work is passed over by many a +man almost unconsciously with some half-considered explanation, which +is in fact no explanation. It was just these things that he seized on to +make a start from. In a certain sense there is nothing special in this +procedure, many discoveries being made by means of it. I only mention +it because, as I watched him at work, the value of this power to an +experimenter was so strongly impressed upon me. + +Another quality which was shown in his experimental works was his power +of sticking to a subject; he used almost to apologise for his patience, +saying that he could not bear to be beaten, as if this were rather a +sign of weakness on his part. He often quoted the saying, "It's dogged +as does it;" and I think doggedness expresses his frame of mind almost +better than perseverance. Perseverance seems hardly to express his +almost fierce desire to force the truth to reveal itself. He often said +that it was important that a man should know the right point at which to +give up an inquiry. And I think it was his tendency to pass this point +that inclined him to apologise for his perseverance, and gave the air of +doggedness to his work. + +He often said that no one could be a good observer unless he was an +active theoriser. This brings me back to what I said about his instinct +for arresting exceptions: it was as though he were charged with +theorising power ready to flow into any channel on the slightest +disturbance, so that no fact, however small, could avoid releasing a +stream of theory, and thus the fact became magnified into importance. In +this way it naturally happened that many untenable theories occurred +to him; but fortunately his richness of imagination was equalled by his +power of judging and condemning the thoughts that occurred to him. He +was just to his theories, and did not condemn them unheard; and so it +happened that he was willing to test what would seem to most people +not at all worth testing. These rather wild trials he called "fool's +experiments," and enjoyed extremely. As an example I may mention that +finding the cotyledons of Biophytum to be highly sensitive to vibrations +of the table, he fancied that they might perceive the vibrations of +sound, and therefore made me play my bassoon close to a plant. (This is +not so much an example of superabundant theorising from a small cause, +but only of his wish to test the most improbable ideas.) + +The love of experiment was very strong in him, and I can remember the +way he would say, "I shan't be easy till I have tried it," as if an +outside force were driving him. He enjoyed experimenting much more than +work which only entailed reasoning, and when he was engaged on one of +his books which required argument and the marshalling of facts, he felt +experimental work to be a rest or holiday. Thus, while working upon +the 'Variations of Animals and Plants,' in 1860-61, he made out the +fertilisation of Orchids, and thought himself idle for giving so much +time to them. It is interesting to think that so important a piece of +research should have been undertaken and largely worked out as a pastime +in place of more serious work. The letters to Hooker of this period +contain expressions such as, "God forgive me for being so idle; I am +quite sillily interested in this work." The intense pleasure he took +in understanding the adaptations for fertilisation is strongly shown +in these letters. He speaks in one of his letters of his intention of +working at Drosera as a rest from the 'Descent of Man.' He has described +in his 'Recollections' the strong satisfaction he felt in solving the +problem of heterostylism. And I have heard him mention that the Geology +of South America gave him almost more pleasure than anything else. It +was perhaps this delight in work requiring keen observation that +made him value praise given to his observing powers almost more than +appreciation of his other qualities. + +For books he had no respect, but merely considered them as tools to be +worked with. Thus he did not bind them, and even when a paper book fell +to pieces from use, as happened to Muller's 'Befruchtung,' he preserved +it from complete dissolution by putting a metal clip over its back. +In the same way he would cut a heavy book in half, to make it more +convenient to hold. He used to boast that he made Lyell publish the +second edition of one of his books in two volumes instead of one, by +telling him how he had been obliged to cut it in half. Pamphlets were +often treated even more severely than books, for he would tear out, for +the sake of saving room, all the pages except the one that interested +him. The consequence of all this was, that his library was not +ornamental, but was striking from being so evidently a working +collection of books. + +He was methodical in his manner of reading books and pamphlets bearing +on his own work. He had one shelf on which were piled up the books +he had not yet read, and another to which they were transferred after +having been read, and before being catalogued. He would often groan over +his unread books, because there were so many which he knew he should +never read. Many a book was at once transferred to the other heap, +either marked with a cypher at the end, to show that it contained no +marked passages, or inscribed, perhaps, "not read," or "only skimmed." +The books accumulated in the "read" heap until the shelves overflowed, +and then, with much lamenting, a day was given up to the cataloguing. He +disliked this work, and as the necessity of undertaking the work became +imperative, would often say, in a voice of despair, "We really must do +these books soon." + +In each book, as he read it, he marked passages bearing on his work. In +reading a book or pamphlet, etc., he made pencil-lines at the side of +the page, often adding short remarks, and at the end made a list of +the pages marked. When it was to be catalogued and put away, the marked +pages were looked at, and so a rough abstract of the book was made. +This abstract would perhaps be written under three or four headings on +different sheets, the facts being sorted out and added to the previously +collected facts in different subjects. He had other sets of abstracts +arranged, not according to subject, but according to periodical. When +collecting facts on a large scale, in earlier years, he used to +read through, and make abstracts, in this way, of whole series of +periodicals. + +In some of his early letters he speaks of filling several note-books +with facts for his book on species; but it was certainly early that +he adopted his plan of using portfolios as described in the +'Recollections.' (The racks on which the portfolios were placed are +shown in the illustration, "The Study at Down," in the recess at the +right-hand side of the fire-place.) My father and M. de Candolle were +mutually pleased to discover that they had adopted the same plan of +classifying facts. De Candolle describes the method in his 'Phytologie,' +and in his sketch of my father mentions the satisfaction he felt in +seeing it in action at Down. + +Besides these portfolios, of which there are some dozens full of notes, +there are large bundles of MS. marked "used" and put away. He felt the +value of his notes, and had a horror of their destruction by fire. I +remember, when some alarm of fire had happened, his begging me to be +especially careful, adding very earnestly, that the rest of his life +would be miserable if his notes and books were to be destroyed. + +He shows the same feeling in writing about the loss of a manuscript, +the purport of his words being, "I have a copy, or the loss would have +killed me." In writing a book he would spend much time and labour +in making a skeleton or plan of the whole, and in enlarging and +sub-classing each heading, as described in his 'Recollections.' I think +this careful arrangement of the plan was not at all essential to the +building up of his argument, but for its presentment, and for the +arrangement of his facts. In his 'Life of Erasmus Darwin,' as it was +first printed in slips, the growth of the book from a skeleton was +plainly visible. The arrangement was altered afterwards, because it +was too formal and categorical, and seemed to give the character of his +grandfather rather by means of a list of qualities than as a complete +picture. + +It was only within the last few years that he adopted a plan of writing +which he was convinced suited him best, and which is described in the +'Recollections;' namely, writing a rough copy straight off without the +slightest attention to style. It was characteristic of him that he felt +unable to write with sufficient want of care if he used his best paper, +and thus it was that he wrote on the backs of old proofs or manuscript. +The rough copy was then reconsidered, and a fair copy was made. For this +purpose he had foolscap paper ruled at wide intervals, the lines +being needed to prevent him writing so closely that correction became +difficult. The fair copy was then corrected, and was recopied before +being sent to the printers. The copying was done by Mr. E. Norman, who +began this work many years ago when village schoolmaster at Down. My +father became so used to Mr. Norman's hand-writing, that he could +not correct manuscript, even when clearly written out by one of +his children, until it had been recopied by Mr. Norman. The MS., on +returning from Mr. Norman was once more corrected, and then sent off to +the printers. Then came the work of revising and correcting the proofs, +which my father found especially wearisome. + +It was at this stage that he first seriously considered the style of +what he had written. When this was going on he usually started some +other piece of work as a relief. The correction of slips consisted in +fact of two processes, for the corrections were first written in pencil, +and then re-considered and written in ink. + +When the book was passing through the "slip" stage he was glad to have +corrections and suggestions from others. Thus my mother looked over +the proofs of the 'Origin.' In some of the later works my sister, Mrs. +Litchfield, did much of the correction. After my sister's marriage +perhaps most of the work fell to my share. + +My sister, Mrs. Litchfield, writes:-- + +"This work was very interesting in itself, and it was inexpressibly +exhilarating to work for him. He was always so ready to be convinced +that any suggested alteration was an improvement, and so full of +gratitude for the trouble taken. I do not think that he ever used to +forget to tell me what improvement he thought that I had made, and he +used almost to excuse himself if he did not agree with any correction. I +think I felt the singular modesty and graciousness of his nature through +thus working for him in a way I never should otherwise have done. + +"He did not write with ease, and was apt to invert his sentences both in +writing and speaking, putting the qualifying clause before it was clear +what it was to qualify. He corrected a great deal, and was eager to +express himself as well as he possibly could." + +Perhaps the commonest corrections needed were of obscurities due to the +omission of a necessary link in the reasoning, something which he had +evidently omitted through familiarity with the subject. Not that there +was any fault in the sequence of the thoughts, but that from familiarity +with his argument he did not notice when the words failed to reproduce +his thought. He also frequently put too much matter into one sentence, +so that it had to be cut up into two. + +On the whole, I think the pains which my father took over the literary +part of the work was very remarkable. He often laughed or grumbled at +himself for the difficulty which he found in writing English, saying, +for instance, that if a bad arrangement of a sentence was possible, he +should be sure to adopt it. He once got much amusement and satisfaction +out of the difficulty which one of the family found in writing a short +circular. He had the pleasure of correcting and laughing at obscurities, +involved sentences, and other defects, and thus took his revenge for +all the criticism he had himself to bear with. He used to quote with +astonishment Miss Martineau's advice to young authors, to write straight +off and send the MS. to the printer without correction. But in some +cases he acted in a somewhat similar manner. When a sentence got +hopelessly involved, he would ask himself, "now what DO you want +to say?" and his answer written down, would often disentangle the +confusion. + +His style has been much praised; on the other hand, at least one good +judge has remarked to me that it is not a good style. It is, above all +things, direct and clear; and it is characteristic of himself in its +simplicity, bordering on naivete, and in its absence of pretence. He had +the strongest disbelief in the common idea that a classical scholar must +write good English; indeed, he thought that the contrary was the case. +In writing, he sometimes showed the same tendency to strong expressions +as he did in conversation. Thus in the 'Origin,' page 440, there is +a description of a larval cirripede, "with six pairs of beautifully +constructed natatory legs, a pair of magnificent compound eyes, and +extremely complex antennae." We used to laugh at him for this sentence, +which we compared to an advertisement. This tendency to give himself +up to the enthusiastic turn of his thought, without fear of being +ludicrous, appears elsewhere in his writings. + +His courteous and conciliatory tone towards his reader is remarkable, +and it must be partly this quality which revealed his personal sweetness +of character to so many who had never seen him. I have always felt it +to be a curious fact, that he who had altered the face of Biological +Science, and is in this respect the chief of the moderns, should have +written and worked in so essentially a non-modern spirit and manner. In +reading his books one is reminded of the older naturalists rather than +of the modern school of writers. He was a Naturalist in the old sense of +the word, that is, a man who works at many branches of the science, not +merely a specialist in one. Thus it is, that, though he founded whole +new divisions of special subjects--such as the fertilisation of flowers, +insectivorous plants, dimorphism, etc.--yet even in treating these very +subjects he does not strike the reader as a specialist. The reader feels +like a friend who is being talked to by a courteous gentleman, not like +a pupil being lectured by a professor. The tone of such a book as the +'Origin' is charming, and almost pathetic; it is the tone of a man who, +convinced of the truth of his own views, hardly expects to convince +others; it is just the reverse of the style of a fanatic, who wants to +force people to believe. The reader is never scorned for any amount of +doubt which he may be imagined to feel, and his scepticism is +treated with patient respect. A sceptical reader, or perhaps even +an unreasonable reader, seems to have been generally present to his +thoughts. It was in consequence of this feeling, perhaps, that he took +much trouble over points which he imagined would strike the reader, or +save him trouble, and so tempt him to read. + +For the same reason he took much interest in the illustrations of +his books, and I think rated rather too highly their value. The +illustrations for his earlier books were drawn by professional artists. +This was the case in 'Animals and Plants,' the 'Descent of Man,' and +the 'Expression of the Emotions.' On the other hand, 'Climbing Plants,' +'Insectivorous Plants,' the 'Movements of Plants,' and 'Forms +of Flowers,' were, to a large extent, illustrated by some of his +children--my brother George having drawn by far the most. It was +delightful to draw for him, as he was enthusiastic in his praise of very +moderate performances. I remember well his charming manner of receiving +the drawings of one of his daughters-in-law, and how he would finish his +words of praise by saying, "Tell A--, Michael Angelo is nothing to +it." Though he praised so generously, he always looked closely at the +drawing, and easily detected mistakes or carelessness. + +He had a horror of being lengthy, and seems to have been really much +annoyed and distressed when he found how the 'Variations of Animals and +Plants' was growing under his hands. I remember his cordially agreeing +with 'Tristram Shandy's' words, "Let no man say, 'Come, I'll write a +duodecimo.'" + +His consideration for other authors was as marked a characteristic as +his tone towards his reader. He speaks of all other authors as persons +deserving of respect. In cases where, as in the case of --'s experiments +on Drosera, he thought lightly of the author, he speaks of him in such a +way that no one would suspect it. In other cases he treats the confused +writings of ignorant persons as though the fault lay with himself for +not appreciating or understanding them. Besides this general tone of +respect, he had a pleasant way of expressing his opinion on the value of +a quoted work, or his obligation for a piece of private information. + +His respectful feeling was not only morally beautiful, but was I +think of practical use in making him ready to consider the ideas and +observations of all manner of people. He used almost to apologise for +this, and would say that he was at first inclined to rate everything too +highly. + +It was a great merit in his mind that, in spite of having so strong a +respectful feeling towards what he read, he had the keenest of instincts +as to whether a man was trustworthy or not. He seemed to form a very +definite opinion as to the accuracy of the men whose books he read; and +made use of this judgment in his choice of facts for use in argument +or as illustrations. I gained the impression that he felt this power of +judging of a man's trustworthiness to be of much value. + +He had a keen feeling of the sense of honour that ought to reign among +authors, and had a horror of any kind of laxness in quoting. He had +a contempt for the love of honour and glory, and in his letters often +blames himself for the pleasure he took in the success of his books, +as though he were departing from his ideal--a love of truth and +carelessness about fame. Often, when writing to Sir J. Hooker what he +calls a boasting letter, he laughs at himself for his conceit and want +of modesty. There is a wonderfully interesting letter which he wrote +to my mother bequeathing to her, in case of his death, the care of +publishing the manuscript of his first essay on evolution. This letter +seems to me full of the intense desire that his theory should succeed +as a contribution to knowledge, and apart from any desire for personal +fame. He certainly had the healthy desire for success which a man of +strong feelings ought to have. But at the time of the publication of +the 'Origin' it is evident that he was overwhelmingly satisfied with the +adherence of such men as Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, and Asa Gray, and did +not dream of or desire any such wide and general fame as he attained to. + +Connected with his contempt for the undue love of fame, was an equally +strong dislike of all questions of priority. The letters to Lyell, at +the time of the 'Origin,' show the anger he felt with himself for not +being able to repress a feeling of disappointment at what he thought +was Mr. Wallace's forestalling of all his years of work. His sense of +literary honour comes out strongly in these letters; and his feeling +about priority is again shown in the admiration expressed in his +'Recollections' of Mr. Wallace's self-annihilation. + +His feeling about reclamations, including answers to attacks and all +kinds of discussions, was strong. It is simply expressed in a letter to +Falconer (1863?), "If I ever felt angry towards you, for whom I have a +sincere friendship, I should begin to suspect that I was a little mad. I +was very sorry about your reclamation, as I think it is in every case +a mistake and should be left to others. Whether I should so act myself +under provocation is a different question." It was a feeling partly +dictated by instinctive delicacy, and partly by a strong sense of the +waste of time, energy, and temper thus caused. He said that he owed his +determination not to get into discussions (He departed from his rule in +his "Note on the Habits of the Pampas Woodpecker, Colaptes campestris," +'Proc. Zool. Soc.,' 1870, page 705: also in a letter published in the +'Athenaeum' (1863, page 554), in which case he afterwards regretted +that he had not remained silent. His replies to criticisms, in the later +editions of the 'Origin,' can hardly be classed as infractions of his +rule.) to the advice of Lyell,--advice which he transmitted to those +among his friends who were given to paper warfare. + +If the character of my father's working life is to be understood, the +conditions of ill-health, under which he worked, must be constantly +borne in mind. He bore his illness with such uncomplaining patience, +that even his children can hardly, I believe, realise the extent of his +habitual suffering. In their case the difficulty is heightened by the +fact that, from the days of their earliest recollections, they saw him +in constant ill-health,--and saw him, in spite of it, full of pleasure +in what pleased them. Thus, in later life, their perception of what he +endured had to be disentangled from the impression produced in childhood +by constant genial kindness under conditions of unrecognised difficulty. +No one indeed, except my mother, knows the full amount of suffering +he endured, or the full amount of his wonderful patience. For all the +latter years of his life she never left him for a night; and her days +were so planned that all his resting hours might be shared with her. She +shielded him from every avoidable annoyance, and omitted nothing that +might save him trouble, or prevent him becoming overtired, or that might +alleviate the many discomforts of his ill-health. I hesitate to speak +thus freely of a thing so sacred as the life-long devotion which +prompted all this constant and tender care. But it is, I repeat, a +principal feature of his life, that for nearly forty years he never knew +one day of the health of ordinary men, and that thus his life was one +long struggle against the weariness and strain of sickness. And this +cannot be told without speaking of the one condition which enabled him +to bear the strain and fight out the struggle to the end. + + +LETTERS. + +The earliest letters to which I have access are those written by my +father when an undergraduate at Cambridge. + +The history of his life, as told in his correspondence, must therefore +begin with this period. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.IV. -- CAMBRIDGE LIFE. + +[My father's Cambridge life comprises the time between the Lent Term, +1828, when he came up as a Freshman, and the end of the May Term, 1831, +when he took his degree and left the University.] + +It appears from the College books, that my father "admissus est +pensionarius minor sub Magistro Shaw" on October 15, 1827. He did not +come into residence till the Lent Term, 1828, so that, although he +passed his examination in due season, he was unable to take his degree +at the usual time,--the beginning of the Lent Term, 1831. In such a case +a man usually took his degree before Ash-Wednesday, when he was called +"Baccalaureus ad Diem Cinerum," and ranked with the B.A.'s of the +year. My father's name, however, occurs in the list of Bachelors +"ad Baptistam," or those admitted between Ash-Wednesday and St. John +Baptist's Day (June 24th); ("On Tuesday last Charles Darwin, of Christ's +College, was admitted B.A."--"Cambridge Chronicle", Friday, April 29, +1831.) he therefore took rank among the Bachelors of 1832. + +He "kept" for a term or two in lodgings, over Bacon the tobacconist's; +not, however, over the shop in the Market Place, now so well known to +Cambridge men, but in Sidney Street. For the rest of his time he had +pleasant rooms on the south side of the first court of Christ's. (The +rooms are on the first floor, on the west side of the middle staircase. +A medallion (given by my brother) has recently been let into the wall of +the sitting-room.) + +What determined the choice of this college for his brother Erasmus +and himself I have no means of knowing. Erasmus the elder, their +grandfather, had been at St. John's, and this college might have been +reasonably selected for them, being connected with Shrewsbury School. +But the life of an under-graduate at St. John's seems, in those days, to +have been a troubled one, if I may judge from the fact that a relative +of mine migrated thence to Christ's to escape the harassing discipline +of the place. A story told by Mr. Herbert illustrates the same state of +things:-- + +"In the beginning of the October Term of 1830, an incident occurred +which was attended with somewhat disagreeable, though ludicrous +consequences to myself. Darwin asked me to take a long walk with him in +the Fens, to search for some natural objects he was desirous of having. +After a very long, fatiguing day's work, we dined together, late in the +evening, at his rooms in Christ's College; and as soon as our dinner was +over we threw ourselves into easy chairs and fell sound asleep. I was +first to awake, about three in the morning, when, having looked at my +watch, and knowing the strict rule of St. John's, which required men in +statu pupillari to come into college before midnight, I rushed homeward +at the utmost speed, in fear of the consequences, but hoping that the +Dean would accept the excuse as sufficient when I told him the +real facts. He, however, was inexorable, and refused to receive my +explanations, or any evidence I could bring; and although during +my undergraduateship I had never been reported for coming late into +College, now, when I was a hard-working B.A., and had five or six +pupils, he sentenced me to confinement to the College walls for the +rest of the term. Darwin's indignation knew no bounds, and the stupid +injustice and tyranny of the Dean raised not only a perfect ferment +among my friends, but was the subject of expostulation from some of the +leading members of the University." + +My father seems to have found no difficulty in living at peace with +all men in and out of office at Lady Margaret's other foundation. The +impression of a contemporary of my father's is that Christ's in their +day was a pleasant, fairly quiet college, with some tendency towards +"horsiness"; many of the men made a custom of going to Newmarket during +the races, though betting was not a regular practice. In this they were +by no means discouraged by the Senior Tutor, Mr. Shaw, who was himself +generally to be seen on the Heath on these occasions. There was a +somewhat high proportion of Fellow-Commoners,--eight or nine, to sixty +or seventy Pensioners, and this would indicate that it was not an +unpleasant college for men with money to spend and with no great love of +strict discipline. + +The way in which the service was conducted in chapel shows that the +Dean, at least, was not over zealous. I have heard my father tell how +at evening chapel the Dean used to read alternate verses of the Psalms, +without making even a pretence of waiting for the congregation to take +their share. And when the Lesson was a lengthy one, he would rise and +go on with the Canticles after the scholar had read fifteen or twenty +verses. + +It is curious that my father often spoke of his Cambridge life as if it +had been so much time wasted, forgetting that, although the set studies +of the place were barren enough for him, he yet gained in the highest +degree the best advantages of a University life--the contact with men +and an opportunity for his mind to grow vigorously. It is true that he +valued at its highest the advantages which he gained from associating +with Professor Henslow and some others, but he seemed to consider this +as a chance outcome of his life at Cambridge, not an advantage for which +Alma Mater could claim any credit. One of my father's Cambridge friends +was the late Mr. J.M. Herbert, County Court Judge for South Wales, from +whom I was fortunate enough to obtain some notes which help us to gain +an idea of how my father impressed his contemporaries. Mr. Herbert +writes: "I think it was in the spring of 1828 that I first met Darwin, +either at my cousin Whitley's rooms in St. John's, or at the rooms of +some other of his old Shrewsbury schoolfellows, with many of whom I was +on terms of great intimacy. But it certainly was in the summer of that +year that our acquaintance ripened into intimacy, when we happened to +be together at Barmouth, for the Long Vacation, reading with private +tutors,--he with Batterton of St. John's, his Classical and Mathematical +Tutor, and I with Yate of St. John's." + +The intercourse between them practically ceased in 1831, when my father +said goodbye to Herbert at Cambridge, on starting on his "Beagle" +voyage. I once met Mr. Herbert, then almost an old man, and I was much +struck by the evident warmth and freshness of the affection with which +he remembered my father. The notes from which I quote end with this +warm-hearted eulogium: "It would be idle for me to speak of his vast +intellectual powers...but I cannot end this cursory and rambling sketch +without testifying, and I doubt not all his surviving college friends +would concur with me, that he was the most genial, warm-hearted, +generous, and affectionate of friends; that his sympathies were with all +that was good and true; and that he had a cordial hatred for everything +false, or vile, or cruel, or mean, or dishonourable. He was not only +great, but pre-eminently good, and just, and loveable." + +Two anecdotes told by Mr. Herbert show that my father's feeling for +suffering, whether of man or beast, was as strong in him as a young man +as it was in later years: "Before he left Cambridge he told me that he +had made up his mind not to shoot any more; that he had had two days' +shooting at his friend's, Mr. Owen of Woodhouse; and that on the second +day, when going over some of the ground they had beaten on the day +before, he picked up a bird not quite dead, but lingering from a shot it +had received on the previous day; and that it had made and left such a +painful impression on his mind, that he could not reconcile it to his +conscience to continue to derive pleasure from a sport which inflicted +such cruel suffering." + +To realise the strength of the feeling that led to this resolve, we must +remember how passionate was his love of sport. We must recall the +boy shooting his first snipe ('Recollections.'), and trembling with +excitement so that he could hardly reload his gun. Or think of such a +sentence as, "Upon my soul, it is only about a fortnight to the 'First,' +then if there is a bliss on earth that is it." (Letter from C. Darwin to +W.D. Fox.) + +Another anecdote told by Mr. Herbert illustrates again his tenderness of +heart:-- + +"When at Barmouth he and I went to an exhibition of 'learned dogs.' In +the middle of the entertainment one of the dogs failed in performing the +trick his master told him to do. On the man reproving him, the dog put +on a most piteous expression, as if in fear of the whip. Darwin seeing +it, asked me to leave with him, saying, 'Come along, I can't stand this +any longer; how those poor dogs must have been licked.'" + +It is curious that the same feeling recurred to my father more +than fifty years afterwards, on seeing some performing dogs at the +Westminster Aquarium; on this occasion he was reassured by the manager +telling him that the dogs were taught more by reward than by punishment. +Mr. Herbert goes on:--"It stirred one's inmost depth of feeling to hear +him descant upon, and groan over, the horrors of the slave-trade, or the +cruelties to which the suffering Poles were subjected at Warsaw...These, +and other like proofs have left on my mind the conviction that a more +humane or tender-hearted man never lived." + +His old college friends agree in speaking with affectionate warmth of +his pleasant, genial temper as a young man. From what they have been +able to tell me, I gain the impression of a young man overflowing with +animal spirits--leading a varied healthy life--not over-industrious in +the set of studies of the place, but full of other pursuits, which were +followed with a rejoicing enthusiasm. Entomology, riding, shooting in +the fens, suppers and card-playing, music at King's Chapel, engravings +at the Fitzwilliam Museum, walks with Professor Henslow--all combined +to fill up a happy life. He seems to have infected others with his +enthusiasm. Mr. Herbert relates how, during the same Barmouth summer, +he was pressed into the service of "the science"--as my father called +collecting beetles. They took their daily walks together among the hills +behind Barmouth, or boated in the Mawddach estuary, or sailed to +Sarn Badrig to land there at low water, or went fly-fishing in the +Cors-y-gedol lakes. "On these occasions Darwin entomologized most +industriously, picking up creatures as he walked along, and bagging +everything which seemed worthy of being pursued, or of further +examination. And very soon he armed me with a bottle of alcohol, in +which I had to drop any beetle which struck me as not of a common kind. +I performed this duty with some diligence in my constitutional walks; +but alas! my powers of discrimination seldom enabled me to secure a +prize--the usual result, on his examining the contents of my bottle, +being an exclamation, 'Well, old Cherbury' (No doubt in allusion to the +title of Lord Herbert of Cherbury.) (the nickname he gave me, and by +which he usually addressed me), 'none of these will do.'" Again, the +Rev. T. Butler, who was one of the Barmouth reading-party in 1828, says: +"He inoculated me with a taste for Botany which has stuck by me all my +life." + +Archdeacon Watkins, another old college friend of my father's, +remembers him unearthing beetles in the willows between Cambridge and +Grantchester, and speaks of a certain beetle the remembrance of whose +name is "Crux major." (Panagaeus crux-major.) How enthusiastically must +my father have exulted over this beetle to have impressed its name on +a companion so that he remembers it after half a century! Archdeacon +Watkins goes on: "I do not forget the long and very interesting +conversations that we had about Brazilian scenery and tropical +vegetation of all sorts. Nor do I forget the way and the vehemence +with which he rubbed his chin when he got excited on such subjects, and +discoursed eloquently of lianas, orchids, etc." + +He became intimate with Henslow, the Professor of Botany, and through +him with some other older members of the University. "But," Mr. Herbert +writes, "he always kept up the closest connection with the friends of +his own standing; and at our frequent social gatherings--at breakfast, +wine or supper parties--he was ever one of the most cheerful, the most +popular, and the most welcome." + +My father formed one of a club for dining once a week, called the +Gourmet (Mr. Herbert mentions the name as 'The Glutton Club.') Club, +the members, besides himself and Mr. Herbert (from whom I quote), being +Whitley of St. John's, now Honorary Canon of Durham (Formerly Reader +in Natural Philosophy at Durham University.); Heaviside of Sidney, now +Canon of Norwich; Lovett Cameron of Trinity, now vicar of Shoreham; +Blane of Trinity, who held a high post during the Crimean war; H. Lowe +(Brother of Lord Sherbrooke.) (Now Sherbrooke) of Trinity Hall; and +Watkins of Emmanuel, now Archdeacon of York. The origin of the club's +name seems already to have become involved in obscurity. Mr. Herbert +says that it was chosen in derision of another "set of men who called +themselves by a long Greek name signifying 'fond of dainties,' but who +falsified their claim to such a designation by their weekly practice of +dining at some roadside inn, six miles from Cambridge, on mutton chops +or beans and bacon." Another old member of the club tells me that the +name arose because the members were given to making experiments on +"birds and beasts which were before unknown to human palate." He says +that hawk and bittern were tried, and that their zeal broke down over +an old brown owl, "which was indescribable." At any rate, the meetings +seemed to have been successful, and to have ended with "a game of mild +vingt-et-un." + +Mr. Herbert gives an amusing account of the musical examinations +described by my father in his "Recollections." Mr. Herbert speaks +strongly of his love of music, and adds, "What gave him the greatest +delight was some grand symphony or overture of Mozart's or Beethoven's, +with their full harmonies." On one occasion Herbert remembers +"accompanying him to the afternoon service at King's, when we heard +a very beautiful anthem. At the end of one of the parts, which was +exceedingly impressive, he turned round to me and said, with a deep +sigh, 'How's your backbone?'" He often spoke of a feeling of coldness or +shivering in his back on hearing beautiful music. + +Besides a love of music, he had certainly at this time a love of fine +literature; and Mr. Cameron tells me that he used to read Shakespeare +to my father in his rooms at Christ's, who took much pleasure in it. +He also speaks of his "great liking for first-class line engravings, +especially those of Raphael Morghen and Muller; and he spent hours in +the Fitzwilliam Museum in looking over the prints in that collection." + +My father's letters to Fox show how sorely oppressed he felt by the +reading of an examination: "I am reading very hard, and have spirits for +nothing. I actually have not stuck a beetle this term." His despair over +mathematics must have been profound, when he expressed a hope that Fox's +silence is due to "your being ten fathoms deep in the Mathematics; and +if you are, God help you, for so am I, only with this difference, I +stick fast in the mud at the bottom, and there I shall remain." Mr. +Herbert says: "He had, I imagine, no natural turn for mathematics, and +he gave up his mathematical reading before he had mastered the first +part of Algebra, having had a special quarrel with Surds and the +Binomial Theorem." + +We get some evidence from his letters to Fox of my father's intention +of going into the Church. "I am glad," he writes (March 18, 1829.), "to +hear that you are reading divinity. I should like to know what books +you are reading, and your opinions about them; you need not be afraid +of preaching to me prematurely." Mr. Herbert's sketch shows how doubts +arose in my father's mind as to the possibility of his taking Orders. +He writes, "We had an earnest conversation about going into Holy Orders; +and I remember his asking me, with reference to the question put by the +Bishop in the ordination service, 'Do you trust that you are inwardly +moved by the Holy Spirit, etc.,' whether I could answer in the +affirmative, and on my saying I could not, he said, 'Neither can I, +and therefore I cannot take orders.'" This conversation appears to have +taken place in 1829, and if so, the doubts here expressed must have been +quieted, for in May 1830, he speaks of having some thoughts of reading +divinity with Henslow. + +[The greater number of the following letters are addressed by my father +to his cousin, William Darwin Fox. Mr. Fox's relationship to my father +is shown in the pedigree given in Chapter I. The degree of kinship +appears to have remained a problem to my father, as he signs himself in +one letter "cousin/n to the power 2." Their friendship was, in fact, due +to their being undergraduates together. My father's letters show clearly +enough how genuine the friendship was. In after years, distance, large +families, and ill-health on both sides, checked the intercourse; but a +warm feeling of friendship remained. The correspondence was never quite +dropped and continued till Mr. Fox's death in 1880. Mr. Fox took orders, +and worked as a country clergyman until forced by ill-health to leave +his living in Delamare Forest. His love of natural history remained +strong, and he became a skilled fancier of many kinds of birds, etc. +The index to 'Animals and Plants,' and my father's later correspondence, +show how much help he received from his old College friend.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.M. HERBERT. Saturday Evening [September 14, 1828]. +(The postmark being Derby seems to show that the letter was written from +his cousin, W.D. Fox's house, Osmaston, near Derby.) + +My dear old Cherbury, + +I am about to fulfil my promise of writing to you, but I am sorry to add +there is a very selfish motive at the bottom. I am going to ask you +a great favour, and you cannot imagine how much you will oblige me by +procuring some more specimens of some insects which I dare say I can +describe. In the first place, I must inform you that I have taken +some of the rarest of the British Insects, and their being found near +Barmouth, is quite unknown to the Entomological world: I think I shall +write and inform some of the crack entomologists. + +But now for business. SEVERAL more specimens, if you can procure them +without much trouble, of the following insects:--The violet-black +coloured beetle, found on Craig Storm (The top of the hill immediately +behind Barmouth was called Craig-Storm, a hybrid Cambro-English word.), +under stones, also a large smooth black one very like it; a bluish +metallic-coloured dung-beetle, which is VERY common on the hill-sides; +also, if you WOULD be so very kind as to cross the ferry, and you +will find a great number under the stones on the waste land of a long, +smooth, jet-black beetle (a great many of these); also, in the same +situation, a very small pinkish insect, with black spots, with a curved +thorax projecting beyond the head; also, upon the marshy land over the +ferry, near the sea, under old sea-weed, stones, etc., you will find a +small yellowish transparent beetle, with two or four blackish marks on +the back. Under these stones there are two sorts, one much darker than +the other; the lighter-coloured is that which I want. These last two +insects are EXCESSIVELY RARE, and you will really EXTREMELY oblige me by +taking all this trouble pretty soon; remember me most kindly to Butler, +tell him of my success, and I dare say both of you will easily recognise +these insects. I hope his caterpillars go on well. I think many of the +Chrysalises are well worth keeping. I really am quite ashamed [of] so +long a letter all about my own concerns; but do return good for evil, +and send me a long account of all your proceedings. + +In the first week I killed seventy-five head of game--a very +contemptible number--but there are very few birds. I killed, however, a +brace of black game. Since then I have been staying at the Fox's, near +Derby; it is a very pleasant house, and the music meeting went off very +well. I want to hear how Yates likes his gun, and what use he has made +of it. + +If the bottle is not large you can buy another for me, and when you pass +through Shrewsbury you can leave these treasures, and I hope, if you +possibly can, you will stay a day or two with me, as I hope I need +not say how glad I shall be to see you again. Fox remarked what deuced +good-natured fellows your friends at Barmouth must be; and if I did not +know how you and Butler were so, I would not think of giving you so much +trouble. + +Believe me, my dear Herbert, Yours, most sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. +Remember me to all friends. + + +[In the following January we find him looking forward with pleasure to +the beginning of another year of his Cambridge life: he writes to Fox-- + +"I waited till to-day for the chance of a letter, but I will wait no +longer. I must most sincerely and cordially congratulate you on +having finished all your labours. I think your place a VERY GOOD one +considering by how much you have beaten many men who had the start of +you in reading. I do so wish I were now in Cambridge (a very selfish +wish, however, as I was not with you in all your troubles and misery), +to join in all the glory and happiness, which dangers gone by can give. +How we would talk, walk, and entomologise! Sappho should be the best of +bitches, and Dash, of dogs: then should be 'peace on earth, good will to +men,'--which, by the way, I always think the most perfect description of +happiness that words can give."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Cambridge, Thursday [February 26, 1829]. + +My dear Fox, + +When I arrived here on Tuesday I found to my great grief and surprise, a +letter on my table which I had written to you about a fortnight ago, the +stupid porter never took the trouble of getting the letter forwarded. I +suppose you have been abusing me for a most ungrateful wretch; but I am +sure you will pity me now, as nothing is so vexatious as having written +a letter in vain. + +Last Thursday I left Shrewsbury for London, and stayed there till +Tuesday, on which I came down here by the 'Times.' The first two days +I spent entirely with Mr. Hope (Founder of the Chair of Zoology at +Oxford.), and did little else but talk about and look at insects; his +collection is most magnificent, and he himself is the most generous of +entomologists; he has given me about 160 new species, and actually often +wanted to give me the rarest insects of which he had only two specimens. +He made many civil speeches, and hoped you will call on him some +time with me, whenever we should happen to be in London. He greatly +compliments our exertions in Entomology, and says we have taken a +wonderfully great number of good insects. On Sunday I spent the day with +Holland, who lent me a horse to ride in the Park with. + +On Monday evening I drank tea with Stephens (J.F. Stephens, author of 'A +Manual of British Coleoptera,' 1839, and other works.); his cabinet is +more magnificent than the most zealous entomologist could dream of; he +appears to be a very good-humoured pleasant little man. Whilst in town I +went to the Royal Institution, Linnean Society, and Zoological Gardens, +and many other places where naturalists are gregarious. If you had been +with me, I think London would be a very delightful place; as things +were, it was much pleasanter than I could have supposed such a dreary +wilderness of houses to be. + +I shot whilst in Shrewsbury a Dundiver (female Goosander, as I suppose +you know). Shaw has stuffed it, and when I have an opportunity I will +send it to Osmaston. There have been shot also five Waxen Chatterers, +three of which Shaw has for sale; would you like to purchase a specimen? +I have not yet thanked you for your last very long and agreeable letter. +It would have been still more agreeable had it contained the joyful +intelligence that you were coming up here; my two solitary breakfasts +have already made me aware how very very much I shall miss you. + +... + +Believe me, My dear old Fox, Most sincerely yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[Later on in the Lent term he writes to Fox:-- + +"I am leading a quiet everyday sort of a life; a little of Gibbon's +History in the morning, and a good deal of "Van John" in the evening; +this, with an occasional ride with Simcox and constitutional with +Whitley, makes up the regular routine of my days. I see a good deal both +of Herbert and Whitley, and the more I see of them increases every day +the respect I have for their excellent understandings and dispositions. +They have been giving some very gay parties, nearly sixty men there both +evenings."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Christ's College [Cambridge], April 1 +[1829]. + +My dear Fox, + +In your letter to Holden you are pleased to observe "that of all the +blackguards you ever met with I am the greatest." Upon this observation +I shall make no remarks, excepting that I must give you all due credit +for acting on it most rigidly. And now I should like to know in what one +particular are you less of a blackguard than I am? You idle old wretch, +why have you not answered my last letter, which I am sure I forwarded to +Clifton nearly three weeks ago? If I was not really very anxious to hear +what you are doing, I should have allowed you to remain till you thought +it worth while to treat me like a gentleman. And now having vented my +spleen in scolding you, and having told you, what you must know, how +very much and how anxiously I want to hear how you and your family are +getting on at Clifton, the purport of this letter is finished. If you +did but know how often I think of you, and how often I regret your +absence, I am sure I should have heard from you long enough ago. + +I find Cambridge rather stupid, and as I know scarcely any one that +walks, and this joined with my lips not being quite so well, has reduced +me to a sort of hybernation... I have caught Mr. Harbour letting -- +have the first pick of the beetles; accordingly we have made our final +adieus, my part in the affecting scene consisted in telling him he was a +d--d rascal, and signifying I should kick him down the stairs if ever +he appeared in my rooms again. It seemed altogether mightily to +surprise the young gentleman. I have no news to tell you; indeed, when +a correspondence has been broken off like ours has been, it is difficult +to make the first start again. Last night there was a terrible fire at +Linton, eleven miles from Cambridge. Seeing the reflection so plainly in +the sky, Hall, Woodyeare, Turner, and myself thought we would ride and +see it. We set out at half-past nine, and rode like incarnate devils +there, and did not return till two in the morning. Altogether it was a +most awful sight. I cannot conclude without telling you, that of all the +blackguards I ever met with, you are the greatest and the best. + +C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. [Cambridge, Thursday, April 23, 1829.] + +My dear Fox, + +I have delayed answering your last letter for these few days, as I +thought that under such melancholy circumstances my writing to you would +be probably only giving you trouble. This morning I received a letter +from Catherine informing me of that event (The death of Fox's sister, +Mrs. Bristowe.), which, indeed, from your letter, I had hardly dared to +hope would have happened otherwise. I feel most sincerely and deeply for +you and all your family; but at the same time, as far as any one can, +by his own good principles and religion, be supported under such a +misfortune, you, I am assured, will know where to look for such support. +And after so pure and holy a comfort as the Bible affords, I am equally +assured how useless the sympathy of all friends must appear, although +it be as heartfelt and sincere, as I hope you believe me capable of +feeling. At such a time of deep distress I will say nothing more, +excepting that I trust your father and Mrs. Fox bear this blow as well +as, under such circumstances, can be hoped for. + +I am afraid it will be a long time, my dear Fox, before we meet; till +then, believe me at all times, + +Yours most affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Shrewsbury, Friday [July 4, 1829]. + +My dear Fox, + +I should have written to you before only that whilst our expedition +lasted I was too much engaged, and the conclusion was so unfortunate, +that I was too unhappy to write to you till this week's quiet at home. +The thoughts of Woodhouse next week has at last given me courage to +relate my unfortunate case. + +I started from this place about a fortnight ago to take an entomological +trip with Mr. Hope through all North Wales; and Barmouth was our first +destination. The two first days I went on pretty well, taking several +good insects; but for the rest of that week my lips became suddenly so +bad (Probably with eczema, from which he often suffered.), and I myself +not very well, that I was unable to leave the room, and on the Monday I +retreated with grief and sorrow back again to Shrewsbury. The first two +days I took some good insects...But the days that I was unable to go +out, Mr. Hope did wonders...and to-day I have received another parcel +of insects from him, such Colymbetes, such Carabi, and such magnificent +Elaters (two species of the bright scarlet sort). I am sure you will +properly sympathise with my unfortunate situation: I am determined I +will go over the same ground that he does before autumn comes, and if +working hard will procure insects I will bring home a glorious +stock.... + +My dear Fox, Yours most sincerely, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Shrewsbury, July 18, 1829. + +I am going to Maer next week in order to entomologise, and shall +stay there a week, and for the rest of this summer I intend to lead a +perfectly idle and wandering life...You see I am much in the same state +that you are, with this difference, you make good resolutions and never +keep them; I never make them, so cannot keep them; it is all very well +writing in this manner, but I must read for my Little-go. Graham smiled +and bowed so very civilly, when he told me that he was one of the +six appointed to make the examination stricter, and that they were +determined this would make it a very different thing from any previous +examination, that from all this I am sure it will be the very devil to +pay amongst all idle men and entomologists. Erasmus, we expect home in +a few weeks' time: he intends passing next winter in Paris. Be sure you +order the two lists of insects published by Stephens, one printed on +both sides, and the other only on one; you will find them very useful in +many points of view. + +Dear old Fox, yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Christ's College, Thursday [October 16, +1829]. + +My dear Fox, + +I am afraid you will be very angry with me for not having written during +the Music Meeting, but really I was worked so hard that I had no time; I +arrived here on Monday and found my rooms in dreadful confusion, as +they have been taking up the floor, and you may suppose that I have had +plenty to do for these two days. The Music Meeting (At Birmingham.) was +the most glorious thing I ever experienced; and as for Malibran, words +cannot praise her enough, she is quite the most charming person I +ever saw. We had extracts out of several of the best operas, acted in +character, and you cannot imagine how very superior it made the concerts +to any I ever heard before. J. de Begnis (De Begnis's Christian name +was Giuseppe.) acted 'Il Fanatico' in character; being dressed up an +extraordinary figure gives a much greater effect to his acting. He kept +the whole theatre in roars of laughter. I liked Madame Blasis very much, +but nothing will do after Malibran, who sung some comic songs, and [a] +person's heart must have been made of stone not to have lost it to her. +I lodged very near the Wedgwoods, and lived entirely with them, which +was very pleasant, and had you been there it would have been quite +perfect. It knocked me up most dreadfully, and I will never attempt +again to do two things the same day. + +... + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. [Cambridge] Thursday [March, 1830]. + +My dear Fox, + +I am through my Little-Go!!! I am too much exalted to humble myself by +apologising for not having written before. But I assure you before I +went in, and when my nerves were in a shattered and weak condition, +your injured person often rose before my eyes and taunted me with my +idleness. But I am through, through, through. I could write the whole +sheet full with this delightful word. I went in yesterday, and have just +heard the joyful news. I shall not know for a week which class I am in. +The whole examination is carried on in a different system. It has one +grand advantage--being over in one day. They are rather strict, and ask +a wonderful number of questions. + +And now I want to know something about your plans; of course you intend +coming up here: what fun we will have together; what beetles we will +catch; it will do my heart good to go once more together to some of our +old haunts. I have two very promising pupils in Entomology, and we will +make regular campaigns into the Fens. Heaven protect the beetles and +Mr. Jenyns, for we won't leave him a pair in the whole country. My new +Cabinet is come down, and a gay little affair it is. + +And now for the time--I think I shall go for a few days to town to hear +an opera and see Mr. Hope; not to mention my brother also, whom I should +have no objection to see. If I go pretty soon, you can come afterwards, +but if you will settle your plans definitely, I will arrange mine, +so send me a letter by return of post. And I charge you let it be +favourable--that is to say, come directly. Holden has been ordained, +and drove the Coach out on the Monday. I do not think he is looking very +well. Chapman wants you and myself to pay him a visit when you come up, +and begs to be remembered to you. You must excuse this short letter, +as I have no end more to send off by this day's post. I long to see you +again, and till then, + +My dear good old Fox, Yours most sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[In August he was in North Wales and wrote to Fox:-- + +"I have been intending to write every hour for the last fortnight, but +REALLY have had no time. I left Shrewsbury this day fortnight ago, and +have since that time been working from morning to night in catching fish +or beetles. This is literally the first idle day I have had to myself; +for on the rainy days I go fishing, on the good ones entomologising. You +may recollect that for the fortnight previous to all this, you told me +not to write, so that I hope I have made out some sort of defence for +not having sooner answered your two long and very agreeable letters."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. [Cambridge, November 5, 1830.] + +My dear Fox, + +I have so little time at present, and am so disgusted by reading that +I have not the heart to write to anybody. I have only written once home +since I came up. This must excuse me for not having answered your three +letters, for which I am really very much obliged... + +I have not stuck an insect this term, and scarcely opened a case. If +I had time I would have sent you the insects which I have so long +promised; but really I have not spirits or time to do anything. Reading +makes me quite desperate; the plague of getting up all my subjects is +next thing to intolerable. Henslow is my tutor, and a most ADMIRABLE one +he makes; the hour with him is the pleasantest in the whole day. I think +he is quite the most perfect man I ever met with. I have been to some +very pleasant parties there this term. His good-nature is unbounded. + +I am sure you will be sorry to hear poor old Whitley's father is dead. +In a worldly point of view it is of great consequence to him, as it will +prevent him going to the Bar for some time.--(Be sure answer this:) What +did you pay for the iron hoop you had made in Shrewsbury? Because I +do not mean to pay the whole of the Cambridge man's bill. You need not +trouble yourself about the Phallus, as I have bought up both species. I +have heard men say that Henslow has some curious religious opinions. I +never perceived anything of it, have you? I am very glad to hear, after +all your delays, you have heard of a curacy where you may read all the +commandments without endangering your throat. I am also still more glad +to hear that your mother continues steadily to improve. I do trust that +you will have no further cause for uneasiness. With every wish for your +happiness, my dear old Fox, + +Believe me yours most sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Cambridge, Sunday, January 23, 1831. + +My dear Fox, + +I do hope you will excuse my not writing before I took my degree. I felt +a quite inexplicable aversion to write to anybody. But now I do most +heartily congratulate you upon passing your examination, and hope you +find your curacy comfortable. If it is my last shilling (I have not +many), I will come and pay you a visit. + +I do not know why the degree should make one so miserable, both before +and afterwards. I recollect you were sufficiently wretched before, and +I can assure [you] I am now, and what makes it the more ridiculous is, I +know not what about. I believe it is a beautiful provision of nature to +make one regret the less leaving so pleasant a place as Cambridge; and +amongst all its pleasures--I say it for once and for all--none so great +as my friendship with you. I sent you a newspaper yesterday, in which +you will see what a good place [10th] I have got in the Poll. As for +Christ's, did you ever see such a college for producing Captains and +Apostles? (The "Captain" is at the head of the "Poll": the "Apostles" +are the last twelve in the Mathematical Tripos.) There are no men either +at Emmanuel or Christ's plucked. Cameron is gulfed, together with other +three Trinity scholars! My plans are not at all settled. I think I shall +keep this term, and then go and economise at Shrewsbury, return and take +my degree. + +A man may be excused for writing so much about himself when he has +just passed the examination; so you must excuse [me]. And on the same +principle do you write a letter brimful of yourself and plans. I want to +know something about your examination. Tell me about the state of your +nerves; what books you got up, and how perfect. I take an interest +about that sort of thing, as the time will come when I must suffer. Your +tutor, Thompson, begged to be remembered to you, and so does Whitley. +If you will answer this, I will send as many stupid answers as you can +desire. + +Believe me, dear Fox, CHAS. DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.V. -- THE APPOINTMENT TO THE 'BEAGLE.' + +[In a letter addressed to Captain Fitz-Roy, before the "Beagle" sailed, +my father wrote, "What a glorious day the 4th of November (The "Beagle" +did not however make her final and successful start until December 27.) +will be to me--my second life will then commence, and it shall be as a +birthday for the rest of my life."] + +The circumstances which led to this second birth--so much more important +than my father then imagined--are connected with his Cambridge life, but +may be more appropriately told in the present chapter. Foremost in the +chain of circumstances which lead to his appointment to the "Beagle", +was my father's friendship with Professor Henslow. He wrote in a +pocket-book or diary, which contain a brief record of dates, etc., +throughout his life:-- + +"1831. CHRISTMAS.--Passed my examination for B.A. degree and kept the +two following terms. + +"During these months lived much with Professor Henslow, often dining +with him and walking with him; became slightly acquainted with several +of the learned men in Cambridge, which much quickened the zeal which +dinner parties and hunting had not destroyed. + +"In the spring paid Mr. Dawes a visit with Ramsay and Kirby, and talked +over an excursion to Teneriffe. In the spring Henslow persuaded me +to think of Geology, and introduced me to Sedgwick. During Midsummer +geologised a little in Shropshire. + +"AUGUST.--Went on Geological tour (Mentioned by Sedgwick in his preface +to Salter's 'Catalogue of Cambrian and Silurian Fossils,' 1873.) by +Llangollen, Ruthin, Conway, Bangor, and Capel Curig, where I left +Professor Sedgwick, and crossed the mountain to Barmouth." + +In a letter to Fox (May, 1831), my father writes:--"I am very busy...and +see a great deal of Henslow, whom I do not know whether I love or +respect most." His feeling for this admirable man is finely expressed +in a letter which he wrote to Rev. L. Blomefield (then Rev. L. Jenyns), +when the latter was engaged in his 'Memoir of Professor Henslow' +(published 1862). The passage ('Memoir of the Rev. John Stevens Henslow, +M.A.,' by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns. 8vo. London, 1862, page 51.) has been +made use of in the first of the memorial notices written for 'Nature,' +and Mr. Romanes points out that my father, "while describing the +character of another, is unconsciously giving a most accurate +description of his own":-- + +"I went to Cambridge early in the year 1828, and soon became acquainted, +through some of my brother entomologists, with Professor Henslow, for +all who cared for any branch of natural history were equally encouraged +by him. Nothing could be more simple, cordial, and unpretending than the +encouragement which he afforded to all young naturalists. I soon became +intimate with him, for he had a remarkable power of making the young +feel completely at ease with him; though we were all awe-struck with the +amount of his knowledge. Before I saw him, I heard one young man sum up +his attainments by simply saying that he knew everything. When I reflect +how immediately we felt at perfect ease with a man older, and in every +way so immensely our superior, I think it was as much owing to the +transparent sincerity of his character as to his kindness of heart; and, +perhaps, even still more, to a highly remarkable absence in him of all +self-consciousness. One perceived at once that he never thought of his +own varied knowledge or clear intellect, but solely on the subject in +hand. Another charm, which must have struck every one, was that his +manner to old and distinguished persons and to the youngest student was +exactly the same: and to all he showed the same winning courtesy. He +would receive with interest the most trifling observation in any branch +of natural history; and however absurd a blunder one might make, +he pointed it out so clearly and kindly, that one left him no way +disheartened, but only determined to be more accurate the next time. In +short, no man could be better formed to win the entire confidence of the +young, and to encourage them in their pursuits. + +"His lectures on Botany were universally popular, and as clear as +daylight. So popular were they, that several of the older members of +the University attended successive courses. Once every week he kept open +house in the evening, and all who cared for natural history attended +these parties, which, by thus favouring inter-communication, did the +same good in Cambridge, in a very pleasant manner, as the Scientific +Societies do in London. At these parties many of the most distinguished +members of the University occasionally attended; and when only a few +were present, I have listened to the great men of those days, conversing +on all sorts of subjects, with the most varied and brilliant powers. +This was no small advantage to some of the younger men, as it stimulated +their mental activity and ambition. Two or three times in each session +he took excursions with his botanical class; either a long walk to the +habitat of some rare plant, or in a barge down the river to the fens, or +in coaches to some more distant place, as to Gamlingay, to see the wild +lily of the valley, and to catch on the heath the rare natter-jack. +These excursions have left a delightful impression on my mind. He was, +on such occasions, in as good spirits as a boy, and laughed as +heartily as a boy at the misadventures of those who chased the splendid +swallow-tail butterflies across the broken and treacherous fens. He used +to pause every now and then to lecture on some plant or other object; +and something he could tell us on every insect, shell, or fossil +collected, for he had attended to every branch of natural history. After +our day's work we used to dine at some inn or house, and most jovial we +then were. I believe all who joined these excursions will agree with me +that they have left an enduring impression of delight on our minds. + +"As time passed on at Cambridge I became very intimate with Professor +Henslow, and his kindness was unbounded; he continually asked me to his +house, and allowed me to accompany him in his walks. He talked on all +subjects, including his deep sense of religion, and was entirely open. I +own more than I can express to this excellent man... + +"During the years when I associated so much with Professor Henslow, I +never once saw his temper even ruffled. He never took an ill-natured +view of any one's character, though very far from blind to the foibles +of others. It always struck me that his mind could not be even touched +by any paltry feeling of vanity, envy, or jealousy. With all this +equability of temper and remarkable benevolence, there was no insipidity +of character. A man must have been blind not to have perceived that +beneath this placid exterior there was a vigorous and determined will. +When principle came into play, no power on earth could have turned him +one hair's-breadth... + +"Reflecting over his character with gratitude and reverence, his +moral attributes rise, as they should do in the highest character, in +pre-eminence over his intellect." + +In a letter to Rev. L. Blomefield (Jenyns), May 24, 1862, my father +wrote with the same feelings that he had expressed in his letters thirty +years before:-- + +"I thank you most sincerely for your kind present of your Memoir of +Henslow. I have read about half, and it has interested me much. I do not +think that I could have venerated him more than I did; but your book has +even exalted his character in my eyes. From turning over the pages of +the latter half, I should think your account would be invaluable to any +clergyman who wished to follow poor dear Henslow's noble example. What +an admirable man he was." + +The geological work mentioned in the quotation from my father's +pocket-book was doubtless of importance as giving him some practical +experience, and perhaps of more importance in helping to give him some +confidence in himself. In July of the same year, 1831, he was "working +like a tiger" at Geology, and trying to make a map of Shropshire, but +not finding it "as easy as I expected." + +In writing to Henslow about the same time, he gives some account of his +work:-- + +"I should have written to you some time ago, only I was determined +to wait for the clinometer, and I am very glad to say I think it +will answer admirably. I put all the tables in my bedroom at every +conceivable angle and direction. I will venture to say I have measured +them as accurately as any geologist going could do...I have been working +at so many things that I have not got on much with geology. I suspect +the first expedition I take, clinometer and hammer in hand, will send me +back very little wiser and a good deal more puzzled than when I started. +As yet I have only indulged in hypotheses, but they are such powerful +ones that I suppose, if they were put into action for but one day, the +world would come to an end." + +He was evidently most keen to get to work with Sedgwick, for he wrote +to Henslow: "I have not heard from Professor Sedgwick, so I am afraid +he will not pay the Severn formations a visit. I hope and trust you did +your best to urge him." + +My father has given in his Recollections some account of this Tour. + +There too we read of the projected excursion to the Canaries, of which +slight mention occurs in letters to Fox and Henslow. + +In April 1831 he writes to Fox: "At present I talk, think, and dream of +a scheme I have almost hatched of going to the Canary Islands. I +have long had a wish of seeing tropical scenery and vegetation, and, +according to Humboldt, Teneriffe is a very pretty specimen." And again +in May: "As for my Canary scheme, it is rash of you to ask questions; +my other friends most sincerely wish me there, I plague them so with +talking about tropical scenery, etc. Eyton will go next summer, and I am +learning Spanish." + +Later on in the summer the scheme took more definite form, and the date +seems to have been fixed for June, 1832. He got information in London +about passage-money, and in July was working at Spanish and calling +Fox "un grandisimo lebron," in proof of his knowledge of the language; +which, however, he found "intensely stupid." But even then he seems +to have had some doubts about his companions' zeal, for he writes to +Henslow (July 27, 1831): "I hope you continue to fan your Canary ardour. +I read and re-read Humboldt; do you do the same? I am sure nothing will +prevent us seeing the Great Dragon Tree." + +Geological work and Teneriffe dreams carried him through the summer, +till on returning from Barmouth for the sacred 1st of September, he +received the offer of appointment as Naturalist to the "Beagle". + +The following extract from the pocket-book will be a help in reading the +letters:-- + +"Returned to Shrewsbury at end of August. Refused offer of voyage. + +"September.--Went to Maer, returned with Uncle Jos. to Shrewsbury, +thence to Cambridge. London. + +"11th.--Went with Captain Fitz-Roy in steamer to Plymouth to see the +"Beagle". + +"22nd.--Returned to Shrewsbury, passing through Cambridge. + +"October 2nd.--Took leave of my home. Stayed in London. + +"24th--Reached Plymouth. + +"October and November.--These months very miserable. + +"December 10th.--Sailed, but were obliged to put back. + +"21st.--Put to sea again, and were driven back. + +"27th.--Sailed from England on our Circumnavigation." + + +GEORGE PEACOCK (Formerly Dean of Ely, and Lowndean Professor of +Astronomy at Cambridge.) TO J.S. HENSLOW. 7 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall +East. [1831.] + +My dear Henslow, + +Captain Fitz-Roy is going out to survey the southern coast of Tierra +del Fuego, and afterwards to visit many of the South Sea Islands, and to +return by the Indian Archipelago. The vessel is fitted out expressly +for scientific purposes, combined with the survey; it will furnish, +therefore, a rare opportunity for a naturalist, and it would be a great +misfortune that it should be lost. + +An offer has been made to me to recommend a proper person to go out as +a naturalist with this expedition; he will be treated with every +consideration. The Captain is a young man of very pleasing manners (a +nephew of the Duke of Grafton), of great zeal in his profession, and who +is very highly spoken of; if Leonard Jenyns could go, what treasures he +might bring home with him, as the ship would be placed at his disposal +whenever his inquiries made it necessary or desirable. In the absence +of so accomplished a naturalist, is there any person whom you could +strongly recommend? he must be such a person as would do credit to our +recommendation. Do think of this subject, it would be a serious loss to +the cause of natural science if this fine opportunity was lost.... + +The ship sails about the end of September. + +Write immediately, and tell me what can be done. + +Believe me, My dear Henslow, Most truly yours, GEORGE PEACOCK. + + +J.S. HENSLOW TO C. DARWIN. Cambridge, August 24, 1831. + +My dear Darwin, + +Before I enter upon the immediate business of this letter, let us +condole together upon the loss of our inestimable friend poor Ramsay, of +whose death you have undoubtedly heard long before this. + +I will not now dwell upon this painful subject, as I shall hope to see +you shortly, fully expecting that you will eagerly catch at the offer +which is likely to be made you of a trip to Tierra del Fuego, and home +by the East Indies. I have been asked by Peacock, who will read and +forward this to you from London, to recommend him a Naturalist as +companion to Captain Fitz-Roy, employed by Government to survey the +southern extremity of America. I have stated that I consider you to be +the best qualified person I know of who is likely to undertake such a +situation. I state this not in the supposition of your being a FINISHED +naturalist, but as amply qualified for collecting, observing, and +noting, anything worthy to be noted in Natural History. Peacock has the +appointment at his disposal, and if he cannot find a man willing to +take the office, the opportunity will probably be lost. Captain Fitz-Roy +wants a man (I understand) more as a companion than a mere collector, +and would not take any one, however good a naturalist, who was not +recommended to him likewise as a GENTLEMAN. Particulars of salary, etc., +I know nothing. The voyage is to last two years, and if you take plenty +of books with you, anything you please may be done. You will have ample +opportunities at command. In short, I suppose there never was a finer +chance for a man of zeal and spirit; Captain Fitz-Roy is a young man. +What I wish you to do is instantly to come and consult with Peacock (at +No. 7 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall East, or else at the University Club), +and learn further particulars. Don't put on any modest doubts or fears +about your disqualifications, for I assure you I think you are the very +man they are in search of; so conceive yourself to be tapped on the +shoulder by your bum-bailiff and affectionate friend, + +J.S. HENSLOW. + +The expedition is to sail on 25th September (at earliest), so there is +no time to be lost. + + +G. PEACOCK TO C. DARWIN. [1831.] + +My dear Sir, + +I received Henslow's letter last night too late to forward it to you by +the post; a circumstance which I do not regret, as it has given me +an opportunity of seeing Captain Beaufort at the Admiralty (the +Hydrographer), and of stating to him the offer which I have to make to +you. He entirely approves of it, and you may consider the situation as +at your absolute disposal. I trust that you will accept it, as it is +an opportunity which should not be lost, and I look forward with great +interest to the benefit which our collections of Natural History may +receive from your labours. + +The circumstances are these;-- + +Captain Fitz-Roy (a nephew of the Duke of Grafton) sails at the end of +September, in a ship to survey, in the first instance, the South Coast +of Tierra del Fuego, afterwards to visit the South Sea Islands, and to +return by the Indian Archipelago to England. The expedition is entirely +for scientific purposes, and the ship will generally wait your +leisure for researches in Natural History, etc. Captain Fitz-Roy is a +public-spirited and zealous officer, of delightful manners, and greatly +beloved by all his brother officers. He went with Captain Beechey (For +'Beechey' read 'King.' I do not find the name Fitz-Roy in the list of +Beechey's officers. The Fuegians were brought back from Captain King's +voyage.), and spent 1500 pounds in bringing over and educating at his +own charge three natives of Patagonia. He engages at his own expense an +artist at 200 pounds a year to go with him. You may be sure, therefore, +of having a very pleasant companion, who will enter heartily into all +your views. + +The ship sails about the end of September, and you must lose no time +in making known your acceptance to Captain Beaufort, Admiralty +Hydrographer. I have had a good deal of correspondence about this matter +[with Henslow?], who feels, in common with myself, the greatest anxiety +that you should go. I hope that no other arrangements are likely to +interfere with it.... + +The Admiralty are not disposed to give a salary, though they will +furnish you with an official appointment, and every accommodation. If a +salary should be required, however, I am inclined to think that it would +be granted. + +Believe me, my dear Sir, Very truly yours, GEORGE PEACOCK. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Shrewsbury, Tuesday [August 30?, 1831]. + +My dear Sir, + +Mr. Peacock's letter arrived on Saturday, and I received it late +yesterday evening. As far as my own mind is concerned, I should, I think +CERTAINLY, most gladly have accepted the opportunity which you so kindly +have offered me. But my father, although he does not decidedly refuse +me, gives such strong advice against going, that I should not be +comfortable if I did not follow it. + +My father's objections are these: the unfitting me to settle down as a +Clergyman, my little habit of seafaring, THE SHORTNESS OF THE TIME, and +the chance of my not suiting Captain Fitz-Roy. It is certainly a very +serious objection, the very short time for all my preparations, as not +only body but mind wants making up for such an undertaking. But if it +had not been for my father I would have taken all risks. What was the +reason that a Naturalist was not long ago fixed upon? I am very much +obliged for the trouble you have had about it; there certainly could not +have been a better opportunity.... + +My trip with Sedgwick answered most perfectly. I did not hear of poor +Mr. Ramsay's loss till a few days before your letter. I have been +lucky hitherto in never losing any person for whom I had any esteem or +affection. My acquaintance, although very short, was sufficient to give +me those feelings in a great degree. I can hardly make myself believe he +is no more. He was the finest character I ever knew. + +Yours most sincerely, My dear Sir, CH. DARWIN. + +I have written to Mr. Peacock, and I mentioned that I have asked you to +send one line in the chance of his not getting my letter. I have also +asked him to communicate with Captain Fitz-Roy. Even if I was to go, my +father disliking would take away all energy, and I should want a good +stock of that. Again I must thank you, it adds a little to the heavy but +pleasant load of gratitude which I owe to you. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO R.W. DARWIN. [Maer] August 31, [1831]. + +My dear Father, + +I am afraid I am going to make you again very uncomfortable. But, +upon consideration, I think you will excuse me once again, stating +my opinions on the offer of the voyage. My excuse and reason is the +different way all the Wedgwoods view the subject from what you and my +sisters do. + +I have given Uncle Jos (Josiah Wedgwood.) what I fervently trust is an +accurate and full list of your objections, and he is kind enough to give +his opinions on all. The list and his answers will be enclosed. But may +I beg of you one favour, it will be doing me the greatest kindness, if +you will send me a decided answer, yes or no? If the latter, I should be +most ungrateful if I did not implicitly yield to your better judgment, +and to the kindest indulgence you have shown me all through my life; +and you may rely upon it I will never mention the subject again. If +your answer should be yes; I will go directly to Henslow and consult +deliberately with him, and then come to Shrewsbury. + +The danger appears to me and all the Wedgwoods not great. The expense +cannot be serious, and the time I do not think, anyhow, would be more +thrown away then if I stayed at home. But pray do not consider that I +am so bent on going that I would for one SINGLE MOMENT hesitate, if you +thought that after a short period you should continue uncomfortable. + +I must again state I cannot think it would unfit me hereafter for a +steady life. I do hope this letter will not give you much uneasiness. I +send it by the car to-morrow morning; if you make up your mind directly +will you send me an answer on the following day by the same means? If +this letter should not find you at home, I hope you will answer as soon +as you conveniently can. + +I do not know what to say about Uncle Jos' kindness; I never can forget +how he interests himself about me. + +Believe me, my dear father, Your affectionate son, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[Here follows the list of objections which are referred to in the +following letter:-- + +1. Disreputable to my character as a Clergyman hereafter. + +2. A wild scheme. + +3. That they must have offered to many others before me the place of +Naturalist. + +4. And from its not being accepted there must be some serious objection +to the vessel or expedition. + +5. That I should never settle down to a steady life hereafter. + +6. That my accommodations would be most uncomfortable. + +7. That you [i.e. Dr. Darwin] should consider it as again changing my +profession. + +8. That it would be a useless undertaking.] + + +JOSIAH WEDGWOOD TO R.W. DARWIN. Maer, August 31, 1831. [Read this last.] +(In C. Darwin's writing.) + +My dear Doctor, + +I feel the responsibility of your application to me on the offer that +has been made to Charles as being weighty, but as you have desired +Charles to consult me, I cannot refuse to give the result of such +consideration as I have been able to [give?] it. + +Charles has put down what he conceives to be your principal objections, +and I think the best course I can take will be to state what occurs to +me upon each of them. + +1. I should not think that it would be in any degree disreputable to +his character as a Clergyman. I should on the contrary think the offer +honourable to him; and the pursuit of Natural History, though certainly +not professional, is very suitable to a clergyman. + +2. I hardly know how to meet this objection, but he would have definite +objects upon which to employ himself, and might acquire and strengthen +habits of application, and I should think would be as likely to do so as +in any way in which he is likely to pass the next two years at home. + +3. The notion did not occur to me in reading the letters; and on reading +them again with that object in my mind I see no ground for it. + +4. I cannot conceive that the Admiralty would send out a bad vessel on +such a service. As to objections to the expedition, they will differ in +each man's case, and nothing would, I think, be inferred in Charles's +case, if it were known that others had objected. + +5. You are a much better judge of Charles's character than I can be. If +on comparing this mode of spending the next two years with the way in +which he will probably spend them, if he does not accept this offer, you +think him more likely to be rendered unsteady and unable to settle, it +is undoubtedly a weighty objection. Is it not the case that sailors are +prone to settle in domestic and quiet habits? + +6. I can form no opinion on this further than that if appointed by the +Admiralty he will have a claim to be as well accommodated as the vessel +will allow. + +7. If I saw Charles now absorbed in professional studies I should +probably think it would not be advisable to interrupt them; but this is +not, and, I think, will not be the case with him. His present pursuit +of knowledge is in the same track as he would have to follow in the +expedition. + +8. The undertaking would be useless as regards his profession, but +looking upon him as a man of enlarged curiosity, it affords him such an +opportunity of seeing men and things as happens to few. + +You will bear in mind that I have had very little time for +consideration, and that you and Charles are the persons who must decide. + +I am, My dear Doctor, Affectionately yours, JOSIAH WEDGWOOD. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Cambridge, Red Lion [September 2], 1831. + +My dear Sir, + +I am just arrived; you will guess the reason. My father has changed his +mind. I trust the place is not given away. + +I am very much fatigued, and am going to bed. + +I dare say you have not yet got my second letter. + +How soon shall I come to you in the morning? Send a verbal answer. + +Good-night, Yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS SUSAN DARWIN. Cambridge, Sunday Morning +[September 4]. + +My dear Susan, + +As a letter would not have gone yesterday, I put off writing till +to-day. I had rather a wearisome journey, but got into Cambridge very +fresh. The whole of yesterday I spent with Henslow, thinking of what is +to be done, and that I find is a great deal. By great good luck I know +a man of the name of Wood, nephew of Lord Londonderry. He is a great +friend of Captain Fitz-Roy, and has written to him about me. I heard +a part of Captain Fitz-Roy's letter, dated some time ago, in which he +says: "I have a right good set of officers, and most of my men have been +there before." It seems he has been there for the last few years; he was +then second in command with the same vessel that he has now chosen. He +is only twenty-three years old, but [has] seen a deal of service, and +won the gold medal at Portsmouth. The Admiralty say his maps are most +perfect. He had choice of two vessels, and he chose the smallest. +Henslow will give me letters to all travellers in town whom he thinks +may assist me. + +Peacock has sole appointment of Naturalist. The first person offered +was Leonard Jenyns, who was so near accepting it that he packed up +his clothes. But having [a] living, he did not think it right to leave +it--to the great regret of all his family. Henslow himself was not very +far from accepting it, for Mrs. Henslow most generously, and without +being asked, gave her consent; but she looked so miserable that Henslow +at once settled the point.... + +I am afraid there will be a good deal of expense at first. Henslow +is much against taking many things; it is [the] mistake all young +travellers fall into. I write as if it was settled, but Henslow tells me +BY NO MEANS to make up my mind till I have had long conversations +with Captains Beaufort and Fitz-Roy. Good-bye. You will hear from me +constantly. Direct 17 Spring Gardens. TELL NOBODY in Shropshire yet. Be +sure not. + +C. DARWIN. + +I was so tired that evening I was in Shrewsbury that I thanked none of +you for your kindness half so much as I felt. + +Love to my father. + +The reason I don't want people told in Shropshire: in case I should not +go, it will make it more flat. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS S. DARWIN. 17 Spring Gardens, Monday [September +5, 1831]. + +I have so little time to spare that I have none to waste in re-writing +letters, so that you must excuse my bringing up the other with me and +altering it. The last letter was written in the morning. In [the] middle +of [the] day, Wood received a letter from Captain Fitz-Roy, which I must +say was MOST straightforward and GENTLEMANLIKE, but so much against my +going, that I immediately gave up the scheme; and Henslow did the same, +saying that he thought Peacock had acted VERY WRONG in misrepresenting +things so much. + +I scarcely thought of going to town, but here I am; and now for more +details, and much more promising ones. Captain Fitz-Roy is [in] town, +and I have seen him; it is no use attempting to praise him as much as +I feel inclined to do, for you would not believe me. One thing I am +certain, nothing could be more open and kind than he was to me. It seems +he had promised to take a friend with him, who is in office and cannot +go, and he only received the letter five minutes before I came in; +and this makes things much better for me, as want of room was one of +Fitz-Roy's greatest objections. He offers me to go share in everything +in his cabin if I like to come, and every sort of accommodation that +I can have, but they will not be numerous. He says nothing would be so +miserable for him as having me with him if I was uncomfortable, as in +a small vessel we must be thrown together, and thought it his duty +to state everything in the worst point of view. I think I shall go on +Sunday to Plymouth to see the vessel. + +There is something most extremely attractive in his manners and way of +coming straight to the point. If I live with him, he says I must live +poorly--no wine, and the plainest dinners. The scheme is not certainly +so good as Peacock describes. Captain Fitz-Roy advises me not [to] make +up my mind quite yet, but that, seriously, he thinks it will have much +more pleasure than pain for me. The vessel does not sail till the 10th +of October. It contains sixty men, five or six officers, etc., but is a +small vessel. It will probably be out nearly three years. I shall pay +to the mess the same as [the] Captain does himself, 30 pounds per annum; +and Fitz-Roy says if I spend, including my outfitting, 500 pounds, it +will be beyond the extreme. But now for still worse news. The round the +world is not CERTAIN, but the chance most excellent. Till that point is +decided, I will not be so. And you may believe, after the many changes I +have made, that nothing but my reason shall decide me. + +Fitz-Roy says the stormy sea is exaggerated; that if I do not choose to +remain with them, I can at any time get home to England, so many vessels +sail that way, and that during bad weather (probably two months), if +I like I shall be left in some healthy, safe and nice country; that I +shall always have assistance; that he has many books, all instruments, +guns, at my service; that the fewer and cheaper clothes I take the +better. The manner of proceeding will just suit me. They anchor the +ship, and then remain for a fortnight at a place. I have made Captain +Beaufort perfectly understand me. He says if I start and do not go round +the world, I shall have good reason to think myself deceived. I am to +call the day after to-morrow, and, if possible, to receive more certain +instructions. The want of room is decidedly the most serious objection; +but Captain Fitz-Roy (probably owing to Wood's letter) seems determined +to make me [as] comfortable as he possibly can. I like his manner of +proceeding. He asked me at once, "Shall you bear being told that I want +the cabin to myself--when I want to be alone? If we treat each other +this way, I hope we shall suit; if not, probably we should wish each +other at the devil." + +We stop a week at [the] Madeira Islands, and shall see most of [the] +big cities in South America. Captain Beaufort is drawing up the track +through the South Sea. I am writing in [a] great hurry; I do not know +whether you take interest enough to excuse treble postage. I hope I am +judging reasonably, and not through prejudice, about Captain Fitz-Roy; +if so, I am sure we shall suit. I dine with him to-day. I could write +[a] great deal more if I thought you liked it, and I had at present +time. There is indeed a tide in the affairs of man, and I have +experienced it, and I had ENTIRELY given it up till one to-day. + +Love to my father. Dearest Susan, good-bye. + +CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. London, Monday, [September 5, 1831]. + +My dear Sir, + +Gloria in excelsis is the most moderate beginning I can think of. +Things are more prosperous than I should have thought possible. Captain +Fitz-Roy is everything that is delightful. If I was to praise half so +much as I feel inclined, you would say it was absurd, only once seeing +him. I think he really wishes to have me. He offers me to mess with him, +and he will take care I have such room as is possible. But about the +cases he says I must limit myself; but then he thinks like a sailor +about size. Captain Beaufort says I shall be upon the Boards, and then +it will only cost me like other officers. Ship sails 10th of October. +Spends a week at Madeira Islands; and then Rio de Janeiro. They all +think most extremely probable, home by the Indian archipelago; but till +that is decided, I will not be so. + +What has induced Captain Fitz-Roy to take a better view of the case is, +that Mr. Chester, who was going as a friend, cannot go, so that I shall +have his place in every respect. + +Captain Fitz-Roy has [a] good stock of books, many of which were in my +list, and rifles, etc., so that the outfit will be much less expensive +than I supposed. + +The vessel will be out three years. I do not object so that my father +does not. On Wednesday I have another interview with Captain Beaufort, +and on Sunday most likely go with Captain Fitz-Roy to Plymouth. So I +hope you will keep on thinking on the subject, and just keep memoranda +of what may strike you. I will call most probably on Mr. Burchell and +introduce myself. I am in lodgings at 17 Spring Gardens. You cannot +imagine anything more pleasant, kind, and open than Captain Fitz-Roy's +manners were to me. I am sure it will be my fault if we do not suit. + +What changes I have had. Till one to-day I was building castles in the +air about hunting foxes the Shropshire, now llamas in South America. + +There is indeed a tide in the affairs of men. If you see Mr. Wood, +remember me very kindly to him. + +Good-bye. My dear Henslow, Your most sincere friend, CHAS. DARWIN. + +Excuse this letter in such a hurry. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. 17 Spring Gardens, London, September 6, +1831.... + +Your letter gave me great pleasure. You cannot imagine how much your +former letter annoyed and hurt me. (He had misunderstood a letter of +Fox's as implying a charge of falsehood.) But, thank heaven, I firmly +believe that it was my OWN ENTIRE fault in so interpreting your letter. +I lost a friend the other day, and I doubt whether the moral death (as +I then wickedly supposed) of our friendship did not grieve me as much as +the real and sudden death of poor Ramsay. We have known each other too +long to need, I trust, any more explanations. But I will mention just +one thing--that on my death-bed, I think I could say I never uttered one +insincere (which at the time I did not fully feel) expression about my +regard for you. One thing more--the sending IMMEDIATELY the insects, on +my honour, was an unfortunate coincidence. I forgot how you naturally +would take them. When you look at them now, I hope no unkindly feelings +will rise in your mind, and that you will believe that you have always +had in me a sincere, and I will add, an obliged friend. The very many +pleasant minutes that we spent together in Cambridge rose like departed +spirits in judgment against me. May we have many more such, will be one +of my last wishes in leaving England. God bless you, dear old Fox. May +you always be happy. + +Yours truly, CHAS. DARWIN. + +I have left your letter behind, so do not know whether I direct right. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS SUSAN DARWIN. 17 Spring Gardens, Tuesday, +[September 6, 1831.] + +My dear Susan, + +Again I am going to trouble you. I suspect, if I keep on at this rate, +you will sincerely wish me at Tierra del Fuego, or any other Terra, but +England. First I will give my commissions. Tell Nancy to make me +some twelve instead of eight shirts. Tell Edward to send me up in my +carpet-bag (he can slip the key in the bag tied to some string), my +slippers, a pair of lightish walking-shoes, my Spanish books, my new +microscope (about six inches long and three or four deep), which must +have cotton stuffed inside; my geological compass; my father knows +that; a little book, if I have got it in my bedroom--'Taxidermy.' Ask +my father if he thinks there would be any objection to my taking arsenic +for a little time, as my hands are not quite well, and I have always +observed that if I once get them well, and change my manner of living +about the same time, they will generally remain well. What is the dose? +Tell Edward my gun is dirty. What is Erasmus's direction? Tell me if you +think there is time to write and receive an answer before I start, as I +should like particularly to know what he thinks about it. I suppose you +do not know Sir J. Mackintosh's direction? + +I write all this as if it was settled, but it is not more than it was, +excepting that from Captain Fitz-Roy wishing me so much to go, and from +his kindness, I feel a predestination I shall start. I spent a very +pleasant evening with him yesterday. He must be more than twenty-three +years old; he is of a slight figure, and a dark but handsome edition of +Mr. Kynaston, and, according to my notions, pre-eminently good manners. +He is all for economy, excepting on one point--viz., fire-arms. He +recommends me strongly to get a case of pistols like his, which cost 60 +pounds!! and never to go on shore anywhere without loaded ones, and he +is doubting about a rifle; he says I cannot appreciate the luxury +of fresh meat here. Of course I shall buy nothing till everything is +settled; but I work all day long at my lists, putting in and striking +out articles. This is the first really cheerful day I have spent since +I received the letter, and it all is owing to the sort of involuntary +confidence I place in my beau ideal of a Captain. + +We stop at Teneriffe. His object is to stop at as many places as +possible. He takes out twenty chronometers, and it will be a "sin" not +to settle the longitude. He tells me to get it down in writing at the +Admiralty that I have the free choice to leave as soon and whenever I +like. I dare say you expect I shall turn back at the Madeira; if I have +a morsel of stomach left, I won't give up. Excuse my so often troubling +and writing: the one is of great utility, the other a great amusement to +me. Most likely I shall write to-morrow. Answer by return of post. Love +to my father, dearest Susan. + +C. DARWIN. + +As my instruments want altering, send my things by the 'Oxonian' the +same night. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS SUSAN DARWIN. London, Friday Morning, September +9, 1831. + +My dear Susan, + +I have just received the parcel. I suppose it was not delivered +yesterday owing to the Coronation. I am very much obliged to my father, +and everybody else. Everything is done quite right. I suppose by this +time you have received my letter written next day, and I hope will send +off the things. My affairs remain in statu quo. Captain Beaufort says I +am on the books for victuals, and he thinks I shall have no difficulty +about my collections when I come home. But he is too deep a fish for me +to make him out. The only thing that now prevents me finally making up +my mind, is the want of certainty about the South Sea Islands; although +morally I have no doubt we should go there whether or no it is put in +the instructions. Captain Fitz-Roy says I do good by plaguing Captain +Beaufort, it stirs him up with a long pole. Captain Fitz-Roy says he is +sure he has interest enough (particularly if this Administration is not +everlasting--I shall soon turn Tory!), anyhow, even when out, to get +the ship ordered home by whatever track he likes. From what Wood says, I +presume the Dukes of Grafton and Richmond interest themselves about him. +By the way, Wood has been of the greatest use to me; and I am sure his +personal introduction of me inclined Captain Fitz-Roy to have me. + +To explain things from the very beginning: Captain Fitz-Roy first wished +to have a Naturalist, and then he seems to have taken a sudden horror of +the chances of having somebody he should not like on board the vessel. +He confesses his letter to Cambridge was to throw cold water on the +scheme. I don't think we shall quarrel about politics, although Wood (as +might be expected from a Londonderry) solemnly warned Fitz-Roy that I +was a Whig. Captain Fitz-Roy was before Uncle Jos., he said, "now your +friends will tell you a sea-captain is the greatest brute on the face +of the creation. I do not know how to help you in this case, except by +hoping you will give me a trial." How one does change! I actually now +wish the voyage was longer before we touch land. I feel my blood run +cold at the quantity I have to do. Everybody seems ready to assist me. +The Zoological want to make me a corresponding member. All this I +can construct without crossing the Equator. But one friend is quite +invaluable, viz., a Mr. Yarrell, a stationer, and excellent naturalist. +(William Yarrell, well-known for his 'History of British Birds' and +'History of British Fishes,' was born in 1784. He inherited from his +father a newsagent's business, to which he steadily adhered up to his +death, "in his 73rd year." He was a man of a thoroughly amiable and +honourable character, and was a valued office-bearer of several of +the learned Societies.) He goes to the shops with me and bullies about +prices (not that I yet buy): hang me if I give 60 pounds for pistols. + +Yesterday all the shops were shut, so that I could do nothing; and I was +child enough to give 1 pound 1 shilling for an excellent seat to see the +Procession. (The Coronation of William IV.) And it certainly was very +well worth seeing. I was surprised that any quantity of gold could make +a long row of people quite glitter. It was like only what one sees in +picture-books of Eastern processions. The King looked very well, and +seemed popular, but there was very little enthusiasm; so little that I +can hardly think there will be a coronation this time fifty years. + +The Life Guards pleased me as much as anything--they are quite +magnificent; and it is beautiful to see them clear a crowd. You think +that they must kill a score at least, and apparently they really hurt +nobody, but most deucedly frighten them. Whenever a crowd was so dense +that the people were forced off the causeway, one of these six-feet +gentlemen, on a black horse, rode straight at the place, making his +horse rear very high, and fall on the thickest spot. You would suppose +men were made of sponge to see them shrink away. + +In the evening there was an illumination, and much grander than the one +on the Reform Bill. All the principal streets were crowded just like a +race-ground. Carriages generally being six abreast, and I will venture +to say not going one mile an hour. The Duke of Northumberland learnt a +lesson last time, for his house was very grand; much more so than the +other great nobility, and in much better taste; every window in his +house was full of straight lines of brilliant lights, and from their +extreme regularity and number had a beautiful effect. The paucity of +invention was very striking, crowns, anchors, and "W.R.'s" were repeated +in endless succession. The prettiest were gas-pipes with small holes; +they were almost painfully brilliant. I have written so much about the +Coronation, that I think you will have no occasion to read the "Morning +Herald". + +For about the first time in my life I find London very pleasant; hurry, +bustle, and noise are all in unison with my feelings. And I have plenty +to do in spare moments. I work at Astronomy, as I suppose it would +astound a sailor if one did not know how to find Latitude and Longitude. +I am now going to Captain Fitz-Roy, and will keep [this] letter open +till evening for anything that may occur. I will give you one proof of +Fitz-Roy being a good officer--all the officers are the same as before; +two-thirds of his crew and [the] eight marines who went before all +offered to come again, so the service cannot be so very bad. The +Admiralty have just issued orders for a large stock of canister-meat +and lemon-juice, etc. etc. I have just returned from spending a long +day with Captain Fitz-Roy, driving about in his gig, and shopping. This +letter is too late for to-day's post. You may consider it settled that I +go. Yet there is room for change if any untoward accident should happen; +this I can see no reason to expect. I feel convinced nothing else will +alter my wish of going. I have begun to order things. I have procured a +case of good strong pistols and an excellent rifle for 50 pounds, there +is a saving; a good telescope, with compass, 5 pounds, and these are +nearly the only expensive instruments I shall want. Captain Fitz-Roy has +everything. I never saw so (what I should call, he says not) extravagant +a man, as regards himself, but as economical towards me. How he did +order things! His fire-arms will cost 400 pounds at least. I found the +carpet bag when I arrived all right, and much obliged. I do not think +I shall take any arsenic; shall send partridges to Mr. Yarrell; much +obliged. Ask Edward to BARGAIN WITH Clemson to make for my gun--TWO +SPARE hammers or cocks, two main-springs, two sere-springs, four nipples +or plugs--I mean one for each barrel, except nipples, of which there +must be two for each, all of excellent quality, and set about them +immediately; tell Edward to make inquiries about prices. I go on Sunday +per packet to Plymouth, shall stay one or two days, then return, and +hope to find a letter from you; a few days in London; then Cambridge, +Shrewsbury, London, Plymouth, Madeira, is my route. It is a great bore +my writing so much about the Coronation; I could fill another sheet. +I have just been with Captain King, Fitz-Roy's senior officer last +expedition; he thinks that the expedition will suit me. Unasked, he +said Fitz-Roy's temper was perfect. He sends his own son with him +as midshipman. The key of my microscope was forgotten; it is of no +consequence. Love to all. + +CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. 17 Spring Gardens (and here I shall remain +till I start) [September 19, 1831]. + +My dear Fox, + +I returned from my expedition to see the "Beagle" at Plymouth on +Saturday, and found your most welcome letter on my table. It is quite +ridiculous what a very long period these last twenty days have appeared +to me, certainly much more than as many weeks on ordinary occasions; +this will account for my not recollecting how much I told you of my +plans.... + +But on the whole it is a grand and fortunate opportunity; there will be +so many things to interest me--fine scenery and an endless occupation +and amusement in the different branches of Natural History; then again +navigation and meteorology will amuse me on the voyage, joined to the +grand requisite of there being a pleasant set of officers, and, as +far as I can judge, this is certain. On the other hand there is very +considerable risk to one's life and health, and the leaving for so very +long a time so many people whom I dearly love, is oftentimes a feeling +so painful that it requires all my resolution to overcome it. But +everything is now settled, and before the 20th of October I trust to +be on the broad sea. My objection to the vessel is its smallness, which +cramps one so for room for packing my own body and all my cases, etc., +etc. As to its safety, I hope the Admiralty are the best judges; to a +landsman's eye she looks very small. She is a ten-gun three-masted brig, +but, I believe, an excellent vessel. So much for my future plans, and +now for my present. I go to-night by the mail to Cambridge, and from +thence, after settling my affairs, proceed to Shrewsbury (most likely on +Friday 23rd, or perhaps before); there I shall stay a few days, and be +in London by the 1st of October, and start for Plymouth on the 9th. + +And now for the principal part of my letter. I do not know how to tell +you how very kind I feel your offer of coming to see me before I +leave England. Indeed I should like it very much; but I must tell you +decidedly that I shall have very little time to spare, and that little +time will be almost spoilt by my having so much to think about; and +secondly, I can hardly think it worth your while to leave your parish +for such a cause. But I shall never forget such generous kindness. Now +I know you will act just as you think right; but do not come up for my +sake. Any time is the same for me. I think from this letter you will +know as much of my plans as I do myself, and will judge accordingly +the where and when to write to me. Every now and then I have moments of +glorious enthusiasm, when I think of the date and cocoa-trees, the palms +and ferns so lofty and beautiful, everything new, everything sublime. +And if I live to see years in after life, how grand must such +recollections be! Do you know Humboldt? (If you don't, do so directly.) +With what intense pleasure he appears always to look back on the days +spent in the tropical countries. I hope when you next write to Osmaston, +[you will] tell them my scheme, and give them my kindest regards and +farewells. + +Good-bye, my dear Fox, Yours ever sincerely, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO R. FITZ-ROY. 17 Spring Gardens [October 17? 1831]. + +Dear Fitz-Roy, + +Very many thanks for your letter; it has made me most comfortable, for +it would have been heart-breaking to have left anything quite behind, +and I never should have thought of sending things by some other vessel. +This letter will, I trust, accompany some talc. I read your letter +without attending to the name. But I have now procured some from Jones, +which appears very good, and I will send it this evening by the mail. +You will be surprised at not seeing me propria persona instead of my +handwriting. But I had just found out that the large steam-packet did +not intend to sail on Sunday, and I was picturing to myself a small, +dirty cabin, with the proportion of 39-40ths of the passengers very +sick, when Mr. Earl came in and told me the "Beagle" would not sail till +the beginning of November. This, of course, settled the point; so that I +remain in London one week more. I shall then send heavy goods by steamer +and start myself by the coach on Sunday evening. + +Have you a good set of mountain barometers? Several great guns in the +scientific world have told me some points in geology to ascertain which +entirely depend on their relative height. If you have not a good stock, +I will add one more to the list. I ought to be ashamed to trouble you so +much, but will you SEND ONE LINE to inform me? I am daily becoming more +anxious to be off, and, if I am so, you must be in a perfect fever. What +a glorious day the 4th of November will be to me! My second life will +then commence, and it shall be as a birthday for the rest of my life. + +Believe me, dear Fitz-Roy, Yours most sincerely, CHAS. DARWIN. + +MONDAY.--I hope I have not put you to much inconvenience by ordering the +room in readiness. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Devonport, November 15, 1831. + +My dear Henslow, + +The orders are come down from the Admiralty, and everything is finally +settled. We positively sail the last day of this month, and I think +before that time the vessel will be ready. She looks most beautiful, +even a landsman must admire her. WE all think her the most perfect +vessel ever turned out of the Dockyard. One thing is certain, no vessel +has been fitted out so expensively, and with so much care. Everything +that can be made so is of mahogany, and nothing can exceed the neatness +and beauty of all the accommodations. The instructions are very general, +and leave a great deal to the Captain's discretion and judgment, paying +a substantial as well as a verbal compliment to him.... + +No vessel ever left England with such a set of Chronometers, viz., +twenty-four, all very good ones. In short, everything is well, and I +have only now to pray for the sickness to moderate its fierceness, and +I shall do very well. Yet I should not call it one of the very best +opportunities for natural history that has ever occurred. The absolute +want of room is an evil that nothing can surmount. I think L. Jenyns did +very wisely in not coming, that is judging from my own feelings, for I +am sure if I had left college some few years, or been those years older, +I NEVER could have endured it. The officers (excepting the Captain) are +like the freshest freshmen, that is in their manners, in everything else +widely different. Remember me most kindly to him, and tell him if ever +he dreams in the night of palm-trees, he may in the morning comfort +himself with the assurance that the voyage would not have suited him. + +I am much obliged for your advice, de Mathematicis. I suspect when I am +struggling with a triangle, I shall often wish myself in your room, and +as for those wicked sulky surds, I do not know what I shall do without +you to conjure them. My time passes away very pleasantly. I know one +or two pleasant people, foremost of whom is Mr. Thunder-and-lightning +Harris (William Snow Harris, the Electrician.), whom I dare say you have +heard of. My chief employment is to go on board the "Beagle", and try to +look as much like a sailor as I can. I have no evidence of having taken +in man, woman or child. + +I am going to ask you to do one more commission, and I trust it will +be the last. When I was in Cambridge, I wrote to Mr. Ash, asking him to +send my College account to my father, after having subtracted about 30 +pounds for my furniture. This he has forgotten to do, and my father has +paid the bill, and I want to have the furniture-money transmitted to +my father. Perhaps you would be kind enough to speak to Mr. Ash. I have +cost my father so much money, I am quite ashamed of myself. + +I will write once again before sailing, and perhaps you will write to me +before then. + +Remember me to Professor Sedgwick and Mr. Peacock. + +Believe me, yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Devonport, December 3, 1831. + +My dear Henslow, + +It is now late in the evening, and to-night I am going to sleep on +board. On Monday we most certainly sail, so you may guess what a +desperate state of confusion we are all in. If you were to hear the +various exclamations of the officers, you would suppose we had scarcely +had a week's notice. I am just in the same way taken all ABACK, and in +such a bustle I hardly know what to do. The number of things to be done +is infinite. I look forward even to sea-sickness with something like +satisfaction, anything must be better than this state of anxiety. I am +very much obliged for your last kind and affectionate letter. I always +like advice from you, and no one whom I have the luck to know is more +capable of giving it than yourself. Recollect, when you write, that I am +a sort of protege of yours, and that it is your bounden duty to lecture +me. + +I will now give you my direction; it is at first, Rio; but if you +will send me a letter on the first Tuesday (when the packet sails) in +February, directed to Monte Video, it will give me very great pleasure; +I shall so much enjoy hearing a little Cambridge news. Poor dear old +Alma Mater! I am a very worthy son in as far as affection goes. I have +little more to write about...I cannot end this without telling you how +cordially I feel grateful for the kindness you have shown me during +my Cambridge life. Much of the pleasure and utility which I may have +derived from it is owing to you. I long for the time when we shall again +meet, and till then believe me, my dear Henslow, + +Your affectionate and obliged friend, CH. DARWIN. + +Remember me most kindly to those who take any interest in me. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.VI. -- THE VOYAGE. + +"There is a natural good-humoured energy in his letters just like +himself."--From a letter of Dr. R.W. Darwin's to Prof. Henslow. + +[The object of the "Beagle" voyage is briefly described in my father's +'Journal of Researches,' page 1, as being "to complete the Survey of +Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under Captain King in 1826 +to 1830; to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and some island in the +Pacific; and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the +world."] + +The "Beagle" is described as a well-built little vessel, of 235 tons, +rigged as a barque, and carrying six guns. She belonged to the old class +of ten-gun brigs, which were nicknamed "coffins," from their liability +to go down in severe weather. They were very "deep-waisted," that is, +their bulwarks were high in proportion to their size, so that a heavy +sea breaking over them might be highly dangerous. Nevertheless, she +lived through the five years' work, in the most stormy regions in the +world, under Commanders Stokes and Fitz-Roy, without a serious accident. +When re-commissioned in 1831 for her second voyage, she was found (as +I learn from Admiral Sir James Sulivan) to be so rotten that she had +practically to be rebuilt, and it was this that caused the long delay +in refitting. The upper deck was raised, making her much safer in heavy +weather, and giving her far more comfortable accommodation below. By +these alterations and by the strong sheathing added to her bottom +she was brought up to 242 tons burthen. It is a proof of the splendid +seamanship of Captain Fitz-Roy and his officers that she returned +without having carried away a spar, and that in only one of the heavy +storms that she encountered was she in great danger. + +She was fitted out for the expedition with all possible care, being +supplied with carefully chosen spars and ropes, six boats, and a +"dinghy;" lightning conductors, "invented by Mr. Harris, were fixed in +all the masts, the bowsprits, and even in the flying jib-boom." To quote +my father's description, written from Devonport, November 17, 1831: +"Everybody, who can judge, says it is one of the grandest voyages +that has almost ever been sent out. Everything is on a grand scale. +Twenty-four chronometers. The whole ship is fitted up with mahogany; +she is the admiration of the whole place. In short, everything is as +prosperous as human means can make it." + +Owing to the smallness of the vessel, every one on board was cramped for +room, and my father's accommodation seems to have been small enough: "I +have just room to turn round," he writes to Henslow, "and that is all." +Admiral Sir James Sulivan writes to me: "The narrow space at the end of +the chart-table was his only accommodation for working, dressing, and +sleeping; the hammock being left hanging over his head by day, when the +sea was at all rough, that he might lie on it with a book in his hand +when he could not any longer sit at the table. His only stowage for +clothes being several small drawers in the corner, reaching from deck to +deck; the top one being taken out when the hammock was hung up, without +which there was not length for it, so then the foot-clews took the place +of the top drawer. For specimens he had a very small cabin under the +forecastle." + +Yet of this narrow room he wrote enthusiastically, September 17, 1831:-- + +"When I wrote last I was in great alarm about my cabin. The cabins were +not then marked out, but when I left they were, and mine is a capital +one, certainly next best to the Captain's and remarkably light. My +companion most luckily, I think, will turn out to be the officer whom I +shall like best. Captain Fitz-Roy says he will take care that one corner +is so fitted up that I shall be comfortable in it and shall consider +it my home, but that also I shall have the run of his. My cabin is the +drawing one; and in the middle is a large table, on which we two sleep +in hammocks. But for the first two months there will be no drawing to +be done, so that it will be quite a luxurious room, and good deal larger +than the Captain's cabin." + +My father used to say that it was the absolute necessity of tidiness +in the cramped space of the "Beagle" that helped 'to give him his +methodical habits of working.' On the "Beagle", too, he would say, that +he learned what he considered the golden rule for saving time; i.e., +taking care of the minutes. + +Sir James Sulivan tells me that the chief fault in the outfit of the +expedition was the want of a second smaller vessel to act as tender. +This want was so much felt by Captain Fitz-Roy that he hired two decked +boats to survey the coast of Patagonia, at a cost of 1100 pounds, a sum +which he had to supply, although the boats saved several thousand pounds +to the country. He afterwards bought a schooner to act as a tender, thus +saving the country a further large amount. He was ultimately ordered to +sell the schooner, and was compelled to bear the loss himself, and it +was only after his death that some inadequate compensation was made for +all the losses which he suffered through his zeal. + +For want of a proper tender, much of the work had to be done in small +open whale boats, which were sent away from the ship for weeks together, +and this in a climate, where the crews were exposed to severe hardships +from the almost constant rains, which sometimes continued for weeks +together. The completeness of the equipment was also in other respects +largely due to the public spirit of Captain Fitz-Roy. He provided at +his own cost an artist, and a skilled instrument-maker to look after +the chronometers. (Either one or both were on the books for victuals.) +Captain Fitz-Roy's wish was to take "some well-educated and scientific +person" as his private guest, but this generous offer was only accepted +by my father on condition of being allowed to pay a fair share of the +expense of the Captain's table; he was, moreover, on the ship's books +for victuals. + +In a letter to his sister (July 1832) he writes contentedly of his +manner of life at sea:--"I do not think I have ever given you an account +of how the day passes. We breakfast at eight o'clock. The invariable +maxim is to throw away all politeness--that is, never to wait for each +other, and bolt off the minute one has done eating, etc. At sea, when +the weather is calm, I work at marine animals, with which the whole +ocean abounds. If there is any sea up I am either sick or contrive to +read some voyage or travels. At one we dine. You shore-going people are +lamentably mistaken about the manner of living on board. We have never +yet (nor shall we) dined off salt meat. Rice and peas and calavanses are +excellent vegetables, and, with good bread, who could want more? Judge +Alderson could not be more temperate, as nothing but water comes on the +table. At five we have tea. The midshipmen's berth have all their meals +an hour before us, and the gun-room an hour afterwards." + +The crew of the "Beagle" consisted of Captain Fitz-Roy, "Commander and +Surveyor," two lieutenants, one of whom (the first lieutenant) was the +late Captain Wickham, Governor of Queensland; the present Admiral Sir +James Sulivan, K.C.B., was the second lieutenant. Besides the master +and two mates, there was an assistant-surveyor, the present Admiral Lort +Stokes. There were also a surgeon, assistant-surgeon, two midshipmen, +master's mate, a volunteer (1st class), purser, carpenter, clerk, +boatswain, eight marines, thirty-four seamen, and six boys. + +There are not now (1882) many survivors of my father's old ship-mates. +Admiral Mellersh, Mr. Hammond, and Mr. Philip King, of the Legislative +Council of Sydney, and Mr. Usborne, are among the number. Admiral +Johnson died almost at the same time as my father. + +He retained to the last a most pleasant recollection of the voyage of +the "Beagle", and of the friends he made on board her. To his children +their names were familiar, from his many stories of the voyage, and we +caught his feeling of friendship for many who were to us nothing more +than names. + +It is pleasant to know how affectionately his old companions remembered +him. + +Sir James Sulivan remained, throughout my father's lifetime, one of +his best and truest friends. He writes:--"I can confidently express my +belief that during the five years in the "Beagle", he was never known to +be out of temper, or to say one unkind or hasty word OF or TO any +one. You will therefore readily understand how this, combined with the +admiration of his energy and ability, led to our giving him the name of +'the dear old Philosopher.'" (His other nickname was "The Flycatcher." I +have heard my father tell how he overheard the boatswain of the "Beagle" +showing another boatswain over the ship, and pointing out the +officers: "That's our first lieutenant; that's our doctor; that's our +flycatcher.") Admiral Mellersh writes to me:--"Your father is as vividly +in my mind's eye as if it was only a week ago that I was in the "Beagle" +with him; his genial smile and conversation can never be forgotten by +any who saw them and heard them. I was sent on two or three occasions +away in a boat with him on some of his scientific excursions, and always +looked forward to these trips with great pleasure, an anticipation that, +unlike many others, was always realised. I think he was the only man +I ever knew against whom I never heard a word said; and as people when +shut up in a ship for five years are apt to get cross with each other, +that is saying a good deal. Certainly we were always so hard at work, we +had no time to quarrel, but if we had done so, I feel sure your father +would have tried (and have been successful) to throw oil on the troubled +waters." + +Admiral Stokes, Mr. King, Mr. Usborne, and Mr. Hamond, all speak of +their friendship with him in the same warm-hearted way. + +Of the life on board and on shore his letters give some idea. Captain +Fitz-Roy was a strict officer, and made himself thoroughly respected +both by officers and men. The occasional severity of his manner was +borne with because every one on board knew that his first thought was +his duty, and that he would sacrifice anything to the real welfare +of the ship. My father writes, July 1834, "We all jog on very well +together, there is no quarrelling on board, which is something to say. +The Captain keeps all smooth by rowing every one in turn." The best +proof that Fitz-Roy was valued as a commander is given by the fact that +many ('Voyage of the "Adventure" and "Beagle",' vol. ii. page 21.) of +the crew had sailed with him in the "Beagle's" former voyage, and there +were a few officers as well as seamen and marines, who had served in the +"Adventure" or "Beagle" during the whole of that expedition. + +My father speaks of the officers as a fine determined set of men, and +especially of Wickham, the first lieutenant, as a "glorious fellow." The +latter being responsible for the smartness and appearance of the ship +strongly objected to his littering the decks, and spoke of specimens as +"d--d beastly devilment," and used to add, "If I were skipper, I would +soon have you and all your d--d mess out of the place." + +A sort of halo of sanctity was given to my father by the fact of his +dining in the Captain's cabin, so that the midshipmen used at first to +call him "Sir," a formality, however, which did not prevent his becoming +fast friends with the younger officers. He wrote about the year 1861 +or 1862 to Mr. P.G. King, M.L.C., Sydney, who, as before stated, was a +midshipman on board the "Beagle":--"The remembrance of old days, when we +used to sit and talk on the booms of the "Beagle", will always, to the +day of my death, make me glad to hear of your happiness and prosperity." +Mr. King describes the pleasure my father seemed to take "in pointing +out to me as a youngster the delights of the tropical nights, with their +balmy breezes eddying out of the sails above us, and the sea lighted +up by the passage of the ship through the never-ending streams of +phosphorescent animalculae." + +It has been assumed that his ill-health in later years was due to his +having suffered so much from sea-sickness. This he did not himself +believe, but rather ascribed his bad health to the hereditary fault +which came out as gout in some of the past generations. I am not +quite clear as to how much he actually suffered from sea-sickness; my +impression is distinct that, according to his own memory, he was not +actually ill after the first three weeks, but constantly uncomfortable +when the vessel pitched at all heavily. But, judging from his letters, +and from the evidence of some of the officers, it would seem that +in later years he forgot the extent of the discomfort from which he +suffered. Writing June 3, 1836, from the Cape of Good Hope, he says: "It +is a lucky thing for me that the voyage is drawing to its close, for +I positively suffer more from sea-sickness now than three years ago." +Admiral Lort Stokes wrote to the "Times", April 25, 1883:-- + +"May I beg a corner for my feeble testimony to the marvellous +persevering endurance in the cause of science of that great naturalist, +my old and lost friend, Mr. Charles Darwin, whose remains are so very +justly to be honoured with a resting-place in Westminster Abbey? + +"Perhaps no one can better testify to his early and most trying labours +than myself. We worked together for several years at the same table in +the poop cabin of the 'Beagle' during her celebrated voyage, he with his +microscope and myself at the charts. It was often a very lively end of +the little craft, and distressingly so to my old friend, who suffered +greatly from sea-sickness. After perhaps an hour's work he would say to +me, 'Old fellow, I must take the horizontal for it,' that being the best +relief position from ship motion; a stretch out on one side of the table +for some time would enable him to resume his labours for a while, when +he had again to lie down. + +"It was distressing to witness this early sacrifice of Mr. Darwin's +health, who ever afterwards seriously felt the ill-effects of the +'Beagle's' voyage." + +Mr. A.B. Usborne writes, "He was a dreadful sufferer from sea-sickness, +and at times, when I have been officer of the watch, and reduced the +sails, making the ship more easy, and thus relieving him, I have been +pronounced by him to be 'a good officer,' and he would resume his +microscopic observations in the poop cabin." The amount of work that he +got through on the "Beagle" shows that he was habitually in full vigour; +he had, however, one severe illness, in South America, when he was +received into the house of an Englishman, Mr. Corfield, who tended him +with careful kindness. I have heard him say that in this illness every +secretion of the body was affected, and that when he described the +symptoms to his father Dr. Darwin could make no guess as to the nature +of the disease. My father was sometimes inclined to think that the +breaking up of his health was to some extent due to this attack. + +The "Beagle" letters give ample proof of his strong love of home, and +all connected with it, from his father down to Nancy, his old nurse, to +whom he sometimes sends his love. + +His delight in home-letters is shown in such passages as:--"But if you +knew the glowing, unspeakable delight, which I felt at being certain +that my father and all of you were well, only four months ago, you would +not grudge the labour lost in keeping up the regular series of letters." + +Or again--his longing to return in words like these:--"It is too +delightful to think that I shall see the leaves fall and hear the robin +sing next autumn at Shrewsbury. My feelings are those of a schoolboy to +the smallest point; I doubt whether ever boy longed for his holidays as +much as I do to see you all again. I am at present, although nearly half +the world is between me and home, beginning to arrange what I shall do, +where I shall go during the first week." + +Another feature in his letters is the surprise and delight with which +he hears of his collections and observations being of some use. It seems +only to have gradually occurred to him that he would ever be more than +collector of specimens and facts, of which the great men were to make +use. And even as to the value of his collections he seems to have had +much doubt, for he wrote to Henslow in 1834:--"I really began to think +that my collections were so poor that you were puzzled what to say; the +case is now quite on the opposite tack, for you are guilty of exciting +all my vain feelings to a most comfortable pitch; if hard work will +atone for these thoughts, I vow it shall not be spared." + +After his return and settlement in London, he began to realise the value +of what he had done, and wrote to Captain Fitz-Roy--"However others +may look back to the 'Beagle's' voyage, now that the small disagreeable +parts are well-nigh forgotten, I think it far the MOST FORTUNATE +CIRCUMSTANCE IN MY LIFE that the chance afforded by your offer of taking +a Naturalist fell on me. I often have the most vivid and delightful +pictures of what I saw on board the 'Beagle' pass before my eyes. +These recollections, and what I learnt on Natural History, I would not +exchange for twice ten thousand a year." + +[In selecting the following series of letters, I have been guided by the +wish to give as much personal detail as possible. I have given only a +few scientific letters, to illustrate the way in which he worked, and +how he regarded his own results. In his 'Journal of Researches' he gives +incidentally some idea of his personal character; the letters given in +the present chapter serve to amplify in fresher and more spontaneous +words that impression of his personality which the 'Journal' has given +to so many readers.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO R.W. DARWIN. Bahia, or San Salvador, Brazils [February +8, 1832]. + +I find after the first page I have been writing to my sisters. + +My dear Father, + +I am writing this on the 8th of February, one day's sail past St. +Jago (Cape de Verd), and intend taking the chance of meeting with a +homeward-bound vessel somewhere about the equator. The date, however, +will tell this whenever the opportunity occurs. I will now begin from +the day of leaving England, and give a short account of our progress. +We sailed, as you know, on the 27th of December, and have been fortunate +enough to have had from that time to the present a fair and moderate +breeze. It afterwards proved that we had escaped a heavy gale in the +Channel, another at Madeira, and another on [the] Coast of Africa. But +in escaping the gale, we felt its consequences--a heavy sea. In the +Bay of Biscay there was a long and continuous swell, and the misery +I endured from sea-sickness is far beyond what I ever guessed at. I +believe you are curious about it. I will give you all my dear-bought +experience. Nobody who has only been to sea for twenty-four hours has +a right to say that sea-sickness is even uncomfortable. The real misery +only begins when you are so exhausted that a little exertion makes a +feeling of faintness come on. I found nothing but lying in my hammock +did me any good. I must especially except your receipt of raisins, which +is the only food that the stomach will bear. + +On the 4th of January we were not many miles from Madeira, but as there +was a heavy sea running, and the island lay to windward, it was not +thought worth while to beat up to it. It afterwards has turned out it +was lucky we saved ourselves the trouble. I was much too sick even to +get up to see the distant outline. On the 6th, in the evening, we sailed +into the harbour of Santa Cruz. I now first felt even moderately well, +and I was picturing to myself all the delights of fresh fruits growing +in beautiful valleys, and reading Humboldt's descriptions of the +island's glorious views, when perhaps you may nearly guess at our +disappointment, when a small pale man informed us we must perform a +strict quarantine of twelve days. There was a death-like stillness in +the ship till the Captain cried "up jib," and we left this long-wished +for place. + +We were becalmed for a day between Teneriffe and the Grand Canary, and +here I first experienced any enjoyment. The view was glorious. The Peak +of Teneriffe was seen amongst the clouds like another world. Our only +drawback was the extreme wish of visiting this glorious island. TELL +EYTON NEVER TO FORGET EITHER THE CANARY ISLANDS OR SOUTH AMERICA; that I +am sure it will well repay the necessary trouble, but that he must make +up his mind to find a good deal of the latter. I feel certain he will +regret it if he does not make the attempt. From Teneriffe to St. Jago +the voyage was extremely pleasant. I had a net astern the vessel which +caught great numbers of curious animals, and fully occupied my time in +my cabin, and on deck the weather was so delightful and clear, that the +sky and water together made a picture. On the 16th we arrived at +Port Praya, the capital of the Cape de Verds, and there we remained +twenty-three days, viz., till yesterday, the 7th of February. The time +has flown away most delightfully, indeed nothing can be pleasanter; +exceedingly busy, and that business both a duty and a great delight. I +do not believe I have spent one half-hour idly since leaving Teneriffe. +St. Jago has afforded me an exceedingly rich harvest in several branches +of Natural History. I find the descriptions scarcely worth anything +of many of the commoner animals that inhabit the Tropics. I allude, of +course, to those of the lower classes. + +Geologising in a volcanic country is most delightful; besides the +interest attached to itself, it leads you into most beautiful and +retired spots. Nobody but a person fond of Natural History can imagine +the pleasure of strolling under cocoa-nuts in a thicket of bananas and +coffee-plants, and an endless number of wild flowers. And this island, +that has given me so much instruction and delight, is reckoned the most +uninteresting place that we perhaps shall touch at during our voyage. It +certainly is generally very barren, but the valleys are more exquisitely +beautiful, from the very contrast. It is utterly useless to say anything +about the scenery; it would be as profitable to explain to a blind +man colours, as to a person who has not been out of Europe, the total +dissimilarity of a tropical view. Whenever I enjoy anything, I always +either look forward to writing it down, either in my log-book (which +increases in bulk), or in a letter; so you must excuse raptures, and +those raptures badly expressed. I find my collections are increasing +wonderfully, and from Rio I think I shall be obliged to send a cargo +home. + +All the endless delays which we experienced at Plymouth have been most +fortunate, as I verily believe no person ever went out better provided +for collecting and observing in the different branches of Natural +History. In a multitude of counsellors I certainly found good. I find to +my great surprise that a ship is singularly comfortable for all sorts +of work. Everything is so close at hand, and being cramped makes one so +methodical, that in the end I have been a gainer. I already have got to +look at going to sea as a regular quiet place, like going back to home +after staying away from it. In short, I find a ship a very comfortable +house, with everything you want, and if it was not for sea-sickness the +whole world would be sailors. I do not think there is much danger of +Erasmus setting the example, but in case there should be, he may rely +upon it he does not know one-tenth of the sufferings of sea-sickness. + +I like the officers much more than I did at first, especially Wickham, +and young King and Stokes, and indeed all of them. The Captain continues +steadily very kind, and does everything in his power to assist me. We +see very little of each other when in harbour, our pursuits lead us +in such different tracks. I never in my life met with a man who could +endure nearly so great a share of fatigue. He works incessantly, and +when apparently not employed, he is thinking. If he does not kill +himself, he will during this voyage do a wonderful quantity of work. +I find I am very well, and stand the little heat we have had as yet +as well as anybody. We shall soon have it in real earnest. We are now +sailing for Fernando Noronha, off the coast of Brazil, where we shall +not stay very long, and then examine the shoals between there and Rio, +touching perhaps at Bahia. I will finish this letter when an opportunity +of sending it occurs. + +FEBRUARY 26TH. + +About 280 miles from Bahia. On the 10th we spoke the packet "Lyra", on +her voyage to Rio. I sent a short letter by her, to be sent to England +on [the] first opportunity. We have been singularly unlucky in not +meeting with any homeward-bound vessels, but I suppose [at] Bahia we +certainly shall be able to write to England. Since writing the first +part of [this] letter nothing has occurred except crossing the Equator, +and being shaved. This most disagreeable operation consists in having +your face rubbed with paint and tar, which forms a lather for a saw +which represents the razor, and then being half drowned in a sail filled +with salt water. About 50 miles north of the line we touched at the +rocks of St. Paul; this little speck (about 1/4 of a mile across) in the +Atlantic has seldom been visited. It is totally barren, but is covered +by hosts of birds; they were so unused to men that we found we could +kill plenty with stones and sticks. After remaining some hours on the +island, we returned on board with the boat loaded with our prey. From +this we went to Fernando Noronha, a small island where the [Brazilians] +send their exiles. The landing there was attended with so much +difficulty owing [to] a heavy surf that the Captain determined to +sail the next day after arriving. My one day on shore was exceedingly +interesting, the whole island is one single wood so matted together by +creepers that it is very difficult to move out of the beaten path. +I find the Natural History of all these unfrequented spots most +exceedingly interesting, especially the geology. I have written this +much in order to save time at Bahia. + +Decidedly the most striking thing in the Tropics is the novelty of the +vegetable forms. Cocoa-nuts could well be imagined from drawings, if +you add to them a graceful lightness which no European tree partakes of. +Bananas and plantains are exactly the same as those in hothouses, the +acacias or tamarinds are striking from the blueness of their foliage; +but of the glorious orange trees, no description, no drawings, will give +any just idea; instead of the sickly green of our oranges, the native +ones exceed the Portugal laurel in the darkness of their tint, and +infinitely exceed it in beauty of form. Cocoa-nuts, papaws, the light +green bananas, and oranges, loaded with fruit, generally surround the +more luxuriant villages. Whilst viewing such scenes, one feels the +impossibility that any description would come near the mark, much less +be overdrawn. + +MARCH 1ST. + +Bahia, or San Salvador. I arrived at this place on the 28th of February, +and am now writing this letter after having in real earnest strolled +in the forests of the new world. No person could imagine anything so +beautiful as the ancient town of Bahia, it is fairly embosomed in a +luxuriant wood of beautiful trees, and situated on a steep bank, and +overlooks the calm waters of the great bay of All Saints. The houses +are white and lofty, and, from the windows being narrow and long, have +a very light and elegant appearance. Convents, porticos, and public +buildings, vary the uniformity of the houses; the bay is scattered over +with large ships; in short, and what can be said more, it is one of +the finest views in the Brazils. But the exquisite glorious pleasure of +walking amongst such flowers, and such trees, cannot be comprehended +but by those who have experienced it. Although in so low a latitude the +locality is not disagreeably hot, but at present it is very damp, for it +is the rainy season. I find the climate as yet agrees admirably with me; +it makes me long to live quietly for some time in such a country. If +you really want to have [an idea] of tropical countries, study Humboldt. +Skip the scientific parts, and commence after leaving Teneriffe. My +feelings amount to admiration the more I read him. Tell Eyton (I find I +am writing to my sisters!) how exceedingly I enjoy America, and that I +am sure it will be a great pity if he does not make a start. + +This letter will go on the 5th, and I am afraid will be some time before +it reaches you; it must be a warning how in other parts of the world you +may be a long time without hearing. A year might by accident thus pass. +About the 12th we start for Rio, but we remain some time on the way in +sounding the Albrolhos shoals. Tell Eyton as far as my experience goes +let him study Spanish, French, drawing, and Humboldt. I do sincerely +hope to hear of (if not to see him) in South America. I look forward to +the letters in Rio--till each one is acknowledged, mention its date in +the next. + +We have beat all the ships in manoeuvring, so much so that the +commanding officer says, we need not follow his example; because we do +everything better than his great ship. I begin to take great interest in +naval points, more especially now, as I find they all say we are the No. +1 in South America. I suppose the Captain is a most excellent officer. +It was quite glorious to-day how we beat the "Samarang" in furling +sails. It is quite a new thing for a "sounding ship" to beat a regular +man-of-war; and yet the "Beagle" is not at all a particular ship. +Erasmus will clearly perceive it when he hears that in the night I have +actually sat down in the sacred precincts of the quarter deck. You must +excuse these queer letters, and recollect they are generally written in +the evening after my day's work. I take more pains over my log-book, so +that eventually you will have a good account of all the places I visit. +Hitherto the voyage has answered ADMIRABLY to me, and yet I am now more +fully aware of your wisdom in throwing cold water on the whole scheme; +the chances are so numerous of turning out quite the reverse; to such +an extent do I feel this, that if my advice was asked by any person on +a similar occasion, I should be very cautious in encouraging him. I have +not time to write to anybody else, so send to Maer to let them know, +that in the midst of the glorious tropical scenery, I do not forget how +instrumental they were in placing me there. I will not rapturise again, +but I give myself great credit in not being crazy out of pure delight. + +Give my love to every soul at home, and to the Owens. + +I think one's affections, like other good things, flourish and increase +in these tropical regions. + +The conviction that I am walking in the New World is even yet marvellous +in my own eyes, and I dare say it is little less so to you, the +receiving a letter from a son of yours in such a quarter. + +Believe me, my dear Father, Your most affectionate son, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Botofogo Bay, near Rio de Janeiro, May, +1832. + +My dear Fox, + +I have delayed writing to you and all my other friends till I arrived +here and had some little spare time. My mind has been, since leaving +England, in a perfect HURRICANE of delight and astonishment, and to this +hour scarcely a minute has passed in idleness... + +At St. Jago my natural history and most delightful labours commenced. +During the three weeks I collected a host of marine animals, and enjoyed +many a good geological walk. Touching at some islands, we sailed to +Bahia, and from thence to Rio, where I have already been some weeks. My +collections go on admirably in almost every branch. As for insects, I +trust I shall send a host of undescribed species to England. I believe +they have no small ones in the collections, and here this morning I have +taken minute Hydropori, Noterus, Colymbetes, Hydrophilus, Hydrobius, +Gromius, etc., etc., as specimens of fresh-water beetles. I am entirely +occupied with land animals, as the beach is only sand. Spiders and the +adjoining tribes have perhaps given me, from their novelty, the most +pleasure. I think I have already taken several new genera. + +But Geology carries the day: it is like the pleasure of gambling. +Speculating, on first arriving, what the rocks may be, I often mentally +cry out 3 to 1 tertiary against primitive; but the latter have hitherto +won all the bets. So much for the grand end of my voyage; in other +respects things are equally flourishing. My life, when at sea, is +so quiet, that to a person who can employ himself, nothing can be +pleasanter; the beauty of the sky and brilliancy of the ocean together +make a picture. But when on shore, and wandering in the sublime forests, +surrounded by views more gorgeous than even Claude ever imagined, +I enjoy a delight which none but those who have experienced it can +understand. If it is to be done, it must be by studying Humboldt. At our +ancient snug breakfasts, at Cambridge, I little thought that the wide +Atlantic would ever separate us; but it is a rare privilege that with +the body, the feelings and memory are not divided. On the contrary, the +pleasantest scenes in my life, many of which have been in Cambridge, +rise from the contrast of the present, the more vividly in my +imagination. Do you think any diamond beetle will ever give me so much +pleasure as our old friend crux major?... It is one of my most constant +amusements to draw pictures of the past; and in them I often see you +and poor little Fran. Oh, Lord, and then old Dash, poor thing! Do you +recollect how you all tormented me about his beautiful tail? + +...Think when you are picking insects off a hawthorn-hedge on a fine May +day (wretchedly cold, I have no doubt), think of me collecting amongst +pine-apples and orange-trees; whilst staining your fingers with dirty +blackberries, think and be envious of ripe oranges. This is a proper +piece of bravado, for I would walk through many a mile of sleet, snow, +or rain to shake you by the hand. My dear old Fox, God bless you. +Believe me, + +Yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Rio de Janeiro, May 18, 1832. + +My dear Henslow,... + +Till arriving at Teneriffe (we did not touch at Madeira) I was scarcely +out of my hammock, and really suffered more than you can well imagine +from such a cause. At Santa Cruz, whilst looking amongst the clouds for +the Peak, and repeating to myself Humboldt's sublime descriptions, it +was announced we must perform twelve days' strict quarantine. We had +made a short passage, so "Up jib," and away for St. Jago. You will say +all this sounds very bad, and so it was; but from that to the present +time it has been nearly one scene of continual enjoyment. A net over the +stern kept me at full work till we arrived at St. Jago. Here we spent +three most delightful weeks. The geology was pre-eminently interesting, +and I believe quite new; there are some facts on a large scale of +upraised coast (which is an excellent epoch for all the volcanic rocks +to date from), that would interest Mr. Lyell. + +One great source of perplexity to me is an utter ignorance whether I +note the right facts, and whether they are of sufficient importance to +interest others. In the one thing collecting I cannot go wrong. St. Jago +is singularly barren, and produces few plants or insects, so that my +hammer was my usual companion, and in its company most delightful +hours I spent. On the coast I collected many marine animals, chiefly +gasteropodous (I think some new). I examined pretty accurately a +Caryopyllia, and, if my eyes are not bewitched, former descriptions have +not the slightest resemblance to the animal. I took several specimens +of an Octopus which possessed a most marvellous power of changing +its colours, equalling any chameleon, and evidently accommodating the +changes to the colour of the ground which it passed over. Yellowish +green, dark brown, and red, were the prevailing colours; this +fact appears to be new, as far as I can find out. Geology and the +invertebrate animals will be my chief object of pursuit through the +whole voyage. + +We then sailed for Bahia, and touched at the rock of St. Paul. This is a +serpentine formation. Is it not the only island in the Atlantic which +is not volcanic? We likewise stayed a few hours at Fernando Noronha; a +tremendous surf was running so that a boat was swamped, and the Captain +would not wait. I find my life on board when we are on blue water most +delightful, so very comfortable and quiet--it is almost impossible to +be idle, and that for me is saying a good deal. Nobody could possibly be +better fitted in every respect for collecting than I am; many cooks +have not spoiled the broth this time. Mr. Brown's little hints about +microscopes, etc., have been invaluable. I am well off in books, the +'Dictionnaire Classique' IS MOST USEFUL. If you should think of any +thing or book that would be useful to me, if you would write one line, +E. Darwin, Wyndham Club, St. James's Street, he will procure them, and +send them with some other things to Monte Video, which for the next year +will be my headquarters. + +Touching at the Abrolhos, we arrived here on April 4th, when amongst +others I received your most kind letter. You may rely on it during the +evening I thought of the many most happy hours I have spent with you in +Cambridge. I am now living at Botofogo, a village about a league from +the city, and shall be able to remain a month longer. The "Beagle" has +gone back to Bahia, and will pick me up on its return. There is a most +important error in the longitude of South America, to settle which this +second trip has been undertaken. Our chronometers, at least sixteen +of them, are going superbly; none on record have ever gone at all like +them. + +A few days after arriving I started on an expedition of 150 miles to Rio +Macao, which lasted eighteen days. Here I first saw a tropical forest in +all its sublime grander--nothing but the reality can give any idea how +wonderful, how magnificent the scene is. If I was to specify any one +thing I should give the pre-eminence to the host of parasitical plants. +Your engraving is exactly true, but underrates rather than exaggerates +the luxuriance. I never experienced such intense delight. I formerly +admired Humboldt, I now almost adore him; he alone gives any notion of +the feelings which are raised in the mind on first entering the Tropics. +I am now collecting fresh-water and land animals; if what was told me in +London is true, viz., that there are no small insects in the collections +from the Tropics, I tell Entomologists to look out and have their pens +ready for describing. I have taken as minute (if not more so) as in +England, Hydropori, Hygroti, Hydrobii, Pselaphi, Staphylini, Curculio, +etc. etc. It is exceedingly interesting observing the difference of +genera and species from those which I know, it is however much less +than I had expected. I am at present red-hot with spiders; they are +very interesting, and if I am not mistaken I have already taken some +new genera. I shall have a large box to send very soon to Cambridge, and +with that I will mention some more natural history particulars. + +The Captain does everything in his power to assist me, and we get on +very well, but I thank my better fortune he has not made me a renegade +to Whig principles. I would not be a Tory, if it was merely on account +of their cold hearts about that scandal to Christian nations--Slavery. I +am very good friends with all the officers. + +I have just returned from a walk, and as a specimen, how little the +insects are known. Noterus, according to the 'Dictionary Classique,' +contains solely three European species. I in one haul of my net took +five distinct species; is this not quite extraordinary?... + +Tell Professor Sedgwick he does not know how much I am indebted to him +for the Welsh Expedition; it has given me an interest in Geology which +I would not give up for any consideration. I do not think I ever spent +a more delightful three weeks than pounding the North-west Mountains. I +look forward to the geology about Monte Video as I hear there are slates +there, so I presume in that district I shall find the junctions of the +Pampas, and the enormous granite formation of Brazils. At Bahia the +pegmatite and gneiss in beds had the same direction, as observed by +Humboldt, prevailing over Columbia, distant 1300 miles--is it not +wonderful? Monte Video will be for a long time my direction. I hope +you will write again to me, there is nobody from whom I like receiving +advice so much as from you...Excuse this almost unintelligible letter, +and believe me, my dear Henslow, with the warmest feelings of respect +and friendship, + +Yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.M. HERBERT. Botofogo Bay, Rio de Janeiro, June 1832. + +My dear old Herbert, + +Your letter arrived here when I had given up all hopes of receiving +another, it gave me, therefore, an additional degree of pleasure. At +such an interval of time and space one does learn to feel truly obliged +to those who do not forget one. The memory when recalling scenes past +by, affords to us EXILES one of the greatest pleasures. Often and often +whilst wandering amongst these hills do I think of Barmouth, and, I may +add, as often wish for such a companion. What a contrast does a walk +in these two places afford; here abrupt and stony peaks are to the very +summit enclosed by luxuriant woods; the whole surface of the country, +excepting where cleared by man, is one impenetrable forest. How +different from Wales, with its sloping hills covered with turf, and +its open valleys. I was not previously aware how intimately what may be +called the moral part is connected with the enjoyment of scenery. I mean +such ideas, as the history of the country, the utility of the produce, +and more especially the happiness of the people living with them. Change +the English labourer into a poor slave, working for another, and you +will hardly recognise the same view. I am sure you will be glad to hear +how very well every part (Heaven forefend, except sea-sickness) of the +expedition has answered. We have already seen Teneriffe and the Great +Canary; St. Jago where I spent three most delightful weeks, revelling +in the delights of first naturalising a tropical volcanic island, and +besides other islands, the two celebrated ports in the Brazils, viz. +Bahia and Rio. + +I was in my hammock till we arrived at the Canaries, and I shall never +forget the sublime impression the first view of Teneriffe made on +my mind. The first arriving into warm weather was most luxuriously +pleasant; the clear blue sky of the Tropics was no common change after +those accursed south-west gales at Plymouth. About the Line it became +weltering hot. We spent one day at St. Paul's, a little group of rocks +about a quarter of a mile in circumference, peeping up in the midst of +the Atlantic. There was such a scene here. Wickham (1st Lieutenant) and +I were the only two who landed with guns and geological hammers, etc. +The birds by myriads were too close to shoot; we then tried stones, but +at last, proh pudor! my geological hammer was the instrument of death. +We soon loaded the boat with birds and eggs. Whilst we were so engaged, +the men in the boat were fairly fighting with the sharks for such +magnificent fish as you could not see in the London market. Our boat +would have made a fine subject for Snyders, such a medley of game it +contained. We have been here ten weeks, and shall now start for Monte +Video, when I look forward to many a gallop over the Pampas. I am +ashamed of sending such a scrambling letter, but if you were to see the +heap of letters on my table you would understand the reason... + +I am glad to hear music flourishes so well in Cambridge; but it [is] as +barbarous to talk to me of "celestial concerts" as to a person in Arabia +of cold water. In a voyage of this sort, if one gains many new and great +pleasures, on the other side the loss is not inconsiderable. How should +you like to be suddenly debarred from seeing every person and place, +which you have ever known and loved, for five years? I do assure you I +am occasionally "taken aback" by this reflection; and then for man or +ship it is not so easy to right again. Remember me most sincerely to the +remnant of most excellent fellows whom I have the good luck to know in +Cambridge--I mean Whitley and Watkins. Tell Lowe I am even beneath his +contempt. I can eat salt beef and musty biscuits for dinner. See what a +fall man may come to! + +My direction for the next year and a half will be Monte Video. + +God bless you, my very dear old Herbert. May you always be happy and +prosperous is my most cordial wish. + +Yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. WATKINS. Monte Video, River Plata, August 18, 1832. + +My dear Watkins, + +I do not feel very sure you will think a letter from one so far distant +will be worth having; I write therefore on the selfish principle of +getting an answer. In the different countries we visit the entire +newness and difference from England only serves to make more keen the +recollection of its scenes and delights. In consequence the pleasure of +thinking of, and hearing from one's former friends, does indeed become +great. Recollect this, and some long winter's evening sit down and send +me a long account of yourself and our friends; both what you have, and +what [you] intend doing; otherwise in three or four more years when I +return you will be all strangers to me. Considering how many months +have passed, we have not in the "Beagle" made much way round the world. +Hitherto everything has well repaid the necessary trouble and loss of +comfort. We stayed three weeks at the Cape de Verds; it was no ordinary +pleasure rambling over the plains of lava under a tropical sun, but when +I first entered on and beheld the luxuriant vegetation in Brazil, it +was realizing the visions in the 'Arabian Nights.' The brilliancy of the +scenery throws one into a delirium of delight, and a beetle hunter is +not likely soon to awaken from it, when whichever way he turns fresh +treasures meet his eye. At Rio de Janeiro three months passed away like +so many weeks. I made a most delightful excursion during this time of +150 miles into the country. I stayed at an estate which is the last of +the cleared ground, behind is one vast impenetrable forest. It is almost +impossible to imagine the quietude of such a life. Not a human being +within some miles interrupts the solitude. To seat oneself amidst the +gloom of such a forest on a decaying trunk, and then think of home, is a +pleasure worth taking some trouble for. + +We are at present in a much less interesting country. One single walk +over the undulatory turf plain shows everything which is to be seen. +It is not at all unlike Cambridgeshire, only that every hedge, tree and +hill must be leveled, and arable land turned into pasture. All South +America is in such an unsettled state that we have not entered one port +without some sort of disturbance. At Buenos Ayres a shot came whistling +over our heads; it is a noise I had never before heard, but I found I +had an instinctive knowledge of what it meant. The other day we landed +our men here, and took possession, at the request of the inhabitants, of +the central fort. We philosophers do not bargain for this sort of work, +and I hope there will be no more. We sail in the course of a day or two +to survey the coast of Patagonia; as it is entirely unknown, I expect a +good deal of interest. But already do I perceive the grievous difference +between sailing on these seas and the Equinoctial ocean. In the "Ladies' +Gulf," as the Spaniard's call it, it is so luxurious to sit on deck and +enjoy the coolness of the night, and admire the new constellations of +the South...I wonder when we shall ever meet again; but be it when it +may, few things will give me greater pleasure than to see you again, and +talk over the long time we have passed together. + +If you were to meet me at present I certainly should be looked at like a +wild beast, a great grizzly beard and flushing jacket would disfigure +an angel. Believe me, my dear Watkins, with the warmest feelings of +friendship. + +Ever yours, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. April 11, 1833. + +My dear Henslow, + +We are now running up from the Falkland Islands to the Rio Negro (or +Colorado). The "Beagle" will proceed to Monte Video; but if it can be +managed I intend staying at the former place. It is now some months +since we have been at a civilised port; nearly all this time has been +spent in the most southern part of Tierra del Fuego. It is a detestable +place; gales succeed gales with such short intervals that it is +difficult to do anything. We were twenty-three days off Cape Horn, and +could by no means get to the westward. The last and final gale before we +gave up the attempt was unusually severe. A sea stove one of the boats, +and there was so much water on the decks that every place was afloat; +nearly all the paper for drying plants is spoiled, and half of this +curious collection. + +We at last ran into harbour, and in the boats got to the west by the +inland channels. As I was one of this party I was very glad of it. +With two boats we went about 300 miles, and thus I had an excellent +opportunity of geologising and seeing much of the savages. The Fuegians +are in a more miserable state of barbarism than I had expected ever to +have seen a human being. In this inclement country they are absolutely +naked, and their temporary houses are like what children make in +summer with boughs of trees. I do not think any spectacle can be more +interesting than the first sight of man in his primitive wildness. It +is an interest which cannot well be imagined until it is experienced. +I shall never forget this when entering Good Success Bay--the yell with +which a party received us. They were seated on a rocky point, surrounded +by the dark forest of beech; as they threw their arms wildly round their +heads, and their long hair streaming, they seemed the troubled spirits +of another world. The climate in some respects is a curious mixture of +severity and mildness; as far as regards the animal kingdom, the +former character prevails; I have in consequence not added much to my +collections. + +The Geology of this part of Tierra del Fuego was, as indeed every place +is, to me very interesting. The country is non-fossiliferous, and a +common-place succession of granitic rocks and slates; attempting to +make out the relation of cleavage, strata, etc., etc., was my chief +amusement. The mineralogy, however, of some of the rocks will, I think, +be curious from their resemblance to those of volcanic origin.... + +After leaving Tierra del Fuego we sailed to the Falklands. I forgot to +mention the fate of the Fuegians whom we took back to their country. +They had become entirely European in their habits and wishes, so much +so that the younger one had forgotten his own language, and their +countrymen paid but very little attention to them. We built houses for +them and planted gardens, but by the time we return again on our passage +round the Horn, I think it will be very doubtful how much of their +property will be left unstolen. + +...When I am sea-sick and miserable, it is one of my highest +consolations to picture the future when we again shall be pacing +together the roads round Cambridge. That day is a weary long way off. +We have another cruise to make to Tierra del Fuego next summer, and then +our voyage round the world will really commence. Captain Fitz-Roy has +purchased a large schooner of 170 tons. In many respects it will be a +great advantage having a consort--perhaps it may somewhat shorten our +cruise, which I most cordially hope it may. I trust, however, that +the Coral Reefs and various animals of the Pacific may keep up my +resolution. Remember me most kindly to Mrs. Henslow and all other +friends; I am a true lover of Alma Mater and all its inhabitants. + +Believe me, my dear Henslow, Your affectionate and most obliged friend, +CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS C. DARWIN. Maldonado, Rio Plata, May 22, 1833. + +...The following business piece is to my father. Having a servant of +my own would be a really great addition to my comfort. For these two +reasons: as at present the Captain has appointed one of the men always +to be with me, but I do not think it just thus to take a seaman out of +the ship; and, secondly, when at sea I am rather badly off for any one +to wait on me. The man is willing to be my servant, and all the expenses +would be under 60 pounds per annum. I have taught him to shoot and skin +birds, so that in my main object he is very useful. I have now left +England nearly a year and a half, and I find my expenses are not above +200 pounds per annum; so that, it being hopeless (from time) to write +for permission, I have come to the conclusion that you would allow me +this expense. But I have not yet resolved to ask the Captain, and the +chances are even that he would not be willing to have an additional man +in the ship. I have mentioned this because for a long time I have been +thinking about it. + +JUNE. + +I have just received a bundle more letters. I do not know how to thank +you all sufficiently. One from Catherine, February 8th, another from +Susan, March 3rd, together with notes from Caroline and from my father; +give my best love to my father. I almost cried for pleasure at receiving +it; it was very kind thinking of writing to me. My letters are both +few, short, and stupid in return for all yours; but I always ease my +conscience by considering the Journal as a long letter. If I can +manage it, I will, before doubling the Horn, send the rest. I am quite +delighted to find the hide of the Megatherium has given you all some +little interest in my employments. These fragments are not, however, +by any means the most valuable of the geological relics. I trust and +believe that the time spent in this voyage, if thrown away for all other +respects, will produce its full worth in Natural History; and it appears +to me the doing what LITTLE we can to increase the general stock +of knowledge is as respectable an object of life as one can in any +likelihood pursue. It is more the result of such reflections (as I have +already said) than much immediate pleasure which now makes me continue +the voyage, together with the glorious prospect of the future, when +passing the Straits of Magellan, we have in truth the world before us. +Think of the Andes, the luxuriant forest of Guayaquil, the islands +of the South Sea, and New South Wales. How many magnificent and +characteristic views, how many and curious tribes of men we shall see! +What fine opportunities for geology and for studying the infinite host +of living beings! Is not this a prospect to keep up the most flagging +spirit? If I was to throw it away, I don't think I should ever rest +quiet in my grave. I certainly should be a ghost and haunt the British +Museum. + +How famously the Ministers appear to be going on. I always much enjoy +political gossip and what you at home think will, etc., etc., take +place. I steadily read up the weekly paper, but it is not sufficient +to guide one's opinion; and I find it a very painful state not to be as +obstinate as a pig in politics. I have watched how steadily the general +feeling, as shown at elections, has been rising against Slavery. What +a proud thing for England if she is the first European nation which +utterly abolishes it! I was told before leaving England that after +living in slave countries all my opinions would be altered; the only +alteration I am aware of is forming a much higher estimate of the negro +character. It is impossible to see a negro and not feel kindly towards +him; such cheerful, open, honest expressions and such fine muscular +bodies. I never saw any of the diminutive Portuguese, with their +murderous countenances, without almost wishing for Brazil to follow the +example of Hayti; and, considering the enormous healthy-looking black +population, it will be wonderful if, at some future day, it does not +take place. There is at Rio a man (I know not his title) who has a +large salary to prevent (I believe) the landing of slaves; he lives +at Botofogo, and yet that was the bay where, during my residence, the +greater number of smuggled slaves were landed. Some of the Anti-Slavery +people ought to question about his office; it was the subject of +conversation at Rio amongst the lower English... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.M. HERBERT. Maldonado, Rio Plata, June 2, 1833. + +My dear Herbert, + +I have been confined for the last three days to a miserable dark room, +in an old Spanish house, from the torrents of rain; I am not, therefore, +in very good trim for writing; but, defying the blue devils, I will send +you a few lines, if it is merely to thank you very sincerely for writing +to me. I received your letter, dated December 1st, a short time since. +We are now passing part of the winter in the Rio Plata, after having +had a hard summer's work to the south. Tierra del Fuego is indeed a +miserable place; the ceaseless fury of the gales is quite tremendous. +One evening we saw old Cape Horn, and three weeks afterwards we were +only thirty miles to windward of it. It is a grand spectacle to see all +nature thus raging; but Heaven knows every one in the "Beagle" has seen +enough in this one summer to last them their natural lives. + +The first place we landed at was Good Success Bay. It was here Banks +and Solander met such disasters on ascending one of the mountains. The +weather was tolerably fine, and I enjoyed some walks in a wild country, +like that behind Barmouth. The valleys are impenetrable from the +entangled woods, but the higher parts, near the limits of perpetual +snow, are bare. From some of these hills the scenery, from its savage, +solitary character, was most sublime. The only inhabitant of these +heights is the guanaco, and with its shrill neighing it often breaks the +stillness. The consciousness that no European foot had ever trod much +of this ground added to the delight of these rambles. How often and how +vividly have many of the hours spent at Barmouth come before my mind! I +look back to that time with no common pleasure; at this moment I can see +you seated on the hill behind the inn, almost as plainly as if you were +really there. It is necessary to be separated from all which one +has been accustomed to, to know how properly to treasure up such +recollections, and at this distance, I may add, how properly to esteem +such as yourself, my dear old Herbert. I wonder when I shall ever +see you again. I hope it may be, as you say, surrounded with heaps of +parchment; but then there must be, sooner or later, a dear little lady +to take care of you and your house. Such a delightful vision makes me +quite envious. This is a curious life for a regular shore-going person +such as myself; the worst part of it is its extreme length. There +is certainly a great deal of high enjoyment, and on the contrary a +tolerable share of vexation of spirit. Everything, however, shall bend +to the pleasure of grubbing up old bones, and captivating new animals. +By the way, you rank my Natural History labours far too high. I am +nothing more than a lions' provider: I do not feel at all sure that they +will not growl and finally destroy me. + +It does one's heart good to hear how things are going on in England. +Hurrah for the honest Whigs! I trust they will soon attack that +monstrous stain on our boasted liberty, Colonial Slavery. I have seen +enough of Slavery and the dispositions of the negroes, to be thoroughly +disgusted with the lies and nonsense one hears on the subject in +England. Thank God, the cold-hearted Tories, who, as J. Mackintosh used +to say, have no enthusiasm, except against enthusiasm, have for the +present run their race. I am sorry, by your letter, to hear you have not +been well, and that you partly attribute it to want of exercise. I wish +you were here amongst the green plains; we would take walks which would +rival the Dolgelly ones, and you should tell stories, which I would +believe, even to a CUBIC FATHOM OF PUDDING. Instead I must take my +solitary ramble, think of Cambridge days, and pick up snakes, beetles +and toads. Excuse this short letter (you know I never studied 'The +Complete Letter-writer'), and believe me, my dear Herbert, + +Your affectionate friend, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. East Falkland Island, March, 1834. + +...I am quite charmed with Geology, but like the wise animal between +two bundles of hay, I do not know which to like the best; the old +crystalline group of rocks, or the softer and fossiliferous beds. When +puzzling about stratifications, etc., I feel inclined to cry "a fig for +your big oysters, and your bigger megatheriums." But then when digging +out some fine bones, I wonder how any man can tire his arms with +hammering granite. By the way I have not one clear idea about cleavage, +stratification, lines of upheaval. I have no books which tell me much, +and what they do I cannot apply to what I see. In consequence I draw +my own conclusions, and most gloriously ridiculous ones they are, I +sometimes fancy...Can you throw any light into my mind by telling me +what relation cleavage and planes of deposition bear to each other? + +And now for my second SECTION, Zoology. I have chiefly been employed +in preparing myself for the South Sea by examining the polypi of the +smaller Corallines in these latitudes. Many in themselves are very +curious, and I think are quite undescribed; there was one appalling one, +allied to a Flustra, which I dare say I mentioned having found to the +northward, where the cells have a movable organ (like a vulture's head, +with a dilatable beak), fixed on the edge. But what is of more general +interest is the unquestionable (as it appears to me) existence of +another species of ostrich, besides the Struthio rhea. All the Gauchos +and Indians state it is the case, and I place the greatest faith in +their observations. I have the head, neck, piece of skin, feathers, and +legs of one. The differences are chiefly in the colour of the feathers +and scales on legs, being feathered below the knees, nidification, and +geographical distribution. So much for what I have lately done; the +prospect before me is full of sunshine, fine weather, glorious scenery, +the geology of the Andes, plains abounding with organic remains (which +perhaps I may have the good luck to catch in the very act of moving), +and lastly, an ocean, its shores abounding with life, so that, if +nothing unforeseen happens, I will stick to the voyage, although for +what I can see this may last till we return a fine set of white-headed +old gentlemen. I have to thank you most cordially for sending me the +books. I am now reading the Oxford 'Report' (The second meeting of the +British Association was held at Oxford in 1832, the following year +it was at Cambridge.); the whole account of your proceedings is most +glorious; you remaining in England cannot well imagine how excessively +interesting I find the reports. I am sure from my own thrilling +sensations when reading them, that they cannot fail to have an excellent +effect upon all those residing in distant colonies, and who have +little opportunity of seeing the periodicals. My hammer has flown with +redoubled force on the devoted blocks; as I thought over the eloquence +of the Cambridge President, I hit harder and harder blows. I hope to +give my arms strength for the Cordilleras. You will send me through +Capt. Beaufort a copy of the Cambridge 'Report.' + +I have forgotten to mention that for some time past, and for the future, +I will put a pencil cross on the pill-boxes containing insects, as these +alone will require being kept particularly dry; it may perhaps save you +some trouble. When this letter will go I do not know, as this little +seat of discord has lately been embroiled by a dreadful scene of murder, +and at present there are more prisoners than inhabitants. If a merchant +vessel is chartered to take them to Rio, I will send some specimens +(especially my few plants and seeds). Remember me to all my Cambridge +friends. I love and treasure up every recollection of dear old +Cambridge. I am much obliged to you for putting my name down to poor +Ramsay's monument; I never think of him without the warmest admiration. +Farewell, my dear Henslow. + +Believe me your most obliged and affectionate friend, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS C. DARWIN. East Falkland Island, April 6, 1834. + +My dear Catherine, + +When this letter will reach you I know not, but probably some man-of-war +will call here before, in the common course of events, I should have +another opportunity of writing.... + +After visiting some of the southern islands, we beat up through the +magnificent scenery of the Beagle Channel to Jemmy Button's country. +(Jemmy Button, York Minster, and Fuegia Basket, were natives of Tierra +del Fuego, brought to England by Captain Fitz-Roy in his former voyage, +and restored to their country by him in 1832.) We could hardly recognise +poor Jemmy. Instead of the clean, well-dressed stout lad we left him, +we found him a naked, thin, squalid savage. York and Fuegia had moved to +their own country some months ago, the former having stolen all Jemmy's +clothes. Now he had nothing except a bit of blanket round his waist. +Poor Jemmy was very glad to see us, and, with his usual good feeling, +brought several presents (otter-skins, which are most valuable to +themselves) for his old friends. The Captain offered to take him to +England, but this, to our surprise, he at once refused. In the evening +his young wife came alongside and showed us the reason. He was quite +contented. Last year, in the height of his indignation, he said "his +country people no sabe nothing--damned fools"--now they were very good +people, with TOO much to eat, and all the luxuries of life. Jemmy and +his wife paddled away in their canoe loaded with presents, and very +happy. The most curious thing is, that Jemmy, instead of recovering his +own language, has taught all his friends a little English. "J. Button's +canoe" and "Jemmy's wife come," "Give me knife," etc., was said by +several of them. + +We then bore away for this island--this little miserable seat of +discord. We found that the Gauchos, under pretence of a revolution, had +murdered and plundered all the Englishmen whom they could catch, and +some of their own countrymen. All the economy at home makes the foreign +movements of England most contemptible. How different from old Spain. +Here we, dog-in-the-manger fashion, seize an island, and leave to +protect it a Union Jack; the possessor has, of course, been murdered; +we now send a lieutenant with four sailors, without authority or +instructions. A man-of-war, however, ventured to leave a party of +marines, and by their assistance, and the treachery of some of the +party, the murderers have all been taken, there being now as many +prisoners as inhabitants. This island must some day become a very +important halting-place in the most turbulent sea in the world. It is +mid-way between Australia and the South Sea to England; between Chili, +Peru, etc., and the Rio Plata and the Rio de Janeiro. There are fine +harbours, plenty of fresh water, and good beef. It would doubtless +produce the coarser vegetables. In other respects it is a wretched +place. A little time since, I rode across the island, and returned in +four days. My excursion would have been longer, but during the whole +time it blew a gale of wind, with hail and snow. There is no firewood +bigger than heath, and the whole country is, more or less an elastic +peat-bog. Sleeping out at night was too miserable work to endure it for +all the rocks in South America. + +We shall leave this scene of iniquity in two or three days, and go to +the Rio de la Sta. Cruz. One of the objects is to look at the ship's +bottom. We struck heavily on an unknown rock off Port Desire, and some +of her copper is torn off. After this is repaired the Captain has a +glorious scheme; it is to go to the very head of this river, that is +probably to the Andes. It is quite unknown; the Indians tell us it is +two or three hundred yards broad, and horses can nowhere ford it. I +cannot imagine anything more interesting. Our plans then are to go +to Fort Famine, and there we meet the "Adventure", who is employed in +making the Chart of the Falklands. This will be in the middle of winter, +so I shall see Tierra del Fuego in her white drapery. We leave the +straits to enter the Pacific by the Barbara Channel, one very little +known, and which passes close to the foot of Mount Sarmiento (the +highest mountain in the south, excepting Mt.!! Darwin!!). We then shall +scud away for Concepcion in Chili. I believe the ship must once again +steer southward, but if any one catches me there again, I will give him +leave to hang me up as a scarecrow for all future naturalists. I long +to be at work in the Cordilleras, the geology of this side, which +I understand pretty well is so intimately connected with periods of +violence in that great chain of mountains. The future is, indeed, to +me a brilliant prospect. You say its very brilliancy frightens you; but +really I am very careful; I may mention as a proof, in all my rambles I +have never had any one accident or scrape...Continue in your good custom +of writing plenty of gossip; I much like hearing all about all things. +Remember me most kindly to Uncle Jos, and to all the Wedgwoods. Tell +Charlotte (their married names sound downright unnatural) I should like +to have written to her, to have told her how well everything is going +on; but it would only have been a transcript of this letter, and I +have a host of animals at this minute surrounding me which all require +embalming and numbering. I have not forgotten the comfort I received +that day at Maer, when my mind was like a swinging pendulum. Give my +best love to my father. I hope he will forgive all my extravagance, but +not as a Christian, for then I suppose he would send me no more money. + +Good-bye, dear, to you, and all your goodly sisterhood. + +Your affectionate brother, CHAS. DARWIN. + +My love to Nancy (His old nurse.); tell her, if she was now to see me +with my great beard, she would think I was some worthy Solomon, come to +sell the trinkets. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. WHITLEY. Valparaiso, July 23, 1834. + +My dear Whitley, + +I have long intended writing, just to put you in mind that there is a +certain hunter of beetles, and pounder of rocks still in existence. Why +I have not done so before I know not, but it will serve me right if you +have quite forgotten me. It is a very long time since I have heard any +Cambridge news; I neither know where you are living or what you are +doing. I saw your name down as one of the indefatigable guardians of the +eighteen hundred philosophers. I was delighted to see this, for when +we last left Cambridge you were at sad variance with poor science; you +seemed to think her a public prostitute working for popularity. If your +opinions are the same as formerly, you would agree most admirably with +Captain Fitz-Roy,--the object of his most devout abhorrence is one of +the d--d scientific Whigs. As captains of men-of-war are the greatest +men going, far greater than kings or schoolmasters, I am obliged to tell +him everything in my own favour. I have often said I once had a very +good friend, an out-and-out Tory, and we managed to get on very well +together. But he is very much inclined to doubt if ever I really was so +much honoured; at present we hear scarcely anything about politics; this +saves a great deal of trouble, for we all stick to our former opinions +rather more obstinately than before, and can give rather fewer reasons +for doing so. + +I do hope you will write to me: ('H.M.S. "Beagle", S. American Station' +will find me). I should much like to hear in what state you are both in +body and mind. ?Quien Sabe? as the people say here (and God knows they +well may, for they do know little enough), if you are not a married man, +and may be nursing, as Miss Austen says, little olive branches, little +pledges of mutual affection. Eheu! Eheu! this puts me in mind of former +visions of glimpses into futurity, where I fancied I saw retirement, +green cottages, and white petticoats. What will become of me hereafter +I know not; I feel like a ruined man, who does not see or care how to +extricate himself. That this voyage must come to a conclusion my +reason tells me, but otherwise I see no end to it. It is impossible not +bitterly to regret the friends and other sources of pleasure one leaves +behind in England; in place of it there is much solid enjoyment, some +present, but more in anticipation, when the ideas gained during the +voyage can be compared to fresh ones. I find in Geology a never-failing +interest, as it has been remarked, it creates the same grand ideas +respecting this world which Astronomy does for the universe. We have +seen much fine scenery; that of the Tropics in its glory and luxuriance +exceeds even the language of Humboldt to describe. A Persian writer +could alone do justice to it, and if he succeeded he would in England be +called the 'Grandfather of all liars.' + +But I have seen nothing which more completely astonished me than the +first sight of a savage. It was a naked Fuegian, his long hair blowing +about, his face besmeared with paint. There is in their countenances +an expression which I believe, to those who have not seen it, must +be inconceivably wild. Standing on a rock he uttered tones and made +gesticulations, than which the cries of domestic animals are far more +intelligible. + +When I return to England, you must take me in hand with respect to the +fine arts. I yet recollect there was a man called Raffaelle Sanctus. How +delightful it will be once again to see, in the Fitzwilliam, Titian's +Venus. How much more than delightful to go to some good concert or fine +opera. These recollections will not do. I shall not be able to-morrow +to pick out the entrails of some small animal with half my usual +gusto. Pray tell me some news about Cameron, Watkins, Marindin, the two +Thompsons of Trinity, Lowe, Heaviside, Matthew. Herbert I have heard +from. How is Henslow getting on? and all other good friends of dear +Cambridge? Often and often do I think over those past hours, so many of +which have been passed in your company. Such can never return, but their +recollection can never die away. + +God bless you, my dear Whitley, Believe me, your most sincere friend, +CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS C. DARWIN. Valparaiso, November 8, 1834. + +My dear Catherine, + +My last letter was rather a gloomy one, for I was not very well when I +wrote it. Now everything is as bright as sunshine. I am quite well again +after being a second time in bed for a fortnight. Captain Fitz-Roy very +generously has delayed the ship ten days on my account, and without at +the time telling me for what reason. + +We have had some strange proceedings on board the "Beagle", but which +have ended most capitally for all hands. Captain Fitz-Roy has for +the last two months been working EXTREMELY hard, and at the same time +constantly annoyed by interruptions from officers of other ships; the +selling the schooner and its consequences were very vexatious; the +cold manner the Admiralty (solely I believe because he is a Tory) have +treated him, and a thousand other, etc. etc.'s, has made him very thin +and unwell. This was accompanied by a morbid depression of spirits, and +a loss of all decision and resolution... All that Bynoe [the Surgeon] +could say, that it was merely the effect of bodily health and exhaustion +after such application, would not do; he invalided, and Wickham was +appointed to the command. By the instructions Wickham could only finish +the survey of the southern part, and would then have been obliged to +return direct to England. The grief on board the "Beagle" about the +Captain's decision was universal and deeply felt; one great source +of his annoyment was the feeling it impossible to fulfil the whole +instructions; from his state of mind it never occurred to him that the +very instructions ordered him to do as much of the West coast AS HE HAS +TIME FOR, and then proceed across the Pacific. + +Wickham (very disinterestedly giving up his own promotion) urged this +most strongly, stated that when he took the command nothing should +induce him to go to Tierra del Fuego again; and then asked the Captain +what would be gained by his resignation? why not do the more useful +part, and return as commanded by the Pacific. The Captain at last, to +every one's joy, consented, and the resignation was withdrawn. + +Hurrah! hurrah! it is fixed the "Beagle" shall not go one mile south of +Cape Tres Montes (about 200 miles south of Chiloe), and from that point +to Valparaiso will be finished in about five months. We shall examine +the Chonos Archipelago, entirely unknown, and the curious inland sea +behind Chiloe. For me it is glorious. Cape Tres Montes is the most +southern point where there is much geological interest, as there the +modern beds end. The Captain then talks of crossing the Pacific; but +I think we shall persuade him to finish the Coast of Peru, where the +climate is delightful, the country hideously sterile, but abounding with +the highest interest to a geologist. For the first time since leaving +England I now see a clear and not so distant prospect of returning to +you all: crossing the Pacific, and from Sydney home, will not take much +time. + +As soon as the Captain invalided I at once determined to leave the +"Beagle", but it was quite absurd what a revolution in five minutes was +effected in all my feelings. I have long been grieved and most sorry +at the interminable length of the voyage (although I never would have +quitted it); but the minute it was all over, I could not make up my mind +to return. I could not give up all the geological castles in the air +which I had been building up for the last two years. One whole night +I tried to think over the pleasure of seeing Shrewsbury again, but the +barren plains of Peru gained the day. I made the following scheme (I +know you will abuse me, and perhaps if I had put it in execution, my +father would have sent a mandamus after me); it was to examine the +Cordilleras of Chili during this summer, and in winter go from port +to port on the coast of Peru to Lima, returning this time next year +to Valparaiso, cross the Cordilleras to Buenos Ayres, and take ship +to England. Would not this have been a fine excursion, and in sixteen +months I should have been with you all? To have endured Tierra del Fuego +and not seen the Pacific would have been miserable... + +I go on board to-morrow; I have been for the last six weeks in +Corfield's house. You cannot imagine what a kind friend I have +found him. He is universally liked, and respected by the natives and +foreigners. Several Chileno Signoritas are very obligingly anxious to +become the signoras of this house. Tell my father I have kept my promise +of being extravagant in Chili. I have drawn a bill of 100 pounds (had it +not better be notified to Messrs. Robarts & Co.); 50 pounds goes to the +Captain for the ensuing year, and 30 pounds I take to sea for the small +ports; so that bona fide I have not spent 180 pounds during these last +four months. I hope not to draw another bill for six months. All the +foregoing particulars were only settled yesterday. It has done me more +good than a pint of medicine, and I have not been so happy for the last +year. If it had not been for my illness, these four months in Chili +would have been very pleasant. I have had ill luck, however, in only one +little earthquake having happened. I was lying in bed when there was a +party at dinner in the house; on a sudden I heard such a hubbub in the +dining-room; without a word being spoken, it was devil take the hindmost +who should get out first; at the same moment I felt my bed SLIGHTLY +vibrate in a lateral direction. The party were old stagers, and heard +the noise which always precedes a shock; and no old stager looks at an +earthquake with philosophical eyes... + +Good-bye to you all; you will not have another letter for some time. + +My dear Catherine, Yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN. + +My best love to my father, and all of you. Love to Nancy. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS S. DARWIN. Valparaiso, April 23, 1835. + +My dear Susan, + +I received, a few days since, your letter of November; the three letters +which I before mentioned are yet missing, but I do not doubt they will +come to life. I returned a week ago from my excursion across the Andes +to Mendoza. Since leaving England I have never made so successful a +journey; it has, however, been very expensive. I am sure my father would +not regret it, if he could know how deeply I have enjoyed it: it was +something more than enjoyment; I cannot express the delight which I +felt at such a famous winding-up of all my geology in South America. I +literally could hardly sleep at nights for thinking over my day's work. +The scenery was so new, and so majestic; everything at an elevation of +12,000 feet bears so different an aspect from that in a lower country. I +have seen many views more beautiful, but none with so strongly marked +a character. To a geologist, also, there are such manifest proofs of +excessive violence; the strata of the highest pinnacles are tossed about +like the crust of a broken pie. + +I crossed by the Portillo Pass, which at this time of the year is apt to +be dangerous, so could not afford to delay there. After staying a day in +the stupid town of Mendoza, I began my return by Uspallate, which I did +very leisurely. My whole trip only took up twenty-two days. I travelled +with, for me, uncommon comfort, as I carried a BED! My party consisted +of two Peons and ten mules, two of which were with baggage, or rather +food, in case of being snowed up. Everything, however, favoured me; +not even a speck of this year's snow had fallen on the road. I do not +suppose any of you can be much interested in geological details, but +I will just mention my principal results:--Besides understanding to +a certain extent the description and manner of the force which has +elevated this great line of mountains, I can clearly demonstrate that +one part of the double line is of an age long posterior to the other. +In the more ancient line, which is the true chain of the Andes, I can +describe the sort and order of the rocks which compose it. These are +chiefly remarkable by containing a bed of gypsum nearly 2000 feet +thick--a quantity of this substance I should think unparalleled in +the world. What is of much greater consequence, I have procured fossil +shells (from an elevation of 12,000 feet). I think an examination of +these will give an approximate age to these mountains, as compared to +the strata of Europe. In the other line of the Cordilleras there is a +strong presumption (in my own mind, conviction) that the enormous mass +of mountains, the peaks of which rise to 13,000 and 14,000 feet, are so +very modern as to be contemporaneous with the plains of Patagonia (or +about with the UPPER strata of the Isle of Wight). If this result shall +be considered as proved (The importance of these results has been fully +recognised by geologists.), it is a very important fact in the theory +of the formation of the world; because, if such wonderful changes have +taken place so recently in the crust of the globe, there can be no +reason for supposing former epochs of excessive violence. These modern +strata are very remarkable by being threaded with metallic veins of +silver, gold, copper, etc.; hitherto these have been considered as +appertaining to older formations. In these same beds, and close to a +goldmine, I found a clump of petrified trees, standing up right, with +layers of fine sandstone deposited round them, bearing the impression of +their bark. These trees are covered by other sandstones and streams of +lava to the thickness of several thousand feet. These rocks have been +deposited beneath water; yet it is clear the spot where the trees grew +must once have been above the level of the sea, so that it is certain +the land must have been depressed by at least as many thousand feet as +the superincumbent subaqueous deposits are thick. But I am afraid you +will tell me I am prosy with my geological descriptions and theories... + +Your account of Erasmus' visit to Cambridge has made me long to be back +there. I cannot fancy anything more delightful than his Sunday round of +King's, Trinity, and those talking giants, Whewell and Sedgwick; I hope +your musical tastes continue in due force. I shall be ravenous for the +pianoforte... + +I have not quite determined whether I will sleep at the 'Lion' the first +night when I arrive per 'Wonder,' or disturb you all in the dead of +night; everything short of that is absolutely planned. Everything about +Shrewsbury is growing in my mind bigger and more beautiful; I am certain +the acacia and copper beech are two superb trees; I shall know every +bush, and I will trouble you young ladies, when each of you cut down +your tree, to spare a few. As for the view behind the house, I have seen +nothing like it. It is the same with North Wales; Snowdon, to my +mind, looks much higher and much more beautiful than any peak in the +Cordilleras. So you will say, with my benighted faculties, it is time to +return, and so it is, and I long to be with you. Whatever the trees are, +I know what I shall find all you. I am writing nonsense, so farewell. My +most affectionate love to all, and I pray forgiveness from my father. + +Yours most affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Lima, July, 1835. + +My dear Fox, + +I have lately received two of your letters, one dated June and the other +November, 1834 (they reached me, however, in an inverted order). I was +very glad to receive a history of this most important year in your life. +Previously I had only heard the plain fact that you were married. You +are a true Christian and return good for evil, to send two such letters +to so bad a correspondent as I have been. God bless you for writing +so kindly and affectionately; if it is a pleasure to have friends in +England, it is doubly so to think and know that one is not forgotten +because absent. This voyage is terribly long. I do so earnestly desire +to return, yet I dare hardly look forward to the future, for I do not +know what will become of me. Your situation is above envy: I do not +venture even to frame such happy visions. To a person fit to take the +office, the life of a clergyman is a type of all that is respectable and +happy. You tempt me by talking of your fireside, whereas it is a sort +of scene I never ought to think about. I saw the other day a vessel +sail for England; it was quite dangerous to know how easily I might +turn deserter. As for an English lady, I have almost forgotten what +she is--something very angelic and good. As for the women in these +countries, they wear caps and petticoats, and a very few have pretty +faces, and then all is said. But if we are not wrecked on some unlucky +reef, I will sit by that same fireside in Vale Cottage and tell some of +the wonderful stories, which you seem to anticipate and, I presume, are +not very ready to believe. Gracias a dios, the prospect of such times is +rather shorter than formerly. + +From this most wretched 'City of the Kings' we sail in a fortnight, from +thence to Guayaquil, Galapagos, Marquesas, Society Islands, etc., etc. I +look forward to the Galapagos with more interest than any other part +of the voyage. They abound with active volcanoes, and, I should hope, +contain Tertiary strata. I am glad to hear you have some thoughts of +beginning Geology. I hope you will; there is so much larger a field for +thought than in the other branches of Natural History. I am become a +zealous disciple of Mr. Lyell's views, as known in his admirable book. +Geologising in South America, I am tempted to carry parts to a greater +extent even than he does. Geology is a capital science to begin, as it +requires nothing but a little reading, thinking, and hammering. I have +a considerable body of notes together; but it is a constant subject of +perplexity to me, whether they are of sufficient value for all the time +I have spent about them, or whether animals would not have been of more +certain value. + +I shall indeed be glad once again to see you and tell you how grateful I +feel for your steady friendship. God bless you, my very dear Fox. + +Believe me, Yours affectionately, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Sydney, January, 1836. + +My dear Henslow, + +This is the last opportunity of communicating with you before that +joyful day when I shall reach Cambridge. I have very little to say: +but I must write if it is only to express my joy that the last year is +concluded, and that the present one, in which the "Beagle" will return, +is gliding onwards. We have all been disappointed here in not finding +even a single letter; we are, indeed, rather before our expected time, +otherwise, I dare say, I should have seen your handwriting. I must +feed upon the future, and it is beyond bounds delightful to feel the +certainty that within eight months I shall be residing once again most +quietly in Cambridge. Certainly, I never was intended for a traveller; +my thoughts are always rambling over past or future scenes; I cannot +enjoy the present happiness for anticipating the future, which is about +as foolish as the dog who dropped the real bone for its shadow.... + +In our passage across the Pacific we only touched at Tahiti and New +Zealand; at neither of these places or at sea had I much opportunity +of working. Tahiti is a most charming spot. Everything which former +navigators have written is true. 'A new Cytheraea has risen from the +ocean.' Delicious scenery, climate, manners of the people are all in +harmony. It is, moreover, admirable to behold what the missionaries both +here and at New Zealand have effected. I firmly believe they are good +men working for the sake of a good cause. I much suspect that those who +have abused or sneered at the missionaries have generally been such as +were not very anxious to find the natives moral and intelligent beings. +During the remainder of our voyage we shall only visit places generally +acknowledged as civilised, and nearly all under the British flag. These +will be a poor field for Natural History, and without it I have lately +discovered that the pleasure of seeing new places is as nothing. I must +return to my old resource and think of the future, but that I may not +become more prosy, I will say farewell till the day arrives, when I +shall see my Master in Natural History, and can tell him how grateful I +feel for his kindness and friendship. + +Believe me, dear Henslow, Ever yours, most faithfully, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS S. DARWIN. Bahia, Brazil, August 4 [1836]. + +My dear Susan, + +I will just write a few lines to explain the cause of this letter being +dated on the coast of South America. Some singular disagreements in the +longitudes made Captain Fitz-Roy anxious to complete the circle in the +southern hemisphere, and then retrace our steps by our first line to +England. This zigzag manner of proceeding is very grievous; it has put +the finishing stroke to my feelings. I loathe, I abhor the sea and all +ships which sail on it. But I yet believe we shall reach England in the +latter half of October. At Ascension I received Catherine's letter of +October, and yours of November; the letter at the Cape was of a later +date, but letters of all sorts are inestimable treasures, and I +thank you both for them. The desert, volcanic rocks, and wild sea of +Ascension, as soon as I knew there was news from home, suddenly wore a +pleasing aspect, and I set to work with a good-will at my old work of +Geology. You would be surprised to know how entirely the pleasure in +arriving at a new place depends on letters. We only stayed four days at +Ascension, and then made a very good passage to Bahia. + +I little thought to have put my foot on South American coast again. +It has been almost painful to find how much good enthusiasm has been +evaporated during the last four years. I can now walk soberly through +a Brazilian forest; not but what it is exquisitely beautiful, but now, +instead of seeking for splendid contrasts, I compare the stately mango +trees with the horse-chestnuts of England. Although this zigzag has lost +us at least a fortnight, in some respects I am glad of it. I think I +shall be able to carry away one vivid picture of inter-tropical scenery. +We go from hence to the Cape de Verds; that is, if the winds or the +Equatorial calms will allow us. I have some faint hopes that a steady +foul wind might induce the Captain to proceed direct to the Azores. For +which most untoward event I heartily pray. + +Both your letters were full of good news; especially the expressions +which you tell me Professor Sedgwick used about my collections. I +confess they are deeply gratifying--I trust one part at least will turn +out true, and that I shall act as I now think--as a man who dares to +waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. Professor +Sedgwick mentioning my name at all gives me hopes that he will assist me +with his advice, of which, in my geological questions, I stand much in +need. It is useless to tell you from the shameful state of this scribble +that I am writing against time, having been out all morning, and now +there are some strangers on board to whom I must go down and talk +civility. Moreover, as this letter goes by a foreign ship, it is +doubtful whether it will ever arrive. Farewell, my very dear Susan and +all of you. Good-bye. + +C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. St. Helena, July 9, 1836. + +My dear Henslow, + +I am going to ask you to do me a favour. I am very anxious to belong to +the Geological Society. I do not know, but I suppose it is necessary to +be proposed some time before being ballotted for; if such is the case, +would you be good enough to take the proper preparatory steps? Professor +Sedgwick very kindly offered to propose me before leaving England, if he +should happen to be in London. I dare say he would yet do so. + +I have very little to write about. We have neither seen, done, or heard +of anything particular for a long time past; and indeed if at present +the wonders of another planet could be displayed before us, I believe we +should unanimously exclaim, what a consummate plague. No schoolboys ever +sung the half sentimental and half jovial strain of 'dulce domum' with +more fervour, than we all feel inclined to do. But the whole subject +of 'dulce domum,' and the delight of seeing one's friends, is most +dangerous, it must infallibly make one very prosy or very boisterous. +Oh, the degree to which I long to be once again living quietly with not +one single novel object near me! No one can imagine it till he has been +whirled round the world during five long years in a ten-gun-brig. I am +at present living in a small house (amongst the clouds) in the centre of +the island, and within stone's throw of Napoleon's tomb. It is blowing +a gale of wind with heavy rain and wretchedly cold; if Napoleon's ghost +haunts his dreary place of confinement, this would be a most excellent +night for such wandering spirits. If the weather chooses to permit me, +I hope to see a little of the Geology (so often partially described) of +the island. I suspect that differently from most volcanic islands its +structure is rather complicated. It seems strange that this little +centre of a distinct creation should, as is asserted, bear marks of +recent elevation. + +The "Beagle" proceeds from this place to Ascension, then to the Cape de +Verds (what miserable places!) to the Azores to Plymouth, and then +to home. That most glorious of all days in my life will not, however, +arrive till the middle of October. Some time in that month you will see +me at Cambridge, where I must directly come to report myself to you, as +my first Lord of the Admiralty. At the Cape of Good Hope we all on board +suffered a bitter disappointment in missing nine months' letters, which +are chasing us from one side of the globe to the other. I dare say +amongst them there was a letter from you; it is long since I have +seen your handwriting, but I shall soon see you yourself, which is +far better. As I am your pupil, you are bound to undertake the task of +criticising and scolding me for all the things ill done and not done at +all, which I fear I shall need much; but I hope for the best, and I am +sure I have a good if not too easy taskmaster. + +At the Cape Captain Fitz-Roy and myself enjoyed a memorable piece of +good fortune in meeting Sir J. Herschel. We dined at his house and +saw him a few times besides. He was exceedingly good natured, but his +manners at first appeared to me rather awful. He is living in a very +comfortable country house, surrounded by fir and oak trees, which alone +in so open a country, give a most charming air of seclusion and comfort. +He appears to find time for everything; he showed us a pretty garden +full of Cape bulbs of his own collecting, and I afterwards understood +that everything was the work of his own hands...I am very stupid, and I +have nothing more to say; the wind is whistling so mournfully over the +bleak hills, that I shall go to bed and dream of England. + +Goodnight, my dear Henslow, Yours most truly obliged and affectionately, +CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Shrewsbury, Thursday, October 6, [1836]. + +My dear Henslow, + +I am sure you will congratulate me on the delight of once again being +home. The "Beagle" arrived at Falmouth on Sunday evening, and I reached +Shrewsbury yesterday morning. I am exceedingly anxious to see you, and +as it will be necessary in four or five days to return to London to get +my goods and chattels out of the "Beagle", it appears to me my best plan +to pass through Cambridge. I want your advice on many points; indeed I +am in the clouds, and neither know what to do or where to go. My chief +puzzle is about the geological specimens--who will have the charity +to help me in describing their mineralogical nature? Will you be kind +enough to write to me one line by RETURN OF POST, saying whether you +are now at Cambridge? I am doubtful till I hear from Captain Fitz-Roy +whether I shall not be obliged to start before the answer can arrive, +but pray try the chance. My dear Henslow, I do long to see you; you have +been the kindest friend to me that ever man possessed. I can write no +more, for I am giddy with joy and confusion. + +Farewell for the present, Yours most truly obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO R. FITZ-ROY. Shrewsbury, Thursday morning, October 6, +[1836]. + +My dear Fitz-Roy, + +I arrived here yesterday morning at breakfast time, and, thank God, +found all my dear good sisters and father quite well. My father appears +more cheerful and very little older than when I left. My sisters assure +me I do not look the least different, and I am able to return the +compliment. Indeed, all England appears changed excepting the good old +town of Shrewsbury and its inhabitants, which, for all I can see to +the contrary, may go on as they now are to Doomsday. I wish with all +my heart I was writing to you amongst your friends instead of at that +horrid Plymouth. But the day will soon come, and you will be as happy as +I now am. I do assure you I am a very great man at home; the five years' +voyage has certainly raised me a hundred per cent. I fear such greatness +must experience a fall. + +I am thoroughly ashamed of myself in what a dead-and-half-alive state I +spent the few last days on board; my only excuse is that certainly I was +not quite well. The first day in the mail tired me, but as I drew nearer +to Shrewsbury everything looked more beautiful and cheerful. In passing +Gloucestershire and Worcestershire I wished much for you to admire the +fields, woods, and orchards. The stupid people on the coach did not seem +to think the fields one bit greener than usual; but I am sure we should +have thoroughly agreed that the wide world does not contain so happy a +prospect as the rich cultivated land of England. + +I hope you will not forget to send me a note telling me how you go on. +I do indeed hope all your vexations and trouble with respect to our +voyage, which we now know HAS an end, have come to a close. If you do +not receive much satisfaction for all the mental and bodily energy you +have expended in His Majesty's service, you will be most hardly treated. +I put my radical sisters into an uproar at some of the prudent (if +they were not honest Whigs, I would say shabby) proceedings of our +Government. By the way, I must tell you for the honour and glory of the +family that my father has a large engraving of King George IV. put up +in his sitting-room. But I am no renegade, and by the time we meet my +politics will be as firmly fixed and as wisely founded as ever they +were. + +I thought when I began this letter I would convince you what a steady +and sober frame of mind I was in. But I find I am writing most precious +nonsense. Two or three of our labourers yesterday immediately set to +work and got most excessively drunk in honour of the arrival of Master +Charles. Who then shall gainsay if Master Charles himself chooses to +make himself a fool. Good-bye. God bless you! I hope you are as happy, +but much wiser, than your most sincere but unworthy philosopher, + +CHAS. DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.VII. -- LONDON AND CAMBRIDGE. + +1836-1842. + +[The period illustrated by the following letters includes the years +between my father's return from the voyage of the "Beagle" and his +settling at Down. It is marked by the gradual appearance of that +weakness of health which ultimately forced him to leave London and take +up his abode for the rest of his life in a quiet country house.] + +In June, 1841, he writes to Lyell: "My father scarcely seems to expect +that I shall become strong for some years; it has been a bitter +mortification for me to digest the conclusion that the 'race is for the +strong,' and that I shall probably do little more but be content to +admire the strides others make in science." + +There is no evidence of any intention of entering a profession after his +return from the voyage, and early in 1840 he wrote to Fitz-Roy: "I +have nothing to wish for, excepting stronger health to go on with the +subjects to which I have joyfully determined to devote my life." + +These two conditions--permanent ill-health and a passionate love of +scientific work for its own sake--determined thus early in his career, +the character of his whole future life. They impelled him to lead a +retired life of constant labour, carried on to the utmost limits of his +physical power, a life which signally falsified his melancholy prophecy. + +The end of the last chapter saw my father safely arrived at Shrewsbury +on October 4, 1836, "after an absence of five years and two days." He +wrote to Fox: "You cannot imagine how gloriously delightful my first +visit was at home; it was worth the banishment." But it was a pleasure +that he could not long enjoy, for in the last days of October he was at +Greenwich unpacking specimens from the "Beagle". As to the destination +of the collections he writes, somewhat despondingly, to Henslow:-- + +"I have not made much progress with the great men. I find, as you told +me, that they are all overwhelmed with their own business. Mr. Lyell +has entered, in the MOST good-natured manner, and almost without being +asked, into all my plans. He tells me, however, the same story, that +I must do all myself. Mr. Owen seems anxious to dissect some of the +animals in spirits, and, besides these two, I have scarcely met any +one who seems to wish to possess any of my specimens. I must except Dr. +Grant, who is willing to examine some of the corallines. I see it is +quite unreasonable to hope for a minute that any man will undertake +the examination of a whole order. It is clear the collectors so much +outnumber the real naturalists that the latter have no time to spare. + +"I do not even find that the Collections care for receiving the unnamed +specimens. The Zoological Museum (The Museum of the Zoological Society, +then at 33 Bruton Street. The collection was some years later broken +up and dispersed.) is nearly full, and upwards of a thousand specimens +remain unmounted. I dare say the British Museum would receive them, but +I cannot feel, from all I hear, any great respect even for the present +state of that establishment. Your plan will be not only the best, but +the only one, namely, to come down to Cambridge, arrange and group +together the different families, and then wait till people, who are +already working in different branches, may want specimens. But it +appears to me [that] to do this it will be almost necessary to reside +in London. As far as I can yet see my best plan will be to spend several +months in Cambridge, and then when, by your assistance, I know on what +ground I stand, to emigrate to London, where I can complete my Geology +and try to push on the Zoology. I assure you I grieve to find how many +things make me see the necessity of living for some time in this +dirty, odious London. For even in Geology I suspect much assistance and +communication will be necessary in this quarter, for instance, in fossil +bones, of which none excepting the fragments of Megatherium have been +looked at, and I clearly see that without my presence they never would +be.... + +"I only wish I had known the Botanists cared so much for specimens (A +passage in a subsequent letter shows that his plants also gave him some +anxiety. "I met Mr. Brown a few days after you had called on him; he +asked me in rather an ominous manner what I meant to do with my plants. +In the course of conversation Mr. Broderip, who was present, remarked +to him, 'You forget how long it is since Captain King's expedition.' +He answered, 'Indeed, I have something in the shape of Captain King's +undescribed plants to make me recollect it.' Could a better reason be +given, if I had been asked, by me, for not giving the plants to the +British Museum?") and the Zoologists so little; the proportional number +of specimens in the two branches should have had a very different +appearance. I am out of patience with the Zoologists, not because they +are overworked, but for their mean, quarrelsome spirit. I went the other +evening to the Zoological Society, where the speakers were snarling +at each other in a manner anything but like that of gentlemen. Thank +Heavens! as long as I remain in Cambridge there will not be any danger +of falling into any such contemptible quarrels, whilst in London I do +not see how it is to be avoided. Of the Naturalists, F. Hope is out of +London; Westwood I have not seen, so about my insects I know nothing. +I have seen Mr. Yarrell twice, but he is so evidently oppressed with +business that it is too selfish to plague him with my concerns. He has +asked me to dine with the Linnean on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I dine +with the Geological, so that I shall see all the great men. Mr. Bell, +I hear, is so much occupied that there is no chance of his wishing for +specimens of reptiles. I have forgotten to mention Mr. Lonsdale (William +Lonsdale, 1794-1871, was originally in the army, and served at the +battles of Salamanca and Waterloo. After the war he left the service +and gave himself up to science. He acted as assistant secretary to +the Geological Society from 1829-42, when he resigned, owing to ill +health.), who gave me a most cordial reception, and with whom I had +much most interesting conversation. If I was not much more inclined +for geology than the other branches of Natural History, I am sure Mr. +Lyell's and Lonsdale's kindness ought to fix me. You cannot conceive +anything more thoroughly good-natured than the heart-and-soul manner in +which he put himself in my place and thought what would be best to do. +At first he was all for London versus Cambridge, but at last I made him +confess that, for some time at least, the latter would be for me +much the best. There is not another soul whom I could ask, excepting +yourself, to wade through and criticise some of those papers which I +have left with you. Mr. Lyell owned that, second to London, there was no +place in England so good for a Naturalist as Cambridge. Upon my word +I am ashamed of writing so many foolish details, no young lady ever +described her first ball with more particularity." + +A few days later he writes more cheerfully: "I became acquainted with +Mr. Bell (T. Bell, F.R.S., formerly Prof. of Zoology in King's College, +London, and some time secretary to the Royal Society. He afterwards +described the reptiles for the zoology of the voyage of the "Beagle".) +who to my surprise expressed a good deal of interest about my crustacea +and reptiles, and seems willing to work at them. I also heard that Mr. +Broderip would be glad to look over the South American shells, so that +things flourish well with me." + +About his plants he writes with characteristic openness as to his own +ignorance: "You have made me known amongst the botanists, but I felt +very foolish when Mr. Don remarked on the beautiful appearance of some +plant with an astounding long name, and asked me about its habitation. +Some one else seemed quite surprised that I knew nothing about a Carex +from I do not know where. I was at last forced to plead most entire +innocence, and that I knew no more about the plants which I had +collected than the man in the moon." + +As to part of his Geological Collection he was soon able to write: +"I [have] disposed of the most important part [of] my collections, by +giving all the fossil bones to the College of Surgeons, casts of them +will be distributed, and descriptions published. They are very curious +and valuable; one head belonged to some gnawing animal, but of the size +of a Hippopotamus! Another to an ant-eater of the size of a horse!" + +It is worth noting that at this time the only extinct mammalia from +South America, which had been described, were Mastodon (three species) +and Megatherium. The remains of the other extinct Edentata from Sir +Woodbine Parish's collection had not been described. My father's +specimens included (besides the above-mentioned Toxodon and +Scelidotherium) the remains of Mylodon, Glossotherium, another gigantic +animal allied to the ant-eater, and Macrauchenia. His discovery of +these remains is a matter of interest in itself, but it has a special +importance as a point in his own life, since it was the vivid impression +produced by excavating them with his own hands (I have often heard +him speak of the despair with which he had to break off the projecting +extremity of a huge, partly excavated bone, when the boat waiting for +him would wait no longer.) that formed one of the chief starting-points +of his speculation on the origin of species. This is shown in the +following extract from his Pocket Book for this year (1837): "In July +opened first note-book on Transmutation of Species. Had been greatly +struck from about the month of previous March on character of South +American fossils, and species on Galapagos Archipelago. These facts +(especially latter), origin of all my views."] + + +1836-1837. + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. 43 Great Marlborough Street, November 6th +[1836]. + +My dear Fox, + +I have taken a shamefully long time in answering your letter. But the +busiest time of the whole voyage has been tranquillity itself to this +last month. After paying Henslow a short but very pleasant visit, I came +up to town to wait for the "Beagle's" arrival. At last I have removed +all my property from on board, and sent the specimens of Natural History +to Cambridge, so that I am now a free man. My London visit has been +quite idle as far as Natural History goes, but has been passed in +most exciting dissipation amongst the Dons in science. All my affairs, +indeed, are most prosperous; I find there are plenty who will undertake +the description of whole tribes of animals, of which I know nothing. So +that about this day month I hope to set to work tooth and nail at the +Geology, which I shall publish by itself. + +It is quite ridiculous what an immensely long period it appears to me +since landing at Falmouth. The fact is I have talked and laughed enough +for years instead of weeks, so [that] my memory is quite confounded with +the noise. I am delighted to hear you are turned geologist: when I pay +the Isle of Wight a visit, which I am determined shall somehow come to +pass, you will be a capital cicerone to the famous line of dislocation. +I really suppose there are few parts of the world more interesting to a +geologist than your island. Amongst the great scientific men, no one +has been nearly so friendly and kind as Lyell. I have seen him several +times, and feel inclined to like him much. You cannot imagine how +good-naturedly he entered into all my plans. I speak now only of the +London men, for Henslow was just like his former self, and therefore +a most cordial and affectionate friend. When you pay London a visit I +shall be very proud to take you to the Geological Society, for be it +known, I was proposed to be a F.G.S. last Tuesday. It is, however, a +great pity that these and the other letters, especially F.R.S., are so +very expensive. + +I do not scruple to ask you to write to me in a week's time in +Shrewsbury, for you are a good letter writer, and if people will have +such good characters they must pay the penalty. Good-bye, dear Fox. + +Yours, C.D. + + +[His affairs being thus so far prosperously managed he was able to put +into execution his plan of living at Cambridge, where he settled on +December 10th, 1836. He was at first a guest in the comfortable home of +the Henslows, but afterwards, for the sake of undisturbed work, he moved +into lodgings.] + +He thus writes to Fox, March 13th, 1837, from London:-- + +"My residence at Cambridge was rather longer than I expected, owing to +a job which I determined to finish there, namely, looking over all my +geological specimens. Cambridge yet continues a very pleasant, but not +half so merry a place as before. To walk through the courts of Christ's +College, and not know an inhabitant of a single room, gave one a feeling +half melancholy. The only evil I found in Cambridge was its being too +pleasant: there was some agreeable party or another every evening, and +one cannot say one is engaged with so much impunity there as in this +great city." + +A trifling record of my father's presence in Cambridge occurs in the +book kept in Christ's College combination-room, where fines and bets +were recorded, the earlier entries giving a curious impression of the +after-dinner frame of mind of the fellows. The bets were not allowed to +be made in money, but were, like the fines, paid in wine. The bet which +my father made and lost is thus recorded:-- + +"FEBRUARY 23, 1837." + +Mr. Darwin v. Mr. Baines, that the combination-room measures from the +ceiling to the floor more than (x) feet. 1 Bottle paid same day. + +"N.B. Mr. Darwin may measure at any part of the room he pleases." + +Besides arranging the geological and mineralogical specimens, he had +his 'Journal of Researches' to work at, which occupied his evenings at +Cambridge. He also read a short paper at the Zoological Society ("Notes +upon Rhea Americana," 'Zool. Soc. Proc.' v. 1837, pages 35, 36.), and +another at the Geological Society ('Geol. Soc. Proc.' ii. 1838, pages +446- 449.), on the recent elevation of the coast of Chile. + +Early in the spring of 1837 (March 6th) he left Cambridge for London, +and a week later he was settled in lodgings at 36 Great Marlborough +Street; and except for a "short visit to Shrewsbury" in June, he worked +on till September, being almost entirely employed on his 'Journal.' +He found time, however, for two papers at the Geological Society. ("A +sketch of the deposits containing extinct mammalia in the neighbourhood +of the Plata," 'Geol. Soc. Proc.' ii. 1838, pages 542-544; and "On +certain areas of elevation and subsidence in the Pacific and Indian +oceans, as deduced from the study of coral formations." 'Geol. Soc. +Proc' ii. 1838, pages 552- 554.) + +He writes of his work to Fox (March, 1837):-- + +"In your last letter you urge me to get ready THE book. I am now hard at +work and give up everything else for it. Our plan is as follows: Captain +Fitz-Roy writes two volumes out of the materials collected during +the last voyage under Capt. King to Tierra del Fuego, and during our +circumnavigation. I am to have the third volume, in which I intend +giving a kind of journal of a naturalist, not following, however, always +the order of time, but rather the order of position. The habits of +animals will occupy a large portion, sketches of the geology, +the appearance of the country, and personal details will make the +hodge-podge complete. Afterwards I shall write an account of the geology +in detail, and draw up some zoological papers. So that I have plenty of +work for the next year or two, and till that is finished I will have no +holidays." + +Another letter to Fox (July) gives an account of the progress of his +work:-- + +"I gave myself a holiday and a visit to Shrewsbury [in June], as I had +finished my Journal. I shall now be very busy in filling up gaps and +getting it quite ready for the press by the first of August. I shall +always feel respect for every one who has written a book, let it be what +it may, for I had no idea of the trouble which trying to write common +English could cost one. And, alas, there yet remains the worst part of +all, correcting the press. As soon as ever that is done I must put my +shoulder to the wheel and commence at the Geology. I have read some +short papers to the Geological Society, and they were favourably +received by the great guns, and this gives me much confidence, and I +hope not a very great deal of vanity, though I confess I feel too often +like a peacock admiring his tail. I never expected that my Geology would +ever have been worth the consideration of such men as Lyell, who has +been to me, since my return, a most active friend. My life is a very +busy one at present, and I hope may ever remain so; though Heaven knows +there are many serious drawbacks to such a life, and chief amongst them +is the little time it allows one for seeing one's natural friends. For +the last three years, I have been longing and longing to be living at +Shrewsbury, and after all now in the course of several months, I see +my dear good people at Shrewsbury for a week. Susan and Catherine have, +however, been staying with my brother here for some weeks, but they had +returned home before my visit." + +[Besides the work already mentioned he had much to busy him in making +arrangements for the publication of the 'Zoology of the Voyage of the +"Beagle".' The following letters illustrate this subject.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS. (Now Rev L. Blomefield.) 36 Great +Marlborough Street, April 10th, 1837. + +Dear Jenyns, + +During the last week several of the zoologists of this place have been +urging me to consider the possibility of publishing the 'Zoology of +the "Beagle's" Voyage' on some uniform plan. Mr. Macleay (William Sharp +Macleay was the son of Alexander Macleay, formerly Colonial Secretary +of New South Wales, and for many years Secretary of the Linnean Society.) +The son, who was a most zealous Naturalist, and had inherited from his +father a very large general collection of insects, made Entomology his +chief study, and gained great notoriety by his now forgotten "Quinary +System", set forth in the Second Part of his 'Horae Entomologicae,' +published in 1821.--[I am indebted to Rev. L. Blomefield for the +foregoing note.] has taken a great deal of interest in the subject, and +maintains that such a publication is very desirable, because it keeps +together a series of observations made respecting animals inhabiting the +same part of the world, and allows any future traveller taking them with +him. How far this facility of reference is of any consequence I am very +doubtful; but if such is the case, it would be more satisfactory to +myself to see the gleanings of my hands, after having passed through the +brains of other naturalists, collected together in one work. But such +considerations ought not to have much weight. The whole scheme is at +present merely floating in the air; but I was determined to let you +know, as I should much like to know what you think about it, and whether +you would object to supply descriptions of the fish to such a +work instead of to 'Transactions.' I apprehend the whole will be +impracticable, without Government will aid in engraving the plates, and +this I fear is a mere chance, only I think I can put in a strong claim, +and get myself well backed by the naturalists of this place, who nearly +all take a good deal of interest in my collections. I mean to-morrow +to see Mr. Yarrell; if he approves, I shall begin and take more active +steps; for I hear he is most prudent and most wise. It is scarcely any +use speculating about any plan, but I thought of getting subscribers and +publishing the work in parts (as long as funds would last, for I myself +will not lose money by it). In such case, whoever had his own part ready +on any order might publish it separately (and ultimately the parts might +be sold separately), so that no one should be delayed by the other. The +plan would resemble, on a humble scale, Ruppel's 'Atlas,' or Humboldt's +'Zoologie,' where Latreille, Cuvier, etc., wrote different parts. I +myself should have little to do with it; excepting in some orders +adding habits and ranges, etc., and geographical sketches, and perhaps +afterwards some descriptions of invertebrate animals... + +I am working at my Journal; it gets on slowly, though I am not idle. I +thought Cambridge a bad place from good dinners and other temptations, +but I find London no better, and I fear it may grow worse. I have a +capital friend in Lyell, and see a great deal of him, which is very +advantageous to me in discussing much South American geology. I miss a +walk in the country very much; this London is a vile smoky place, where +a man loses a great part of the best enjoyments in life. But I see no +chance of escaping, even for a week, from this prison for a long time +to come. I fear it will be some time before we shall meet; for I suppose +you will not come up here during the spring, and I do not think I shall +be able to go down to Cambridge. How I should like to have a good walk +along the Newmarket road to-morrow, but Oxford Street must do instead. I +do hate the streets of London. Will you tell Henslow to be careful with +the EDIBLE fungi from Tierra del Fuego, for I shall want some specimens +for Mr. Brown, who seems PARTICULARLY interested about them. Tell +Henslow, I think my silicified wood has unflintified Mr. Brown's heart, +for he was very gracious to me, and talked about the Galapagos plants; +but before he never would say a word. It is just striking twelve +o'clock; so I will wish you a very good night. + +My dear Jenyns, Yours most truly, CHARLES DARWIN. + +[A few weeks later the plan seems to have been matured, and the idea of +seeking Government aid to have been adopted.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. 36 Great Marlborough Street, [18th May, +1837]. + +My dear Henslow, + +I was very glad to receive your letter. I wanted much to hear how you +were getting on with your manifold labours. Indeed I do not wonder your +head began to ache; it is almost a wonder you have any head left. Your +account of the Gamlingay expedition was cruelly tempting, but I cannot +anyhow leave London. I wanted to pay my good, dear people at Shrewsbury +a visit of a few days, but I found I could not manage it; at present I +am waiting for the signatures of the Duke of Somerset, as President of +the Linnean, and of Lord Derby and Whewell, to a statement of the value +of my collection; the instant I get this I shall apply to Government for +assistance in engraving, and so publish the 'Zoology' on some uniform +plan. It is quite ridiculous the time any operation requires which +depends on many people. + +I have been working very steadily, but have only got two-thirds through +the Journal part alone. I find, though I remain daily many hours at +work, the progress is very slow: it is an awful thing to say to oneself, +every fool and every clever man in England, if he chooses, may make as +many ill-natured remarks as he likes on this unfortunate sentence.... + + +In August he writes to Henslow to announce the success of the scheme +for the publication of the 'Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle",' +through the promise of a grant of 1000 pounds from the Treasury: "I +have delayed writing to you, to thank you most sincerely for having so +effectually managed my affair. I waited till I had an interview with the +Chancellor of the Exchequer (T. Spring Rice.). He appointed to see me +this morning, and I had a long conversation with him, Mr. Peacock being +present. Nothing could be more thoroughly obliging and kind than his +whole manner. He made no sort of restriction, but only told me to make +the most of [the] money, which of course I am right willing to do. + +"I expected rather an awful interview, but I never found anything less +so in my life. It will be my fault if I do not make a good work; but I +sometimes take an awful fright that I have not materials enough. It will +be excessively satisfactory at the end of some two years to find all +materials made the most they were capable of." + +Later in the autumn he wrote to Henslow: "I have not been very well of +late, with an uncomfortable palpitation of the heart, and my doctors +urge me STRONGLY to knock off all work, and go and live in the country +for a few weeks." He accordingly took a holiday of about a month at +Shrewsbury and Maer, and paid a visit in the Isle of Wight. It was, I +believe, during this visit, at Mr. Wedgwood's house at Maer, that he +made his first observations on the work done by earthworms, and late +in the autumn he read a paper on the subject at the Geological Society. +("On the formation of mould," 'Geol. Soc. Proc.' ii. 1838, pages +574-576.) During these two months he was also busy preparing the scheme +of the 'Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle",' and in beginning to put +together the Geological results of his travels. + +The following letter refers to the proposal that he should take the +Secretaryship of the Geological Society.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. October 14th, [1837]. + +My dear Henslow, + +...I am much obliged to you for your message about the Secretaryship. I +am exceedingly anxious for you to hear my side of the question, and will +you be so kind as afterwards to give me your fair judgment. The subject +has haunted me all summer. I am unwilling to undertake the office for +the following reasons: First, my entire ignorance of English Geology, a +knowledge of which would be almost necessary in order to shorten many +of the papers before reading them before the Society, or rather to +know what parts to skip. Again, my ignorance of all languages, and +not knowing how to pronounce a SINGLE word of French--a language so +perpetually quoted. It would be disgraceful to the Society to have a +Secretary who could not read French. Secondly, the loss of time; pray +consider that I should have to look after the artists, superintend and +furnish materials for the Government work, which will come out in parts, +and which must appear regularly. All my Geological notes are in a very +rough state; none of my fossil shells worked up; and I have much to +read. I have had hopes, by giving up society and not wasting an hour, +that I should finish my Geology in a year and a half, by which time the +description of the higher animals by others would be completed, and my +whole time would then necessarily be required to complete myself +the description of the invertebrate ones. If this plan fails, as the +Government work must go on, the Geology would necessarily be deferred +till probably at least three years from this time. In the present state +of the science, a great part of the utility of the little I have done +would be lost, and all freshness and pleasure quite taken from me. + +I know from experience the time required to make abstracts EVEN of my +own papers for the 'Proceedings.' If I was Secretary, and had to make +double abstracts of each paper, studying them before reading, and +attendance would AT LEAST cost me three days (and often more) in the +fortnight. There are likewise other accidental and contingent losses of +time; I know Dr. Royle found the office consumed much of his time. If by +merely giving up any amusement, or by working harder than I have done, +I could save time, I would undertake the Secretaryship; but I appeal to +you whether, with my slow manner of writing, with two works in hand, and +with the certainty, if I cannot complete the Geological part within +a fixed period, that its publication must be retarded for a very long +time,--whether any Society whatever has any claim on me for three days' +disagreeable work every fortnight. I cannot agree that it is a duty on +my part, as a follower of science, as long as I devote myself to the +completion of the work I have in hand, to delay that, by undertaking +what may be done by any person who happens to have more spare time than +I have at present. Moreover, so early in my scientific life, with +so very much as I have to learn, the office, though no doubt a great +honour, etc., for me, would be the more burdensome. Mr. Whewell (I know +very well), judging from himself, will think I exaggerate the time the +Secretaryship would require; but I absolutely know the time which with +me the simplest writing consumes. I do not at all like appearing so +selfish as to refuse Mr. Whewell, more especially as he has always +shown, in the kindest manner, an interest in my affairs. But I cannot +look forward with even tolerable comfort to undertaking an office +without entering on it heart and soul, and that would be impossible with +the Government work and the Geology in hand. + +My last objection is, that I doubt how far my health will stand the +confinement of what I have to do, without any additional work. I merely +repeat, that you may know I am not speaking idly, that when I consulted +Dr. Clark in town, he at first urged me to give up entirely all writing +and even correcting press for some weeks. Of late anything which +flurries me completely knocks me up afterwards, and brings on a violent +palpitation of the heart. Now the Secretaryship would be a periodical +source of more annoying trouble to me than all the rest of the fortnight +put together. In fact, till I return to town, and see how I get on, if +I wished the office ever so much, I COULD not say I would positively +undertake it. I beg of you to excuse this very long prose all about +myself, but the point is one of great interest. I can neither bear to +think myself very selfish and sulky, nor can I see the possibility of my +taking the Secretaryship without making a sacrifice of all my plans and +a good deal of comfort. + +If you see Whewell, would you tell him the substance of this letter; or, +if he will take the trouble, he may read it. My dear Henslow, I appeal +to you in loco parentis. Pray tell me what you think? But do not judge +me by the activity of mind which you and a few others possess, for in +that case the more difficult things in hand the pleasanter the work; +but, though I hope I never shall be idle, such is not the case with me. + +Ever, dear Henslow, Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +[He ultimately accepted the post, and held it for three years--from +February 16, 1838, to February 19, 1841. + +After being assured of the Grant for the publication of the 'Zoology of +the Voyage of the "Beagle",' there was much to be done in arranging the +scheme of publication, and this occupied him during part of October and +November.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. [4th November, 1837.] + +My dear Henslow, + +...Pray tell Leonard (Rev. L. Jenyns.) that my Government work is +going on smoothly, and I hope will be prosperous. He will see in the +Prospectus his name attached to the fish; I set my shoulders to the +work with a good heart. I am very much better than I was during the +last month before my Shrewsbury visit. I fear the Geology will take me +a great deal of time; I was looking over one set of notes, and the +quantity I found I had to read, for that one place was frightful. If I +live till I am eighty years old I shall not cease to marvel at finding +myself an author; in the summer before I started, if any one had told me +that I should have been an angel by this time, I should have thought it +an equal impossibility. This marvellous transformation is all owing to +you. + +I am sorry to find that a good many errata are left in the part of my +volume, which is printed. During my absence Mr. Colburn employed some +goose to revise, and he has multiplied, instead of diminishing my +oversights; but for all that, the smooth paper and clear type has +a charming appearance, and I sat the other evening gazing in silent +admiration at the first page of my own volume, when I received it from +the printers! + +Good-bye, my dear Henslow, C. DARWIN. + + +1838. + +[From the beginning of this year to nearly the end of June, he was +busily employed on the zoological and geological results of his voyage. +This spell of work was interrupted only by a visit of three days to +Cambridge, in May; and even this short holiday was taken in consequence +of failing health, as we may assume from the entry in his diary: "May +1st, unwell," and from a letter to his sister (May 16, 1838), when he +wrote:-- + +"My trip of three days to Cambridge has done me such wonderful good, and +filled my limbs with such elasticity, that I must get a little work +out of my body before another holiday." This holiday seems to have been +thoroughly enjoyed; he wrote to his sister:-- + +"Now for Cambridge: I stayed at Henslow's house and enjoyed my visit +extremely. My friends gave me a most cordial welcome. Indeed, I was +quite a lion there. Mrs. Henslow unfortunately was obliged to go on +Friday for a visit in the country. That evening we had at Henslow's a +brilliant party of all the geniuses in Cambridge, and a most remarkable +set of men they most assuredly are. On Saturday I rode over to L. +Jenyns', and spent the morning with him. I found him very cheerful, but +bitterly complaining of his solitude. On Saturday evening dined at one +of the Colleges, played at bowls on the College Green after dinner, +and was deafened with nightingales singing. Sunday, dined in Trinity; +capital dinner, and was very glad to sit by Professor Lee (Samuel +Lee, of Queens', was Professor of Arabic from 1819 to 1831, and Regius +Professor of Hebrew from 1831 to 1848.)...; I find him a very pleasant +chatting man, and in high spirits like a boy, at having lately returned +from a living or a curacy, for seven years in Somersetshire, to +civilised society and oriental manuscripts. He had exchanged his living +to one within fourteen miles of Cambridge, and seemed perfectly happy. +In the evening attended Trinity Chapel, and heard 'The Heavens are +telling the Glory of God,' in magnificent style; the last chorus seemed +to shake the very walls of the College. After chapel a large party in +Sedgwick's rooms. So much for my Annals." + +He started, towards the end of June, on his expedition to Glen Roy, of +which he writes to Fox: "I have not been very well of late, which has +suddenly determined me to leave London earlier than I had anticipated. I +go by the steam-packet to Edinburgh,--take a solitary walk on Salisbury +Craigs, and call up old thoughts of former times, then go on to Glasgow +and the great valley of Inverness, near which I intend stopping a week +to geologise the parallel roads of Glen Roy, thence to Shrewsbury, Maer +for one day, and London for smoke, ill-health and hard work." + +He spent "eight good days" over the Parallel Roads. His Essay on this +subject was written out during the same summer, and published by the +Royal Society. ('Phil. Trans.' 1839, pages 39-82.) He wrote in his +Pocket Book: "September 6 [1838]. Finished the paper on 'Glen Roy,' one +of the most difficult and instructive tasks I was ever engaged on." It +will be remembered that in his 'Recollections' he speaks of this paper +as a failure, of which he was ashamed. + +At the time at which he wrote, the latest theory of the formation of +the Parallel Roads was that of Sir Lauder Dick and Dr. Macculloch, who +believed that lakes had anciently existed in Glen Roy, caused by dams +of rock or alluvium. In arguing against this theory he conceived that he +had disproved the admissibility of any lake theory, but in this point +he was mistaken. He wrote (Glen Roy paper, page 49) "the conclusion is +inevitable, that no hypothesis founded on the supposed existence of a +sheet of water confined by BARRIERS, that is a lake, can be admitted as +solving the problematical origin of the parallel roads of Lochaber." + +Mr. Archibald Geikie has been so good as to allow me to quote a passage +from a letter addressed to me (November 19, 1884) in compliance with my +request for his opinion on the character of my father's Glen Roy work:-- + +"Mr. Darwin's 'Glen Roy' paper, I need not say, is marked by all his +characteristic acuteness of observation and determination to consider +all possible objections. It is a curious example, however, of the danger +of reasoning by a method of exclusion in Natural Science. Finding that +the waters which formed the terraces in the Glen Roy region could not +possibly have been dammed back by barriers of rock or of detritus, he +saw no alternative but to regard them as the work of the sea. Had the +idea of transient barriers of glacier-ice occurred to him, he would have +found the difficulties vanish from the lake-theory which he opposed, +and he would not have been unconsciously led to minimise the altogether +overwhelming objections to the supposition that the terraces are of +marine origin." + +It may be added that the idea of the barriers being formed by glaciers +could hardly have occurred to him, considering what was the state of +knowledge at the time, and bearing in mind his want of opportunities of +observing glacial action on a large scale. + +The latter half of July was passed at Shrewsbury and Maer. The only +entry of any interest is one of being "very idle" at Shrewsbury, and of +opening "a note-book connected with metaphysical inquiries." In August +he records that he read "a good deal of various amusing books, and paid +some attention to metaphysical subjects." + +The work done during the remainder of the year comprises the book +on coral reefs (begun in October), and some work on the phenomena of +elevation in S. America.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. 36 Great Marlborough Street, August 9th +[1838]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I do not write to you at Norwich, for I thought I should have more to +say, if I waited a few more days. Very many thanks for the present of +your 'Elements,' which I received (and I believe the VERY FIRST copy +distributed) together with your note. I have read it through every word, +and am full of admiration of it, and, as I now see no geologist, I must +talk to you about it. There is no pleasure in reading a book if one +cannot have a good talk over it; I repeat, I am full of admiration +of it, it is as clear as daylight, in fact I felt in many parts some +mortification at thinking how geologists have laboured and struggled at +proving what seems, as you have put it, so evidently probable. I read +with much interest your sketch of the secondary deposits; you have +contrived to make it quite "juicy," as we used to say as children of a +good story. There was also much new to me, and I have to copy out some +fifty notes and references. It must do good, the heretics against common +sense must yield...By the way, do you recollect my telling you how much +I disliked the manner -- referred to his other works, as much as to say, +"You must, ought, and shall buy everything I have written." To my mind, +you have somehow quite avoided this; your references only seem to say, +"I can't tell you all in this work, else I would, so you must go to the +'Principles'"; and many a one, I trust, you will send there, and make +them, like me, adorers of the good science of rock-breaking. You will +see I am in a fit of enthusiasm, and good cause I have to be, when I +find you have made such infinitely more use of my Journal than I could +have anticipated. I will say no more about the book, for it is all +praise. I must, however, admire the elaborate honesty with which you +quote the words of all living and dead geologists. + +My Scotch expedition answered brilliantly; my trip in the steam-packet +was absolutely pleasant, and I enjoyed the spectacle, wretch that I am, +of two ladies, and some small children quite sea-sick, I being well. +Moreover, on my return from Glasgow to Liverpool, I triumphed in a +similar manner over some full-grown men. I stayed one whole day in +Edinburgh, or more truly on Salisbury Craigs; I want to hear some day +what you think about that classical ground,--the structure was to me new +and rather curious,--that is, if I understand it right. I crossed from +Edinburgh in gigs and carts (and carts without springs, as I never shall +forget) to Loch Leven. I was disappointed in the scenery, and reached +Glen Roy on Saturday evening, one week after leaving Marlborough Street. +Here I enjoyed five [?] days of the most beautiful weather with gorgeous +sunsets, and all nature looking as happy as I felt. I wandered over +the mountains in all directions, and examined that most extraordinary +district. I think, without any exceptions, not even the first volcanic +island, the first elevated beach, or the passage of the Cordillera, was +so interesting to me as this week. It is far the most remarkable area +I ever examined. I have fully convinced myself (after some doubting at +first) that the shelves are sea-beaches, although I could not find a +trace of a shell; and I think I can explain away most, if not all, the +difficulties. I found a piece of a road in another valley, not hitherto +observed, which is important; and I have some curious facts about +erratic blocks, one of which was perched up on a peak 2200 feet above +the sea. I am now employed in writing a paper on the subject, which I +find very amusing work, excepting that I cannot anyhow condense it into +reasonable limits. At some future day I hope to talk over some of the +conclusions with you, which the examination of Glen Roy has led me to. +Now I have had my talk out, I am much easier, for I can assure you Glen +Roy has astonished me. + +I am living very quietly, and therefore pleasantly, and am crawling on +slowly but steadily with my work. I have come to one conclusion, +which you will think proves me to be a very sensible man, namely, that +whatever you say proves right; and as a proof of this, I am coming into +your way of only working about two hours at a spell; I then go out and +do my business in the streets, return and set to work again, and thus +make two separate days out of one. The new plan answers capitally; after +the second half day is finished I go and dine at the Athenaeum like a +gentleman, or rather like a lord, for I am sure the first evening I sat +in that great drawing-room, all on a sofa by myself, I felt just like a +duke. I am full of admiration at the Athenaeum, one meets so many people +there that one likes to see. The very first time I dined there (i.e. +last week) I met Dr. Fitton (W.H. Fitton (1780-1861) was a physician +and geologist, and sometime president of the Geological Society. He +established the 'Proceedings,' a mode of publication afterwards +adopted by other societies.) at the door, and he got together quite a +party--Robert Brown, who is gone to Paris and Auvergne, Macleay [?] and +Dr. Boott. (Francis Boott (1792-1863) is chiefly known as a botanist +through his work on the genus Carex. He was also well-known in +connection with the Linnean Society of which he was for many years an +office-bearer. He is described (in a biographical sketch published +in the "Gardener's Chronicle", 1864) as having been one of the first +physicians in London who gave up the customary black coat, knee-breeches +and silk stockings, and adopted the ordinary dress of the period, a +blue coat with brass buttons, and a buff waiscoat, a costume which he +continued to wear to the last. After giving up practice, which he +did early in life, he spent much of his time in acts of unpretending +philanthropy.) Your helping me into the Athenaeum has not been thrown +away, and I enjoy it the more because I fully expected to detest it. + +I am writing you a most unmerciful letter, but I shall get Owen to take +it to Newcastle. If you have a mind to be a very generous man you will +write to me from Kinnordy (The house of Lyell's father.), and tell me +some Newcastle news, as well as about the Craig, and about yourself and +Mrs. Lyell, and everything else in the world. I will send by Hall the +'Entomological Transactions,' which I have borrowed for you; you will be +disappointed in --'s papers, that is if you suppose my dear friend has +a single clear idea upon any one subject. He has so involved recent +insects and true fossil insects in one table that I fear you will not +make much out of it, though it is a subject which ought I should +think to come into the 'Principles.' You will be amused at some of the +ridiculo-sublime passages in the papers, and no doubt will feel acutely +a sneer there is at yourself. I have heard from more than one quarter +that quarrelling is expected at Newcastle (At the meeting of the British +Association.); I am sorry to hear it. I met old -- this evening at the +Athenaeum, and he muttered something about writing to you or some one on +the subject; I am however all in the dark. I suppose, however, I shall +be illuminated, for I am going to dine with him in a few days, as my +inventive powers failed in making any excuse. A friend of mine dined +with him the other day, a party of four, and they finished ten bottles +of wine--a pleasant prospect for me; but I am determined not even to +taste his wine, partly for the fun of seeing his infinite disgust and +surprise... + +I pity you the infliction of this most unmerciful letter. Pray remember +me most kindly to Mrs. Lyell when you arrive at Kinnordy. I saw her name +in the landlord's book of Inverorum. Tell Mrs. Lyell to read the +second series of 'Mr. Slick of Slickville's Sayings.'...He almost beats +"Samivel," that prince of heroes. Goodnight, my dear Lyell; you will +think I have been drinking some strong drink to write so much nonsense, +but I did not even taste Minerva's small beer to-day. + +Yours most sincerely, CHAS. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Friday night, September 13th [1838]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I was astonished and delighted at your gloriously long letter, and I am +sure I am very much obliged to Mrs. Lyell for having taken the trouble +to write so much. (Lyell dictated much of his correspondence.) I mean to +have a good hour's enjoyment and scribble away to you, who have so much +geological sympathy that I do not care how egotistically I write... + +I have got so much to say about all sorts of trifling things that I +hardly know what to begin about. I need not say how pleased I am to hear +that Mr. Lyell (Father of the geologist.) likes my Journal. To hear +such tidings is a kind of resurrection, for I feel towards my first-born +child as if it had long since been dead, buried, and forgotten; but the +past is nothing and the future everything to us geologists, as you show +in your capital motto to the 'Elements.' By the way, have you read +the article, in the 'Edinburgh Review,' on M. Comte, 'Cours de la +Philosophie' (or some such title)? It is capital; there are some fine +sentences about the very essence of science being prediction, which +reminded me of "its law being progress." + +I will now begin and go through your letter seriatim. I dare say your +plan of putting the Elie de Beaumont's chapter separately and early will +be very good; anyhow, it is showing a bold front in the first edition +which is to be translated into French. It will be a curious point to +geologists hereafter to note how long a man's name will support a theory +so completely exposed as that of De Beaumont's has been by you; you +say you "begin to hope that the great principles there insisted on will +stand the test of time." BEGIN TO HOPE: why, the POSSIBILITY of a +doubt has never crossed my mind for many a day. This may be very +unphilosophical, but my geological salvation is staked on it. After +having just come back from Glen Roy, and found how difficulties smooth +away under your principles, it makes me quite indignant that you should +talk of HOPING. With respect to the question, how far my coral theory +bears on De Beaumont's theory, I think it would be prudent to quote me +with great caution until my whole account is published, and then +you (and others) can judge how far there is foundation for such +generalisation. Mind, I do not doubt its truth; but the extension of +any view over such large spaces, from comparatively few facts, must be +received with much caution. I do not myself the least doubt that +within the recent (or as you, much to my annoyment, would call it, "New +Pliocene") period, tortuous bands--not all the bands parallel to each +other--have been elevated and corresponding ones subsided, though within +the same period some parts probably remained for a time stationary, or +even subsided. I do not believe a more utterly false view could have +been invented than great straight lines being suddenly thrown up. + +When my book on Volcanoes and Coral Reefs will be published I hardly +know; I fear it will be at least four or five months; though, mind, +the greater part is written. I find so much time is lost in correcting +details and ascertaining their accuracy. The Government Zoological work +is a millstone round my neck, and the Glen Roy paper has lost me six +weeks. I will not, however, say lost; for, supposing I can prove to +others' satisfaction what I have convinced myself is the case, the +inference I think you will allow to be important. I cannot doubt that +the molten matter beneath the earth's crust possesses a high degree of +fluidity, almost like the sea beneath the block ice. By the way, I hope +you will give me some Swedish case to quote, of shells being preserved +on the surface, but not in contemporaneous beds of gravel... + +Remember what I have often heard you say: the country is very bad +for the intellects; the Scotch mists will put out some volcanic +speculations. You see I am affecting to become very Cockneyfied, and to +despise the poor country-folk, who breath fresh air instead of smoke, +and see the goodly fields instead of the brick houses in Marlborough +Street, the very sight of which I confess I abhor. I am glad to hear +what a favourable report you give of the British Association. I am the +more pleased because I have been fighting its battles with Basil Hall, +Stokes, and several others, having made up my mind, from the report in +the "Athenaeum", that it must have been an excellent meeting. I have +been much amused with an account I have received of the wars of Don +Roderick (Murchison.) and Babbage. What a grievous pity it is that the +latter should be so implacable...This is a most rigmarole letter, for +after each sentence I take breath, and you will have need of it in +reading it... + +I wish with all my heart that my Geological book was out. I have every +motive to work hard, and will, following your steps, work just that +degree of hardness to keep well. I should like my volume to be out +before your new edition of 'Principles' appears. Besides the Coral +theory, the volcanic chapters will, I think, contain some new facts. +I have lately been sadly tempted to be idle--that is, as far as pure +geology is concerned--by the delightful number of new views which +have been coming in thickly and steadily,--on the classification and +affinities and instincts of animals--bearing on the question of species. +Note-book after note-book has been filled with facts which begin to +group themselves CLEARLY under sub-laws. + +Good night, my dear Lyell. I have filled my letter and enjoyed my talk +to you as much as I can without having you in propria persona. Think of +the bad effects of the country--so once more good night. + +Ever yours, CHAS. DARWIN. + +Pray again give my best thanks to Mrs. Lyell. + + +[The record of what he wrote during the year does not give a true index +of the most important work that was in progress,--the laying of the +foundation-stones of what was to be the achievement of his life. This is +shown in the foregoing letter to Lyell, where he speaks of being "idle," +and the following extract from a letter to Fox, written in June, is of +interest in this point of view: + +"I am delighted to hear you are such a good man as not to have forgotten +my questions about the crossing of animals. It is my prime hobby, and +I really think some day I shall be able to do something in that most +intricate subject, species and varieties."] + + +1839-1841. + +[In the winter of 1839 (January 29) my father was married to his cousin, +Emma Wedgwood. (Daughter of Josiah Wedgwood of Maer, and grand-daughter +of the founder of the Etruria Pottery Works.) The house in which they +lived for the first few years of their married life, No. 12 Upper Gower +Street, was a small common-place London house, with a drawing-room in +front, and a small room behind, in which they lived for the sake of +quietness. In later years my father used to laugh over the surpassing +ugliness of the furniture, carpets, etc., of the Gower Street house. The +only redeeming feature was a better garden than most London houses have, +a strip as wide as the house, and thirty yards long. Even this small +space of dingy grass made their London house more tolerable to its two +country-bred inhabitants. + +Of his life in London he writes to Fox (October 1839): "We are living +a life of extreme quietness; Delamere itself, which you describe as so +secluded a spot, is, I will answer for it, quite dissipated compared +with Gower Street. We have given up all parties, for they agree with +neither of us; and if one is quiet in London, there is nothing like +its quietness--there is a grandeur about its smoky fogs, and the dull +distant sounds of cabs and coaches; in fact you may perceive I am +becoming a thorough-paced Cockney, and I glory in thoughts that I shall +be here for the next six months." + +The entries of ill health in the Diary increase in number during +these years, and as a consequence the holidays become longer and more +frequent. From April 26 to May 13, 1839, he was at Maer and Shrewsbury. +Again, from August 23 to October 2 he was away from London at +Maer, Shrewsbury, and at Birmingham for the meeting of the British +Association. + +The entry under August 1839 is: "During my visit to Maer, read a little, +was much unwell and scandalously idle. I have derived this much good, +that NOTHING is so intolerable as idleness." + +At the end of 1839 his eldest child was born, and it was then that he +began his observations ultimately published in the 'Expression of the +Emotions.' His book on this subject, and the short paper published in +'Mind,' (July 1877.) show how closely he observed his child. He seems to +have been surprised at his own feelings for a young baby, for he wrote +to Fox (July 1840): "He [i.e. the baby] is so charming that I cannot +pretend to any modesty. I defy anybody to flatter us on our baby, for +I defy any one to say anything in its praise of which we are not fully +conscious...I had not the smallest conception there was so much in a +five-month baby. You will perceive by this that I have a fine degree of +paternal fervour." + +During these years he worked intermittently at 'Coral Reefs,' being +constantly interrupted by ill health. Thus he speaks of "recommencing" +the subject in February 1839, and again in the October of the same year, +and once more in July 1841, "after more than thirteen months' interval." +His other scientific work consisted of a contribution to the Geological +Society ('Geol. Soc. Proc.' iii. 1842, and 'Geol. Soc. Trans.' vi), on +the boulders and "till" of South America, as well as a few other +minor papers on geological subjects. He also worked busily at the +ornithological part of the Zoology of the "Beagle", i.e. the notice of +the habits and ranges of the birds which were described by Gould.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Wednesday morning [February 1840]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Many thanks for your kind note. I will send for the "Scotsman". Dr. +Holland thinks he has found out what is the matter with me, and now +hopes he shall be able to set me going again. Is it not mortifying, it +is now nine weeks since I have done a whole day's work, and not more +than four half days. But I won't grumble any more, though it is hard +work to prevent doing so. Since receiving your note I have read over my +chapter on Coral, and find I am prepared to stand by almost everything; +it is much more cautiously and accurately written than I thought. I had +set my heart upon having my volume completed before your new edition, +but not, you may believe me, for you to notice anything new in it (for +there is very little besides details), but you are the one man in Europe +whose opinion of the general truth of a toughish argument I should be +always most anxious to hear. My MS. is in such confusion, otherwise I +am sure you should most willingly if it had been worth your while, have +looked at any part you choose.... + +[In a letter to Fox (January 1841) he shows that his "Species work" was +still occupying his mind:-- + +"If you attend at all to Natural History I send you this P.S. as a +memento, that I continue to collect all kinds of facts about 'Varieties +and Species,' for my some-day work to be so entitled; the smallest +contributions thankfully accepted; descriptions of offspring of all +crosses between all domestic birds and animals, dogs, cats, etc., etc., +very valuable. Don't forget, if your half-bred African cat should die +that I should be very much obliged for its carcase sent up in a little +hamper for the skeleton; it, or any cross-bred pigeons, fowl, duck, +etc., etc., will be more acceptable than the finest haunch of venison, +or the finest turtle." + +Later in the year (September) he writes to Fox about his health, and +also with reference to his plan of moving into the country:-- + +"I have steadily been gaining ground, and really believe now I shall +some day be quite strong. I write daily for a couple of hours on my +Coral volume, and take a little walk or ride every day. I grow very +tired in the evenings, and am not able to go out at that time, or hardly +to receive my nearest relations; but my life ceases to be burdensome now +that I can do something. We are taking steps to leave London, and live +about twenty miles from it on some railway."] + + +1842. + +[The record of work includes his volume on 'Coral Reefs' (A notice of +the Coral Reef work appeared in the Geograph. Soc. Journal, xii., page +115.), the manuscript of which was at last sent to the printers in +January of this year, and the last proof corrected in May. He thus +writes of the work in his diary:-- + +"I commenced this work three years and seven months ago. Out of this +period about twenty months (besides work during "Beagle's" voyage) has +been spent on it, and besides it, I have only compiled the Bird part of +Zoology; Appendix to Journal, paper on Boulders, and corrected papers +on Glen Roy and earthquakes, reading on species, and rest all lost by +illness." + +In May and June he was at Shrewsbury and Maer, whence he went on to make +the little tour in Wales, of which he spoke in his 'Recollections,' and +of which the results were published as "Notes on the effects produced by +the ancient glaciers of Caernarvonshire, and on the Boulders transported +by floating Ice." ('Philosophical Magazine,' 1842, page 352.) + +Mr. Archibald Geikie speaks of this paper as standing "almost at the +top of the long list of English contributions to the history of the Ice +Age." (Charles Darwin, 'Nature' Series, page 23.) + +The latter part of this year belongs to the period including the +settlement at Down, and is therefore dealt with in another chapter.] + + + + +CHAPTER 1.VIII. -- RELIGION. + +[The history of this part of my father's life may justly include some +mention of his religious views. For although, as he points out, he did +not give continuous systematic thought to religious questions, yet we +know from his own words that about this time (1836-39) the subject was +much before his mind.] + +In his published works he was reticent on the matter of religion, +and what he has left on the subject was not written with a view +to publication. (As an exception may be mentioned, a few words of +concurrence with Dr. Abbot's 'Truths for the Times,' which my father +allowed to be published in the "Index".) + +I believe that his reticence arose from several causes. He felt +strongly that a man's religion is an essentially private matter, and +one concerning himself alone. This is indicated by the following extract +from a letter of 1879:--(Addressed to Mr. J. Fordyce, and published by +him in his 'Aspects of Scepticism,' 1883.) + +"What my own views may be is a question of no consequence to any one +but myself. But, as you ask, I may state that my judgment often +fluctuates...In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an +Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that +generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an +Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind." + +He naturally shrank from wounding the sensibilities of others in +religious matters, and he was also influenced by the consciousness +that a man ought not to publish on a subject to which he has not given +special and continuous thought. That he felt this caution to apply +to himself in the matter of religion is shown in a letter to Dr. F.E. +Abbot, of Cambridge, U.S. (September 6, 1871). After explaining that the +weakness arising from his bad health prevented him from feeling "equal +to deep reflection, on the deepest subject which can fill a man's mind," +he goes on to say: "With respect to my former notes to you, I quite +forget their contents. I have to write many letters, and can reflect but +little on what I write; but I fully believe and hope that I have never +written a word, which at the time I did not think; but I think you will +agree with me, that anything which is to be given to the public ought to +be maturely weighed and cautiously put. It never occurred to me that you +would wish to print any extract from my notes: if it had, I would have +kept a copy. I put 'private' from habit, only as yet partially acquired, +from some hasty notes of mine having been printed, which were not in +the least degree worth printing, though otherwise unobjectionable. It is +simply ridiculous to suppose that my former note to you would be worth +sending to me, with any part marked which you desire to print; but +if you like to do so, I will at once say whether I should have any +objection. I feel in some degree unwilling to express myself publicly on +religious subjects, as I do not feel that I have thought deeply enough +to justify any publicity." + +I may also quote from another letter to Dr. Abbot (November 16, +1871), in which my father gives more fully his reasons for not feeling +competent to write on religious and moral subjects:-- + +"I can say with entire truth that I feel honoured by your request that I +should become a contributor to the "Index", and am much obliged for the +draft. I fully, also, subscribe to the proposition that it is the duty +of every one to spread what he believes to be the truth; and I honour +you for doing so, with so much devotion and zeal. But I cannot comply +with your request for the following reasons; and excuse me for giving +them in some detail, as I should be very sorry to appear in your eyes +ungracious. My health is very weak: I NEVER pass 24 hours without many +hours of discomfort, when I can do nothing whatever. I have thus, also, +lost two whole consecutive months this season. Owing to this weakness, +and my head being often giddy, I am unable to master new subjects +requiring much thought, and can deal only with old materials. At no +time am I a quick thinker or writer: whatever I have done in science has +solely been by long pondering, patience and industry. + +"Now I have never systematically thought much on religion in relation +to science, or on morals in relation to society; and without steadily +keeping my mind on such subjects for a LONG period, I am really +incapable of writing anything worth sending to the 'Index'." + +He was more than once asked to give his views on religion, and he had, +as a rule, no objection to doing so in a private letter. Thus in answer +to a Dutch student he wrote (April 2, 1873):-- + +"I am sure you will excuse my writing at length, when I tell you that I +have long been much out of health, and am now staying away from my home +for rest. + +"It is impossible to answer your question briefly; and I am not sure +that I could do so, even if I wrote at some length. But I may say that +the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, +with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief +argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of +real value, I have never been able to decide. I am aware that if we +admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came, and +how it arose. Nor can I overlook the difficulty from the immense amount +of suffering through the world. I am, also, induced to defer to a +certain extent to the judgment of the many able men who have fully +believed in God; but here again I see how poor an argument this is. The +safest conclusion seems to me that the whole subject is beyond the scope +of man's intellect; but man can do his duty." + +Again in 1879 he was applied to by a German student, in a similar +manner. The letter was answered by a member of my father's family, who +wrote:-- + +"Mr. Darwin begs me to say that he receives so many letters, that he +cannot answer them all. + +"He considers that the theory of Evolution is quite compatible with the +belief in a God; but that you must remember that different persons have +different definitions of what they mean by God." + +This, however, did not satisfy the German youth, who again wrote to my +father, and received from him the following reply:-- + +"I am much engaged, an old man, and out of health, and I cannot spare +time to answer your questions fully,--nor indeed can they be answered. +Science has nothing to do with Christ, except in so far as the habit +of scientific research makes a man cautious in admitting evidence. For +myself, I do not believe that there ever has been any revelation. As +for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting +vague probabilities." + +The passages which here follow are extracts, somewhat abbreviated, from +a part of the Autobiography, written in 1876, in which my father gives +the history of his religious views:-- + +"During these two years (October 1836 to January 1839.) I was led to +think much about religion. Whilst on board the 'Beagle' I was quite +orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the +officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as an +unanswerable authority on some point of morality. I suppose it was the +novelty of the argument that amused them. But I had gradually come by +this time, i.e. 1836 to 1839, to see that the Old Testament was no more +to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos. The question then +continually rose before my mind and would not be banished,--is it +credible that if God were now to make a revelation to the Hindoos, he +would permit it to be connected with the belief in Vishnu, Siva, etc., +as Christianity is connected with the Old Testament? This appeared to me +utterly incredible. + +"By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite +to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is +supported,--and that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the +more incredible do miracles become,--that the men at that time were +ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us,--that +the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously +with the events,--that they differ in many important details, far too +important, as it seemed to me, to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies +of eye-witnesses;--by such reflections as these, which I give not +as having the least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I +gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The +fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the +earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. + +"But I was very unwilling to give up my belief; I feel sure of this, for +I can well remember often and often inventing day-dreams of old letters +between distinguished Romans, and manuscripts being discovered at +Pompeii or elsewhere, which confirmed in the most striking manner all +that was written in the Gospels. But I found it more and more difficult, +with free scope given to my imagination, to invent evidence which would +suffice to convince me. Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow +rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no +distress. + +"Although I did not think much about the existence of a personal God +until a considerably later period of my life, I will here give the vague +conclusions to which I have been driven. The old argument from design +in Nature, as given by Paley, which formerly seemed to me so conclusive, +fails, now that the law of natural selection has been discovered. We +can no longer argue that, for instance, the beautiful hinge of a bivalve +shell must have been made by an intelligent being, like the hinge of +a door by man. There seems to be no more design in the variability of +organic beings, and in the action of natural selection, than in the +course which the wind blows. But I have discussed this subject at the +end of my book on the 'Variations of Domesticated Animals and Plants' +(My father asks whether we are to believe that the forms are preordained +of the broken fragments of rock tumbled from a precipice which are +fitted together by man to build his houses. If not, why should +we believe that the variations of domestic animals or plants are +preordained for the sake of the breeder? "But if we give up the +principle in one case,... no shadow of reason can be assigned for the +belief that variations, alike in nature and the result of the same +general laws, which have been the groundwork through natural selection +of the formation of the most perfectly adapted animals in the world, man +included, were intentionally and specially guided."--'The Variation of +Animals and Plants,' 1st Edition volume ii. page 431.--F.D.), and the +argument there given has never, as far as I can see, been answered. + +"But passing over the endless beautiful adaptations which we everywhere +meet with, it may be asked how can the generally beneficent arrangement +of the world be accounted for? Some writers indeed are so much impressed +with the amount of suffering in the world, that they doubt, if we look +to all sentient beings, whether there is more of misery or of happiness; +whether the world as a whole is a good or bad one. According to my +judgment happiness decidedly prevails, though this would be very +difficult to prove. If the truth of this conclusion be granted, it +harmonises well with the effects which we might expect from natural +selection. If all the individuals of any species were habitually to +suffer to an extreme degree, they would neglect to propagate their kind; +but we have no reason to believe that this has ever, or at least often +occurred. Some other considerations, moreover, lead to the belief that +all sentient beings have been formed so as to enjoy, as a general rule, +happiness. + +"Everyone who believes, as I do, that all the corporeal and +mental organs (excepting those which are neither advantageous nor +disadvantageous to the possessor) of all beings have been developed +through natural selection, or the survival of the fittest, together +with use or habit, will admit that these organs have been formed so that +their possessors may compete successfully with other beings, and thus +increase in number. Now an animal may be led to pursue that course of +action which is most beneficial to the species by suffering, such +as pain, hunger, thirst, and fear; or by pleasure, as in eating and +drinking, and in the propagation of the species, etc.; or by both means +combined, as in the search for food. But pain or suffering of any kind, +if long continued, causes depression and lessens the power of action, +yet is well adapted to make a creature guard itself against any great +or sudden evil. Pleasurable sensations, on the other hand, may be long +continued without any depressing effect; on the contrary, they stimulate +the whole system to increased action. Hence it has come to pass that +most or all sentient beings have been developed in such a manner, +through natural selection, that pleasurable sensations serve as their +habitual guides. We see this in the pleasure from exertion, even +occasionally from great exertion of the body or mind,--in the pleasure +of our daily meals, and especially in the pleasure derived from +sociability, and from loving our families. The sum of such pleasures as +these, which are habitual or frequently recurrent, give, as I can hardly +doubt, to most sentient beings an excess of happiness over misery, +although many occasionally suffer much. Such suffering is quite +compatible with the belief in Natural Selection, which is not perfect +in its action, but tends only to render each species as successful +as possible in the battle for life with other species, in wonderfully +complex and changing circumstances. + +"That there is much suffering in the world no one disputes. Some have +attempted to explain this with reference to man by imagining that it +serves for his moral improvement. But the number of men in the world +is as nothing compared with that of all other sentient beings, and +they often suffer greatly without any moral improvement. This very old +argument from the existence of suffering against the existence of an +intelligent First Cause seems to me a strong one; whereas, as just +remarked, the presence of much suffering agrees well with the view that +all organic beings have been developed through variation and natural +selection. + +"At the present day the most usual argument for the existence of an +intelligent God is drawn from the deep inward conviction and feelings +which are experienced by most persons. + +"Formerly I was led by feelings such as those just referred to (although +I do not think that the religious sentiment was ever strongly developed +in me), to the firm conviction of the existence of God, and of the +immortality of the soul. In my Journal I wrote that whilst standing in +the midst of the grandeur of a Brazilian forest, "it is not possible to +give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, admiration, +and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind." I well remember my +conviction that there is more in man than the mere breath of his body. +But now the grandest scenes would not cause any such convictions and +feelings to rise in my mind. It may be truly said that I am like a man +who has become colour-blind, and the universal belief by men of the +existence of redness makes my present loss of perception of not the +least value as evidence. This argument would be a valid one if all men +of all races had the same inward conviction of the existence of one +God; but we know that this is very far from being the case. Therefore I +cannot see that such inward convictions and feelings are of any weight +as evidence of what really exists. The state of mind which grand scenes +formerly excited in me, and which was intimately connected with a belief +in God, did not essentially differ from that which is often called +the sense of sublimity; and however difficult it may be to explain the +genesis of this sense, it can hardly be advanced as an argument for the +existence of God, any more than the powerful though vague and similar +feelings excited by music. + +"With respect to immortality, nothing shows me [so clearly] how strong +and almost instinctive a belief it is, as the consideration of the view +now held by most physicists, namely, that the sun with all the planets +will in time grow too cold for life, unless indeed some great body +dashes into the sun, and thus gives it fresh life. Believing as I do +that man in the distant future will be a far more perfect creature than +he now is, it is an intolerable thought that he and all other sentient +beings are doomed to complete annihilation after such long-continued +slow progress. To those who fully admit the immortality of the human +soul, the destruction of our world will not appear so dreadful. + +"Another source of conviction in the existence of God, connected with +the reason, and not with the feelings, impresses me as having much more +weight. This follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility +of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe, including man with +his capacity of looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the +result of blind chance or necessity. When thus reflecting I feel +compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some +degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a Theist. +This conclusion was strong in my mind about the time, as far as I can +remember, when I wrote the 'Origin of Species;' and it is since that +time that it has very gradually, with many fluctuations, become weaker. +But then arises the doubt, can the mind of man, which has, as I fully +believe, been developed from a mind as low as that possessed by the +lowest animals, be trusted when it draws such grand conclusions? + +"I cannot pretend to throw the least light on such abstruse problems. +The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for +one must be content to remain an Agnostic." + +[The following letters repeat to some extent what has been given from +the Autobiography. The first one refers to 'The Boundaries of Science, a +Dialogue,' published in 'Macmillan's Magazine,' for July 1861.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS JULIA WEDGWOOD. July 11 [1861]. + +Some one has sent us 'Macmillan'; and I must tell you how much I admire +your Article; though at the same time I must confess that I could not +clearly follow you in some parts, which probably is in main part due +to my not being at all accustomed to metaphysical trains of thought. I +think that you understand my book (The 'Origin of Species.') perfectly, +and that I find a very rare event with my critics. The ideas in the +last page have several times vaguely crossed my mind. Owing to several +correspondents I have been led lately to think, or rather to try to +think over some of the chief points discussed by you. But the result has +been with me a maze--something like thinking on the origin of evil, to +which you allude. The mind refuses to look at this universe, being what +it is, without having been designed; yet, where one would most expect +design, viz. in the structure of a sentient being, the more I think +on the subject, the less I can see proof of design. Asa Gray and some +others look at each variation, or at least at each beneficial variation +(which A. Gray would compare with the rain drops (Dr. Gray's rain-drop +metaphor occurs in the Essay 'Darwin and his Reviewers' ('Darwiniana,' +page 157): "The whole animate life of a country depends absolutely upon +the vegetation, the vegetation upon the rain. The moisture is furnished +by the ocean, is raised by the sun's heat from the ocean's surface, and +is wafted inland by the winds. But what multitudes of rain-drops fall +back into the ocean--are as much without a final cause as the incipient +varieties which come to nothing! Does it therefore follow that the rains +which are bestowed upon the soil with such rule and average regularity +were not designed to support vegetable and animal life?") which do not +fall on the sea, but on to the land to fertilize it) as having been +providentially designed. Yet when I ask him whether he looks at each +variation in the rock-pigeon, by which man has made by accumulation +a pouter or fantail pigeon, as providentially designed for man's +amusement, he does not know what to answer; and if he, or any one, +admits [that] these variations are accidental, as far as purpose is +concerned (of course not accidental as to their cause or origin); then I +can see no reason why he should rank the accumulated variations by which +the beautifully adapted woodpecker has been formed, as providentially +designed. For it would be easy to imagine the enlarged crop of the +pouter, or tail of the fantail, as of some use to birds, in a state of +nature, having peculiar habits of life. These are the considerations +which perplex me about design; but whether you will care to hear them, I +know not.... + +[On the subject of design, he wrote (July 1860) to Dr. Gray: + +"One word more on 'designed laws' and 'undesigned results.' I see a bird +which I want for food, take my gun and kill it, I do this DESIGNEDLY. +An innocent and good man stands under a tree and is killed by a flash +of lightning. Do you believe (and I really should like to hear) that +God DESIGNEDLY killed this man? Many or most persons do believe this; I +can't and don't. If you believe so, do you believe that when a swallow +snaps up a gnat that God designed that that particular swallow should +snap up that particular gnat at that particular instant? I believe +that the man and the gnat are in the same predicament. If the death of +neither man nor gnat are designed, I see no good reason to believe that +their FIRST birth or production should be necessarily designed."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. GRAHAM. Down, July 3rd, 1881. + +Dear Sir, + +I hope that you will not think it intrusive on my part to thank you +heartily for the pleasure which I have derived from reading your +admirably written 'Creed of Science,' though I have not yet quite +finished it, as now that I am old I read very slowly. It is a very long +time since any other book has interested me so much. The work must have +cost you several years and much hard labour with full leisure for work. +You would not probably expect any one fully to agree with you on so many +abstruse subjects; and there are some points in your book which I cannot +digest. The chief one is that the existence of so-called natural laws +implies purpose. I cannot see this. Not to mention that many expect that +the several great laws will some day be found to follow inevitably from +some one single law, yet taking the laws as we now know them, and +look at the moon, where the law of gravitation--and no doubt of the +conservation of energy--of the atomic theory, etc. etc., hold good, and +I cannot see that there is then necessarily any purpose. Would there +be purpose if the lowest organisms alone, destitute of consciousness +existed in the moon? But I have had no practice in abstract reasoning, +and I may be all astray. Nevertheless you have expressed my inward +conviction, though far more vividly and clearly than I could have done, +that the Universe is not the result of chance. (The Duke of Argyll +('Good Words,' Ap. 1885, page 244) has recorded a few words on this +subject, spoken by my father in the last year of his life. "...in the +course of that conversation I said to Mr. Darwin, with reference to some +of his own remarkable works on the 'Fertilization of Orchids,' and +upon 'The Earthworms,' and various other observations he made of the +wonderful contrivances for certain purposes in nature--I said it was +impossible to look at these without seeing that they were the effect +and the expression of mind. I shall never forget Mr. Darwin's answer. +He looked at me very hard and said, 'Well, that often comes over me with +overwhelming force; but at other times,' and he shook his head vaguely, +adding, 'it seems to go away.'") But then with me the horrid doubt +always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been +developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all +trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, +if there are any convictions in such a mind? Secondly, I think that I +could make somewhat of a case against the enormous importance which you +attribute to our greatest men; I have been accustomed to think, second, +third, and fourth rate men of very high importance, at least in the case +of Science. Lastly, I could show fight on natural selection having done +and doing more for the progress of civilization than you seem inclined +to admit. Remember what risk the nations of Europe ran, not so many +centuries ago of being overwhelmed by the Turks, and how ridiculous such +an idea now is! The more civilised so-called Caucasian races have beaten +the Turkish hollow in the struggle for existence. Looking to the world +at no very distant date, what an endless number of the lower races will +have been eliminated by the higher civilized races throughout the world. +But I will write no more, and not even mention the many points in your +work which have much interested me. I have indeed cause to apologise for +troubling you with my impressions, and my sole excuse is the excitement +in my mind which your book has aroused. + +I beg leave to remain, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully and obliged, CHARLES +DARWIN. + + +[My father spoke little on these subjects, and I can contribute nothing +from my own recollection of his conversation which can add to the +impression here given of his attitude towards Religion. Some further +idea of his views may, however, be gathered from occasional remarks in +his letters.] (Dr. Aveling has published an account of a conversation +with my father. I think that the readers of this pamphlet ('The +Religious Views of Charles Darwin,' Free Thought Publishing Company, +1883) may be misled into seeing more resemblance than really existed +between the positions of my father and Dr. Aveling: and I say this +in spite of my conviction that Dr. Aveling gives quite fairly his +impressions of my father's views. Dr. Aveling tried to show that the +terms "Agnostic" and "Atheist" were practically equivalent--that an +atheist is one who, without denying the existence of God, is without +God, inasmuch as he is unconvinced of the existence of a Deity. My +father's replies implied his preference for the unaggressive attitude +of an Agnostic. Dr. Aveling seems (page 5) to regard the absence +of aggressiveness in my father's views as distinguishing them in an +unessential manner from his own. But, in my judgment, it is precisely +differences of this kind which distinguish him so completely from the +class of thinkers to which Dr. Aveling belongs.) + + + + +CHAPTER 1.IX. -- LIFE AT DOWN. + +1842-1854. + +"My life goes on like clockwork, and I am fixed on the spot where I +shall end it." + +Letter to Captain Fitz-Roy, October, 1846. + +[With the view of giving in the following chapters a connected account +of the growth of the 'Origin of Species,' I have taken the more +important letters bearing on that subject out of their proper +chronological position here, and placed them with the rest of the +correspondence bearing on the same subject; so that in the present group +of letters we only get occasional hints of the growth of my father's +views, and we may suppose ourselves to be looking at his life, as it +might have been looked at by those who had no knowledge of the quiet +development of his theory of evolution during this period.] + +On September 14, 1842, my father left London with his family and settled +at Down. (I must not omit to mention a member of the household who +accompanied him. This was his butler, Joseph Parslow, who remained in +the family, a valued friend and servant, for forty years, and became as +Sir Joseph Hooker once remarked to me, "an integral part of the +family, and felt to be such by all visitors at the house.") In the +Autobiographical chapter, his motives for taking this step in the +country are briefly given. He speaks of the attendance at scientific +societies, and ordinary social duties, as suiting his health so "badly +that we resolved to live in the country, which we both preferred and +have never repented of." His intention of keeping up with scientific +life in London is expressed in a letter to Fox (December, 1842):-- + +"I hope by going up to town for a night every fortnight or three weeks, +to keep up my communication with scientific men and my own zeal, and so +not to turn into a complete Kentish hog." + +Visits to London of this kind were kept up for some years at the cost of +much exertion on his part. I have often heard him speak of the wearisome +drives of ten miles to or from Croydon or Sydenham--the nearest +stations--with an old gardener acting as coachman, who drove with great +caution and slowness up and down the many hills. In later years, all +regular scientific intercourse with London became, as before mentioned, +an impossibility. + +The choice of Down was rather the result of despair than of actual +preference; my father and mother were weary of house-hunting, and the +attractive points about the place thus seemed to them to counterbalance +its somewhat more obvious faults. It had at least one desideratum, +namely quietness. Indeed it would have been difficult to find a more +retired place so near to London. In 1842 a coach drive of some twenty +miles was the only means of access to Down; and even now that railways +have crept closer to it, it is singularly out of the world, with nothing +to suggest the neighbourhood of London, unless it be the dull haze of +smoke that sometimes clouds the sky. The village stands in an angle +between two of the larger high-roads of the country, one leading to +Tunbridge and the other to Westerham and Edenbridge. It is cut off from +the Weald by a line of steep chalk hills on the south, and an abrupt +hill, now smoothed down by a cutting and embankment, must formerly +have been something of a barrier against encroachments from the side +of London. In such a situation, a village, communicating with the main +lines of traffic, only by stony tortuous lanes, may well have been +enabled to preserve its retired character. Nor is it hard to believe in +the smugglers and their strings of pack-horses making their way up from +the lawless old villages of the Weald, of which the memory still existed +when my father settled in Down. The village stands on solitary upland +country, 500 to 600 feet above the sea,-- a country with little natural +beauty, but possessing a certain charm in the shaws, or straggling +strips of wood, capping the chalky banks and looking down upon the quiet +ploughed lands of the valleys. The village, of three or four hundred +inhabitants, consists of three small streets of cottages meeting in +front of the little flint-built church. It is a place where new-comers +are seldom seen, and the names occurring far back in the old church +registers are still well-known in the village. The smock-frock is not +yet quite extinct, though chiefly used as a ceremonial dress by the +"bearers" at funerals: but as a boy I remember the purple or green +smocks of the men at church. + +The house stands a quarter of a mile from the village, and is built, +like so many houses of the last century, as near as possible to the +road--a narrow lane winding away to the Westerham high-road. In 1842, +it was dull and unattractive enough: a square brick building of three +storeys, covered with shabby whitewash and hanging tiles. The garden +had none of the shrubberies or walls that now give shelter; it was +overlooked from the lane, and was open, bleak, and desolate. One of my +father's first undertakings was to lower the lane by about two feet, and +to build a flint wall along that part of it which bordered the garden. +The earth thus excavated was used in making banks and mounds round the +lawn: these were planted with evergreens, which now give to the garden +its retired and sheltered character. + +The house was made to look neater by being covered with stucco, but the +chief improvement effected was the building of a large bow extending +up through three storeys. This bow became covered with a tangle of +creepers, and pleasantly varied the south side of the house. The +drawing-room, with its verandah opening into the garden, as well as the +study in which my father worked during the later years of his life, were +added at subsequent dates. + +Eighteen acres of land were sold with the house, of which twelve acres +on the south side of the house formed a pleasant field, scattered with +fair-sized oaks and ashes. From this field a strip was cut off and +converted into a kitchen garden, in which the experimental plot of +ground was situated, and where the greenhouses were ultimately put up. + +The following letter to Mr. Fox (March 28th, 1843) gives among other +things my father's early impressions of Down:-- + +"I will tell you all the trifling particulars about myself that I can +think of. We are now exceedingly busy with the first brick laid down +yesterday to an addition to our house; with this, with almost making a +new kitchen garden and sundry other projected schemes, my days are +very full. I find all this very bad for geology, but I am very slowly +progressing with a volume, or rather pamphlet, on the volcanic islands +which we visited: I manage only a couple of hours per day and that not +very regularly. It is uphill work writing books, which cost money in +publishing, and which are not read even by geologists. I forget whether +I ever described this place: it is a good, very ugly house with 18 +acres, situated on a chalk flat, 560 feet above sea. There are peeps +of far distant country and the scenery is moderately pretty: its chief +merit is its extreme rurality. I think I was never in a more perfectly +quiet country. Three miles south of us the great chalk escarpment +quite cuts us off from the low country of Kent, and between us and the +escarpment there is not a village or gentleman's house, but only great +woods and arable fields (the latter in sadly preponderant numbers) so +that we are absolutely at the extreme verge of the world. The whole +country is intersected by foot-paths; but the surface over the chalk +is clayey and sticky, which is the worst feature in our purchase. The +dingles and banks often remind me of Cambridgeshire and walks with you +to Cherry Hinton, and other places, though the general aspect of the +country is very different. I was looking over my arranged cabinet +(the only remnant I have preserved of all my English insects), and was +admiring Panagaeus Crux-major: it is curious the vivid manner in +which this insect calls up in my mind your appearance, with little Fan +trotting after, when I was first introduced to you. Those entomological +days were very pleasant ones. I am VERY much stronger corporeally, +but am little better in being able to stand mental fatigue, or rather +excitement, so that I cannot dine out or receive visitors, except +relations with whom I can pass some time after dinner in silence." + +I could have wished to give here some idea of the position which, at +this period of his life, my father occupied among scientific men and +the reading public generally. But contemporary notices are few and of +no particular value for my purpose,--which therefore must, in spite of a +good deal of pains, remain unfulfilled. + +His 'Journal of Researches' was then the only one of his books which had +any chance of being commonly known. But the fact that it was published +with the 'Voyages' of Captains King and Fitz-Roy probably interfered +with its general popularity. Thus Lyell wrote to him in 1838 ('Lyell's +Life,' ii. page 43), "I assure you my father is quite enthusiastic about +your journal...and he agrees with me that it would have a large sale if +published separately. He was disappointed at hearing that it was to be +fettered by the other volumes, for, although he should equally buy it, +he feared so many of the public would be checked from doing so." In +a notice of the three voyages in the 'Edinburgh Review' (July, 1839), +there is nothing leading a reader to believe that he would find it more +attractive than its fellow-volumes. And, as a fact, it did not become +widely known until it was separately published in 1845. It may be +noted, however, that the 'Quarterly Review' (December, 1839) called the +attention of its readers to the merits of the 'Journal' as a book of +travels. The reviewer speaks of the "charm arising from the freshness of +heart which is thrown over these virgin pages of a strong intellectual +man and an acute and deep observer." + +The German translation (1844) of the 'Journal' received a favourable +notice in No. 12 of the 'Heidelberger Jahrbucher der Literatur,' +1847--where the Reviewer speaks of the author's "varied canvas, on +which he sketches in lively colours the strange customs of those +distant regions with their remarkable fauna, flora and geological +peculiarities." Alluding to the translation, my father writes--"Dr. +Dieffenbach...has translated my 'Journal' into German, and I must, with +unpardonable vanity, boast that it was at the instigation of Liebig and +Humboldt." + +The geological work of which he speaks in the above letter to Mr. Fox +occupied him for the whole of 1843, and was published in the spring +of the following year. It was entitled 'Geological Observations on the +Volcanic Islands, visited during the voyage of H.M.S. "Beagle", together +with some brief notices on the geology of Australia and the Cape of Good +Hope': it formed the second part of the 'Geology of the Voyage of the +"Beagle",' published "with the Approval of the Lords Commissioners of +Her Majesty's Treasury." The volume on 'Coral Reefs' forms Part I. of +the series, and was published, as we have seen, in 1842. For the sake +of the non-geological reader, I may here quote Professor Geikie's words +(Charles Darwin, 'Nature' Series, 1882.) on these two volumes--which +were up to this time my father's chief geological works. Speaking of the +'Coral Reefs,' he says:--page 17, "This well-known treatise, the most +original of all its author's geological memoirs, has become one of the +classics of geological literature. The origin of those remarkable rings +of coral-rock in mid-ocean has given rise to much speculation, but no +satisfactory solution of the problem has been proposed. After visiting +many of them, and examining also coral reefs that fringe islands and +continents, he offered a theory which for simplicity and grandeur +strikes every reader with astonishment. It is pleasant, after the lapse +of many years, to recall the delight with which one first read the +'Coral Reefs'; how one watched the facts being marshalled into their +places, nothing being ignored or passed lightly over; and how, step by +step, one was led to the grand conclusion of wide oceanic subsidence. No +more admirable example of scientific method was ever given to the world, +and even if he had written nothing else, the treatise alone would have +placed Darwin in the very front of investigators of nature." + +It is interesting to see in the following extract from one of Lyell's +letters (To Sir John Herschel, May 24, 1837. 'Life of Sir Charles +Lyell,' vol. ii. page 12.) how warmly and readily he embraced the +theory. The extract also gives incidentally some idea of the theory +itself. + +"I am very full of Darwin's new theory of Coral Islands, and have urged +Whewell to make him read it at our next meeting. I must give up my +volcanic crater theory for ever, though it cost me a pang at first, +for it accounted for so much, the annular form, the central lagoon, the +sudden rising of an isolated mountain in a deep sea; all went so well +with the notion of submerged, crateriform, and conical volcanoes,... and +then the fact that in the South Pacific we had scarcely any rocks in the +regions of coral islands, save two kinds, coral limestone and volcanic! +Yet spite of all this, the whole theory is knocked on the head, and the +annular shape and central lagoon have nothing to do with volcanoes, nor +even with a crateriform bottom. Perhaps Darwin told you when at the +Cape what he considers the true cause? Let any mountain be submerged +gradually, and coral grow in the sea in which it is sinking, and there +will be a ring of coral, and finally only a lagoon in the centre. Why? +For the same reason that a barrier reef of coral grows along certain +coasts: Australia, etc. Coral islands are the last efforts of drowning +continents to lift their heads above water. Regions of elevation and +subsidence in the ocean may be traced by the state of the coral reefs." +There is little to be said as to published contemporary criticism. +The book was not reviewed in the 'Quarterly Review' till 1847, when +a favourable notice was given. The reviewer speaks of the "bold and +startling" character of the work, but seems to recognize the fact that +the views are generally accepted by geologists. By that time the minds +of men were becoming more ready to receive geology of this type. Even +ten years before, in 1837, Lyell ('Life of Sir Charles Lyell,' vol. ii. +page 6.) says, "people are now much better prepared to believe Darwin +when he advances proofs of the slow rise of the Andes, than they were +in 1830, when I first startled them with that doctrine." This sentence +refers to the theory elaborated in my father's geological observations +on South America (1846), but the gradual change in receptivity of the +geological mind must have been favourable to all his geological work. +Nevertheless, Lyell seems at first not to have expected any ready +acceptance of the Coral theory; thus he wrote to my father in 1837:--"I +could think of nothing for days after your lesson on coral reefs, but +of the tops of submerged continents. It is all true, but do not flatter +yourself that you will be believed till you are growing bald like me, +with hard work and vexation at the incredulity of the world." + +The second part of the 'Geology of the Voyage of the "Beagle",' i.e. the +volume on Volcanic Islands, which specially concerns us now, cannot +be better described than by again quoting from Professor Geikie (page +18):-- + +"Full of detailed observations, this work still remains the best +authority on the general geological structure of most of the regions it +describes. At the time it was written the 'crater of elevation theory,' +though opposed by Constant Prevost, Scrope, and Lyell, was generally +accepted, at least on the Continent. Darwin, however, could not receive +it as a valid explanation of the facts; and though he did not share the +view of its chief opponents, but ventured to propose a hypothesis of +his own, the observations impartially made and described by him in this +volume must be regarded as having contributed towards the final solution +of the difficulty." Professor Geikie continues (page 21): "He is one +of the earliest writers to recognize the magnitude of the denudation to +which even recent geological accumulations have been subjected. One of +the most impressive lessons to be learnt from his account of 'Volcanic +Islands' is the prodigious extent to which they have been denuded...He +was disposed to attribute more of this work to the sea than most +geologists would now admit; but he lived himself to modify his original +views, and on this subject his latest utterances are quite abreast of +the time." + +An extract from a letter of my father's to Lyell shows his estimate +of his own work. "You have pleased me much by saying that you intend +looking through my 'Volcanic Islands': it cost me eighteen months!!! and +I have heard of very few who have read it. Now I shall feel, whatever +little (and little it is) there is confirmatory of old work, or new, +will work its effect and not be lost." + +The third of his geological books, 'Geological Observations on South +America,' may be mentioned here, although it was not published until +1846. "In this work the author embodied all the materials collected by +him for the illustration of South American Geology, save some which have +been published elsewhere. One of the most important features of the book +was the evidence which it brought forward to prove the slow interrupted +elevation of the South American Continent during a recent geological +period." (Geikie, loc. cit.) + +Of this book my father wrote to Lyell:--"My volume will be about 240 +pages, dreadfully dull, yet much condensed. I think whenever you have +time to look through it, you will think the collection of facts on the +elevation of the land and on the formation of terraces pretty good." + +Of his special geological work as a whole, Professor Geikie, while +pointing out that it was not "of the same epoch-making kind as his +biological researches," remarks that he "gave a powerful impulse to" the +general reception of Lyell's teaching "by the way in which he gathered +from all parts of the world facts in its support." + + +WORK OF THE PERIOD 1842 TO 1854. + +The work of these years may be roughly divided into a period of geology +from 1842 to 1846, and one of zoology from 1846 onwards. + +I extract from his diary notices of the time spent on his geological +books and on his 'Journal.' + +'Volcanic Islands.' Summer of 1842 to January, 1844. + +'Geology of South America.' July, 1844, to April, 1845. + +Second Edition of 'The Journal,' October, 1845, to October, 1846. + +The time between October, 1846, and October, 1854, was practically given +up to working at the Cirripedia (Barnacles); the results were published +in two volumes by the Ray Society in 1851 and 1854. His volumes on the +Fossil Cirripedes were published by the Palaeontographical Society in +1851 and 1854. + +Some account of these volumes will be given later. + +The minor works may be placed together, independently of subject matter. + +"Observations on the Structure, etc., of the genus Sagitta," Ann. Nat. +Hist. xiii., 1844, pages 1-6. + +"Brief descriptions of several Terrestrial Planariae, etc.," Ann. Nat. +Hist. xiv., 1844, pages 241-251. + +"An Account of the Fine Dust (A sentence occurs in this paper of +interest, as showing that the author was alive to the importance of all +means of distribution:-- + +"The fact that particles of this size have been brought at least 330 +miles from the land is interesting as bearing on the distribution of +Cryptogamic plants.") which often Falls on Vessels in the Atlantic +Ocean," Geol. Soc. Journ. ii., 1846, pages 26-30. + +"On the Geology of the Falkland Islands," Geol. Soc. Journ. ii., 1846, +pages 267-274. + +"On the Transportal of Erratic Boulders, etc.," Geol. Soc. Journ. iv., +1848, pages 315-323. (An extract from a letter to Lyell, 1847, is of +interest in connection with this essay:--"Would you be so good (if you +know it) as to put Maclaren's address on the enclosed letter and post +it. It is chiefly to enquire in what paper he has described the Boulders +on Arthur's Seat. Mr. D. Milne in the last Edinburgh 'New Phil. Journal' +[1847], has a long paper on it. He says: 'Some glacialists have ventured +to explain the transportation of boulders even in the situation of those +now referred to, by imagining that they were transported on ice floes,' +etc. He treats this view, and the scratching of rocks by icebergs, as +almost absurd...he has finally stirred me up so, that (without you +would answer him) I think I will send a paper in opposition to the same +Journal. I can thus introduce some old remarks of mine, and some new, +and will insist on your capital observations in N. America. It is a bore +to stop one's work, but he has made me quite wroth.") + +The article "Geology," in the Admiralty Manual of Scientific Enquiry +(1849), pages 156-195. This was written in the spring of 1848. + +"On British Fossil Lepadidae," 'Geol. Soc. Journ.' vi., 1850, pages +439-440. + +"Analogy of the structure of some Volcanic Rocks with that of Glaciers," +'Edin. Roy. Soc. Proc.' ii., 1851, pages 17-18. + +Professor Geikie has been so good as to give me (in a letter dated +November 1885) his impressions of my father's article in the 'Admiralty +Manual.' He mentions the following points as characteristic of the +work:-- + +"1. Great breadth of view. No one who had not practically studied and +profoundly reflected on the questions discussed could have written it. + +"2. The insight so remarkable in all that Mr. Darwin ever did. The way +in which he points out lines of enquiry that would elucidate geological +problems is eminently typical of him. Some of these lines have never yet +been adequately followed; so with regard to them he was in advance of +his time. + +"3. Interesting and sympathetic treatment. The author at once puts his +readers into harmony with him. He gives them enough of information to +show how delightful the field is to which he invites them, and how much +they might accomplish in it. There is a broad sketch of the subject +which everybody can follow, and there is enough of detail to instruct +and guide a beginner and start him on the right track. + +"Of course, geology has made great strides since 1849, and the article, +if written now, would need to take notice of other branches of inquiry, +and to modify statements which are not now quite accurate; but most of +the advice Mr. Darwin gives is as needful and valuable now as when it +was given. It is curious to see with what unerring instinct he seems to +have fastened on the principles that would stand the test of time." + +In a letter to Lyell (1853) my father wrote, "I went up for a paper by +the Arctic Dr. Sutherland, on ice action, read only in abstract, but I +should think with much good matter. It was very pleasant to hear that it +was written owing to the Admiralty Manual." + +To give some idea of the retired life which now began for my father at +Down, I have noted from his diary the short periods during which he was +away from home between the autumn of 1842, when he came to Down, and the +end of 1854. + + 1843 July.--Week at Maer and Shrewsbury. + October.--Twelve days at Shrewsbury. + + 1844 April.--Week at Maer and Shrewsbury. + July.--Twelve days at Shrewsbury. + + 1845 September 15.--Six weeks, "Shrewsbury, Lincolnshire, York, + the Dean of Manchester, Waterton, Chatsworth." + + 1846 February.--Eleven days at Shrewsbury. + July.--Ten days at Shrewsbury. + September.--Ten days at Southampton, etc., for the British + Association. + + 1847 February.--Twelve days at Shrewsbury. + June.--Ten days at Oxford, etc., for the British Association. + October.--Fortnight at Shrewsbury. + + 1848 May.--Fortnight at Shrewsbury. + July.--Week at Swanage. + October.--Fortnight at Shrewsbury. + November.--Eleven days at Shrewsbury. + + 1849 March to June.--Sixteen weeks at Malvern. + September.--Eleven days at Birmingham for the + British Association. + + 1850 June.--Week at Malvern. + August.--Week at Leith Hill, the house of a relative. + October.--Week at the house of another relative. + + 1851 March.--Week at Malvern. + April.--Nine days at Malvern. + July.--Twelve days in London. + + 1852 March.--Week at Rugby and Shrewsbury. + September.--Six days at the house of a relative. + + 1853 July.--Three weeks at Eastbourne. + August.--Five days at the military Camp at Chobham. + + 1854 March.--Five days at the house of a relative. + July.--Three days at the house of a relative. + October.--Six days at the house of a relative. + +It will be seen that he was absent from home sixty weeks in twelve +years. But it must be remembered that much of the remaining time spent +at Down was lost through ill-health.] + + +LETTERS. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO R. FITZ-ROY. Down [March 31st, 1843]. + +Dear Fitz-Roy, + +I read yesterday with surprise and the greatest interest, your +appointment as Governor of New Zealand. I do not know whether to +congratulate you on it, but I am sure I may the Colony, on possessing +your zeal and energy. I am most anxious to know whether the report is +true, for I cannot bear the thoughts of your leaving the country without +seeing you once again; the past is often in my memory, and I feel that +I owe to you much bygone enjoyment, and the whole destiny of my +life, which (had my health been stronger) would have been one full of +satisfaction to me. During the last three months I have never once +gone up to London without intending to call in the hopes of seeing Mrs. +Fitz-Roy and yourself; but I find, most unfortunately for myself, +that the little excitement of breaking out of my most quiet routine so +generally knocks me up, that I am able to do scarcely anything when in +London, and I have not even been able to attend one evening meeting of +the Geological Society. Otherwise, I am very well, as are, thank God, my +wife and two children. The extreme retirement of this place suits us all +very well, and we enjoy our country life much. But I am writing trifles +about myself, when your mind and time must be fully occupied. My object +in writing is to beg of you or Mrs. Fitz-Roy to have the kindness to +send me one line to say whether it is true, and whether you sail soon. +I shall come up next week for one or two days; could you see me for even +five minutes, if I called early on Thursday morning, viz. at nine or ten +o'clock, or at whatever hour (if you keep early ship hours) you finish +your breakfast. Pray remember me very kindly to Mrs. Fitz-Roy, who I +trust is able to look at her long voyage with boldness. + +Believe me, dear Fitz-Roy, Your ever truly obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[A quotation from another letter (1846) to Fitz-Roy may be worth giving, +as showing my father's affectionate remembrance of his old Captain. + +"Farewell, dear Fitz-Roy, I often think of your many acts of kindness +to me, and not seldomest on the time, no doubt quite forgotten by you, +when, before making Madeira, you came and arranged my hammock with +your own hands, and which, as I afterwards heard, brought tears into my +father's eyes."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. [Down, September 5, 1843.] Monday morning. + +My dear Fox, + +When I sent off the glacier paper, I was just going out and so had no +time to write. I hope your friend will enjoy (and I wish you were going +there with him) his tour as much as I did. It was a kind of geological +novel. But your friend must have patience, for he will not get a good +GLACIAL EYE for a few days. Murchison and Count Keyserling RUSHED +through North Wales the same autumn and could see nothing except the +effects of rain trickling over the rocks! I cross-examined Murchison +a little, and evidently saw he had looked carefully at nothing. I feel +CERTAIN about the glacier-effects in North Wales. Get up your steam, +if this weather lasts, and have a ramble in Wales; its glorious scenery +must do every one's heart and body good. I wish I had energy to come to +Delamere and go with you; but as you observe, you might as well ask +St. Paul's. Whenever I give myself a trip, it shall be, I think, to +Scotland, to hunt for more parallel roads. My marine theory for these +roads was for a time knocked on the head by Agassiz ice-work, but it is +now reviving again... + +Farewell,--we are getting nearly finished--almost all the workmen gone, +and the gravel laying down on the walks. Ave Maria! how the money does +go. There are twice as many temptations to extravagance in the country +compared with London. Adios. + +Yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [1844?]. + +...I have also read the 'Vestiges,' ('The Vestiges of the Natural +History of Creation' was published anonymously in 1844, and is +confidently believed to have been written by the late Robert Chambers. +My father's copy gives signs of having been carefully read, a long list +of marked passages being pinned in at the end. One useful lesson he +seems to have learned from it. He writes: "The idea of a fish passing +into a reptile, monstrous. I will not specify any genealogies--much too +little known at present." He refers again to the book in a letter to +Fox, February, 1845: "Have you read that strange, unphilosophical but +capitally-written book, the 'Vestiges': it has made more talk than any +work of late, and has been by some attributed to me--at which I ought to +be much flattered and unflattered."), but have been somewhat less amused +at it than you appear to have been: the writing and arrangement are +certainly admirable, but his geology strikes me as bad, and his zoology +far worse. I should be very much obliged, if at any future or leisure +time you could tell me on what you ground your doubtful belief in +imagination of a mother affecting her offspring. (This refers to the +case of a relative of Sir J. Hooker's, who insisted that a mole, which +appeared on one of her children, was the effect of fright upon herself +on having, before the birth of the child, blotted with sepia a copy +of Turner's 'Liber Studiorum' that had been lent to her with special +injunctions to be careful.) I have attended to the several statements +scattered about, but do not believe in more than accidental +coincidences. W. Hunter told my father, then in a lying-in hospital, +that in many thousand cases, he had asked the mother, BEFORE HER +CONFINEMENT, whether anything had affected her imagination, and recorded +the answers; and absolutely not one case came right, though, when the +child was anything remarkable, they afterwards made the cap to fit. +Reproduction seems governed by such similar laws in the whole animal +kingdom, that I am most loth [to believe]... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.M. HERBERT. Down [1844 or 1845]. + +My dear Herbert, + +I was very glad to see your handwriting and hear a bit of news about +you. Though you cannot come here this autumn, I do hope you and Mrs. +Herbert will come in the winter, and we will have lots of talk of old +times, and lots of Beethoven. + +I have little or rather nothing to say about myself; we live like +clock-work, and in what most people would consider the dullest +possible manner. I have of late been slaving extra hard, to the great +discomfiture of wretched digestive organs, at South America, and thank +all the fates, I have done three-fourths of it. Writing plain English +grows with me more and more difficult, and never attainable. As for your +pretending that you will read anything so dull as my pure geological +descriptions, lay not such a flattering unction on my soul (On the same +subject he wrote to Fitz-Roy: "I have sent my 'South American Geology' +to Dover Street, and you will get it, no doubt, in the course of time. +You do not know what you threaten when you propose to read it--it is +purely geological. I said to my brother, 'You will of course read it,' +and his answer was, 'Upon my life, I would sooner even buy it.'") for +it is incredible. I have long discovered that geologists never read each +other's works, and that the only object in writing a book is a proof of +earnestness, and that you do not form your opinions without undergoing +labour of some kind. Geology is at present very oral, and what I here +say is to a great extent quite true. But I am giving you a discussion as +long as a chapter in the odious book itself. + +I have lately been to Shrewsbury, and found my father surprisingly well +and cheerful. + +Believe me, my dear old friend, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Monday [February 10th, 1845]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am much obliged for your very agreeable letter; it was very +good-natured, in the midst of your scientific and theatrical +dissipation, to think of writing so long a letter to me. I am astonished +at your news, and I must condole with you in your PRESENT view of the +Professorship (Sir J.D. Hooker was a candidate for the Professorship of +Botany at Edinburgh University.), and most heartily deplore it on my +own account. There is something so chilling in a separation of so many +hundred miles, though we did not see much of each other when nearer. +You will hardly believe how deeply I regret for MYSELF your present +prospects. I had looked forward to [our] seeing much of each other +during our lives. It is a heavy disappointment; and in a mere selfish +point of view, as aiding me in my work, your loss is indeed irreparable. +But, on the other hand, I cannot doubt that you take at present a +desponding, instead of bright, view of your prospects: surely there +are great advantages, as well as disadvantages. The place is one of +eminence; and really it appears to me there are so many indifferent +workers, and so few readers, that it is a high advantage, in a purely +scientific point of view, for a good worker to hold a position which +leads others to attend to his work. I forget whether you attended +Edinburgh, as a student, but in my time there was a knot of men who were +far from being the indifferent and dull listeners which you expect for +your audience. Reflect what a satisfaction and honour it would be to +MAKE a good botanist--with your disposition you will be to many what +Henslow was at Cambridge to me and others, a most kind friend and guide. +Then what a fine garden, and how good a Public Library! why, Forbes +always regrets the advantages of Edinburgh for work: think of the +inestimable advantage of getting within a short walk of those noble +rocks and hills and sandy shores near Edinburgh! Indeed, I cannot +pity you much, though I pity myself exceedingly in your loss. Surely +lecturing will, in a year or two, with your GREAT capacity for work +(whatever you may be pleased to say to the contrary) become easy, and +you will have a fair time for your Antarctic Flora and general views of +distribution. If I thought your Professorship would stop your work, I +should wish it and all the good worldly consequences at el Diavolo. I +know I shall live to see you the first authority in Europe on that grand +subject, that almost keystone of the laws of creation, Geographical +Distribution. Well, there is one comfort, you will be at Kew, no doubt, +every year, so I shall finish by forcing down your throat my sincere +congratulations. Thanks for all your news. I grieve to hear Humboldt is +failing; one cannot help feeling, though unrightly, that such an end is +humiliating: even when I saw him he talked beyond all reason. If you see +him again, pray give him my most respectful and kind compliments, and +say that I never forget that my whole course of life is due to having +read and re-read as a youth his 'Personal Narrative.' How true +and pleasing are all your remarks on his kindness; think how many +opportunities you will have, in your new place, of being a Humboldt +to others. Ask him about the river in N.E. Europe, with the Flora very +different on its opposite banks. I have got and read your Wilkes; what a +feeble book in matter and style, and how splendidly got up! Do write me +a line from Berlin. Also thanks for the proof-sheets. I do not, +however, mean proof plates; I value them, as saving me copying extracts. +Farewell, my dear Hooker, with a heavy heart I wish you joy of your +prospects. + +Your sincere friend, + +C. DARWIN. + + +[The second edition of the 'Journal,' to which the following letter +refers, was completed between April 25th and August 25th. It was +published by Mr. Murray in the 'Colonial and Home Library,' and in this +more accessible form soon had a large sale. + +Up to the time of his first negotiations with Mr. Murray for its +publication in this form, he had received payment only in the form of a +large number of presentation copies, and he seems to have been glad to +sell the copyright of the second edition to Mr. Murray for 150 pounds. + +The points of difference between it and the first edition are of +interest chiefly in connection with the growth of the author's views on +evolution, and will be considered later.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down [July, 1845]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I send you the first part (No doubt proof-sheets.) of the new edition +[of the 'Journal of Researches'], which I so entirely owe to you. You +will see that I have ventured to dedicate it to you (The dedication of +the second edition of the 'Journal of Researches,' is as follows:--"To +Charles Lyell, Esq., F.R.S., this second edition is dedicated with +grateful pleasure--as an acknowledgment that the chief part of whatever +scientific merit this Journal and the other works of the Author may +possess, has been derived from studying the well-known and admirable +'Principles of Geology.'"), and I trust that this cannot be +disagreeable. I have long wished, not so much for your sake, as for +my own feelings of honesty, to acknowledge more plainly than by mere +reference, how much I geologically owe you. Those authors, however, who +like you, educate people's minds as well as teach them special facts, +can never, I should think, have full justice done them except by +posterity, for the mind thus insensibly improved can hardly perceive its +own upward ascent. I had intended putting in the present acknowledgment +in the third part of my Geology, but its sale is so exceedingly small +that I should not have had the satisfaction of thinking that as far as +lay in my power I had owned, though imperfectly, my debt. Pray do not +think that I am so silly, as to suppose that my dedication can any ways +gratify you, except so far as I trust you will receive it, as a most +sincere mark of my gratitude and friendship. I think I have improved +this edition, especially the second part, which I have just finished. +I have added a good deal about the Fuegians, and cut down into half +the mercilessly long discussion on climate and glaciers, etc. I do not +recollect anything added to the first part, long enough to call your +attention to; there is a page of description of a very curious breed of +oxen in Banda Oriental. I should like you to read the few last pages; +there is a little discussion on extinction, which will not perhaps +strike you as new, though it has so struck me, and has placed in my mind +all the difficulties with respect to the causes of extinction, in the +same class with other difficulties which are generally quite overlooked +and undervalued by naturalists; I ought, however, to have made my +discussion longer and shewn by facts, as I easily could, how steadily +every species must be checked in its numbers. + +I received your Travels ('Travels in North America,' 2 volumes, 1845.) +yesterday; and I like exceedingly its external and internal appearance; +I read only about a dozen pages last night (for I was tired with +hay-making), but I saw quite enough to perceive how VERY much it will +interest me, and how many passages will be scored. I am pleased to find +a good sprinkling of Natural History; I shall be astonished if it does +not sell very largely... + +How sorry I am to think that we shall not see you here again for so +long; I wish you may knock yourself a little bit up before you start and +require a day's fresh air, before the ocean breezes blow on you... + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, Saturday [August 1st, 1845]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have been wishing to write to you for a week past, but every five +minutes' worth of strength has been expended in getting out my second +part. (Of the second edition of the 'Journal of Researches.') Your note +pleased me a good deal more I dare say than my dedication did you, and I +thank you much for it. Your work has interested me much, and I will give +you my impressions, though, as I never thought you would care to hear +what I thought of the non-scientific parts, I made no notes, nor took +pains to remember any particular impression of two-thirds of the first +volume. The first impression I should say would be with most (though I +have literally seen not one soul since reading it) regret at there not +being more of the non-scientific [parts]. I am not a good judge, for +I have read nothing, i.e. non-scientific about North America, but the +whole struck me as very new, fresh, and interesting. Your discussions +bore to my mind the evident stamp of matured thought, and of conclusions +drawn from facts observed by yourself, and not from the opinions of the +people whom you met; and this I suspect is comparatively rare. + +Your slave discussion disturbed me much; but as you would care no more +for my opinion on this head than for the ashes of this letter, I will +say nothing except that it gave me some sleepless, most uncomfortable +hours. Your account of the religious state of the States particularly +interested me; I am surprised throughout at your very proper boldness +against the Clergy. In your University chapter the Clergy, and not the +State of Education, are most severely and justly handled, and this I +think is very bold, for I conceive you might crush a leaden-headed old +Don, as a Don, with more safety, than touch the finger of that Corporate +Animal, the Clergy. What a contrast in Education does England show +itself! Your apology (using the term, like the old religionists who +meant anything but an apology) for lectures, struck me as very clever; +but all the arguments in the world on your side, are not equal to one +course of Jamieson's Lectures on the other side, which I formerly for +my sins experienced. Although I had read about the 'Coalfields in North +America,' I never in the smallest degree really comprehended their area, +their thickness and favourable position; nothing hardly astounded me +more in your book. + +Some few parts struck me as rather heterogeneous, but I do not know +whether to an extent that at all signified. I missed however, a good +deal, some general heading to the chapters, such as the two or three +principal places visited. One has no right to expect an author to write +down to the zero of geographical ignorance of the reader; but I not +knowing a single place, was occasionally rather plagued in tracing your +course. Sometimes in the beginning of a chapter, in one paragraph your +course was traced through a half dozen places; anyone, as ignorant as +myself, if he could be found, would prefer such a disturbing paragraph +left out. I cut your map loose, and I found that a great comfort; I +could not follow your engraved track. I think in a second edition, +interspaces here and there of one line open, would be an improvement. By +the way, I take credit to myself in giving my Journal a less scientific +air in having printed all names of species and genera in Romans; +the printing looks, also, better. All the illustrations strike me +as capital, and the map is an admirable volume in itself. If your +'Principles' had not met with such universal admiration, I should have +feared there would have been too much geology in this for the general +reader; certainly all that the most clear and light style could do, +has been done. To myself the geology was an excellent, well-condensed, +well-digested resume of all that has been made out in North America, +and every geologist ought to be grateful to you. The summing up of the +Niagara chapter appeared to me the grandest part; I was also deeply +interested by your discussion on the origin of the Silurian formations. +I have made scores of SCORES marking passages hereafter useful to me. + +All the coal theory appeared to me very good; but it is no use going on +enumerating in this manner. I wish there had been more Natural History; +I liked ALL the scattered fragments. I have now given you an exact +transcript of my thoughts, but they are hardly worth your reading... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, August 25th [1845]. + +My dear Lyell, + +This is literally the first day on which I have had any time to spare; +and I will amuse myself by beginning a letter to you... + +I was delighted with your letter in which you touch on Slavery; I wish +the same feelings had been apparent in your published discussion. But +I will not write on this subject, I should perhaps annoy you, and most +certainly myself. I have exhaled myself with a paragraph or two in my +Journal on the sin of Brazilian slavery; you perhaps will think that +it is in answer to you; but such is not the case. I have remarked on +nothing which I did not hear on the coast of South America. My few +sentences, however, are merely an explosion of feeling. How could you +relate so placidly that atrocious sentiment (In the passage referred +to, Lyell does not give his own views, but those of a planter.) about +separating children from their parents; and in the next page speak of +being distressed at the whites not having prospered; I assure you the +contrast made me exclaim out. But I have broken my intention, and so no +more on this odious deadly subject. + +There is a favourable, but not strong enough review on you, in the +"Gardeners' Chronicle". I am sorry to see that Lindley abides by the +carbonic acid gas theory. By the way, I was much pleased by Lindley +picking out my extinction paragraphs and giving them uncurtailed. To +my mind, putting the comparative rarity of existing species in the same +category with extinction has removed a great weight; though of course +it does not explain anything, it shows that until we can explain +comparative rarity, we ought not to feel any surprise at not explaining +extinction... + +I am much pleased to hear of the call for a new edition of the +'Principles': what glorious good that work has done. I fear this time +you will not be amongst the old rocks; how I shall rejoice to live to +see you publish and discover another stage below the Silurian--it would +be the grandest step possible, I think. I am very glad to hear what +progress Bunbury is making in fossil Botany; there is a fine hiatus +for him to fill up in this country. I will certainly call on him this +winter...From what little I saw of him, I can quite believe everything +which you say of his talents... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Shrewsbury [1845?]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have just received your note, which has astonished me, and has most +truly grieved me. I never for one minute doubted of your success, for I +most erroneously imagined, that merit was sure to gain the day. I feel +most sure that the day will come soon, when those who have voted against +you, if they have any shame or conscience in them, will be ashamed at +having allowed politics to blind their eyes to your qualifications, +and those qualifications vouched for by Humboldt and Brown! Well, those +testimonials must be a consolation to you. Proh pudor! I am vexed and +indignant by turns. I cannot even take comfort in thinking that I shall +see more of you, and extract more knowledge from your well-arranged +stock. I am pleased to think, that after having read a few of your +letters, I never once doubted the position you will ultimately hold +amongst European Botanists. I can think about nothing else, otherwise +I should like [to] discuss 'Cosmos' (A translation of Humboldt's +'Kosmos.') with you. I trust you will pay me and my wife a visit this +autumn at Down. I shall be at Down on the 24th, and till then moving +about. + +My dear Hooker, allow me to call myself Your very true friend, C. +DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. October 8th [1845], Shrewsbury. + +...I have lately been taking a little tour to see a farm I have +purchased in Lincolnshire (He speaks of his Lincolnshire farm in a +letter to Henslow (July 4th):--"I have bought a farm in Lincolnshire, +and when I go there this autumn, I mean to see what I can do in +providing any cottage on my small estate with gardens. It is a hopeless +thing to look to, but I believe few things would do this country more +good in future ages than the destruction of primogeniture, so as to +lessen the difference in land-wealth, and make more small freeholders. +How atrociously unjust are the stamp laws, which render it so expensive +for the poor man to buy his quarter of an acre; it makes one's blood +burn with indignation.") and then to York, where I visited the Dean of +Manchester (Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert. The visit is mentioned in a letter +to Dr. Hooker:--"I have been taking a little tour, partly on business, +and visited the Dean of Manchester, and had very much interesting talk +with him on hybrids, sterility, and variation, etc., etc. He is full of +self-gained knowledge, but knows surprisingly little what others have +done on the same subjects. He is very heterodox on 'species': not much +better as most naturalists would esteem it, than poor Mr. Vestiges.") +the great maker of Hybrids, who gave me much curious information. I also +visited Waterton at Walton Hall, and was extremely amused with my visit +there. He is an amusing strange fellow; at our early dinner, our party +consisted of two Catholic priests and two Mulattresses! He is past +sixty years old, and the day before ran down and caught a leveret in +a turnip-field. It is a fine old house, and the lake swarms with +water-fowl. I then saw Chatsworth, and was in transport with the great +hothouse; it is a perfect fragment of a tropical forest, and the sight +made me think with delight of old recollections. My little ten-day tour +made me feel wonderfully strong at the time, but the good effects did +not last. My wife, I am sorry to say, does not get very strong, and the +children are the hope of the family, for they are all happy, life, and +spirits. I have been much interested with Sedgwick's review (Sedgwick's +review of the 'Vestiges of Creation' in the 'Edinburgh Review,' July, +1845.) though I find it far from popular with our scientific readers. +I think some few passages savour of the dogmatism of the pulpit, rather +than of the philosophy of the Professor's Chair; and some of the wit +strikes me as only worthy of -- in the 'Quarterly.' Nevertheless, it is +a grand piece of argument against mutability of species, and I read it +with fear and trembling, but was well pleased to find that I had not +overlooked any of the arguments, though I had put them to myself as +feebly as milk and water. Have you read 'Cosmos' yet? The English +translation is wretched, and the semi-metaphysico-politico descriptions +in the first part are barely intelligible; but I think the volcanic +discussion well worth your attention, it has astonished me by its vigour +and information. I grieve to find Humboldt an adorer of Von Buch, with +his classification of volcanos, craters of elevation, etc., etc., and +carbonic acid gas atmosphere. He is indeed a wonderful man. + +I hope to get home in a fortnight and stick to my wearyful South America +till I finish it. I shall be very anxious to hear how you get on from +the Horners, but you must not think of wasting your time by writing to +me. We shall miss, indeed, your visits to Down, and I shall feel a lost +man in London without my morning "house of call" at Hart Street... + +Believe me, my dear Lyell, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Farnborough, Kent. Thursday, +September, 1846. + +My dear Hooker, + +I hope this letter will catch you at Clifton, but I have been prevented +writing by being unwell, and having had the Horners here as visitors, +which, with my abominable press-work, has fully occupied my time. It is, +indeed, a long time since we wrote to each other; though, I beg to tell +you, that I wrote last, but what about I cannot remember, except, +I know, it was after reading your last numbers (Sir J.D. Hooker's +Antarctic Botany.), and I send you a uniquely laudatory epistle, +considering it was from a man who hardly knows a Daisy from a Dandelion +to a professed Botanist... + +I cannot remember what papers have given me the impression, but I have +that, which you state to be the case, firmly fixed on my mind, namely, +the little chemical importance of the soil to its vegetation. What a +strong fact it is, as R. Brown once remarked to me, of certain plants +being calcareous ones here, which are not so under a more favourable +climate on the Continent, or the reverse, for I forget which; but you, +no doubt, will know to what I refer. By-the-way, there are some such +cases in Herbert's paper in the 'Horticultural Journal.' ('Journal of +the Horticultural Society,' 1846.) Have you read it: it struck me as +extremely original, and bears DIRECTLY on your present researches. (Sir +J.D. Hooker was at this time attending to polymorphism, variability, +etc.) To a NON-BOTANIST the chalk has the most peculiar aspect of any +flora in England; why will you not come here to make your observations? +WE go to Southampton, if my courage and stomach do not fail, for the +Brit. Assoc. (Do you not consider it your duty to be there?) And why +cannot you come here afterward and WORK?... + + +THE MONOGRAPH OF THE CIRRIPEDIA, + +October 1846 to October 1854. + +[Writing to Sir J.D. Hooker in 1845, my father says: "I hope this next +summer to finish my South American Geology, then to get out a little +Zoology, and hurrah for my species work..." This passage serves to show +that he had at this time no intention of making an exhaustive study of +the Cirripedes. Indeed it would seem that his original intention was, +as I learn from Sir J.D. Hooker, merely to work out one special +problem. This is quite in keeping with the following passage in the +Autobiography: "When on the coast of Chile, I found a most curious form, +which burrowed into the shells of Concholepas, and which differed so +much from all other Cirripedes that I had to form a new sub-order for +its sole reception...To understand the structure of my new Cirripede I +had to examine and dissect many of the common forms; and this gradually +led me on to take up the whole group." In later years he seems to have +felt some doubt as to the value of these eight years of work,--for +instance when he wrote in his Autobiography--"My work was of +considerable use to me, when I had to discuss in the 'Origin of +Species,' the principles of a natural classification. Nevertheless I +doubt whether the work was worth the consumption of so much time." Yet I +learn from Sir J.D. Hooker that he certainly recognised at the time its +value to himself as systematic training. Sir Joseph writes to me: "Your +father recognised three stages in his career as a biologist: the mere +collector at Cambridge; the collector and observer in the "Beagle", and +for some years afterwards; and the trained naturalist after, and only +after the Cirripede work. That he was a thinker all along is true +enough, and there is a vast deal in his writings previous to the +Cirripedes that a trained naturalist could but emulate...He often +alluded to it as a valued discipline, and added that even the 'hateful' +work of digging out synonyms, and of describing, not only improved his +methods but opened his eyes to the difficulties and merits of the works +of the dullest of cataloguers. One result was that he would never allow +a depreciatory remark to pass unchallenged on the poorest class of +scientific workers, provided that their work was honest, and good of +its kind. I have always regarded it as one of the finest traits of his +character,--this generous appreciation of the hod-men of science, and +of their labours...and it was monographing the Barnacles that brought it +about."] + +Professor Huxley allows me to quote his opinion as to the value of the +eight years given to the Cirripedes:-- + +"In my opinion your sagacious father never did a wiser thing than when +he devoted himself to the years of patient toil which the Cirripede-book +cost him. + +"Like the rest of us, he had no proper training in biological science, +and it has always struck me as a remarkable instance of his scientific +insight, that he saw the necessity of giving himself such training, and +of his courage, that he did not shirk the labour of obtaining it. + +"The great danger which besets all men of large speculative faculty, is +the temptation to deal with the accepted statements of facts in natural +science, as if they were not only correct, but exhaustive; as if they +might be dealt with deductively, in the same way as propositions in +Euclid may be dealt with. In reality, every such statement, however true +it may be, is true only relatively to the means of observation and the +point of view of those who have enunciated it. So far it may be depended +upon. But whether it will bear every speculative conclusion that may be +logically deduced from it, is quite another question. + +"Your father was building a vast superstructure upon the foundations +furnished by the recognised facts of geological and biological science. +In Physical Geography, in Geology proper, in Geographical Distribution, +and in Palaeontology, he had acquired an extensive practical training +during the voyage of the "Beagle". He knew of his own knowledge the way +in which the raw materials of these branches of science are acquired, +and was therefore a most competent judge of the speculative strain they +would bear. That which he needed, after his return to England, was +a corresponding acquaintance with Anatomy and Development, and their +relation to Taxonomy--and he acquired this by his Cirripede work. + +"Thus, in my apprehension, the value of the Cirripede monograph lies +not merely in the fact that it is a very admirable piece of work, and +constituted a great addition to positive knowledge, but still more in +the circumstance that it was a piece of critical self-discipline, +the effect of which manifested itself in everything your father wrote +afterwards, and saved him from endless errors of detail. + +"So far from such work being a loss of time, I believe it would have +been well worth his while, had it been practicable, to have supplemented +it by a special study of embryology and physiology. His hands would +have been greatly strengthened thereby when he came to write out sundry +chapters of the 'Origin of Species.' But of course in those days it was +almost impossible for him to find facilities for such work." + +No one can look a the two volumes on the recent Cirripedes, of 399 +and 684 pages respectively (not to speak of the volumes on the fossil +species), without being struck by the immense amount of detailed work +which they contain. The forty plates, some of them with thirty figures, +and the fourteen pages of index in the two volumes together, give some +rough idea of the labour spent on the work. (The reader unacquainted +with Zoology will find some account of the more interesting results in +Mr. Romanes' article on "Charles Darwin" ('Nature' Series, 1882).) The +state of knowledge, as regards the Cirripedes, was most unsatisfactory +at the time that my father began to work at them. As an illustration +of this fact, it may be mentioned that he had even to re-organise the +nomenclature of the group, or, as he expressed it, he "unwillingly found +it indispensable to give names to several valves, and to some few of +the softer parts of Cirripedes." (Vol. i. page 3.) It is interesting +to learn from his diary the amount of time which he gave to different +genera. Thus the genus Chthamalus, the description of which occupies +twenty-two pages, occupied him for thirty-six days; Coronula took +nineteen days, and is described in twenty-seven pages. Writing to +Fitz-Roy, he speaks of being "for the last half-month daily hard at work +in dissecting a little animal about the size of a pin's head, from the +Chonos archipelago, and I could spend another month, and daily see more +beautiful structure." + +Though he became excessively weary of the work before the end of the +eight years, he had much keen enjoyment in the course of it. Thus +he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker (1847?):--"As you say, there is an +extraordinary pleasure in pure observation; not but what I suspect the +pleasure in this case is rather derived from comparisons forming in +one's mind with allied structures. After having been so long employed +in writing my old geological observations, it is delightful to use one's +eyes and fingers again." It was, in fact, a return to the work which +occupied so much of his time when at sea during his voyage. His +zoological notes of that period give an impression of vigorous work, +hampered by ignorance and want of appliances. And his untiring industry +in the dissection of marine animals, especially of Crustacea, must have +been of value to him as training for his Cirripede work. Most of his +work was done with the simple dissecting microscope--but it was the need +which he found for higher powers that induced him, in 1846, to buy a +compound microscope. He wrote to Hooker:--"When I was drawing with L., +I was so delighted with the appearance of the objects, especially with +their perspective, as seen through the weak powers of a good compound +microscope, that I am going to order one; indeed, I often have +structures in which the 1/30 is not power enough." + +During part of the time covered by the present chapter, my father +suffered perhaps more from ill-health than at any other time of his +life. He felt severely the depressing influence of these long years of +illness; thus as early as 1840 he wrote to Fox: "I am grown a dull, +old, spiritless dog to what I used to be. One gets stupider as one grows +older I think." It is not wonderful that he should so have written, +it is rather to be wondered at that his spirit withstood so great and +constant a strain. He wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker in 1845: "You are very +kind in your enquiries about my health; I have nothing to say about it, +being always much the same, some days better and some worse. I believe +I have not had one whole day, or rather night, without my stomach having +been greatly disordered, during the last three years, and most days +great prostration of strength: thank you for your kindness; many of my +friends, I believe, think me a hypochondriac." + +Again, in 1849, he notes in his diary:--"January 1st to March +10th.--Health very bad, with much sickness and failure of power. Worked +on all well days." This was written just before his first visit to Dr. +Gully's Water-Cure Establishment at Malvern. In April of the same year +he wrote:--"I believe I am going on very well, but I am rather weary of +my present inactive life, and the water-cure has the most extraordinary +effect in producing indolence and stagnation of mind: till experiencing +it, I could not have believed it possible. I now increase in weight, +have escaped sickness for thirty days." He returned in June, after +sixteen weeks' absence, much improved in health, and, as already +described, continued the water-cure at home for some time.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [October, 1846]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have not heard from Sulivan (Admiral Sir B.J. Sulivan, formerly an +officer of the "Beagle".) lately; when he last wrote he named from 8th +to 10th as the most likely time. Immediately that I hear, I will fly you +a line, for the chance of your being able to come. I forget whether you +know him, but I suppose so; he is a real good fellow. Anyhow, if you do +not come then, I am very glad that you propose coming soon after... + +I am going to begin some papers on the lower marine animals, which will +last me some months, perhaps a year, and then I shall begin looking over +my ten-year-long accumulation of notes on species and varieties, +which, with writing, I dare say will take me five years, and then, when +published, I dare say I shall stand infinitely low in the opinion of all +sound Naturalists--so this is my prospect for the future. + +Are you a good hand at inventing names. I have a quite new and curious +genus of Barnacle, which I want to name, and how to invent a name +completely puzzles me. + +By the way, I have told you nothing about Southampton. We enjoyed (wife +and myself) our week beyond measure: the papers were all dull, but I met +so many friends and made so many new acquaintances (especially some of +the Irish Naturalists), and took so many pleasant excursions. I wish you +had been there. On Sunday we had so pleasant an excursion to +Winchester with Falconer (Hugh Falconer, 1809-1865. Chiefly known as a +palaeontologist, although employed as a botanist during his whole career +in India, where he was also a medical officer in the H.E.I.C. Service; +he was superintendent of the Company's garden, first at Saharunpore, +and then at Calcutta. He was one of the first botanical explorers of +Kashmir. Falconer's discoveries of Miocene mammalian remains in the +Sewalik Hills, were, at the time, perhaps the greatest "finds" which had +been made. His book on the subject, 'Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis,' remained +unfinished at the time of his death.), Colonel Sabine (The late Sir +Edward Sabine, formerly President of the Royal Society, and author of a +long series of memoirs on Terrestrial Magnetism.), and Dr. Robinson +(The late Dr. Thomas Romney Robinson, of the Armagh Observatory.), and +others. I never enjoyed a day more in my life. I missed having a look +at H. Watson. (The late Hewett Cottrell Watson, author of the 'Cybele +Britannica,' one of a most valuable series of works on the topography +and geographical distribution of the plants of the British Islands.) +I suppose you heard that he met Forbes and told him he had a severe +article in the Press. I understood that Forbes explained to him that he +had no cause to complain, but as the article was printed, he would not +withdraw it, but offered it to Forbes for him to append notes to it, +which Forbes naturally declined... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, April 7th [1847?]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I should have written before now, had I not been almost continually +unwell, and at present I am suffering from four boils and swellings, one +of which hardly allows me the use of my right arm, and has stopped all +my work, and damped all my spirits. I was much disappointed at missing +my trip to Kew, and the more so, as I had forgotten you would be away +all this month; but I had no choice, and was in bed nearly all Friday +and Saturday. I congratulate you over your improved prospects about +India (Sir J. Hooker left England on November 11, 1847, for his +Himalayan and Tibetan journey. The expedition was supported by a small +grant from the Treasury, and thus assumed the character of a Government +mission.), but at the same time must sincerely groan over it. I shall +feel quite lost without you to discuss many points with, and to +point out (ill-luck to you) difficulties and objections to my species +hypotheses. It will be a horrid shame if money stops your expedition; +but Government will surely help you to some extent...Your present trip, +with your new views, amongst the coal-plants, will be very interesting. +If you have spare time, BUT NOT WITHOUT, I should enjoy having some news +of your progress. Your present trip will work well in, if you go to +any of the coal districts in India. Would this not be a good object to +parade before Government; the utilitarian souls would comprehend this. +By the way, I will get some work out of you, about the domestic races of +animals in India... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS (BLOMEFIELD). Down [1847]. + +Dear Jenyns, + +("This letter relates to a small Almanack first published in 1843, under +the name of 'The Naturalists' Pocket Almanack,' by Mr. Van Voorst, +and which I edited for him. It was intended especially for those who +interest themselves in the periodic phenomena of animals and plants, of +which a select list was given under each month of the year. + +"The Pocket Almanack contained, moreover, miscellaneous information +relating to Zoology and Botany; to Natural History and other scientific +societies; to public Museums and Gardens, in addition to the ordinary +celestial phenomena found in most other Almanacks. It continued to be +issued till 1847, after which year the publication was abandoned."--From +a letter from Rev. L. Blomefield to F. Darwin.) + +I am very much obliged for the capital little Almanack; it so happened +that I was wishing for one to keep in my portfolio. I had never seen +this kind before, and shall certainly get one for the future. I think +it is very amusing to have a list before one's eyes of the order of +appearance of the plants and animals around one; it gives a fresh +interest to each fine day. There is one point I should like to see +a little improved, viz., the correction for the clock at shorter +intervals. Most people, I suspect, who like myself have dials, will wish +to be more precise than with a margin of three minutes. I always buy +a shilling almanack for this SOLE end. By the way, YOURS, i.e., Van +Voorst's Almanack, is very dear; it ought, at least, to be advertised +post-free for the shilling. Do you not think a table (not rules) of +conversion of French into English measures, and perhaps weights, would +be exceedingly useful; also centigrade into Fahrenheit,--magnifying +powers according to focal distances?--in fact you might make it the more +useful publication of the age. I know what I should like best of all, +namely, current meteorological remarks for each month, with statement +of average course of winds and prediction of weather, in accordance with +movements of barometer. People, I think, are always amused at knowing +the extremes and means of temperature for corresponding times in other +years. + +I hope you will go on with it another year. With many thanks, my dear +Jenyns, + +Yours very truly, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Sunday [April 18th, 1847]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I return with many thanks Watson's letter, which I have had copied. It +is a capital one, and I am extremely obliged to you for obtaining me +such valuable information. Surely he is rather in a hurry when he says +intermediate varieties must almost be necessarily rare, otherwise they +would be taken as the types of the species; for he overlooks numerical +frequency as an element. Surely if A, B, C were three varieties, and +if A were a good deal the commonest (therefore, also, first known), +it would be taken as the type, without regarding whether B was quite +intermediate or not, or whether it was rare or not. What capital +essays W would write; but I suppose he has written a good deal in the +'Phytologist.' You ought to encourage him to publish on variation; it +is a shame that such facts as those in his letter should remain +unpublished. I must get you to introduce me to him; would he be a good +and sociable man for Dropmore? (A much enjoyed expedition made from +Oxford--when the British Association met there in 1847.) though if he +comes, Forbes must not (and I think you talked of inviting Forbes), or +we shall have a glorious battle. I should like to see sometime the war +correspondence. Have you the 'Phytologist,' and could you sometime spare +it? I would go through it quickly...I have read your last five numbers +(Of the Botany of Hooker's 'Antarctic Voyage.'), and as usual have been +much interested in several points, especially with your discussions +on the beech and potato. I see you have introduced several sentences +against us Transmutationists. I have also been looking through the +latter volumes of the 'Annals of Natural History,' and have read two +such soulless, pompous papers of --, quite worthy of the author...The +contrast of the papers in the "Annals" with those in the "Annales" +is rather humiliating; so many papers in the former, with short +descriptions of species, without one word on their affinities, internal +structure, range or habits. I am now reading --, and I have picked +out some things which have interested me; but he strikes me as rather +dullish, and with all his Materia Medica smells of the doctor's shop. I +shall ever hate the name of the Materia Medica, since hearing Duncan's +lectures at eight o'clock on a winter's morning--a whole, cold +breakfastless hour on the properties of rhubarb! + +I hope your journey will be very prosperous. Believe me, my dear Hooker, + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I think I have only made one new acquaintance of late, that is +R. Chambers; and I have just received a presentation copy of the sixth +edition of the 'Vestiges.' Somehow I now feel perfectly convinced he is +the author. He is in France, and has written to me thence. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [1847?]. + +...I am delighted to hear that Brongniart thought Sigillaria aquatic, +and that Binney considers coal a sort of submarine peat. I would bet +5 to 1 that in twenty years this will be generally admitted (An +unfulfilled prophecy.); and I do not care for whatever the botanical +difficulties or impossibilities may be. If I could but persuade myself +that Sigillaria and Co. had a good range of depth, i.e., could live from +5 to 100 fathoms under water, all difficulties of nearly all kinds would +be removed (for the simple fact of muddy ordinary shallow sea implies +proximity of land). [N.B.--I am chuckling to think how you are sneering +all this time.] It is not much of a difficulty, there not being shells +with the coal, considering how unfavourable deep mud is for most +Mollusca, and that shells would probably decay from the humic acid, as +seems to take place in peat and in the BLACK moulds (as Lyell tells me) +of the Mississippi. So coal question settled--Q.E.D. Sneer away! + +Many thanks for your welcome note from Cambridge, and I am glad you like +my alma mater, which I despise heartily as a place of education, but +love from many most pleasant recollections... + +Thanks for your offer of the 'Phytologist;' I shall be very much obliged +for it, for I do not suppose I should be able to borrow it from any +other quarter. I will not be set up too much by your praise, but I do +not believe I ever lost a book or forgot to return it during a long +lapse of time. Your 'Webb' is well wrapped up, and with your name in +large letters OUTSIDE. + +My new microscope is come home (a "splendid plaything," as old R. +Brown called it), and I am delighted with it; it really is a splendid +plaything. I have been in London for three days, and saw many of our +friends. I was extremely sorry to hear a not very good account of +Sir William. Farewell, my dear Hooker, and be a good boy, and make +Sigillaria a submarine sea-weed. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [May 6th, 1847]. + +My dear Hooker, + +You have made a savage onslaught, and I must try to defend myself. +But, first, let me say that I never write to you except for my own +good pleasure; now I fear that you answer me when busy and without +inclination (and I am sure I should have none if I was as busy as you). +Pray do not do so, and if I thought my writing entailed an answer from +you nolens volens, it would destroy all my pleasure in writing. Firstly, +I did not consider my letter as REASONING, or even as SPECULATION, but +simply as mental rioting; and as I was sending Binney's paper, I poured +out to you the result of reading it. Secondly, you are right, indeed, in +thinking me mad, if you suppose that I would class any ferns as marine +plants; but surely there is a wide distinction between the plants found +upright in the coal-beds and those not upright, and which might have +been drifted. Is it not possible that the same circumstances which have +preserved the vegetation in situ, should have preserved drifted plants? +I know Calamites is found upright; but I fancied its affinities were +very obscure, like Sigillaria. As for Lepidodendron, I forgot its +existence, as happens when one goes riot, and now know neither what +it is, or whether upright. If these plants, i.e. Calamites and +Lepidodendron, have VERY CLEAR RELATIONS to terrestrial vegetables, like +the ferns have, and are found upright in situ, of course I must give up +the ghost. But surely Sigillaria is the main upright plant, and on its +obscure affinities I have heard you enlarge. + +Thirdly, it never entered my head to undervalue botanical relatively to +zoological evidence; except in so far as I thought it was admitted that +the vegetative structure seldom yielded any evidence of affinity nearer +than that of families, and not always so much. And is it not in plants, +as certainly it is in animals, dangerous to judge of habits without +very near affinity. Could a Botanist tell from structure alone that the +Mangrove family, almost or quite alone in Dicotyledons, could live in +the sea, and the Zostera family almost alone among the Monocotyledons? +Is it a safe argument, that because algae are almost the only, or the +only submerged sea-plants, that formerly other groups had not members +with such habits? With animals such an argument would not be conclusive, +as I could illustrate by many examples; but I am forgetting myself; I +want only to some degree to defend myself, and not burn my fingers by +attacking you. The foundation of my letter, and what is my deliberate +opinion, though I dare say you will think it absurd, is that I would +rather trust, caeteris paribus, pure geological evidence than either +zoological or botanical evidence. I do not say that I would sooner trust +POOR geological evidence than GOOD organic. I think the basis of pure +geological reasoning is simpler (consisting chiefly of the action of +water on the crust of the earth, and its up and down movements) than a +basis drawn from the difficult subject of affinities and of structure in +relation to habits. I can hardly analyze the facts on which I have come +to this conclusion; but I can illustrate it. Pallas's account would lead +any one to suppose that the Siberian strata, with the frozen carcasses, +had been quickly deposited, and hence that the embedded animals had +lived in the neighbourhood; but our zoological knowledge of thirty years +ago led every one falsely to reject this conclusion. + +Tell me that an upright fern in situ occurs with Sigillaria and +Stigmaria, or that the affinities of Calamites and Lepidodendron +(supposing that they are found in situ with Sigillaria) are so CLEAR, +that they could not have been marine, like, but in a greater degree, +than the mangrove and sea-wrack, and I will humbly apologise to you +and all Botanists for having let my mind run riot on a subject on which +assuredly I know nothing. But till I hear this, I shall keep privately +to my own opinion with the same pertinacity and, as you will think, +with the same philosophical spirit with which Koenig maintains that +Cheirotherium-footsteps are fuci. + +Whether this letter will sink me lower in your opinion, or put me a +little right, I know not, but hope the latter. Anyhow, I have revenged +myself with boring you with a very long epistle. Farewell, and be +forgiving. Ever yours, + +C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--When will you return to Kew? I have forgotten one main object of +my letter, to thank you MUCH for your offer of the 'Hort. Journal,' but +I have ordered the two numbers. + + +[The two following extracts [1847] give the continuation and conclusion +of the coal battle. + +"By the way, as submarine coal made you so wrath, I thought I would +experimentise on Falconer and Bunbury (The late Sir C. Bunbury, +well-known as a palaeobotanist.) together, and it made [them] even more +savage; 'such infernal nonsense ought to be thrashed out of me.' Bunbury +was more polite and contemptuous. So I now know how to stir up and show +off any Botanist. I wonder whether Zoologists and Geologists have got +their tender points; I wish I could find out." + +"I cannot resist thanking you for your most kind note. Pray do not +think that I was annoyed by your letter: I perceived that you had been +thinking with animation, and accordingly expressed yourself strongly, +and so I understood it. Forfend me from a man who weighs every +expression with Scotch prudence. I heartily wish you all success in your +noble problem, and I shall be very curious to have some talk with you +and hear your ultimatum."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. (Parts of two letters.) Down [October, +1847]. + +I congratulate you heartily on your arrangements being completed, with +some prospect for the future. It will be a noble voyage and journey, +but I wish it was over, I shall miss you selfishly and all ways to a +dreadful extent ...I am in great perplexity how we are to meet...I can +well understand how dreadfully busy you must be. If you CANNOT come +here, you MUST let me come to you for a night; for I must have one more +chat and one more quarrel with you over the coal. + +By the way, I endeavoured to stir up Lyell (who has been staying +here some days with me) to theorise on the coal: his oolitic UPRIGHT +Equisetums are dreadful for my submarine flora. I should die much easier +if some one would solve me the coal question. I sometimes think it could +not have been formed at all. Old Sir Anthony Carlisle once said to me +gravely, that he supposed Megatherium and such cattle were just sent +down from heaven to see whether the earth would support them; and I +suppose the coal was rained down to puzzle mortals. You must work the +coal well in India. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [November 6th, 1847.] + +My dear Hooker, + +I have just received your note with sincere grief: there is no help for +it. I shall always look at your intention of coming here, under such +circumstances, as the greatest proof of friendship I ever received from +mortal man. My conscience would have upbraided me in not having come +to you on Thursday, but, as it turned out, I could not, for I was quite +unable to leave Shrewsbury before that day, and I reached home only +last night, much knocked up. Without I hear to-morrow (which is hardly +possible), and if I am feeling pretty well, I will drive over to Kew on +Monday morning, just to say farewell. I will stay only an hour... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [November, 1847.] + +My dear Hooker, + +I am very unwell, and incapable of doing anything. I do hope I have not +inconvenienced you. I was so unwell all yesterday, that I was rejoicing +you were not here; for it would have been a bitter mortification to me +to have had you here and not enjoyed your last day. I shall not now see +you. Farewell, and God bless you. + +Your affectionate friend, C. DARWIN. + +I will write to you in India. + + +[In 1847 appeared a paper by Mr. D. Milne (Now Mr. Milne Home. The +essay was published in Transactions of the Edinburgh Royal Society, vol. +xvi.), in which my father's Glen Roy work is criticised, and which is +referred to in the following characteristic extract from a letter to Sir +J. Hooker:] "I have been bad enough for these few last days, having had +to think and write too much about Glen Roy...Mr. Milne having attacked +my theory, which made me horribly sick." I have not been able to find +any published reply to Mr. Milne, so that I imagine the "writing" +mentioned was confined to letters. Mr. Milne's paper was not destructive +to the Glen Roy paper, and this my father recognises in the following +extract from a letter to Lyell (March, 1847). The reference to Chambers +is explained by the fact that he accompanied Mr. Milne in his visit to +Glen Roy. "I got R. Chambers to give me a sketch of Milne's Glen Roy +views, and I have re-read my paper, and am, now that I have heard what +is to be said, not even staggered. It is provoking and humiliating to +find that Chambers not only had not read with any care my paper on +this subject, or even looked at the coloured map, so that the new shelf +described by me had not been searched for, and my arguments and facts of +detail not in the least attended to. I entirely gave up the ghost, and +was quite chicken-hearted at the Geological Society, till you reassured +and reminded me of the main facts in the whole case." + + +The two following letters to Lyell, though of later date (June, 1848), +bear on the same subject:-- + +"I was at the evening meeting [of the Geological Society], but did not +get within hail of you. What a fool (though I must say a very amusing +one) -- did make of himself. Your speech was refreshing after it, +and was well characterized by Fox (my cousin) in three words--'What a +contrast!' That struck me as a capital speculation about the Wealden +Continent going down. I did not hear what you settled at the Council; I +was quite wearied out and bewildered. I find Smith, of Jordan Hill, has +a much worse opinion of R. Chambers's book than even I have. Chambers +has piqued me a little ('Ancient Sea Margins, 1848.' The words quoted by +my father should be "the mobility of the land was an ascendant idea."); +he says I 'propound' and 'profess my belief' that Glen Roy is marine, +and that the idea was accepted because the 'mobility of the land was the +ascendant idea of the day.' He adds some very faint UPPER lines in Glen +Spean (seen, by the way, by Agassiz), and has shown that Milne and Kemp +are right in there being horizontal aqueous markings (NOT at coincident +levels with those of Glen Roy) in other parts of Scotland at great +heights, and he adds several other cases. This is the whole of his +addition to the data. He not only takes my line of argument from the +buttresses and terraces below the lower shelf and some other arguments +(without acknowledgment), but he sneers at all his predecessors +not having perceived the importance of the short portions of lines +intermediate between the chief ones in Glen Roy; whereas I commence the +description of them with saying, that 'perceiving their importance, +I examined them with scrupulous care,' and expatiate at considerable +length on them. I have indirectly told him I do not think he has quite +claims to consider that he alone (which he pretty directly asserts) has +solved the problem of Glen Roy. With respect to the terraces at lower +levels coincident in height all round Scotland and England, I am +inclined to believe he shows some little probability of there being some +leading ones coincident, but much more exact evidence is required. Would +you believe it credible? he advances as a probable solution to account +for the rise of Great Britain that in some great ocean one-twentieth +of the bottom of the whole aqueous surface of the globe has sunk in (he +does not say where he puts it) for a thickness of half a mile, and this +he has calculated would make an apparent rise of 130 feet." + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down [June, 1848]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Out of justice to Chambers I must trouble you with one line to say, as +far as I am personally concerned in Glen Roy, he has made the amende +honorable, and pleads guilty through inadvertency of taking my two lines +of arguments and facts without acknowledgment. He concluded by saying he +"came to the same point by an independent course of inquiry, which in a +small degree excuses this inadvertency." His letter altogether shows a +very good disposition, and says he is "much gratified with the MEASURED +approbation which you bestow, etc." I am heartily glad I was able to +say in truth that I thought he had done good service in calling more +attention to the subject of the terraces. He protests it is unfair to +call the sinking of the sea his theory, for that he with care always +speaks of mere change of level, and this is quite true; but the one +section in which he shows how he conceives the sea might sink is so +astonishing, that I believe it will with others, as with me, more than +counterbalance his previous caution. I hope that you may think better of +the book than I do. + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. October 6th, 1848. + +...I have lately been trying to get up an agitation (but I shall not +succeed, and indeed doubt whether I have time and strength to go on with +it), against the practice of Naturalists appending for perpetuity the +name of the FIRST describer to species. I look at this as a direct +premium to hasty work, to NAMING instead of DESCRIBING. A species ought +to have a name so well known that the addition of the author's name +would be superfluous, and a [piece] of empty vanity. (His contempt for +the self-regarding spirit in a naturalist is illustrated by an anecdote, +for which I am indebted to Rev. L. Blomefield. After speaking of my +father's love of Entomology at Cambridge, Mr. Blomefield continues:--"He +occasionally came over from Cambridge to my Vicarage at Swaffham +Bulbeck, and we went out together to collect insects in the woods at +Bottisham Hall, close at hand, or made longer excursions in the Fens. +On one occasion he captured in a large bag net, with which he used +vigorously to sweep the weeds and long grass, a rare coleopterous +insect, one of the Lepturidae, which I myself had never taken in +Cambridgeshire. He was pleased with his capture, and of course carried +it home in triumph. Some years afterwards, the voyage of the 'Beagle' +having been made in the interim, talking over old times with him, I +reverted to this circumstance, and asked if he remembered it. 'Oh, yes,' +(he said,) 'I remember it well; and I was selfish enough to keep +the specimen, when you were collecting materials for a Fauna of +Cambridgeshire, and for a local museum in the Philosophical Society.' He +followed this up with some remarks on the pettiness of collectors, who +aimed at nothing beyond filling their cabinets with rare things.") +At present, it would not do to give mere specific names; but I think +Zoologists might open the road to the omission, by referring to good +systematic writers instead of to first describers. Botany, I fancy, +has not suffered so much as Zoology from mere NAMING; the characters, +fortunately, are more obscure. Have you ever thought on this point? +Why should Naturalists append their own names to new species, when +Mineralogists and Chemists do not do so to new substances? When you +write to Falconer pray remember me affectionately to him. I grieve most +sincerely to hear that he has been ill, my dear Hooker, God bless you, +and fare you well. + +Your sincere friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HUGH STRICKLAND. (Hugh Edwin Strickland, M.A., F.R.S., +was born 2nd of March, 1811, and educated at Rugby, under Arnold, and at +Oriel College, Oxford. In 1835 and 1836 he travelled through Europe to +the Levant with W.J. Hamilton, the geologist, wintering in Asia Minor. +In 1841 he brought the subject of Natural History Nomenclature before +the British Association, and prepared the Code of Rules for Zoological +Nomenclature, now known by his name--the principles of which are very +generally adopted. In 1843 he was one of the founders (if not the +original projector) of the Ray Society. In 1845 he married the second +daughter of Sir William Jardine, Bart. In 1850 he was appointed, in +consequence of Buckland's illness, Deputy Reader in Geology at Oxford. +His promising career was suddenly cut short on September 14, 1853, when, +while geologizing in a railway cutting between Retford and Gainsborough, +he was run over by a train and instantly killed. A memoir of him and a +reprint of his principal contributions to journals was published by Sir +William Jardine in 1858; but he was also the author of 'The Dodo and its +Kindred' (1848); 'Bibliographia Zoologiae' (the latter in conjunction +with Louis Agassiz, and issued by the Ray Society); 'Ornithological +Synonyms' (one volume only published, and that posthumously). A +catalogue of his ornithological collection, given by his widow to the +University of Cambridge, was compiled by Mr. Salvin, and published in +1882. (I am indebted to Prof. Newton for the above note.)) Down, January +29th [1849]. + +...What a labour you have undertaken; I do HONOUR your devoted zeal in +the good cause of Natural Science. Do you happen to have a SPARE copy +of the Nomenclature rules published in the 'British Association +Transactions?' if you have, and would give it to me, I should be truly +obliged, for I grudge buying the volume for it. I have found the rules +very useful, it is quite a comfort to have something to rest on in the +turbulent ocean of nomenclature (and am accordingly grateful to you), +though I find it very difficult to obey always. Here is a case (and I +think it should have been noticed in the rules), Coronula, Cineras and +Otion, are names adopted by Cuvier, Lamarck, Owen, and almost EVERY +well-known writer, but I find that all three names were anticipated by +a German: now I believe if I were to follow the strict rule of priority, +more harm would be done than good, and more especially as I feel sure +that the newly fished-up names would not be adopted. I have almost made +up my mind to reject the rule of priority in this case; would you grudge +the trouble to send me your opinion? I have been led of late to reflect +much on the subject of naming, and I have come to a fixed opinion that +the plan of the first describer's name, being appended for perpetuity to +a species, had been the greatest curse to Natural History. Some months +since, I wrote out the enclosed badly drawn-up paper, thinking that +perhaps I would agitate the subject; but the fit has passed, and I do +not suppose I ever shall; I send it you for the CHANCE of your caring +to see my notions. I have been surprised to find in conversation that +several naturalists were of nearly my way of thinking. I feel sure as +long as species-mongers have their vanity tickled by seeing their own +names appended to a species, because they miserably described it in two +or three lines, we shall have the same VAST amount of bad work as at +present, and which is enough to dishearten any man who is willing to +work out any branch with care and time. I find every genus of Cirripedia +has half-a-dozen names, and not one careful description of any one +species in any one genus. I do not believe that this would have been the +case if each man knew that the memory of his own name depended on his +doing his work well, and not upon merely appending a name with a few +wretched lines indicating only a few prominent external characters. But +I will not weary you with any longer tirade. Read my paper or NOT, just +as you like, and return it whenever you please. + +Yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +HUGH STRICKLAND TO CHARLES DARWIN. The Lodge, Tewkesbury, January 31st, +1849. + +...I have next to notice your second objection--that retaining the name +of the FIRST describer in perpetuum along with that of the species, is +a premium on hasty and careless work. This is quite a different question +from that of the law of priority itself, and it never occurred to me +before, though it seems highly probable that the general recognition of +that law may produce such a result. We must try to counteract this evil +in some other way. + +The object of appending the name of a man to the name of a species is +not to gratify the vanity of the man, but to indicate more precisely +the species. Sometimes two men will, by accident, give the same name +(independently) to two species of the same genus. More frequently a +later author will misapply the specific name of an older one. Thus the +Helix putris of Montagu is not H. putris of Linnaeus, though Montague +supposed it to be so. In such a case we cannot define the species by +Helix putris alone, but must append the name of the author whom we +quote. But when a species has never borne but one name (as Corvus +frugilegus), and no other species of Corvus has borne the same name, +it is, of course, unnecessary to add the author's name. Yet even here +I like the form Corvus frugilegus, Linn., as it reminds us that this +is one of the old species, long known, and to be found in the 'Systema +Naturae,' etc. I fear, therefore, that (at least until our nomenclature +is more definitely settled) it will be impossible to indicate species +with scientific accuracy, without adding the name of their first author. +You may, indeed, do it as you propose, by saying in Lam. An. Invert., +etc., but then this would be incompatible with the law of priority, for +where Lamarck has violated that low, one cannot adopt his name. It is, +nevertheless, highly conducive to accurate indication to append to the +(oldest) specific name ONE good reference to a standard work, especially +to a FIGURE, with an accompanying synonym if necessary. This method may +be cumbrous, but cumbrousness is a far less evil than uncertainty. + +It, moreover, seems hardly possible to carry out the PRIORITY principle, +without the historical aid afforded by appending the author's name +to the specific one. If I, a PRIORITY MAN, called a species C.D., it +implies that C.D. is the oldest name that I know of; but in order +that you and others may judge of the propriety of that name, you must +ascertain when, and by whom, the name was first coined. Now, if to the +specific name C.D., I append the name A.B., of its first describer, I at +once furnish you with the clue to the dates when, and the book in which, +this description was given, and I thus assist you in determining whether +C.D. be really the oldest, and therefore the correct, designation. + +I do, however, admit that the priority principle (excellent as it is) +has a tendency, when the author's name is added, to encourage vanity and +slovenly work. I think, however, that much might be done to discourage +those obscure and unsatisfactory definitions of which you so justly +complain, by WRITING DOWN the practice. Let the better disposed +naturalists combine to make a formal protest against all vague, loose, +and inadequate definitions of (supposed) new species. Let a committee +(say of the British Association) be appointed to prepare a sort of CLASS +LIST of the various modern works in which new species are described, +arranged in order of merit. The lowest class would contain the worst +examples of the kind, and their authors would thus be exposed to +the obloquy which they deserve, and be gibbeted in terrorem for the +edification of those who may come after. + +I have thus candidly stated my views (I hope intelligibly) of what +seems best to be done in the present transitional and dangerous state +of systematic zoology. Innumerable labourers, many of them crotchety and +half-educated, are rushing into the field, and it depends, I think, on +the present generation whether the science is to descend to posterity a +chaotic mass, or possessed of some traces of law and organisation. If we +could only get a congress of deputies from the chief scientific bodies +of Europe and America, something might be done, but, as the case stands, +I confess I do not clearly see my way, beyond humbly endeavouring to +reform NUMBER ONE. + +Yours ever, H.E. STRICKLAND. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HUGH STRICKLAND. Down, Sunday [February 4th, 1849]. + +My dear Strickland, + +I am, in truth, GREATLY obliged to you for your long, most interesting, +and clear letter, and the Report. I will consider your arguments, which +are of the greatest weight, but I confess I cannot yet bring myself to +reject very WELL-KNOWN names, not in ONE country, but over the world, +for obscure ones,--simply on the ground that I do not believe I should +be followed. Pray believe that I should break the law of priority only +in rare cases; will you read the enclosed (and return it), and tell me +whether it does not stagger you? (N.B. I PROMISE that I will not give +you any more trouble.) I want simple answers, and not for you to waste +your time in reasons; I am curious for your answer in regard to Balanus. +I put the case of Otion, etc., to W. Thompson, who is fierce for the +law of priority, and he gave it up in such well-known names. I am in +a perfect maze of doubt on nomenclature. In not one large genus of +Cirripedia has ANY ONE species been correctly defined; it is pure +guesswork (being guided by range and commonness and habits) to recognise +any species: thus I can make out, from plates or descriptions, hardly +any of the British sessile cirripedes. I cannot bear to give new names +to all the species, and yet I shall perhaps do wrong to attach old names +by little better than guess; I cannot at present tell the least which +of two species all writers have meant by the common Anatifera laevis; +I have, therefore, given that name to the one which is rather the +commonest. Literally, not one species is properly defined; not one +naturalist has ever taken the trouble to open the shell of any species +to describe it scientifically, and yet all the genera have half-a-dozen +synonyms. For ARGUMENT'S sake, suppose I do my work thoroughly well, +any one who happens to have the original specimens named, I will say by +Chenu, who has figured and named hundreds of species, will be able to +upset all my names according to the law of priority (for he may maintain +his descriptions are sufficient), do you think it advantageous to +science that this should be done: I think not, and that convenience and +high merit (here put as mere argument) had better come into some play. +The subject is heart-breaking. + +I hope you will occasionally turn in your mind my argument of the evil +done by the "mihi" attached to specific names; I can most clearly see +the EXCESSIVE evil it has caused; in mineralogy I have myself found +there is no rage to merely name; a person does not take up the subject +without he intends to work it out, as he knows that his ONLY claim to +merit rests on his work being ably done, and has no relation whatever +to NAMING. I give up one point, and grant that reference to first +describer's name should be given in all systematic works, but I think +something would be gained if a reference was given without the author's +name being actually appended as part of the binomial name, and I think, +except in systematic works, a reference, such as I propose, would +damp vanity much. I think a very wrong spirit runs through all Natural +History, as if some merit was due to a man for merely naming and +defining a species; I think scarcely any, or none, is due; if he works +out MINUTELY and anatomically any one species, or systematically a whole +group, credit is due, but I must think the mere defining a species is +nothing, and that no INJUSTICE is done him if it be overlooked, though +a great inconvenience to Natural History is thus caused. I do not think +more credit is due to a man for defining a species, than to a carpenter +for making a box. But I am foolish and rabid against species-mongers, or +rather against their vanity; it is useful and necessary work which must +be done; but they act as if they had actually made the species, and it +was their own property. + +I use Agassiz's nomenclator; at least two-thirds of the dates in the +Cirripedia are grossly wrong. + +I shall do what I can in fossil Cirripedia, and should be very grateful +for specimens; but I do not believe that species (and hardly genera) +can be defined by single valves; as in every recent species yet examined +their forms vary greatly: to describe a species by valves alone, is the +same as to describe a crab from SMALL portions of its carapace alone, +these portions being highly variable, and not, as in Crustacea, modelled +over viscera. I sincerely apologise for the trouble which I have given +you, but indeed I will give no more. + +Yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--In conversation I found Owen and Andrew Smith much inclined to +throw over the practice of attaching authors' names; I believe if I +agitated I could get a large party to join. W. Thompson agreed some way +with me, but was not prepared to go nearly as far as I am. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HUGH STRICKLAND. Down, February 10th [1849]. + +My dear Strickland, + +I have again to thank you cordially for your letter. Your remarks shall +fructify to some extent, and I will try to be more faithful to rigid +virtue and priority; but as for calling Balanus "Lepas" (which I did not +think of), I cannot do it, my pen won't write it--it is IMPOSSIBLE. I +have great hopes some of my difficulties will disappear, owing to wrong +dates in Agassiz, and to my having to run several genera into one, for I +have as yet gone, in but few cases, to original sources. With respect to +adopting my own notions in my Cirripedia book, I should not like to +do so without I found others approved, and in some public way,--nor, +indeed, is it well adapted, as I can never recognise a species without I +have the original specimen, which, fortunately, I have in many cases in +the British Museum. Thus far I mean to adopt my notion, as never putting +mihi or "Darwin" after my own species, and in the anatomical text giving +no authors' names at all, as the systematic Part will serve for those +who want to know the History of a species as far as I can imperfectly +work it out... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [The Lodge, Malvern, March 28th, 1849.] + +My dear Hooker, + +Your letter of the 13th of October has remained unanswered till this +day! What an ungrateful return for a letter which interested me so much, +and which contained so much and curious information. But I have had a +bad winter. + +On the 13th of November, my poor dear father died, and no one who did +not know him would believe that a man above eighty-three years old could +have retained so tender and affectionate a disposition, with all his +sagacity unclouded to the last. I was at the time so unwell, that I was +unable to travel, which added to my misery. Indeed, all this winter I +have been bad enough...and my nervous system began to be affected, so +that my hands trembled, and head was often swimming. I was not able to +do anything one day out of three, and was altogether too dispirited to +write to you, or to do anything but what I was compelled. I thought I +was rapidly going the way of all flesh. Having heard, accidentally, of +two persons who had received much benefit from the water-cure, I got Dr. +Gully's book, and made further enquiries, and at last started here, +with wife, children, and all our servants. We have taken a house for +two months, and have been here a fortnight. I am already a little +stronger...Dr. Gully feels pretty sure he can do me good, which most +certainly the regular doctors could not...I feel certain that the +water-cure is no quackery. + +How I shall enjoy getting back to Down with renovated health, if such +is to be my good fortune, and resuming the beloved Barnacles. Now I hope +that you will forgive me for my negligence in not having sooner answered +your letter. I was uncommonly interested by the sketch you give of +your intended grand expedition, from which I suppose you will soon +be returning. How earnestly I hope that it may prove in every way +successful... + +[When my father was at the Water-cure Establishment at Malvern he +was brought into contact with clairvoyance, of which he writes in the +following extract from a letter to Fox, September, 1850. + +"You speak about Homoeopathy, which is a subject which makes me more +wrath, even than does Clairvoyance. Clairvoyance so transcends belief, +that one's ordinary faculties are put out of the question, but in +homoeopathy common sense and common observation come into play, and both +these must go to the dogs, if the infinitesimal doses have any effect +whatever. How true is a remark I saw the other day by Quetelet, in +respect to evidence of curative processes, viz., that no one knows in +disease what is the simple result of nothing being done, as a standard +with which to compare homoeopathy, and all other such things. It is a +sad flaw, I cannot but think, in my beloved Dr. Gully, that he believes +in everything. When Miss -- was very ill, he had a clairvoyant girl +to report on internal changes, a mesmerist to put her to sleep--an +homoeopathist, viz. Dr. --, and himself as hydropathist! and the girl +recovered." + +A passage out of an earlier letter to Fox (December, 1884) shows that +he was equally sceptical on the subject of mesmerism: "With respect to +mesmerism, the whole country resounds with wonderful facts or tales..I +have just heard of a child, three or four years old (whose parents and +self I well knew) mesmerised by his father, which is the first fact +which has staggered me. I shall not believe fully till I see or hear +from good evidence of animals (as has been stated is possible) not +drugged, being put to stupor; of course the impossibility would not +prove mesmerism false; but it is the only clear experimentum crucis, and +I am astonished it has not been systematically tried. If mesmerism was +investigated, like a science, this could not have been left till the +present day to be DONE SATISFACTORILY, as it has been I believe left. +Keep some cats yourself, and do get some mesmeriser to attempt it. One +man told me he had succeeded, but his experiments were most vague, and +as was likely from a man who said cats were more easily done than other +animals, because they were so electrical!"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, December 4th [1849]. + +My dear Lyell, + +This letter requires no answer, and I write from exuberance of vanity. +Dana has sent me the Geology of the United States Expedition, and I have +just read the Coral part. To begin with a modest speech, I AM ASTONISHED +AT MY OWN ACCURACY!! If I were to rewrite now my Coral book there is +hardly a sentence I should have to alter, except that I ought to have +attributed more effect to recent volcanic action in checking growth of +coral. When I say all this I ought to add that the CONSEQUENCES of the +theory on areas of subsidence are treated in a separate chapter to which +I have not come, and in this, I suspect, we shall differ more. Dana +talks of agreeing with my theory IN MOST POINTS; I can find out not one +in which he differs. Considering how infinitely more he saw of Coral +Reefs than I did, this is wonderfully satisfactory to me. He treats me +most courteously. There now, my vanity is pretty well satisfied... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Malvern, April 9th, 1849. + +My dear Hooker, + +The very next morning after posting my last letter (I think on 23rd +of March), I received your two interesting gossipaceous and geological +letters; and the latter I have since exchanged with Lyell for his. I +will write higglety-pigglety just as subjects occur. I saw the Review in +the 'Athenaeum,' it was written in an ill-natured spirit; but the whole +virus consisted in saying that there was not novelty enough in your +remarks for publication. No one, nowadays, cares for reviews. I may +just mention that my Journal got some REAL GOOD abuse, "presumption," +etc.,--ended with saying that the volume appeared "made up of the scraps +and rubbish of the author's portfolio." I most truly enter into what +you say, and quite believe you that you care only for the review with +respect to your father; and that this ALONE would make you like to +see extracts from your letters more properly noticed in this same +periodical. I have considered to the very best of my judgment whether +any portion of your present letters are adapted for the 'Athenaeum' (in +which I have no interest; the beasts not having even NOTICED my three +geological volumes which I had sent to them), and I have come to the +conclusion it is better not to send them. I feel sure, considering all +the circumstances, that without you took pains and wrote WITH CARE, a +condensed and finished sketch of some striking feature in your travels, +it is better not to send anything. These two letters are, moreover, +rather too geological for the 'Athenaeum,' and almost require woodcuts. +On the other hand, there are hardly enough details for a communication +to the Geological Society. I have not the SMALLEST DOUBT that your +facts are of the highest interest with regard to glacial action in the +Himalaya; but it struck both Lyell and myself that your evidence ought +to have been given more distinctly... + +I have written so lately that I have nothing to say about myself; my +health prevented me going on with a crusade against "mihi" and "nobis," +of which you warn me of the dangers. I showed my paper to three or +four Naturalists, and they all agreed with me to a certain extent: with +health and vigour, I would not have shown a white feather, [and] with +aid of half-a-dozen really good Naturalists, I believe something might +have been done against the miserable and degrading passion of mere +species naming. In your letter you wonder what "Ornamental Poultry" has +to do with Barnacles; but do not flatter yourself that I shall not yet +live to finish the Barnacles, and then make a fool of myself on the +subject of species, under which head ornamental Poultry are very +interesting... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. The Lodge, Malvern [June, 1849]. + +...I have got your book ('A Second Visit to the United States.'), and +have read all the first and a small part of the second volume (reading +is the hardest work allowed here), and greatly I have been interested by +it. It makes me long to be a Yankee. E. desires me to say that she +quite "gloated" over the truth of your remarks on religious progress...I +delight to think how you will disgust some of the bigots and educational +dons. As yet there has not been MUCH Geology or Natural History, for +which I hope you feel a little ashamed. Your remarks on all social +subjects strike me as worthy of the author of the 'Principles.' And yet +(I know it is prejudice and pride) if I had written the Principles, I +never would have written any travels; but I believe I am more jealous +about the honour and glory of the Principles than you are yourself... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. September 14th, 1849. + +...I go on with my aqueous processes, and very steadily but slowly gain +health and strength. Against all rules, I dined at Chevening with Lord +Mahon, who did me the great honour of calling on me, and how he heard of +me I can't guess. I was charmed with Lady Mahon, and any one might have +been proud at the pieces of agreeableness which came from her beautiful +lips with respect to you. I like old Lord Stanhope very much; though he +abused Geology and Zoology heartily. "To suppose that the Omnipotent +God made a world, found it a failure, and broke it up, and then made +it again, and again broke it up, as the Geologists say, is all fiddle +faddle. Describing Species of birds and shells, etc., is all fiddle +faddle..." + +I am heartily glad we shall meet at Birmingham, as I trust we shall, if +my health will but keep up. I work now every day at the Cirripedia for +2 1/2 hours, and so get on a little, but very slowly. I sometimes, +after being a whole week employed and having described perhaps only +two species, agree mentally with Lord Stanhope, that it is all fiddle +faddle; however, the other day I got a curious case of a unisexual, +instead of hermaphrodite cirripede, in which the female had the common +cirripedial character, and in two valves of her shell had two little +pockets, in EACH of which she kept a little husband; I do not know of +any other case where a female invariably has two husbands. I have one +still odder fact, common to several species, namely, that though they +are hermaphrodite, they have small additional, or as I shall call them, +complemental males, one specimen itself hermaphrodite had no less than +SEVEN, of these complemental males attached to it. Truly the schemes and +wonders of Nature are illimitable. But I am running on as badly about my +cirripedia as about Geology; it makes me groan to think that probably +I shall never again have the exquisite pleasure of making out some new +district, of evolving geological light out of some troubled dark region. +So I must make the best of my Cirripedia... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, October 12th, 1849. + +...By the way, one of the pleasantest parts of the British Association +was my journey down to Birmingham with Mrs. Sabine, Mrs. Reeve, and +the Colonel; also Col. Sykes and Porter. Mrs. Sabine and myself agreed +wonderfully on many points, and in none more sincerely than about you. +We spoke about your letters from the Erebus; and she quite agreed +with me, that you and the AUTHOR (Sir J. Hooker wrote the spirited +description of cattle hunting in Sir J. Ross's 'Voyage of Discovery in +the Southern Regions,' 1847, vol. ii., page 245.), of the description +of the cattle hunting in the Falklands, would have made a capital book +together! A very nice woman she is, and so is her sharp and sagacious +mother...Birmingham was very flat compared to Oxford, though I had my +wife with me. We saw a good deal of the Lyells and Horners and Robinsons +(the President); but the place was dismal, and I was prevented, by being +unwell, from going to Warwick, though that, i.e., the party, by all +accounts, was wonderfully inferior to Blenheim, not to say anything of +that heavenly day at Dropmore. One gets weary of all the spouting... + +You ask about my cold-water cure; I am going on very well, and am +certainly a little better every month, my nights mend much slower than +my days. I have built a douche, and am to go on through all the winter, +frost or no frost. My treatment now is lamp five times per week, and +shallow bath for five minutes afterwards; douche daily for five minutes, +and dripping sheet daily. The treatment is wonderfully tonic, and I +have had more better consecutive days this month than on any previous +ones...I am allowed to work now two and a half hours daily, and I find +it as much as I can do, for the cold-water cure, together with three +short walks, is curiously exhausting; and I am actually FORCED to go to +bed at eight o'clock completely tired. I steadily gain in weight, and +eat immensely, and am never oppressed with my food. I have lost the +involuntary twitching of the muscle, and all the fainting feelings, +etc--black spots before eyes, etc. Dr. Gully thinks he shall quite cure +me in six or nine months more. + +The greatest bore, which I find in the water-cure, is the having been +compelled to give up all reading, except the newspapers; for my daily +two and a half hours at the Barnacles is fully as much as I can do of +anything which occupies the mind; I am consequently terribly behind +in all scientific books. I have of late been at work at mere species +describing, which is much more difficult than I expected, and has much +the same sort of interest as a puzzle has; but I confess I often feel +wearied with the work, and cannot help sometimes asking myself what is +the good of spending a week or fortnight in ascertaining that certain +just perceptible differences blend together and constitute varieties +and not species. As long as I am on anatomy I never feel myself in that +disgusting, horrid, cui bono, inquiring, humour. What miserable work, +again, it is searching for priority of names. I have just finished two +species, which possess seven generic, and twenty-four specific names! My +chief comfort is, that the work must be sometime done, and I may as well +do it, as any one else. + +I have given up my agitation against mihi and nobis; my paper is too +long to send to you, so you must see it, if you care to do so, on your +return. By-the-way, you say in your letter that you care more for my +species work than for the Barnacles; now this is too bad of you, for I +declare your decided approval of my plain Barnacle work over theoretic +species work, had very great influence in deciding me to go on with the +former, and defer my species paper... + + +[The following letter refers to the death of his little daughter, which +took place at Malvern on April 24, 1851:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, April 29th [1851]. + +My dear Fox, + +I do not suppose you will have heard of our bitter and cruel loss. Poor +dear little Annie, when going on very well at Malvern, was taken with a +vomiting attack, which was at first thought of the smallest importance; +but it rapidly assumed the form of a low and dreadful fever, which +carried her off in ten days. Thank God, she suffered hardly at all, and +expired as tranquilly as a little angel. Our only consolation is that +she passed a short, though joyous life. She was my favourite child; her +cordiality, openness, buoyant joyousness and strong affections made her +most lovable. Poor dear little soul. Well it is all over... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, March 7th [1852]. + +My dear Fox, + +It is indeed an age since we have had any communication, and very glad +I was to receive your note. Our long silence occurred to me a few weeks +since, and I had then thought of writing, but was idle. I congratulate +and condole with you on your TENTH child; but please to observe when I +have a tenth, send only condolences to me. We have now seven children, +all well, thank God, as well as their mother; of these seven, five are +boys; and my father used to say that it was certain that a boy gave +as much trouble as three girls; so that bona fide we have seventeen +children. It makes me sick whenever I think of professions; all seem +hopelessly bad, and as yet I cannot see a ray of light. I should +very much like to talk over this (by the way, my three bugbears are +Californian and Australian gold, beggaring me by making my money on +mortgage worth nothing; the French coming by the Westerham and Sevenoaks +roads, and therefore enclosing Down; and thirdly, professions for my +boys), and I should like to talk about education, on which you ask me +what we are doing. No one can more truly despise the old stereotyped +stupid classical education than I do; but yet I have not had courage +to break through the trammels. After many doubts we have just sent our +eldest boy to Rugby, where for his age he has been very well placed...I +honour, admire, and envy you for educating your boys at home. What on +earth shall you do with your boys? Towards the end of this month we +go to see W. at Rugby, and thence for five or six days to Susan (His +sister.) at Shrewsbury; I then return home to look after the babies, +and E. goes to F. Wedgwood's of Etruria for a week. Very many thanks +for your most kind and large invitation to Delamere, but I fear we can +hardly compass it. I dread going anywhere, on account of my stomach so +easily failing under any excitement. I rarely even now go to London; +not that I am at all worse, perhaps rather better, and lead a very +comfortable life with my three hours of daily work, but it is the +life of a hermit. My nights are ALWAYS bad, and that stops my becoming +vigorous. You ask about water-cure. I take at intervals of two or three +months, five or six weeks of MODERATELY severe treatment, and always +with good effect. Do you come here, I pray and beg whenever you can find +time; you cannot tell how much pleasure it would give me and E. I have +finished the 1st volume for the Ray Society of Pedunculated Cirripedes, +which, as I think you are a member, you will soon get. Read what I +describe on the sexes of Ibla and Scalpellum. I am now at work on the +Sessile Cirripedes, and am wonderfully tired of my job: a man to be a +systematic naturalist ought to work at least eight hours per day. You +saw through me, when you said that I must have wished to have seen the +effects of the [word illegible] Debacle, for I was saying a week ago to +E., that had I been as I was in old days, I would have been certainly +off that hour. You ask after Erasmus; he is much as usual, and +constantly more or less unwell. Susan (His sister.) is much better, and +very flourishing and happy. Catherine (Another sister.) is at Rome, +and has enjoyed it in a degree that is quite astonishing to my dry old +bones. And now I think I have told you enough, and more than enough +about the house of Darwin; so my dear old friend, farewell. What +pleasant times we had in drinking coffee in your rooms at Christ's +College, and think of the glories of Crux major. (The beetle Panagaeus +crux-major.) Ah, in those days there were no professions for sons, no +ill-health to fear for them, no Californian gold, no French invasions. +How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by +children. My dread is hereditary ill-health. Even death is better for +them. + +My dear Fox, your sincere friend, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Susan has lately been working in a way which I think truly heroic +about the scandalous violation of the Act against children climbing +chimneys. We have set up a little Society in Shrewsbury to prosecute +those who break the law. It is all Susan's doing. She has had very nice +letters from Lord Shaftesbury and the Duke of Sutherland, but the brutal +Shropshire squires are as hard as stones to move. The Act out of London +seems most commonly violated. It makes one shudder to fancy one of +one's own children at seven years old being forced up a chimney--to say +nothing of the consequent loathsome disease and ulcerated limbs, and +utter moral degradation. If you think strongly on this subject, do make +some inquiries; add to your many good works, this other one, and try +to stir up the magistrates. There are several people making a stir in +different parts of England on this subject. It is not very likely +that you would wish for such, but I could send you some essays and +information if you so liked, either for yourself or to give away. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down [October 24th, 1852]. + +My dear Fox, + +I received your long and most welcome letter this morning, and will +answer it this evening, as I shall be very busy with an artist, drawing +Cirripedia, and much overworked for the next fortnight. But first you +deserve to be well abused--and pray consider yourself well abused--for +thinking or writing that I could for one minute be bored by any amount +of detail about yourself and belongings. It is just what I like hearing; +believe me that I often think of old days spent with you, and sometimes +can hardly believe what a jolly careless individual one was in those +old days. A bright autumn evening often brings to mind some shooting +excursion from Osmaston. I do indeed regret that we live so far off each +other, and that I am so little locomotive. I have been unusually well +of late (no water-cure), but I do not find that I can stand any change +better than formerly...The other day I went to London and back, and +the fatigue, though so trifling, brought on my bad form of vomiting. I +grieve to hear that your chest has been ailing, and most sincerely do +I hope that it is only the muscles; how frequently the voice fails with +the clergy. I can well understand your reluctance to break up your large +and happy party and go abroad; but your life is very valuable, so you +ought to be very cautious in good time. You ask about all of us, now +five boys (oh! the professions; oh! the gold; and oh! the French--these +three oh's all rank as dreadful bugbears) and two girls...but another +and the worst of my bugbears is hereditary weakness. All my sisters are +well except Mrs. Parker, who is much out of health; and so is Erasmus +at his poor average: he has lately moved into Queen Anne Street. I had +heard of the intended marriage (To the Rev. J. Hughes.) of your sister +Frances. I believe I have seen her since, but my memory takes me back +some twenty-five years, when she was lying down. I remember well the +delightful expression of her countenance. I most sincerely wish her all +happiness. + +I see I have not answered half your queries. We like very well all that +we have seen and heard of Rugby, and have never repented of sending [W.] +there. I feel sure schools have greatly improved since our days; but I +hate schools and the whole system of breaking through the affections of +the family by separating the boys so early in life; but I see no help, +and dare not run the risk of a youth being exposed to the temptations of +the world without having undergone the milder ordeal of a great school. + +I see you even ask after our pears. We have lots of Beurrees d'Aremberg, +Winter Nelis, Marie Louise, and "Ne plus Ultra," but all off the wall; +the standard dwarfs have borne a few, but I have no room for more trees, +so their names would be useless to me. You really must make a holiday +and pay us a visit sometime; nowhere could you be more heartily welcome. +I am at work at the second volume of the Cirripedia, of which creatures +I am wonderfully tired. I hate a Barnacle as no man ever did before, not +even a sailor in a slow-sailing ship. My first volume is out; the only +part worth looking at is on the sexes of Ibla and Scalpellum. I hope +by next summer to have done with my tedious work. Farewell,--do come +whenever you can possibly manage it. + +I cannot but hope that the carbuncle may possibly do you good: I have +heard of all sorts of weaknesses disappearing after a carbuncle. I +suppose the pain is dreadful. I agree most entirely, what a blessed +discovery is chloroform. When one thinks of one's children, it makes +quite a little difference in one's happiness. The other day I had five +grinders (two by the elevator) out at a sitting under this wonderful +substance, and felt hardly anything. + +My dear old friend, yours very affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, January 29th [1853]. + +My dear Fox, + +Your last account some months ago was so little satisfactory that I have +often been thinking of you, and should be really obliged if you would +give me a few lines, and tell me how your voice and chest are. I most +sincerely hope that your report will be good...Our second lad has a +strong mechanical turn, and we think of making him an engineer. I shall +try and find out for him some less classical school, perhaps Bruce +Castle. I certainly should like to see more diversity in education +than there is in any ordinary school--no exercising of the observing or +reasoning faculties, no general knowledge acquired--I must think it a +wretched system. On the other hand, a boy who has learnt to stick at +Latin and conquer its difficulties, ought to be able to stick at any +labour. I should always be glad to hear anything about schools or +education from you. I am at my old, never-ending subject, but trust +I shall really go to press in a few months with my second volume on +Cirripedes. I have been much pleased by finding some odd facts in my +first volume believed by Owen and a few others, whose good opinion I +regard as final...Do write pretty soon, and tell me all you can about +yourself and family; and I trust your report of yourself may be much +better than your last. + +...I have been very little in London of late, and have not seen Lyell +since his return from America; how lucky he was to exhume with his +own hand parts of three skeletons of reptiles out of the CARBONIFEROUS +strata, and out of the inside of a fossil tree, which had been hollow +within. + +Farewell, my dear Fox, yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. 13 Sea Houses, Eastbourne, [July 15th? +1853]. + +My dear Fox, + +Here we are in a state of profound idleness, which to me is a luxury; +and we should all, I believe, have been in a state of high enjoyment, +had it not been for the detestable cold gales and much rain, which +always gives much ennui to children away from their homes. I received +your letter of 13th June, when working like a slave with Mr. Sowerby at +drawing for my second volume, and so put off answering it till when I +knew I should be at leisure. I was extremely glad to get your letter. I +had intended a couple of months ago sending you a savage or supplicating +jobation to know how you were, when I met Sir P. Egerton, who told me +you were well, and, as usual, expressed his admiration of your doings, +especially your farming, and the number of animals, including children, +which you kept on your land. Eleven children, ave Maria! it is a serious +look-out for you. Indeed, I look at my five boys as something awful, and +hate the very thoughts of professions, etc. If one could insure moderate +health for them it would not signify so much, for I cannot but hope, +with the enormous emigration, professions will somewhat improve. But my +bugbear is hereditary weakness. I particularly like to hear all that you +can say about education, and you deserve to be scolded for saying "you +did not mean to TORMENT me with a long yarn." You ask about Rugby. +I like it very well, on the same principle as my neighbour, Sir J. +Lubbock, likes Eton, viz., that it is not worse than any other school; +the expense, WITH ALL ETC., ETC., including some clothes, travelling +expenses, etc., is from 110 pounds to 120 pounds per annum. I do not +think schools are so wicked as they were, and far more industrious. The +boys, I think, live too secluded in their separate studies; and I doubt +whether they will get so much knowledge of character as boys used to do; +and this, in my opinion, is the ONE good of public schools over small +schools. I should think the only superiority of a small school over home +was forced regularity in their work, which your boys perhaps get at +your home, but which I do not believe my boys would get at my home. +Otherwise, it is quite lamentable sending boys so early in life from +their home. + +...To return to schools. My main objection to them, as places of +education, is the enormous proportion of time spent over classics. I +fancy (though perhaps it is only fancy) that I can perceive the ill +and contracting effect on my eldest boy's mind, in checking interest in +anything in which reasoning and observation come into play. Mere memory +seems to be worked. I shall certainly look out for some school with more +diversified studies for my younger boys. I was talking lately to the +Dean of Hereford, who takes most strongly this view; and he tells me +that there is a school at Hereford commencing on this plan; and that +Dr. Kennedy at Shrewsbury is going to begin vigorously to modify that +school... + +I am EXTREMELY glad to hear that you approved of my cirripedial volume. +I have spent an almost ridiculous amount of labour on the subject, and +certainly would never have undertaken it had I foreseen what a job it +was. I hope to have finished by the end of the year. Do write again +before a very long time; it is a real pleasure to me to hear from you. +Farewell, with my wife's kindest remembrances to yourself and Mrs. Fox. + +My dear old friend, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, August 10th [1853]. + +My dear Fox, + +I thank you sincerely for writing to me so soon after your most +heavy misfortune. Your letter affected me so much. We both most truly +sympathise with you and Mrs. Fox. We too lost, as you may remember, not +so very long ago, a most dear child, of whom I can hardly yet bear +to think tranquilly; yet, as you must know from your own most painful +experience, time softens and deadens, in a manner truly wonderful, one's +feelings and regrets. At first it is indeed bitter. I can only hope that +your health and that of poor Mrs. Fox may be preserved, and that time +may do its work softly, and bring you all together, once again, as the +happy family, which, as I can well believe, you so lately formed. + +My dear Fox, your affectionate friend, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The following letter refers to the Royal Society's Medal, which was +awarded to him in November, 1853:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, November 5th [1853]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Amongst my letters received this morning, I opened first one from +Colonel Sabine; the contents certainly surprised me very much, but, +though the letter was a VERY KIND ONE, somehow, I cared very little +indeed for the announcement it contained. I then opened yours, and +such is the effect of warmth, friendship, and kindness from one that is +loved, that the very same fact, told as you told it, made me glow with +pleasure till my very heart throbbed. Believe me, I shall not soon +forget the pleasure of your letter. Such hearty, affectionate sympathy +is worth more than all the medals that ever were or will be coined. +Again, my dear Hooker, I thank you. I hope Lindley (John Lindley, +1799-1865, was the son of a nurseryman near Norwich, through whose +failure in business he was thrown at the age of twenty on his own +resources. He was befriended by Sir W. Hooker, and employed as assistant +librarian by Sir J. Banks. He seems to have had enormous capacity of +work, and is said to have translated Richard's 'Analyse du Fruit' at one +sitting of two days and three nights. He became Assistant-Secretary to +the Horticultural Society, and in 1829 was appointed Professor of Botany +at University College, a post which he held for upwards of thirty years. +His writings are numerous: the best known being perhaps his 'Vegetable +Kingdom,' published in 1846. His influence in helping to introduce the +natural system of classification was considerable, and he brought "all +the weight of his teaching and all the force of his controversial powers +to support it," as against the Linnean system universally taught in the +earlier part of his career. Sachs points out (Geschichte der Botanik, +1875, page 161), that though Lindley adopted in the main a sound +classification of plants, he only did so by abandoning his own +theoretical principle that the physiological importance of an organ is +a measure of its classificatory value.) will never hear that he was a +competitor against me; for really it is almost RIDICULOUS (of course you +would never repeat that I said this, for it would be thought by others, +though not, I believe, by you, to be affectation) his not having the +medal long before me; I must feel SURE that you did quite right to +propose him; and what a good, dear, kind fellow you are, nevertheless, +to rejoice in this honour being bestowed on me. + +What PLEASURE I have felt on the occasion, I owe almost entirely to you. + +Farewell, my dear Hooker, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--You may believe what a surprise it was, for I had never heard that +the medals could be given except for papers in the 'Transactions.' All +this will make me work with better heart at finishing the second volume. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, February 18th [1854]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I should have written before, had it not seemed doubtful whether you +would go on to Teneriffe, but now I am extremely glad to hear your +further progress is certain; not that I have much of any sort to say, as +you may well believe when you hear that I have only once been in London +since you started. I was particularly glad to see, two days since, your +letter to Mr. Horner, with its geological news; how fortunate for you +that your knees are recovered. I am astonished at what you say of the +beauty, though I had fancied it great. It really makes me quite envious +to think of your clambering up and down those steep valleys. And what +a pleasant party on your return from your expeditions. I often think +of the delight which I felt when examining volcanic islands, and I can +remember even particular rocks which I struck, and the smell of the hot, +black, scoriaceous cliffs; but of those HOT smells you do not seem to +have had much. I do quite envy you. How I should like to be with you, +and speculate on the deep and narrow valleys. + +How very singular the fact is which you mention about the inclination of +the strata being greater round the circumference than in the middle +of the island; do you suppose the elevation has had the form of a flat +dome? I remember in the Cordillera being OFTEN struck with the greater +abruptness of the strata in the LOW EXTREME outermost ranges, compared +with the great mass of inner mountains. I dare say you will have thought +of measuring exactly the width of any dikes at the top and bottom of any +great cliff (which was done by Mr. Searle [?] at St. Helena), for it +has often struck me as VERY ODD that the cracks did not die out OFTENER +upwards. I can think of hardly any news to tell you, as I have seen no +one since being in London, when I was delighted to see Forbes looking so +well, quite big and burly. I saw at the Museum some of the surprisingly +rich gold ore from North Wales. Ramsay also told me that he has lately +turned a good deal of New Red Sandstone into Permian, together with the +Labyrinthodon. No doubt you see newspapers, and know that E. de Beaumont +is perpetual Secretary, and will, I suppose, be more powerful than ever; +and Le Verrier has Arago's place in the Observatory. There was a meeting +lately at the Geological Society, at which Prestwich (judging from what +R. Jones told me) brought forward your exact theory, viz. that the whole +red clay and flints over the chalk plateau hereabouts is the residuum +from the slow dissolution of the chalk! + +As regards ourselves, we have no news, and are all well. The Hookers, +sometime ago, stayed a fortnight with us, and, to our extreme delight, +Henslow came down, and was most quiet and comfortable here. It does one +good to see so composed, benevolent, and intellectual a countenance. +There have been great fears that his heart is affected; but, I hope +to God, without foundation. Hooker's book (Sir J. Hooker's 'Himalayan +Journal.') is out, and MOST BEAUTIFULLY got up. He has honoured me +beyond measure by dedicating it to me! As for myself, I am got to the +page 112 of the Barnacles, and that is the sum total of my history. +By-the-way, as you care so much about North America, I may mention that +I had a long letter from a shipmate in Australia, who says the Colony is +getting decidedly republican from the influx of Americans, and that +all the great and novel schemes for working the gold are planned and +executed by these men. What a go-a-head nation it is! Give my kindest +remembrances to Lady Lyell, and to Mrs. Bunbury, and to Bunbury. I +most heartily wish that the Canaries may be ten times as interesting as +Madeira, and that everything may go on most prosperously with your whole +party. + +My dear Lyell, Yours most truly and affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, March 1st [1854]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I finished yesterday evening the first volume, and I very sincerely +congratulate you on having produced a FIRST-CLASS book ('Himalayan +Journal.')--a book which certainly will last. I cannot doubt that it +will take its place as a standard, not so much because it contains real +solid matter, but that it gives a picture of the whole country. One can +feel that one has seen it (and desperately uncomfortable I felt in going +over some of the bridges and steep slopes), and one REALISES all the +great Physical features. You have in truth reason to be proud; consider +how few travellers there have been with a profound knowledge of one +subject, and who could in addition make a map (which, by-the-way, is one +of the most distinct ones I ever looked at, wherefore blessings alight +on your head), and study geology and meteorology! I thought I knew you +very well, but I had not the least idea that your Travels were your +hobby; but I am heartily glad of it, for I feel sure that the time will +never come when you and Mrs. Hooker will not be proud to look back at +the labour bestowed on these beautiful volumes. + +Your letter, received this morning, has interested me EXTREMELY, and I +thank you sincerely for telling me your old thoughts and aspirations. +All that you say makes me even more deeply gratified by the Dedication; +but you, bad man, do you remember asking me how I thought Lyell +would like the work to be dedicated to him? I remember how strongly I +answered, and I presume you wanted to know what I should feel; whoever +would have dreamed of your being so crafty? I am glad you have shown a +little bit of ambition about your Journal, for you must know that I have +often abused you for not caring more about fame, though, at the same +time, I must confess, I have envied and honoured you for being so free +(too free, as I have always thought) of this "last infirmity of, etc." +Do not say, "there never was a past hitherto to me--the phantom was +always in view," for you will soon find other phantoms in view. How well +I know this feeling, and did formerly still more vividly; but I think +my stomach has much deadened my former pure enthusiasm for science and +knowledge. + +I am writing an unconscionably long letter, but I must return to the +Journals, about which I have hardly said anything in detail. Imprimis, +the illustrations and maps appear to me the best I have ever seen; the +style seems to me everywhere perfectly clear (how rare a virtue), and +some passages really eloquent. How excellently you have described the +upper valleys, and how detestable their climate; I felt quite anxious on +the slopes of Kinchin that dreadful snowy night. Nothing has astonished +me more than your physical strength; and all those devilish bridges! +Well, thank goodness! It is not VERY likely that I shall ever go to +the Himalaya. Much in a scientific point of view has interested me, +especially all about those wonderful moraines. I certainly think I quite +realise the valleys, more vividly perhaps from having seen the valleys +of Tahiti. I cannot doubt that the Himalaya owe almost all their contour +to running water, and that they have been subjected to such action +longer than any mountains (as yet described) in the world. What a +contrast with the Andes! + +Perhaps you would like to hear the very little that I can say per +contra, and this only applied to the beginning, in which (as it struck +me) there was not FLOW enough till you get to Mirzapore on the Ganges +(but the Thugs were MOST interesting), where the stream seemed to +carry you on more equably with longer sentences and longer facts and +discussions, etc. In another edition (and I am delighted to hear that +Murray has sold all off), I would consider whether this part could not +be condensed. Even if the meteorology was put in foot-notes, I think it +would be an improvement. All the world is against me, but it makes me +very unhappy to see the Latin names all in Italics, and all mingled with +English names in Roman type; but I must bear this burden, for all men of +Science seem to think it would corrupt the Latin to dress it up in the +same type as poor old English. Well, I am very proud of MY book; but +there is one bore, that I do not much like asking people whether they +have seen it, and how they like it, for I feel so much identified with +it, that such questions become rather personal. Hence, I cannot tell you +the opinion of others. You will have seen a fairly good review in the +'Athenaeum.' + +What capital news from Tasmania: it really is a very remarkable and +creditable fact to the Colony. (This refers to an unsolicited grant by +the Colonial Government towards the expenses of Sir J. Hooker's 'Flora +of Tasmania.') I am always building veritable castles in the air about +emigrating, and Tasmania has been my head-quarters of late; so that I +feel very proud of my adopted country: is really a very singular and +delightful fact, contrasted with the slight appreciation of science in +the old country. I thank you heartily for your letter this morning, and +for all the gratification your Dedication has given me; I could not help +thinking how much -- would despise you for not having dedicated it to +some great man, who would have done you and it some good in the eyes +of the world. Ah, my dear Hooker, you were very soft on this head, and +justify what I say about not caring enough for your own fame. I wish +I was in every way more worthy of your good opinion. Farewell. +How pleasantly Mrs. Hooker and you must rest from one of your many +labours... + +Again farewell: I have written a wonderfully long letter. Adios, and God +bless you. + +My dear Hooker, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I have just looked over my rambling letter; I see that I have not +at all expressed my strong admiration at the amount of scientific work, +in so many branches, which you have effected. It is really grand. You +have a right to rest on your oars; or even to say, if it so pleases you, +that "your meridian is past;" but well assured do I feel that the day of +your reputation and general recognition has only just begun to dawn. + + +[In September, 1854, his Cirripede work was practically finished, and he +wrote to Dr. Hooker: + +"I have been frittering away my time for the last several weeks in a +wearisome manner, partly idleness, and odds and ends, and sending ten +thousand Barnacles out of the house all over the world. But I shall now +in a day or two begin to look over my old notes on species. What a deal +I shall have to discuss with you; I shall have to look sharp that I do +not 'progress' into one of the greatest bores in life, to the few like +you with lots of knowledge."] + + + + +CHAPTER 1.X. -- THE GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' + +[The growth of the 'Origin of Species' has been briefly described in my +father's words (above). The letters given in the present and following +chapters will illustrate and amplify the history thus sketched out.] + +It is clear that in the early part of the voyage of the "Beagle" he did +not feel it inconsistent with his views to express himself in thoroughly +orthodox language as to the genesis of new species. Thus in 1834 he +wrote (MS. Journals, page 468.) at Valparaiso: "I have already found +beds of recent shells yet retaining their colour at an elevation of 1300 +feet, and beneath, the level country is strewn with them. It seems not a +very improbable conjecture that the want of animals may be owing to none +having been created since this country was raised from the sea." + +This passage does not occur in the published 'Journal,' the last proof +of which was finished in 1837; and this fact harmonizes with the change +we know to have been proceeding in his views. But in the published +'Journal' we find passages which show a point of view more in accordance +with orthodox theological natural history than with his later views. +Thus, in speaking of the birds Synallaxis and Scytalopus (1st edition +page 353; 2nd edition page 289), he says: "When finding, as in this +case, any animal which seems to play so insignificant a part in the +great scheme of nature, one is apt to wonder why a distinct species +should have been created." + +A comparison of the two editions of the 'Journal' is instructive, as +giving some idea of the development of his views on evolution. It does +not give us a true index of the mass of conjecture which was taking +shape in his mind, but it shows us that he felt sure enough of the truth +of his belief to allow a stronger tinge of evolution to appear in the +second edition. He has mentioned in the Autobiography that it was not +until he read Malthus that he got a clear view of the potency of natural +selection. This was in 1838--a year after he finished the first edition +(it was not published until 1839), and five years before the second +edition was written (1845). Thus the turning-point in the formation of +his theory took place between the writing of the two editions. + +I will first give a few passages which are practically the same in +the two editions, and which are, therefore, chiefly of interest as +illustrating his frame of mind in 1837. + +The case of the two species of Molothrus (1st edition page 61; 2nd +edition page 53) must have been one of the earliest instances noticed +by him of the existence of representative species--a phenomenon which we +know ('Autobiography,') struck him deeply. The discussion on introduced +animals (1st edition page 139; 2nd edition page 120) shows how much he +was impressed by the complicated interdependence of the inhabitants of a +given area. + +An analogous point of view is given in the discussion (1st edition +page 98; 2nd edition page 85) of the mistaken belief that large animals +require, for their support, a luxuriant vegetation; the incorrectness of +this view is illustrated by the comparison of the fauna of South +Africa and South America, and the vegetation of the two continents. +The interest of the discussion is that it shows clearly our a priori +ignorance of the conditions of life suitable to any organism. + +There is a passage which has been more than once quoted as bearing +on the origin of his views. It is where he discusses the striking +difference between the species of mice on the east and west of the Andes +(1st edition page 399): "Unless we suppose the same species to have been +created in two different countries, we ought not to expect any closer +similarity between the organic beings on the opposite sides of the +Andes than on shores separated by a broad strait of the sea." In the +2nd edition page 327, the passage is almost verbally identical, and is +practically the same. + +There are other passages again which are more strongly evolutionary in +the 2nd edition, but otherwise are similar to the corresponding passages +in the 1st edition. Thus, in describing the blind Tuco-tuco (1st edition +page 60; 2nd edition page 52), in the first edition he makes no allusion +to what Lamarck might have thought, nor is the instance used as an +example of modification, as in the edition of 1845. + +A striking passage occurs in the 2nd edition (page 173) on the +relationship between the "extinct edentata and the living sloths, +ant-eaters, and armadillos." + +"This wonderful relationship in the same continent between the dead +and the living, will, I do not doubt, hereafter throw more light on the +appearance of organic beings on our earth, and their disappearance from +it, than any other class of facts." + +This sentence does not occur in the 1st edition, but he was evidently +profoundly struck by the disappearance of the gigantic forerunners of +the present animals. The difference between the discussions in the two +editions is most instructive. In both, our ignorance of the conditions +of life is insisted on, but in the second edition, the discussion is +made to led up to a strong statement of the intensity of the struggle +for life. Then follows a comparison between rarity (In the second +edition, page 146, the destruction of Niata cattle by droughts is +given as a good example of our ignorance of the causes of rarity or +extinction. The passage does not occur in the first edition.) and +extinction, which introduces the idea that the preservation and +dominance of existing species depend on the degree in which they are +adapted to surrounding conditions. In the first edition, he is merely +"tempted to believe in such simple relations as variation of climate +and food, or introduction of enemies, or the increased number of other +species, as the cause of the succession of races." But finally (1st +edition) he ends the chapter by comparing the extinction of a species to +the exhaustion and disappearance of varieties of fruit-trees: as if he +thought that a mysterious term of life was impressed on each species at +its creation. + +The difference of treatment of the Galapagos problem is of some +interest. In the earlier book, the American type of the productions +of the islands is noticed, as is the fact that the different islands +possess forms specially their own, but the importance of the whole +problem is not so strongly put forward. Thus, in the first edition, he +merely says:-- + +"This similarity of type between distant islands and continents, while +the species are distinct, has scarcely been sufficiently noticed. The +circumstance would be explained, according to the views of some authors, +by saying that the creative power had acted according to the same law +over a wide area."--(1st edition page 474.) + +This passage is not given in the second edition, and the generalisations +on geographical distribution are much wider and fuller. Thus he asks:-- + +"Why were their aboriginal inhabitants, associated...in different +proportions both in kind and number from those on the Continent, and +therefore acting on each other in a different manner--why were they +created on American types of organisation?"--(2nd edition page 393.) + +The same difference of treatment is shown elsewhere in this chapter. +Thus the gradation in the form of beak presented by the thirteen allied +species of finch is described in the first edition (page 461) without +comment. Whereas in the second edition (page 380) he concludes:-- + +"One might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this +Archipelago, one species has been taken and modified for different +ends." + +On the whole it seems to me remarkable that the difference between the +two editions is not greater; it is another proof of the author's caution +and self-restraint in the treatment of his theory. After reading the +second edition of the 'Journal,' we find with a strong sense of surprise +how far developed were his views in 1837. We are enabled to form +an opinion on this point from the note-books in which he wrote down +detached thoughts and queries. I shall quote from the first note-book, +completed between July 1837 and February 1838: and this is the more +worth doing, as it gives us an insight into the condition of his +thoughts before the reading of Malthus. The notes are written in his +most hurried style, so many words being omitted, that it is often +difficult to arrive at the meaning. With a few exceptions (indicated by +square brackets) (In the extracts from the note-book ordinary brackets +represent my father's parentheses.) I have printed the extracts as +written; the punctuation, however, has been altered, and a few obvious +slips corrected where it seemed necessary. The extracts are not +printed in order, but are roughly classified. (On the first page of the +note-book, is written "Zoonomia"; this seems to refer to the first few +pages in which reproduction by gemmation is discussed, and where the +"Zoonomia" is mentioned. Many pages have been cut out of the note-book, +probably for use in writing the Sketch of 1844, and these would have no +doubt contained the most interesting extracts.) + +"Propagation explains why modern animals same type as extinct, which is +law, almost proved." + +"We can see why structure is common in certain countries when we can +hardly believe necessary, but if it was necessary to one forefather, +the result would be as it is. Hence antelopes at Cape of Good Hope; +marsupials at Australia." + +"Countries longest separated greatest differences--if separated +from immersage, possibly two distinct types, but each having its +representatives--as in Australia." + +"Will this apply to whole organic kingdom when our planet first cooled?" + +The two following extracts show that he applied the theory of evolution +to the "whole organic kingdom" from plants to man. + +"If we choose to let conjecture run wild, then animals, our fellow +brethren in pain, disease, death, suffering and famine--our slaves in +the most laborious works, our companions in our amusements--they may +partake [of?] our origin in one common ancestor--we may be all melted +together." + +"The different intellects of man and animals not so great as between +living things without thought (plants), and living things with thought +(animals)." + +The following extracts are again concerned with an a priori view of +the probability of the origin of species by descent ["propagation," he +called it.]. + +"The tree of life should perhaps be called the coral of life, base of +branches dead; so that passages cannot be seen." + +"There never may have been grade between pig and tapir, yet from some +common progenitor. Now if the intermediate ranks had produced infinite +species, probably the series would have been more perfect." + +At another place, speaking of intermediate forms he says:-- + +"Cuvier objects to propagation of species by saying, why have not some +intermediate forms been discovered between Palaeotherium, Megalonyx, +Mastodon, and the species now living? Now according to my view (in +S. America) parent of all Armadilloes might be brother to +Megatherium--uncle now dead." + +Speaking elsewhere of intermediate forms, he remarks:-- + +"Opponents will say--'show them me.' I will answer yes, if you will show +me every step between bulldog and greyhound." + +Here we see that the case of domestic animals was already present in his +mind as bearing on the production of natural species. The disappearance +of intermediate forms naturally leads up to the subject of extinction, +with which the next extract begins. + +"It is a wonderful fact, horse, elephant, and mastodon, dying out about +same time in such different quarters. + +"Will Mr. Lyell say that some [same?] circumstance killed it over a +tract from Spain to South America?--(Never). + +"They die, without they change, like golden pippins; it is a GENERATION +OF SPECIES like generation OF INDIVIDUALS. + +"Why does individual die? To perpetuate certain peculiarities (therefore +adaptation), and obliterate accidental varieties, and to accommodate +itself to change (for, of course, change, even in varieties, is +accommodation). Now this argument applies to species. + +"If individual cannot propagate he has no issue--so with species. + +"If SPECIES generate other SPECIES, their race is not utterly cut off:-- +like golden pippins, if produced by seed, go on--otherwise all die. + +"The fossil horse generated, in South Africa, zebra--and +continued--perished in America. + +"All animals of same species are bound together just like buds of +plants, which die at one time, though produced either sooner or later. +Prove animals like plants--trace gradation between associated and +non-associated animals--and the story will be complete." + +Here we have the view already alluded to of a term of life impressed on +a species. + +But in the following note we get extinction connected with unfavourable +variation, and thus a hint is given of natural selection: + +"With respect to extinction, we can easily see that [a] variety of [the] +ostrich (Petise), may not be well adapted, and thus perish out; or, on +the other hand, like Orpheus [a Galapagos bird], being favourable, many +might be produced. This requires [the] principle that the permanent +variations produced by confined breeding and changing circumstances are +continued and produced according to the adaptation of such circumstance, +and therefore that death of species is a consequence (contrary to what +would appear from America) of non-adaptation of circumstances." + +The first part of the next extract has a similar bearing. The end of the +passage is of much interest, as showing that he had at this early date +visions of the far-reaching character of the theory of evolution:-- + +"With belief of transmutation and geographical grouping, we are lead to +endeavour to discover CAUSES of change; the manner of adaptation (wish +of parents??), instinct and structure becomes full of speculation and +lines of observation. View of generation being condensation (I imagine +him to mean that each generation is "condensed" to a small number of +the best organized individuals.) test of highest organisation +intelligible...My theory would give zest to recent and fossil +comparative anatomy; it would lead to the study of instincts, heredity, +and mind-heredity, whole [of] metaphysics. + +"It would lead to closest examination of hybridity and generation, +causes of change in order to know what we have come from and to what we +tend--to what circumstances favour crossing and what prevents it--this, +and direct examination of direct passages of structure in species, might +lead to laws of change, which would then be [the] main object of study, +to guide our speculations." + +The following two extracts have a similar interest; the second is +especially interesting, as it contains the germ of concluding sentence +of the 'Origin of Species': ('Origin of Species' (1st edition), page +490:-- "There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several +powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; +and that whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed +law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful +and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.")-- + +"Before the attraction of gravity discovered it might have been said it +was as great a difficulty to account for the movement of all [planets] +by one law, as to account for each separate one; so to say that all +mammalia were born from one stock, and since distributed by such means +as we can recognise, may be thought to explain nothing. + +"Astronomers might formerly have said that God fore-ordered each planet +to move in its particular destiny. In the same manner God orders each +animal created with certain forms in certain countries, but how much +more simple and sublime [a] power--let attraction act according to +certain law, such are inevitable consequences--let animals be created, +then by the fixed laws of generation, such will be their successors. + +"Let the powers of transportal be such, and so will be the forms of one +country to another--let geological changes go at such a rate, so will be +the number and distribution of the species!!" + +The three next extracts are of miscellaneous interest:-- + +"When one sees nipple on man's breast, one does not say some use, but +sex not having been determined--so with useless wings under elytra of +beetles--born from beetles with wings, and modified--if simple creation +merely, would have been born without them." + +"In a decreasing population at any one moment fewer closely related +(few species of genera); ultimately few genera (for otherwise the +relationship would converge sooner), and lastly, perhaps, some one +single one. Will not this account for the odd genera with few species +which stand between great groups, which we are bound to consider the +increasing ones?" + +The last extract which I shall quote gives the germ of his theory of +the relation between alpine plants in various parts of the world, in the +publication of which he was forestalled by E. Forbes (see volume i. +page 72). He says, in the 1837 note-book, that alpine plants, "formerly +descended lower, therefore [they are] species of lower genera altered, +or northern plants." + +When we turn to the Sketch of his theory, written in 1844 (still +therefore before the second edition of the 'Journal' was completed), we +find an enormous advance made on the note-book of 1837. The Sketch is +an fact a surprisingly complete presentation of the argument afterwards +familiar to us in the 'Origin of Species.' There is some obscurity as to +the date of the short Sketch which formed the basis of the 1844 Essay. +We know from his own words (volume i., page 68), that it was in June +1842 that he first wrote out a short sketch of his views. (This version +I cannot find, and it was probably destroyed, like so much of his MS., +after it had been enlarged and re-copied in 1844.) This statement is +given with so much circumstance that it is almost impossible to suppose +that it contains an error of date. It agrees also with the following +extract from his Diary. + +1842. May 18th. Went to Maer. + +"June 15th to Shrewsbury, and on 18th to Capel Curig. During my stay at +Maer and Shrewsbury (five years after commencement) wrote pencil-sketch +of species theory." + +Again in the introduction to the 'Origin,' page 1, he writes, "after +an interval of five years' work" [from 1837, i.e. in 1842], "I allowed +myself to speculate on the subject, and drew up some short notes." + +Nevertheless in the letter signed by Sir C. Lyell and Sir J.D. Hooker, +which serves as an introduction to the joint paper of Messrs. C. Darwin +and A. Wallace on the 'Tendency of Species to form Varieties,' ('Linn. +Soc. Journal,' 1858, page 45.) the essay of 1844 (extracts from which +form part of the paper) is said to have been "sketched in 1839, and +copied in 1844." This statement is obviously made on the authority of +a note written in my father's hand across the Table of Contents of the +1844 Essay. It is to the following effect: "This was sketched in 1839, +and copied out in full, as here written and read by you in 1844." I +conclude that this note was added in 1858, when the MS. was sent to Sir +J.D. Hooker (see Letter of June 29, 1858, page 476). There is also some +further evidence on this side of the question. Writing to Mr. Wallace +(January 25, 1859) my father says:-- "Every one whom I have seen +has thought your paper very well written and interesting. It puts my +extracts (written in 1839, now just twenty years ago!), which I must say +in apology were never for an instant intended for publication; into the +shade." The statement that the earliest sketch was written in 1839 has +been frequently made in biographical notices of my father, no doubt +on the authority of the 'Linnean Journal,' but it must, I think, be +considered as erroneous. The error may possibly have arisen in this way. +In writing on the Table of Contents of the 1844 MS. that it was sketched +in 1839, I think my father may have intended to imply that the framework +of the theory was clearly thought out by him at that date. In the +Autobiography he speaks of the time, "about 1839, when the theory was +clearly conceived," meaning, no doubt, the end of 1838 and beginning of +1839, when the reading of Malthus had given him the key to the idea of +natural selection. But this explanation does not apply to the letter to +Mr. Wallace; and with regard to the passage (My father certainly saw the +proofs of the paper, for he added a foot-note apologising for the style +of the extracts, on the ground that the "work was never intended for +publication.") in the 'Linnean Journal' it is difficult to understand +how it should have been allowed to remain as it now stands, conveying, +as it clearly does, the impression that 1839 was the date of his +earliest written sketch. + +The sketch of 1844 is written in a clerk's hand, in two hundred and +thirty-one pages folio, blank leaves being alternated with the MS. +with a view to amplification. The text has been revised and corrected, +criticisms being pencilled by himself on the margin. It is divided into +two parts: I. "On the variation of Organic Beings under Domestication +and in their Natural State." II. "On the Evidence favourable and opposed +to the view that Species are naturally formed races descended from +common Stocks." The first part contains the main argument of the 'Origin +of Species.' It is founded, as is the argument of that work, on the +study of domestic animals, and both the Sketch and the 'Origin' open +with a chapter on variation under domestication and on artificial +selection. This is followed, in both essays, by discussions on variation +under nature, on natural selection, and on the struggle for life. Here, +any close resemblance between the two essays with regard to arrangement +ceases. Chapter III. of the Sketch, which concludes the first part, +treats of the variations which occur in the instincts and habits of +animals, and thus corresponds to some extent with Chapter VII. of the +'Origin' (1st edition). It thus forms a complement to the chapters which +deal with variation in structure. It seems to have been placed thus +early in the Essay to prevent the hasty rejection of the whole theory by +a reader to whom the idea of natural selection acting on instincts might +seem impossible. This is the more probable, as the Chapter on Instinct +in the 'Origin' is specially mentioned (Introduction, page 5) as one of +the "most apparent and gravest difficulties on the theory." Moreover the +chapter in the Sketch ends with a discussion, "whether any particular +corporeal structures...are so wonderful as to justify the rejection +prima facie of our theory." Under this heading comes the discussion +of the eye, which in the 'Origin' finds its place in Chapter VI. under +"Difficulties of the Theory." The second part seems to have been planned +in accordance with his favourite point of view with regard to his +theory. This is briefly given in a letter to Dr. Asa Gray, November +11th, 1859: "I cannot possibly believe that a false theory would explain +so many classes of facts, as I think it certainly does explain. On these +grounds I drop my anchor, and believe that the difficulties will slowly +disappear." On this principle, having stated the theory in the first +part, he proceeds to show to what extent various wide series of facts +can be explained by its means. + +Thus the second part of the Sketch corresponds roughly to the nine +concluding Chapters of the First Edition of the 'Origin.' But we must +exclude Chapter VII. ('Origin') on Instinct, which forms a chapter in +the first part of the Sketch, and Chapter VIII. ('Origin') on Hybridism, +a subject treated in the Sketch with 'Variation under Nature' in the +first part. + +The following list of the chapters of the second part of the Sketch will +illustrate their correspondence with the final chapters of the 'Origin.' + +Chapter I. "On the kind of intermediateness necessary, and the number +of such intermediate forms." This includes a geological discussion, and +corresponds to parts of Chapters VI. and IX. of the 'Origin.' + +Chapter II. "The gradual appearance and disappearance of organic +beings." Corresponds to Chapter X. of the 'Origin.' + +Chapter III. "Geographical Distribution." Corresponds to Chapters XI. +and XII. of the 'Origin.' + +Chapter IV. "Affinities and Classification of Organic beings." + +Chapter V. "Unity of Type," Morphology, Embryology. + +Chapter VI. Rudimentary Organs. + +These three chapters correspond to Chapter XII. of the 'Origin.' + +Chapter VII. Recapitulation and Conclusion. The final sentence of the +Sketch, which we saw in its first rough form in the Note Book of 1837, +closely resembles the final sentence of the 'Origin,' much of it being +identical. The 'Origin' is not divided into two "Parts," but we see +traces of such a division having been present in the writer's mind, in +this resemblance between the second part of the Sketch and the final +chapters of the 'Origin.' That he should speak ('Origin,' Introduction, +page 5.) of the chapters on transition, on instinct, on hybridism, and +on the geological record, as forming a group, may be due to the division +of his early MS. into two parts. + +Mr. Huxley, who was good enough to read the Sketch at my request, while +remarking that the "main lines of argument," and the illustrations +employed are the same, points out that in the 1844 Essay, "much more +weight is attached to the influence of external conditions in producing +variation, and to the inheritance of acquired habits than in the +Origin.'" + +It is extremely interesting to find in the Sketch the first mention of +principles familiar to us in the 'Origin of Species.' Foremost among +these may be mentioned the principle of Sexual Selection, which +is clearly enunciated. The important form of selection known as +"unconscious," is also given. Here also occurs a statement of the +law that peculiarities tend to appear in the offspring at an age +corresponding to that at which they occurred in the parent. + +Professor Newton, who was so kind as to look through the 1844 +Sketch, tells me that my father's remarks on the migration of +birds, incidentally given in more than one passage, show that he had +anticipated the views of some later writers. + +With regard to the general style of the Sketch, it is not to be expected +that it should have all the characteristics of the 'Origin,' and we +do not, in fact, find that balance and control, that concentration and +grasp, which are so striking in the work of 1859. + +In the Autobiography (page 68, volume 1) my father has stated what +seemed to him the chief flaw of the 1844 Sketch; he had overlooked +"one problem of great importance," the problem of the divergence of +character. This point is discussed in the 'Origin of Species,' but, as +it may not be familiar to all readers, I will give a short account +of the difficulty and its solution. The author begins by stating that +varieties differ from each other less than species, and then goes on: +"Nevertheless, according to my view, varieties are species in process of +formation...How then does the lesser difference between varieties become +augmented into the greater difference between species?" ('Origin,' 1st +edition, page 111.) He shows how an analogous divergence takes place +under domestication where an originally uniform stock of horses has +been split up into race-horses, dray-horses, etc., and then goes on to +explain how the same principle applies to natural species. "From the +simple circumstance that the more diversified the descendants from any +one species become in structure, constitution, and habits, by so much +will they be better enabled to seize on many and widely diversified +places in the polity of nature, and so be enabled to increase in +numbers." + +The principle is exemplified by the fact that if on one plot of ground +a single variety of wheat be sown, and on to another a mixture of +varieties, in the latter case the produce is greater. More individuals +have been able to exist because they were not all of the same variety. +An organism becomes more perfect and more fitted to survive when by +division of labour the different functions of life are performed by +different organs. In the same way a species becomes more efficient +and more able to survive when different sections of the species become +differentiated so as to fill different stations. + +In reading the Sketch of 1844, I have found it difficult to recognise +the absence of any definite statement of the principle of divergence as +a flaw in the Essay. Descent with modification implies divergence, +and we become so habituated to a belief in descent, and therefore in +divergence, that we do not notice the absence of proof that divergence +is in itself an advantage. As shown in the Autobiography, my father in +1876 found it hardly credible that he should have overlooked the problem +and its solution. + +The following letter will be more in place here than its chronological +position, since it shows what was my father's feeling as to the value of +the Sketch at the time of its completion.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MRS. DARWIN. Down, July 5, 1844. + +I have just finished my sketch of my species theory. If, as I believe, +my theory in time be accepted even by one competent judge, it will be a +considerable step in science. + +I therefore write this in case of my sudden death, as my most solemn and +last request, which I am sure you will consider the same as if legally +entered in my will, that you will devote 400 pounds to its publication, +and further, will yourself, or through Hensleigh (Mr. H. Wedgwood.), +take trouble in promoting it. I wish that my sketch be given to some +competent person, with this sum to induce him to take trouble in its +improvement and enlargement. I give to him all my books on Natural +History, which are either scored or have references at the end to the +pages, begging him carefully to look over and consider such passages as +actually bearing, or by possibility bearing, on this subject. I wish you +to make a list of all such books as some temptation to an editor. I +also request that you will hand over [to] him all those scraps roughly +divided in eight or ten brown paper portfolios. The scraps, with copied +quotations from various works, are those which may aid my editor. I also +request that you, or some amanuensis, will aid in deciphering any of +the scraps which the editor may think possibly of use. I leave to the +editor's judgment whether to interpolate these facts in the text, or +as notes, or under appendices. As the looking over the references and +scraps will be a long labour, and as the CORRECTING and enlarging and +altering my sketch will also take considerable time, I leave this sum +of 400 pounds as some remuneration, and any profits from the work. I +consider that for this the editor is bound to get the sketch published +either at a publisher's or his own risk. Many of the scrap in the +portfolios contains mere rude suggestions and early views, now useless, +and many of the facts will probably turn out as having no bearing on my +theory. + +With respect to editors, Mr. Lyell would be the best if he would +undertake it; I believe he would find the work pleasant, and he would +learn some facts new to him. As the editor must be a geologist as well +as a naturalist, the next best editor would be Professor Forbes of +London. The next best (and quite best in many respects) would be +Professor Henslow. Dr. Hooker would be VERY good. The next, Mr. +Strickland. (After Mr. Strickland's name comes the following sentence, +which has been erased but remained legible. "Professor Owen would be +very good; but I presume he would not undertake such a work." If none of +these would undertake it, I would request you to consult with Mr. Lyell, +or some other capable man for some editor, a geologist and naturalist. +Should one other hundred pounds make the difference of procuring a good +editor, request earnestly that you will raise 500 pounds.) + +My remaining collections in Natural History may be given to any one or +any museum where it would be accepted... + +[The following note seems to have formed part of the original letter, +but may have been of later date: + +"Lyell, especially with the aid of Hooker (and of any good zoological +aid), would be best of all. Without an editor will pledge himself to +give up time to it, it would be of no use paying such a sum. + +"If there should be any difficulty in getting an editor who would go +thoroughly into the subject, and think of the bearing of the passages +marked in the books and copied out of scraps of paper, then let my +sketch be published as it is, stating that it was done several years ago +(The words "several years ago and," seem to have been added at a +later date.) and from memory without consulting any works, and with no +intention of publication in its present form." + +The idea that the Sketch of 1844 might remain, in the event of his +death, as the only record of his work, seems to have been long in his +mind, for in August 1854, when he had finished with the Cirripedes, and +was thinking of beginning his "species work," he added on the back of +the above letter, "Hooker by far best man to edit my species volume. +August 1854."] + + + + +CHAPTER 1.XI. -- THE GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' + +LETTERS, 1843-1856. + + +[The history of my father's life is told more completely in his +correspondence with Sir J.D. Hooker than in any other series of letters; +and this is especially true of the history of the growth of the 'Origin +of Species.' This, therefore, seems an appropriate place for the +following notes, which Sir Joseph Hooker has kindly given me. They +give, moreover, an interesting picture of his early friendship with my +father:-- + +"My first meeting with Mr. Darwin was in 1839, in Trafalgar Square. I +was walking with an officer who had been his shipmate for a short time +in the "Beagle" seven years before, but who had not, I believe, since +met him. I was introduced; the interview was of course brief, and the +memory of him that I carried away and still retain was that of a rather +tall and rather broad-shouldered man, with a slight stoop, an agreeable +and animated expression when talking, beetle brows, and a hollow +but mellow voice; and that his greeting of his old acquaintance was +sailor-like--that is, delightfully frank and cordial. I observed him +well, for I was already aware of his attainments and labours, derived +from having read various proof-sheets of his then unpublished 'Journal.' +These had been submitted to Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) Lyell by Mr. +Darwin, and by him sent to his father, Ch. Lyell, Esq., of Kinnordy, who +(being a very old friend of my father and taking a kind interest in my +projected career as a naturalist) had allowed me to peruse them. At +this time I was hurrying on my studies, so as to take my degree before +volunteering to accompany Sir James Ross in the Antarctic Expedition, +which had just been determined on by the Admiralty; and so pressed for +time was I, that I used to sleep with the sheets of the 'Journal' +under my pillow, that I might read them between waking and rising. They +impressed me profoundly, I might say despairingly, with the variety of +acquirements, mental and physical, required in a naturalist who should +follow in Darwin's footsteps, whilst they stimulated me to enthusiasm in +the desire to travel and observe. + +"It has been a permanent source of happiness to me that I knew so much +of Mr. Darwin's scientific work so many years before that intimacy began +which ripened into feelings as near to those of reverence for his life, +works, and character as is reasonable and proper. It only remains to +add to this little episode that I received a copy of the 'Journal' +complete,--a gift from Mr. Lyell,--a few days before leaving England. + +"Very soon after the return of the Antarctic Expedition my +correspondence with Mr. Darwin began (December, 1843) by his sending me +a long letter, warmly congratulating me on my return to my family +and friends, and expressing a wish to hear more of the results of the +expedition, of which he had derived some knowledge from private letters +of my own (written to or communicated through Mr. Lyell). Then, plunging +at once into scientific matters, he directed my attention to the +importance of correlating the Fuegian Flora with that of the Cordillera +and of Europe, and invited me to study the botanical collections which +he had made in the Galapagos Islands, as well as his Patagonian and +Fuegian plants. + +"This led to me sending him an outline of the conclusions I had formed +regarding the distribution of plants in the southern regions, and the +necessity of assuming the destruction of considerable areas of land +to account for the relations of the flora of the so-called Antarctic +Islands. I do not suppose that any of these ideas were new to him, but +they led to an animated and lengthy correspondence full of instruction." + +Here follows the letter (1843) to Sir J.D. Hooker above referred to.] + + +My dear Sir, + +I had hoped before this time to have had the pleasure of seeing you +and congratulating you on your safe return from your long and glorious +voyage. But as I seldom go to London, we may not yet meet for some +time--without you are led to attend the Geological Meetings. + +I am anxious to know what you intend doing with all your materials--I +had so much pleasure in reading parts of some of your letters, that I +shall be very sorry if I, as one of the public, have no opportunity of +reading a good deal more. I suppose you are very busy now and full of +enjoyment: how well I remember the happiness of my first few months of +England--it was worth all the discomforts of many a gale! But I have run +from the subject, which made me write, of expressing my pleasure that +Henslow (as he informed me a few days since by letter) has sent to you +my small collection of plants. You cannot think how much pleased I am, +as I feared they would have been all lost, and few as they are, they +cost me a good deal of trouble. There are a very few notes, which I +believe Henslow has got, describing the habitats, etc., of some few of +the more remarkable plants. I paid particular attention to the Alpine +flowers of Tierra del Fuego, and I am sure I got every plant which was +in flower in Patagonia at the seasons when we were there. I have long +thought that some general sketch of the Flora of the point of land, +stretching so far into the southern seas, would be very curious. Do make +comparative remarks on the species allied to the European species, for +the advantage of botanical ignoramuses like myself. It has often struck +me as a curious point to find out, whether there are many European +genera in Tierra del Fuego which are not found along the ridge of the +Cordillera; the separation in such case would be so enormous. Do +point out in any sketch you draw up, what genera are American and what +European, and how great the differences of the species are, when the +genera are European, for the sake of the ignoramuses. + +I hope Henslow will send you my Galapagos plants (about which Humboldt +even expressed to me considerable curiosity)--I took much pains in +collecting all I could. A Flora of this archipelago would, I suspect, +offer a nearly parallel case to that of St. Helena, which has so long +excited interest. Pray excuse this long rambling note, and believe me, +my dear sir, yours very sincerely, + +C. DARWIN. + +Will you be so good as to present my respectful compliments to Sir W. +Hooker. + + +[Referring to Sir J.D. Hooker's work on the Galapagos Flora, my father +wrote in 1846: + +"I cannot tell you how delighted and astonished I am at the results +of your examination; how wonderfully they support my assertion on the +differences in the animals of the different islands, about which I have +always been fearful." + + +Again he wrote (1849):-- + +"I received a few weeks ago your Galapagos papers (These papers include +the results of Sir J.D. Hooker's examination of my father's Galapagos +plants, and were published by the Linnean Society in 1849.), and I have +read them since being here. I really cannot express too strongly my +admiration of the geographical discussion: to my judgment it is a +perfect model of what such a paper should be; it took me four days to +read and think over. How interesting the Flora of the Sandwich Islands +appears to be, how I wish there were materials for you to treat its +flora as you have done the Galapagos. In the Systematic paper I was +rather disappointed in not finding general remarks on affinities, +structures, etc., such as you often give in conversation, and such as +De Candolle and St. Hilaire introduced in almost all their papers, and +which make them interesting even to a non-Botanist." + +"Very soon afterwards [continues Sir J.D. Hooker] in a letter dated +January 1844, the subject of the 'Origin of Species' was brought forward +by him, and I believe that I was the first to whom he communicated +his then new ideas on the subject, and which being of interest as +a contribution to the history of Evolution, I here copy from his +letter":--] + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [January 11th, 1844.] + +Besides a general interest about the southern lands, I have been now +ever since my return engaged in a very presumptuous work, and I know +no one individual who would not say a very foolish one. I was so struck +with the distribution of the Galapagos organisms, etc. etc., and with +the character of the American fossil mammifers, etc. etc., that I +determined to collect blindly every sort of fact, which could bear +any way on what are species. I have read heaps of agricultural and +horticultural books, and have never ceased collecting facts. At last +gleams of light have come, and I am almost convinced (quite contrary to +the opinion I started with) that species are not (it is like confessing +a murder) immutable. Heaven forfend me from Lamarck nonsense of a +"tendency to progression," "adaptations from the slow willing of +animals," etc.! But the conclusions I am led to are not widely different +from his; though the means of change are wholly so. I think I have +found out (here's presumption!) the simple way by which species become +exquisitely adapted to various ends. You will now groan, and think to +yourself, "on what a man have I been wasting my time and writing to." I +should, five years ago, have thought so... + + +[The following letter written on February 23, 1844, shows that the +acquaintanceship with Sir J.D. Hooker was then fast ripening into +friendship. The letter is chiefly of interest as showing the sort of +problems then occupying my father's mind:] + +Dear Hooker, + +I hope you will excuse the freedom of my address, but I feel that as +co-circum-wanderers and as fellow labourers (though myself a very weak +one) we may throw aside some of the old-world formality...I have just +finished a little volume on the volcanic islands which we visited. I do +not know how far you care for dry simple geology, but I hope you will +let me send you a copy. I suppose I can send it from London by common +coach conveyance. + +...I am going to ask you some MORE questions, though I daresay, without +asking them, I shall see answers in your work, when published, which +will be quite time enough for my purposes. First for the Galapagos, you +will see in my Journal, that the Birds, though peculiar species, have a +most obvious S. American aspect: I have just ascertained the same thing +holds good with the sea-shells. It is so with those plants which are +peculiar to this archipelago; you state that their numerical proportions +are continental (is not this a very curious fact?) but are they related +in forms to S. America. Do you know of any other case of an archipelago, +with the separate islands possessing distinct representative species? +I have always intended (but have not yet done so) to examine Webb +and Berthelot on the Canary Islands for this object. Talking with +Mr. Bentham, he told me that the separate islands of the Sandwich +Archipelago possessed distinct representative species of the same genera +of Labiatae: would not this be worth your enquiry? How is it with the +Azores; to be sure the heavy western gales would tend to diffuse the +same species over that group. + +I hope you will (I dare say my hope is quite superfluous) attend to this +general kind of affinity in isolated islands, though I suppose it is +more difficult to perceive this sort of relation in plants, than in +birds or quadrupeds, the groups of which are, I fancy, rather more +confined. Can St. Helena be classed, though remotely, either with Africa +or S. America? From some facts, which I have collected, I have been led +to conclude that the fauna of mountains are EITHER remarkably similar +(sometimes in the presence of the same species and at other times +of same genera), OR that they are remarkably dissimilar; and it has +occurred to me that possibly part of this peculiarity of the St. Helena +and Galapagos floras may be attributed to a great part of these two +Floras being mountain Floras. I fear my notes will hardly serve to +distinguish much of the habitats of the Galapagos plants, but they may +in some cases; most, if not all, of the green, leafy plants come from +the summits of the islands, and the thin brown leafless plants come from +the lower arid parts: would you be so kind as to bear this remark in +mind, when examining my collection. + +I will trouble you with only one other question. In discussion with Mr. +Gould, I found that in most of the genera of birds which range over the +whole or greater part of the world, the individual species have wider +ranges, thus the Owl is mundane, and many of the species have very wide +ranges. So I believe it is with land and fresh-water shells--and I might +adduce other cases. Is it not so with Cryptogamic plants; have not most +of the species wide ranges, in those genera which are mundane? I do not +suppose that the converse holds, viz.--that when a species has a +wide range, its genus also ranges wide. Will you so far oblige me by +occasionally thinking over this? It would cost me vast trouble to get a +list of mundane phanerogamic genera and then search how far the species +of these genera are apt to range wide in their several countries; but +you might occasionally, in the course of your pursuits, just bear this +in mind, though perhaps the point may long since have occurred to you +or other Botanists. Geology is bringing to light interesting facts, +concerning the ranges of shells; I think it is pretty well established, +that according as the geographical range of a species is wide, so is +its persistence and duration in time. I hope you will try to grudge as +little as you can the trouble of my letters, and pray believe me very +truly yours, + +C. DARWIN. + +P.S. I should feel extremely obliged for your kind offer of the sketch +of Humboldt; I venerate him, and after having had the pleasure of +conversing with him in London, I shall still more like to have any +portrait of him. + + +[What follows is quoted from Sir J. Hooker's notes. "The next act in the +drama of our lives opens with personal intercourse. This began with an +invitation to breakfast with him at his brother's (Erasmus Darwin's) +house in Park Street; which was shortly afterwards followed by an +invitation to Down to meet a few brother Naturalists. In the short +intervals of good health that followed the long illnesses which +oftentimes rendered life a burthen to him, between 1844 and 1847, I had +many such invitations, and delightful they were. A more hospitable and +more attractive home under every point of view could not be imagined--of +Society there were most often Dr. Falconer, Edward Forbes, Professor +Bell, and Mr. Waterhouse--there were long walks, romps with the children +on hands and knees, music that haunts me still. Darwin's own hearty +manner, hollow laugh, and thorough enjoyment of home life with friends; +strolls with him all together, and interviews with us one by one in +his study, to discuss questions in any branch of biological or physical +knowledge that we had followed; and which I at any rate always left with +the feeling that I had imparted nothing and carried away more than +I could stagger under. Latterly, as his health became more seriously +affected, I was for days and weeks the only visitor, bringing my work +with me and enjoying his society as opportunity offered. It was an +established rule that he every day pumped me, as he called it, for half +an hour or so after breakfast in his study, when he first brought out +a heap of slips with questions botanical, geographical, etc., for me to +answer, and concluded by telling me of the progress he had made in his +own work, asking my opinion on various points. I saw no more of him till +about noon, when I heard his mellow ringing voice calling my name under +my window--this was to join him in his daily forenoon walk round the +sand-walk. On joining him I found him in a rough grey shooting-coat in +summer, and thick cape over his shoulders in winter, and a stout staff +in his hand; away we trudged through the garden, where there was always +some experiment to visit, and on to the sand-walk, round which a fixed +number of turns were taken, during which our conversation usually ran +on foreign lands and seas, old friends, old books, and things far off to +both mind and eye. + +"In the afternoon there was another such walk, after which he again +retired till dinner if well enough to join the family; if not, he +generally managed to appear in the drawing-room, where seated in his +high chair, with his feet in enormous carpet shoes, supported on a high +stool--he enjoyed the music or conversation of his family." + + +Here follows a series of letters illustrating the growth of my father's +views, and the nature of his work during this period.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [1844]. + +...The conclusion, which I have come at is, that those areas, in which +species are most numerous, have oftenest been divided and isolated from +other areas, united and again divided; a process implying antiquity and +some changes in the external conditions. This will justly sound very +hypothetical. I cannot give my reasons in detail; but the most general +conclusion, which the geographical distribution of all organic beings, +appears to me to indicate, is that isolation is the chief concomitant or +cause of the appearance of NEW forms (I well know there are some staring +exceptions). Secondly, from seeing how often the plants and animals +swarm in a country, when introduced into it, and from seeing what a vast +number of plants will live, for instance in England, if kept FREE FROM +WEEDS, AND NATIVE PLANTS, I have been led to consider that the spreading +and number of the organic beings of any country depend less on its +external features, than on the number of forms, which have been there +originally created or produced. I much doubt whether you will find it +possible to explain the number of forms by proportional differences of +exposure; and I cannot doubt if half the species in any country were +destroyed or had not been created, yet that country would appear to us +fully peopled. With respect to original creation or production of new +forms, I have said that isolation appears the chief element. Hence, +with respect to terrestrial productions, a tract of country, which had +oftenest within the late geological periods subsided and been converted +into islands, and reunited, I should expect to contain most forms. + +But such speculations are amusing only to one self, and in this case +useless, as they do not show any direct line of observation: if I had +seen how hypothetical [is] the little, which I have unclearly written, I +would not have troubled you with the reading of it. Believe me,--at last +not hypothetically, + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, 1844. + +...I forget my last letter, but it must have been a very silly one, as +it seems I gave my notion of the number of species being in great degree +governed by the degree to which the area had been often isolated and +divided; I must have been cracked to have written it, for I have no +evidence, without a person be willing to admit all my views, and then +it does follow; but in my most sanguine moments, all I expect, is that +I shall be able to show even to sound Naturalists, that there are two +sides to the question of the immutability of species;--that facts can be +viewed and grouped under the notion of allied species having descended +from common stocks. With respect to books on this subject, I do not know +of any systematical ones, except Lamarck's, which is veritable rubbish; +but there are plenty, as Lyell, Pritchard, etc., on the view of the +immutability. Agassiz lately has brought the strongest argument in +favour of immutability. Isidore G. St. Hilaire has written some good +Essays, tending towards the mutability-side, in the 'Suites a Buffon,' +entitled "Zoolog. Generale." Is it not strange that the author, of +such a book as the 'Animaux sans Vertebres,' should have written that +insects, which never see their eggs, should WILL (and plants, their +seeds) to be of particular forms, so as to become attached to particular +objects. The other, common (specially Germanic) notion is hardly less +absurd, viz. that climate, food, etc., should make a Pediculus formed to +climb hair, or wood-pecker, to climb trees. I believe all these absurd +views arise, from no one having, as far as I know, approached the +subject on the side of variation under domestication, and having studied +all that is known about domestication. I was very glad to hear your +criticism on island-floras and on non-diffusion of plants: the subject +is too long for a letter: I could defend myself to some considerable +extent, but I doubt whether successfully in your eyes, or indeed in my +own... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [July, 1844]. + +...I am now reading a wonderful book for facts on variation--Bronn, +'Geschichte der Natur.' It is stiff German: it forestalls me, sometimes +I think delightfully, and sometimes cruelly. You will be ten times +hereafter more horrified at me than at H. Watson. I hate arguments from +results, but on my views of descent, really Natural History becomes +a sublimely grand result-giving subject (now you may quiz me for so +foolish an escape of mouth)...I must leave this letter till to-morrow, +for I am tired; but I so enjoy writing to you, that I must inflict a +little more on you. + +Have you any good evidence for absence of insects in small islands? I +found thirteen species in Keeling Atoll. Flies are good fertilizers, +and I have seen a microscopic Thrips and a Cecidomya take flight from +a flower in the direction of another with pollen adhering to them. In +Arctic countries a bee seems to go as far N. as any flower... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Shrewsbury [September, 1845]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I write a line to say that Cosmos (A translation of Humboldt's +'Kosmos.') arrived quite safely [N.B. One sheet came loose in Part I.], +and to thank you for your nice note. I have just begun the introduction, +and groan over the style, which in such parts is full half the battle. +How true many of the remarks are (i.e. as far as I can understand the +wretched English) on the scenery; it is an exact expression of one's own +thoughts. + +I wish I ever had any books to lend you in return for the many you have +lent me... + +All of what you kindly say about my species work does not alter one +iota my long self-acknowledged presumption in accumulating facts and +speculating on the subject of variation, without having worked out my +due share of species. But now for nine years it has been anyhow the +greatest amusement to me. + +Farewell, my dear Hooker, I grieve more than you can well believe, over +our prospect of so seldom meeting. + +I have never perceived but one fault in you, and that you have +grievously, viz. modesty; you form an exception to Sydney Smith's +aphorism, that merit and modesty have no other connection, except in +their first letter. + +Farewell, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS (BLOMEFIELD). Down, October 12th, [1845]. + +My dear Jenyns, + +Thanks for your note. I am sorry to say I have not even the tail-end +of a fact in English Zoology to communicate. I have found that even +trifling observations require, in my case, some leisure and energy, both +of which ingredients I have had none to spare, as writing my Geology +thoroughly expends both. I had always thought that I would keep a +journal and record everything, but in the way I now live I find I +observe nothing to record. Looking after my garden and trees, and +occasionally a very little walk in an idle frame of mind, fills up every +afternoon in the same manner. I am surprised that with all your parish +affairs, you have had time to do all that which you have done. I shall +be very glad to see your little work (Mr. Jenyns' 'Observations in +Natural History.' It is prefaced by an Introduction on "Habits of +observing as connected with the study of Natural History," and followed +by a "Calendar of Periodic Phenomena in Natural History," with "Remarks +on the importance of such Registers." My father seems to be alluding to +this Register in the P.S. to the letter dated October 17, 1846.) (and +proud should I have been if I could have added a single fact to it). +My work on the species question has impressed me very forcibly with +the importance of all such works as your intended one, containing what +people are pleased generally to call trifling facts. These are the facts +which make one understand the working or economy of nature. There is +one subject, on which I am very curious, and which perhaps you may throw +some light on, if you have ever thought on it; namely, what are the +checks and what the periods of life,--by which the increase of any given +species is limited. Just calculate the increase of any bird, if you +assume that only half the young are reared, and these breed: within the +NATURAL (i.e., if free from accidents) life of the parents the number +of individuals will become enormous, and I have been much surprised to +think how great destruction MUST annually or occasionally be falling on +every species, yet the means and period of such destruction is scarcely +perceived by us. + +I have continued steadily reading and collecting facts on variation of +domestic animals and plants, and on the question of what are species. +I have a grand body of facts, and I think I can draw some sound +conclusions. The general conclusions at which I have slowly been driven +from a directly opposite conviction, is that species are mutable, and +that allied species are co-descendants from common stocks. I know how +much I open myself to reproach for such a conclusion, but I have at +least honestly and deliberately come to it. I shall not publish on +this subject for several years. At present I am on the Geology of +South America. I hope to pick up from your book some facts on +slight variations in structure or instincts in the animals of your +acquaintance. + +Believe me, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS (REV. L. BLOMEFIELD). Down, [1845?]. + +My dear Jenyns, + +I am very much obliged to you for the trouble you have taken in having +written me so long a note. The question of where, when, and how +the check to the increase of a given species falls appears to me +particularly interesting, and our difficulty in answering it shows how +really ignorant we are of the lives and habits of our most familiar +species. I was aware of the bare fact of old birds driving away their +young, but had never thought of the effect you so clearly point out, of +local gaps in number being thus immediately filled up. But the original +difficulty remains; for if your farmers had not killed your sparrows +and rooks, what would have become of those which now immigrate into your +parish? in the middle of England one is too far distant from the natural +limits of the rook and sparrow to suppose that the young are thus far +expelled from Cambridgeshire. The check must fall heavily at some time +of each species' life; for, if one calculates that only half the progeny +are reared and bred, how enormous is the increase! One has, however, no +business to feel so much surprise at one's ignorance, when one knows how +impossible it is without statistics to conjecture the duration of life +and percentage of deaths to births in mankind. If it could be shown that +apparently the birds of passage WHICH BREED HERE and increase, return in +the succeeding years in about the same number, whereas those that come +here for their winter and non-breeding season annually, come here with +the same numbers, but return with greatly decreased numbers, one +would know (as indeed seems probable) that the check fell chiefly on +full-grown birds in the winter season, and not on the eggs and very +young birds, which has appeared to me often the most probable period. If +at any time any remarks on this subject should occur to you, I should be +most grateful for the benefit of them. + +With respect to my far distant work on species, I must have expressed +myself with singular inaccuracy if I led you to suppose that I meant +to say that my conclusions were inevitable. They have become so, after +years of weighing puzzles, to myself ALONE; but in my wildest day-dream, +I never expect more than to be able to show that there are two sides to +the question of the immutability of species, i.e. whether species are +DIRECTLY created or by intermediate laws (as with the life and death +of individuals). I did not approach the subject on the side of the +difficulty in determining what are species and what are varieties, but +(though, why I should give you such a history of my doings it would be +hard to say) from such facts as the relationship between the living +and extinct mammifers in South America, and between those living on the +Continent and on adjoining islands, such as the Galapagos. It occured +to me that a collection of all such analogous facts would throw light +either for or against the view of related species being co-descendants +from a common stock. A long searching amongst agricultural and +horticultural books and people makes me believe (I well know how +absurdly presumptuous this must appear) that I see the way in which new +varieties become exquisitely adapted to the external conditions of life +and to other surrounding beings. I am a bold man to lay myself open +to being thought a complete fool, and a most deliberate one. From the +nature of the grounds which make me believe that species are mutable in +form, these grounds cannot be restricted to the closest-allied species; +but how far they extend I cannot tell, as my reasons fall away by +degrees, when applied to species more and more remote from each other. +Pray do not think that I am so blind as not to see that there are +numerous immense difficulties in my notions, but they appear to me less +than on the common view. I have drawn up a sketch and had it copied (in +200 pages) of my conclusions; and if I thought at some future time that +you would think it worth reading, I should, of course, be most thankful +to have the criticism of so competent a critic. Excuse this very long +and egotistical and ill-written letter, which by your remarks you had +led me into, and believe me, + +Yours very truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS (BLOMEFIELD). Down, October 17th, 1846. + +Dear Jenyns, + +I have taken a most ungrateful length of time in thanking you for your +very kind present of your 'Observations.' But I happened to have had in +hand several other books, and have finished yours only a few days ago. +I found it very pleasant reading, and many of your facts interested me +much. I think I was more interested, which is odd, with your notes on +some of the lower animals than on the higher ones. The introduction +struck me as very good; but this is what I expected, for I well remember +being quite delighted with a preliminary essay to the first number of +the 'Annals of Natural History.' I missed one discussion, and think +myself ill-used, for I remember your saying you would make some remarks +on the weather and barometer, as a guide for the ignorant in prediction. +I had also hoped to have perhaps met with some remarks on the amount of +variation in our common species. Andrew Smith once declared he would get +some hundreds of specimens of larks and sparrows from all parts of Great +Britain, and see whether, with finest measurements, he could detect any +proportional variations in beaks or limbs, etc. This point interests me +from having lately been skimming over the absurdly opposite conclusions +of Gloger and Brehm; the one making half-a-dozen species out of every +common bird, and the other turning so many reputed species into one. +Have you ever done anything of this kind, or have you ever studied +Gloger's or Brehm's works? I was interested in your account of the +martins, for I had just before been utterly perplexed by noticing just +such a proceeding as you describe: I counted seven, one day lately, +visiting a single nest and sticking dirt on the adjoining wall. I may +mention that I once saw some squirrels eagerly splitting those little +semi-transparent spherical galls on the back of oak-leaves for the +maggot within; so that they are insectivorous. A Cychrus rostratus once +squirted into my eyes and gave me extreme pain; and I must tell you what +happened to me on the banks of the Cam, in my early entomological days: +under a piece of bark I found two Carabi (I forget which), and caught +one in each hand, when lo and behold I saw a sacred Panagaeus crux +major! I could not bear to give up either of my Carabi, and to lose +Panagaeus was out of the question; so that in despair I gently seized +one of the Carabi between my teeth, when to my unspeakable disgust and +pain the little inconsiderate beast squirted his acid down my throat, +and I lost both Carabi and Panagaeus! I was quite astonished to hear of +a terrestrial Planaria; for about a year or two ago I described in the +'Annals of Natural History' several beautifully coloured terrestrial +species of the Southern Hemisphere, and thought it quite a new fact. +By the way, you speak of a sheep with a broken leg not having flukes: +I have heard my father aver that a fever, or any SERIOUS ACCIDENT, as +a broken limb, will cause in a man all the intestinal worms to be +evacuated. Might not this possibly have been the case with the flukes in +their early state? + +I hope you were none the worse for Southampton (The meeting of the +British Association.); I wish I had seen you looking rather fatter. I +enjoyed my week extremely, and it did me good. I missed you the last few +days, and we never managed to see much of each other; but there were so +many people there, that I for one hardly saw anything of any one. Once +again I thank you very cordially for your kind present, and the pleasure +it has given me, and believe me, + +Ever most truly yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I have quite forgotten to say how greatly interested I was with +your discussion on the statistics of animals: when will Natural History +be so perfect that such points as you discuss will be perfectly known +about any one animal? + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Malvern, June 13 [1849]. + +...At last I am going to press with a small poor first-fruit of my +confounded Cirripedia, viz. the fossil pedunculate cirripedia. You ask +what effect studying species has had on my variation theories; I do not +think much--I have felt some difficulties more. On the other hand, +I have been struck (and probably unfairly from the class) with the +variability of every part in some slight degree of every species. When +the same organ is RIGOROUSLY compared in many individuals, I always find +some slight variability, and consequently that the diagnosis of species +from minute differences is always dangerous. I had thought the same +parts of the same species more resemble (than they do anyhow in +Cirripedia) objects cast in the same mould. Systematic work would be +easy were it not for this confounded variation, which, however, is +pleasant to me as a speculatist, though odious to me as a systematist. +Your remarks on the distinctness (so unpleasant to me) of the Himalayan +Rubi, willows, etc., compared with those of northern [Europe?], etc., +are very interesting; if my rude species-sketch had any SMALL share in +leading you to these observations, it has already done good and ample +service, and may lay its bones in the earth in peace. I never heard +anything so strange as Falconer's neglect of your letters; I am +extremely glad you are cordial with him again, though it must have cost +you an effort. Falconer is a man one must love...May you prosper in +every way, my dear Hooker. + +Your affectionate friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Wednesday [September, n.d.]. + +...Many thanks for your letter received yesterday, which, as always, +set me thinking: I laughed at your attack at my stinginess in changes of +level towards Forbes (Edward Forbes, 1815-1854, born in the Isle of Man. +His best known work was his Report on the distribution of marine animals +at different depths in the Mediterranean. An important memoir of his +is referred to in my father's 'Autobiography.' He held successively the +posts of Curator to the Geological Society's Museum, and Professor of +Natural History in the Museum of Practical Geology; shortly before he +died he was appointed Professor of Natural History in the University +of Edinburgh. He seems to have impressed his contemporaries as a man of +strikingly versatile and vigorous mind. The above allusion to changes of +level refers to Forbes's tendency to explain the facts of geographical +distribution by means of an active geological imagination.), being so +liberal towards myself; but I must maintain, that I have never let down +or upheaved our mother-earth's surface, for the sake of explaining any +one phenomenon, and I trust I have very seldom done so without some +distinct evidence. So I must still think it a bold step (perhaps a +very true one) to sink into the depths of ocean, within the period of +existing species, so large a tract of surface. But there is no amount or +extent of change of level, which I am not fully prepared to admit, but +I must say I should like better evidence, than the identity of a few +plants, which POSSIBLY (I do not say probably) might have been otherwise +transported. Particular thanks for your attempt to get me a copy of +'L'Espece' (Probably Godron's essay, published by the Academy of Nancy +in 1848-49, and afterwards as a separate book in 1859.), and almost +equal thanks for your criticisms on him: I rather misdoubted him, and +felt not much inclined to take as gospel his facts. I find this one of +my greatest difficulties with foreign authors, viz. judging of their +credibility. How painfully (to me) true is your remark, that no one has +hardly a right to examine the question of species who has not minutely +described many. I was, however, pleased to hear from Owen (who is +vehemently opposed to any mutability in species), that he thought it was +a very fair subject, and that there was a mass of facts to be brought to +bear on the question, not hitherto collected. My only comfort is (as I +mean to attempt the subject), that I have dabbled in several branches +of Natural History, and seen good specific men work out my species, and +know something of geology (an indispensable union); and though I shall +get more kicks than half-pennies, I will, life serving, attempt my +work. Lamarck is the only exception, that I can think of, of an accurate +describer of species at least in the Invertebrate Kingdom, who has +disbelieved in permanent species, but he in his absurd though clever +work has done the subject harm, as has Mr. Vestiges, and, as (some +future loose naturalist attempting the same speculations will perhaps +say) has Mr. D... + +C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, September 25th [1853]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have read your paper with great interest; it seems all very clear, and +will form an admirable introduction to the New Zealand Flora, or to any +Flora in the world. How few generalizers there are among systematists; +I really suspect there is something absolutely opposed to each other +and hostile in the two frames of mind required for systematising and +reasoning on large collections of facts. Many of your arguments appear +to me very well put, and, as far as my experience goes, the candid +way in which you discuss the subject is unique. The whole will be very +useful to me whenever I undertake my volume, though parts take the wind +very completely out of my sails; it will be all nuts to me...for I have +for some time determined to give the arguments on BOTH sides (as far as +I could), instead of arguing on the mutability side alone. + +In my own Cirripedial work (by the way, thank you for the dose of soft +solder; it does one--or at least me--a great deal of good)--in my own +work I have not felt conscious that disbelieving in the mere PERMANENCE +of species has made much difference one way or the other; in some few +cases (if publishing avowedly on doctrine of non-permanence), I should +NOT have affixed names, and in some few cases should have affixed +names to remarkable varieties. Certainly I have felt it humiliating, +discussing and doubting, and examining over and over again, when in +my own mind the only doubt has been whether the form varied TO-DAY OR +YESTERDAY (not to put too fine a point on it, as Snagsby (In 'Bleak +House.') would say). After describing a set of forms as distinct +species, tearing up my MS., and making them one species, tearing that +up and making them separate, and then making them one again (which has +happened to me), I have gnashed my teeth, cursed species, and asked what +sin I had committed to be so punished. But I must confess that perhaps +nearly the same thing would have happened to me on any scheme of work. + +I am heartily glad to hear your Journal (Sir J.D. Hooker's 'Himalayan +Journal.') is so much advanced; how magnificently it seems to be +illustrated! An "Oriental Naturalist," with lots of imagination and not +too much regard to facts, is just the man to discuss species! I think +your title of 'A Journal of a Naturalist in the East' very good; but +whether "in the Himalaya" would not be better, I have doubted, for the +East sounds rather vague... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [1853]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have no remarks at all worth sending you, nor, indeed, was it likely +that I should, considering how perfect and elaborated an essay it is. +('New Zealand Flora,' 1853.) As far as my judgment goes, it is the most +important discussion on the points in question ever published. I can say +no more. I agree with almost everything you say; but I require much time +to digest an essay of such quality. It almost made me gloomy, partly +from feeling I could not answer some points which theoretically I should +have liked to have been different, and partly from seeing SO FAR BETTER +DONE than I COULD have done, discussions on some points which I had +intended to have taken up... + +I much enjoyed the slaps you have given to the provincial +species-mongers. I wish I could have been of the slightest use: I have +been deeply interested by the whole essay, and congratulate you on +having produced a memoir which I believe will be memorable. I was deep +in it when your most considerate note arrived, begging me not to hurry. +I thank Mrs. Hooker and yourself most sincerely for your wish to see me. +I will not let another summer pass without seeing you at Kew, for indeed +I should enjoy it much... + +You do me really more honour than I have any claim to, putting me in +after Lyell on ups and downs. In a year or two's time, when I shall be +at my species book (if I do not break down), I shall gnash my teeth and +abuse you for having put so many hostile facts so confoundedly well. + +Ever yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, March 26th [1854]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I had hoped that you would have had a little breathing-time after your +Journal, but this seems to be very far from the case; and I am the +more obliged (and somewhat contrite) for the long letter received this +morning, MOST juicy with news and MOST interesting to me in many ways. I +am very glad indeed to hear of the reforms, etc., in the Royal Society. +With respect to the Club (The Philosophical Club, to which my father was +elected (as Professor Bonney is good enough to inform me) on April 24, +1854. He resigned his membership in 1864. The Club was founded in 1847. +The number of members being limited to 47, it was proposed to christen +it "the Club of 47," but the name was never adopted. The nature of the +Club may be gathered from its first rule: "The purpose of the Club is to +promote as much as possible the scientific objects of the Royal Society; +to facilitate intercourse between those Fellows who are actively engaged +in cultivating the various branches of Natural Science, and who have +contributed to its progress; to increase the attendance at the evening +meetings, and to encourage the contribution and discussion of papers." +The Club met for dinner (at first) at 6, and the chair was to be quitted +at 8.15, it being expected that members would go to the Royal Society. +Of late years the dinner has been at 6.30, the Society meeting in the +afternoon.), I am deeply interested; only two or three days ago, I +was regretting to my wife, how I was letting drop and being dropped by +nearly all my acquaintances, and that I would endeavour to go oftener +to London; I was not then thinking of the Club, which, as far as any one +thing goes, would answer my exact object in keeping up old and making +some new acquaintances. I will therefore come up to London for every +(with rare exceptions) Club-day, and then my head, I think, will allow +me on an average to go to every other meeting. But it is grievous how +often any change knocks me up. I will further pledge myself, as I told +Lyell, to resign after a year, if I did not attend pretty often, so +that I should AT WORST encumber the Club temporarily. If you can get me +elected, I certainly shall be very much pleased. Very many thanks for +answers about Glaciers. I am very glad to hear of the second Edition (Of +the Himalayan Journal.) so very soon; but am not surprised, for I +have heard of several, in our small circle, reading it with very much +pleasure. I shall be curious to hear what Humboldt will say: it will, I +should think, delight him, and meet with more praise from him than any +other book of Travels, for I cannot remember one, which has so many +subjects in common with him. What a wonderful old fellow he is...By the +way, I hope, when you go to Hitcham, towards the end of May, you will be +forced to have some rest. I am grieved to hear that all the bad symptoms +have not left Henslow; it is so strange and new to feel any uneasiness +about his health. I am particularly obliged to you for sending me +Asa Gray's letter; how very pleasantly he writes. To see his and your +caution on the species-question ought to overwhelm me in confusion and +shame; it does make me feel deuced uncomfortable...It is delightful +to hear all that he says on Agassiz: how very singular it is that so +EMINENTLY clever a man, with such IMMENSE knowledge on many branches of +Natural History, should write as he does. Lyell told me that he was so +delighted with one of his (Agassiz) lectures on progressive development, +etc., etc., that he went to him afterwards and told him, "that it was so +delightful, that he could not help all the time wishing it was true." I +seldom see a Zoological paper from North America, without observing the +impress of Agassiz's doctrines--another proof, by the way, of how great +a man he is. I was pleased and surprised to see A. Gray's remarks on +crossing, obliterating varieties, on which, as you know, I have been +collecting facts for these dozen years. How awfully flat I shall feel, +if when I get my notes together on species, etc., etc., the whole thing +explodes like an empty puff-ball. Do not work yourself to death. + +Ever yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, November 5th [1854]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I was delighted to get your note yesterday. I congratulate you very +heartily (On the award to him of the Royal Society's Medal.), and +whether you care much or little, I rejoice to see the highest scientific +judgment-court in Great Britain recognise your claims. I do hope Mrs. +Hooker is pleased, and E. desires me particularly to send her cordial +congratulations ...I pity you from the very bottom of my heart about +your after-dinner speech, which I fear I shall not hear. Without you +have a very much greater soul than I have (and I believe that you have), +you will find the medal a pleasant little stimulus, when work goes +badly, and one ruminates that all is vanity, it is pleasant to have some +tangible proof, that others have thought something of one's labours. + +Good-bye my dear Hooker, I can assure [you] that we both most truly +enjoyed your and Mrs. Hooker's visit here. Farewell. + +My dear Hooker, your sincere friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. March 7 [1855]. + +...I have just finished working well at Wollaston's (Thomas Vernon +Wollaston died (in his fifty-seventh year, as I believe) on January 4, +1878. His health forcing him in early manhood to winter in the south, +he devoted himself to a study of the Coleoptera of Madeira, the Cape +de Verdes, and St. Helena, whence he deduced evidence in support of the +belief in the submerged continent of 'Atlantis.' In an obituary notice +by Mr. Rye ('Nature,' 1878) he is described as working persistently +"upon a broad conception of the science to which he was devoted," while +being at the same time "accurate, elaborate, and precise ad punctum, and +naturally of a minutely critical habit." His first scientific paper was +written when he was an undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge. While +at the University, he was an Associate and afterwards a Member of the +Ray Club: this is a small society which still meets once a week, and +where the undergraduate members, or Associates, receive much kindly +encouragement from their elders.) 'Insecta Maderensia': it is an +ADMIRABLE work. There is a very curious point in the astounding +proportion of Coleoptera that are apterous; and I think I have guessed +the reason, viz., that powers of flight would be injurious to insects +inhabiting a confined locality, and expose them to be blown to the sea: +to test this, I find that the insects inhabiting the Dezerte Grande, a +quite small islet, would be still more exposed to this danger, and here +the proportion of apterous insects is even considerably greater than on +Madeira Proper. Wollaston speaks of Madeira and the other Archipelagoes +as being "sure and certain witnesses of Forbes' old continent," and of +course the Entomological world implicitly follows this view. But to my +eyes it would be difficult to imagine facts more opposed to such a +view. It is really disgusting and humiliating to see directly opposite +conclusions drawn from the same facts. + +I have had some correspondence with Wollaston on this and other +subjects, and I find that he coolly assumes, (1) that formerly insects +possessed greater migratory powers than now, (2) that the old land was +SPECIALLY rich in centres of creation, (3) that the uniting land was +destroyed before the special creations had time to diffuse, and (4) that +the land was broken down before certain families and genera had time +to reach from Europe or Africa the points of land in question. Are not +these a jolly lot of assumptions? and yet I shall see for the next dozen +or score of years Wollaston quoted as proving the former existence of +poor Forbes' Atlantis. + +I hope I have not wearied you, but I thought you would like to hear +about this book, which strikes me as EXCELLENT in its facts, and the +author a most nice and modest man. + +Most truly yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, March 19th [1855]. + +My dear Fox, + +How long it is since we have had any communication, and I really want to +hear how the world goes with you; but my immediate object is to ask you +to observe a point for me, and as I know now you are a very busy man +with too much to do, I shall have a good chance of your doing what I +want, as it would be hopeless to ask a quite idle man. As you have a +Noah's Ark, I do not doubt that you have pigeons. (How I wish by any +chance they were fantails!) Now what I want to know is, at what age +nestling pigeons have their tail feathers sufficiently developed to be +counted. I do not think I ever saw a young pigeon. I am hard at work at +my notes collecting and comparing them, in order in some two or three +years to write a book with all the facts and arguments, which I can +collect, FOR AND VERSUS the immutability of species. I want to get the +young of our domestic breeds, to see how young, and to what degree the +differences appear. I must either breed myself (which is no amusement +but a horrid bore to me) the pigeons or buy their young; and before I go +to a seller, whom I have heard of from Yarrell, I am really anxious +to know something about their development, not to expose my excessive +ignorance, and therefore be excessively liable to be cheated and gulled. +With respect to the ONE point of the tail feathers, it is of course +in relation to the wonderful development of tail feathers in the adult +fantail. If you had any breed of poultry pure, I would beg a chicken +with exact age stated, about a week or fortnight old! To be sent in +a box by post, if you could have the heart to kill one; and secondly, +would let me pay postage...Indeed, I should be very glad to have a +nestling common pigeon sent, for I mean to make skeletons, and have +already just begun comparing wild and tame ducks. And I think the +results rather curious ("I have just been testing practically what +disuse does in reducing parts; I have made skeleton of wild and +tame duck (oh, the smell of well-boiled, high duck!!) and I find the +tame-duck wing ought, according to scale of wild prototype, to have its +two wings 360 grains in weight, but it has it only 317."--A letter to +Sir J. Hooker, 1855.), for on weighing the several bones very carefully, +when perfectly cleaned the proportional weights of the two have greatly +varied, the foot of the tame having largely increased. How I wish I +could get a little wild duck of a week old, but that I know is almost +impossible. + +With respect to ourselves, I have not much to say; we have now a +terribly noisy house with the whooping cough, but otherwise are all +well. Far the greatest fact about myself is that I have at last quite +done with the everlasting barnacles. At the end of the year we had two +of our little boys very ill with fever and bronchitis, and all sorts of +ailments. Partly for amusement, and partly for change of air, we went to +London and took a house for a month, but it turned out a great failure, +for that dreadful frost just set in when we went, and all our children +got unwell, and E. and I had coughs and colds and rheumatism nearly all +the time. We had put down first on our list of things to do, to go and +see Mrs. Fox, but literally after waiting some time to see whether the +weather would not improve, we had not a day when we both could go out. + +I do hope before very long you will be able to manage to pay us a visit. +Time is slipping away, and we are getting oldish. Do tell us about +yourself and all your large family. + +I know you will help me IF YOU CAN with information about the young +pigeons; and anyhow do write before very long. + +My dear Fox, your sincere old friend, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Amongst all sorts of odds and ends, with which I am amusing +myself, I am comparing the seeds of the variations of plants. I had +formerly some wild cabbage seeds, which I gave to some one, was it to +you? It is a THOUSAND to one it was thrown away, if not I should be very +glad of a pinch of it. + + +[The following extract from a letter to Mr. Fox (March 27th, 1855) +refers to the same subject as the last letter, and gives some account +of the "species work:" "The way I shall kill young things will be to put +them under a tumbler glass with a teaspoon of ether or chloroform, the +glass being pressed down on some yielding surface, and leave them for an +hour or two, young have such power of revivication. (I have thus killed +moths and butterflies.) The best way would be to send them as you +procure them, in pasteboard chip-box by post, on which you could write +and just tie up with string; and you will REALLY make me happier by +allowing me to keep an account of postage, etc. Upon my word I can +hardly believe that ANY ONE could be so good-natured as to take such +trouble and do such a very disagreeable thing as kill babies; and I am +very sure I do not know one soul who, except yourself, would do so. I am +going to ask one thing more; should old hens of any above poultry (not +duck) die or become so old as to be USELESS, I wish you would send her +to me per rail, addressed to C. Darwin, care of Mr. Acton, Post-office, +Bromley, Kent." Will you keep this address? as shortest way for parcels. +But I do not care so much for this, as I could buy the old birds dead at +Baily to make skeletons. I should have written at once even if I had +not heard from you, to beg you not to take trouble about pigeons, for +Yarrell has persuaded me to attempt it, and I am now fitting up a place, +and have written to Baily about prices, etc., etc. SOMETIME (when you +are better) I should like very much to hear a little about your +"Little Call Duck"; why so-called? And where you got it? and what it is +like?... I was so ignorant I do not even know there were three varieties +of Dorking fowl: how do they differ?... + +I forget whether I ever told you what the object of my present work +is,--it is to view all facts that I can master (eheu, eheu, how ignorant +I find I am) in Natural History (as on geographical distribution, +palaeontology, classification, hybridism, domestic animals and plants, +etc., etc., etc.) to see how far they favour or are opposed to the +notion that wild species are mutable or immutable: I mean with my utmost +power to give all arguments and facts on both sides. I have a NUMBER of +people helping me in every way, and giving me most valuable assistance; +but I often doubt whether the subject will not quite overpower me. + +So much for the quasi-business part of my letter. I am very very sorry +to hear so indifferent account of your health: with your large family +your life is very precious, and I am sure with all your activity and +goodness it ought to be a happy one, or as happy as can reasonably be +expected with all the cares of futurity on one. + +One cannot expect the present to be like the old Crux-major days at the +foot of those noble willow stumps, the memory of which I revere. I +now find my little entomology which I wholly owe to you, comes in very +useful. I am very glad to hear that you have given yourself a rest from +Sunday duties. How much illness you have had in your life! Farewell +my dear Fox. I assure you I thank you heartily for your proffered +assistance.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, May 7th [1855]. + +My dear Fox, + +My correspondence has cost you a deal of trouble, though this note will +not. I found yours on my return home on Saturday after a week's work +in London. Whilst there I saw Yarrell, who told me he had carefully +examined all points in the Call Duck, and did not feel any doubt about +it being specifically identical, and that it had crossed freely with +common varieties in St. James's Park. I should therefore be very glad +for a seven-days' duckling and for one of the old birds, should one ever +die a natural death. Yarrell told me that Sabine had collected forty +varieties of the common duck!...Well, to return to business; nobody, +I am sure, could fix better for me than you the characteristic age of +little chickens; with respect to skeletons, I have feared it would be +impossible to make them, but I suppose I shall be able to measure limbs, +etc., by feeling the joints. What you say about old cocks just confirms +what I thought, and I will make my skeletons of old cocks. Should an +old wild turkey ever die, please remember me; I do not care for a baby +turkey, nor for a mastiff. Very many thanks for your offer. I have +puppies of bull-dogs and greyhound in salt, and I have had cart-horse +and race-horse young colts carefully measured. Whether I shall do any +good I doubt. I am getting out of my depth. + +Most truly yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[An extract from a letter to Mr. Fox may find a place here, though of a +later date, viz. July, 1855]: + +"Many thanks for the seven days' old white Dorking, and for the other +promised ones. I am getting quite a 'chamber of horrors,' I appreciate +your kindness even more than before; for I have done the black deed and +murdered an angelic little fantail and pouter at ten days old. I tried +chloroform and ether for the first, and though evidently a perfectly +easy death, it was prolonged; and for the second I tried putting lumps +of cyanide of potassium in a very large damp bottle, half an hour before +putting in the pigeon, and the prussic acid gas thus generated was very +quickly fatal." + +A letter to Mr. Fox (May 23rd, 1855) gives the first mention of my +father's laborious piece of work on the breeding of pigeons: + +"I write now to say that I have been looking at some of our mongrel +chickens, and I should say ONE WEEK OLD would do very well. The chief +points which I am, and have been for years, very curious about, is to +ascertain whether the YOUNG of our domestic breeds differ as much from +each other as do their parents, and I have no faith in anything short +of actual measurement and the Rule of Three. I hope and believe I am not +giving so much trouble without a motive of sufficient worth. I have got +my fantails and pouters (choice birds, I hope, as I paid 20 shillings +for each pair from Baily) in a grand cage and pigeon-house, and they are +a decided amusement to me, and delight to H." + +In the course of my father's pigeon-fancying enterprise he necessarily +became acquainted with breeders, and was fond of relating his +experiences as a member of the Columbarian and Philoperistera Clubs, +where he met the purest enthusiasts of the "fancy," and learnt much +of the mysteries of their art. In writing to Mr. Huxley some years +afterwards, he quotes from a book on 'Pigeons' by Mr. J. Eaton, in +illustration of the "extreme attention and close observation" necessary +to be a good fancier. + +"In his [Mr. Eaton's] treatise, devoted to the Almond Tumbler ALONE, +which is a sub-variety of the short-faced variety, which is a variety of +the Tumbler, as that is of the Rock-pigeon, Mr. Eaton says: 'There are +some of the young fanciers who are over-covetous, who go for all the +five properties at once [i.e., the five characteristic points which are +mainly attended to,--C.D.], they have their reward by getting nothing.' +In short, it is almost beyond the human intellect to attend to ALL the +excellencies of the Almond Tumbler! + +"To be a good breeder, and to succeed in improving any breed, beyond +everything enthusiasm is required. Mr. Eaton has gained lots of prizes, +listen to him. + +"'If it was possible for noblemen and gentlemen to know the amazing +amount of solace and pleasure derived from the Almond Tumbler, when they +begin to understand their (i.e., the tumbler's) properties, I should +think that scarce any nobleman or gentleman would be without their +aviaries of Almond Tumblers.'" + +My father was fond of quoting this passage, and always with a tone of +fellow-feeling for the author, though, no doubt, he had forgotten +his own wonderings as a child that "every gentleman did not become an +ornithologist."--('Autobiography,' page 32.) + +To Mr. W.B. Tegetmeier, the well-known writer on poultry, etc., he was +indebted for constant advice and co-operation. Their correspondence +began in 1855, and lasted to 1881, when my father wrote: "I can assure +you that I often look back with pleasure to the old days when I attended +to pigeons, fowls, etc., and when you gave me such valuable assistance. +I not rarely regret that I have had so little strength that I have not +been able to keep up old acquaintances and friendships." My father's +letters to Mr. Tegetmeier consist almost entirely of series of questions +relating to the different breeds of fowls, pigeons, etc., and are not, +therefore interesting. In reading through the pile of letters, one is +much struck by the diligence of the writer's search for facts, and it is +made clear that Mr. Tegetmeier's knowledge and judgment were completely +trusted and highly valued by him. Numerous phrases, such as "your note +is a mine of wealth to me," occur, expressing his sense of the value of +Mr. Tegetmeier's help, as well as words expressing his warm appreciation +of Mr. Tegetmeier's unstinting zeal and kindness, or his "pure and +disinterested love of science." On the subject of hive-bees and their +combs, Mr. Tegetmeier's help was also valued by my father, who wrote, +"your paper on 'Bees-cells,' read before the British Association, was +highly useful and suggestive to me." + +To work out the problems on the Geographical Distributions of animals +and plants on evolutionary principles, he had to study the means by +which seeds, eggs, etc., can be transported across wide spaces of ocean. +It was this need which gave an interest to the class of experiment to +which the following letters allude.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, May 17th [1855]. + +My dear Fox, + +You will hate the very sight of my hand-writing; but after this time I +promise I will ask for nothing more, at least for a long time. As you +live on sandy soil, have you lizards at all common? If you have, should +you think it too ridiculous to offer a reward for me for lizard's eggs +to the boys in your school; a shilling for every half-dozen, or more if +rare, till you got two or three dozen and send them to me? If snake's +eggs were brought in mistake it would be very well, for I want such +also; and we have neither lizards nor snakes about here. My object is +to see whether such eggs will float on sea water, and whether they will +keep alive thus floating for a month or two in my cellar. I am trying +experiments on transportation of all organic beings that I can; and +lizards are found on every island, and therefore I am very anxious to +see whether their eggs stand sea water. Of course this note need not be +answered, without, by a strange and favourable chance, you can some day +answer it with the eggs. + +Your most troublesome friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. April 13th [1855]. + +...I have had one experiment some little time in progress, which will, I +think, be interesting, namely, seeds in salt water immersed in water of +32-33 degrees, which I have and shall long have, as I filled a great +tank with snow. When I wrote last I was going to triumph over you, for +my experiment had in a slight degree succeeded; but this, with infinite +baseness, I did not tell, in hopes that you would say that you would +eat all the plants which I could raise after immersion. It is very +aggravating that I cannot in the least remember what you did formerly +say that made me think you scoffed at the experiments vastly; for you +now seem to view the experiment like a good Christian. I have in small +bottles out of doors, exposed to variation of temperature, cress, +radish, cabbages, lettuces, carrots, and celery, and onion seed--four +great families. These, after immersion for exactly one week, have all +germinated, which I did not in the least expect (and thought how you +would sneer at me); for the water of nearly all, and of the cress +especially, smelt very badly, and the cress seed emitted a wonderful +quantity of mucus (the 'Vestiges' would have expected them to turn into +tadpoles), so as to adhere in a mass; but these seeds germinated and +grew splendidly. The germination of all (especially cress and lettuces) +has been accelerated, except the cabbages, which have come up very +irregularly, and a good many, I think, dead. One would have thought, +from their native habitat, that the cabbage would have stood well. The +Umbelliferae and onions seem to stand the salt well. I wash the seed +before planting them. I have written to the "Gardeners' Chronicle" (A +few words asking for information. The results were published in the +'Gardeners' Chronicle,' May 26, November 24, 1855. In the same year +(page 789) he sent a P.S. to his former paper, correcting a misprint and +adding a few words on the seeds of the Leguminosae. A fuller paper on +the germination of seeds after treatment in salt water, appeared in the +'Linnaean Soc. Journal,' 1857, page 130.), though I doubt whether it was +worth while. If my success seems to make it worth while, I will send a +seed list, to get you to mark some different classes of seeds. To-day I +replant the same seeds as above after fourteen days' immersion. As many +sea-currents go a mile an hour, even in a week they might be transported +168 miles; the Gulf Stream is said to go fifty and sixty miles a day. So +much and too much on this head; but my geese are always swans... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [April 14th, 1855.] + +...You are a good man to confess that you expected the cress would be +killed in a week, for this gives me a nice little triumph. The children +at first were tremendously eager, and asked me often, "whether I should +beat Dr. Hooker!" The cress and lettuce have just vegetated well after +twenty-one days' immersion. But I will write no more, which is a +great virtue in me; for it is to me a very great pleasure telling you +everything I do. + +...If you knew some of the experiments (if they may be so-called) which +I am trying, you would have a good right to sneer, for they are so +ABSURD even in MY opinion that I dare not tell you. + +Have not some men a nice notion of experimentising? I have had a letter +telling me that seeds MUST have GREAT power of resisting salt water, for +otherwise how could they get to islands? This is the true way to solve a +problem! + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [1855]. + +My dear Hooker, + +You have been a very good man to exhale some of your satisfaction in +writing two notes to me; you could not have taken a better line in +my opinion; but as for showing your satisfaction in confounding my +experiments, I assure you I am quite enough confounded--those horrid +seeds, which, as you truly observe, if they sink they won't float. + +I have written to Scoresby and have had a rather dry answer, but very +much to the purpose, and giving me no hopes of any law unknown to me +which might arrest their everlasting descent into the deepest depths of +the ocean. By the way it was very odd, but I talked to Col. Sabine for +half an hour on the subject, and could not make him see with respect to +transportal the difficulty of the sinking question! The bore is, if +the confounded seeds will sink, I have been taking all this trouble in +salting the ungrateful rascals for nothing. + +Everything has been going wrong with me lately; the fish at the +Zoological Society ate up lots of soaked seeds, and in imagination +they had in my mind been swallowed, fish and all, by a heron, had been +carried a hundred miles, been voided on the banks of some other lake and +germinated splendidly, when lo and behold, the fish ejected vehemently, +and with disgust equal to my own, ALL the seeds from their mouths. (In +describing these troubles to Mr. Fox, my father wrote:--"All nature is +perverse and will not do as I wish it; and just at present I wish I had +my old barnacles to work at, and nothing new." The experiment ultimately +succeeded, and he wrote to Sir J. Hooker:--"I find fish will greedily +eat seeds of aquatic grasses, and that millet-seed put into fish and +given to a stork, and then voided, will germinate. So this is the +nursery rhyme of 'this is the stick that beats the pig,' etc., etc.,") + +But I am not going to give up the floating yet: in first place I must +try fresh seeds, though of course it seems far more probable that they +will sink; and secondly, as a last resource, I must believe in the pod +or even whole plant or branch being washed into the sea; with floods and +slips and earthquakes; this must continually be happening, and if kept +wet, I fancy the pods, etc. etc., would not open and shed their seeds. +Do try your Mimosa seed at Kew. + +I had intended to have asked you whether the Mimosa scandens and +Guilandina bonduc grows at Kew, to try fresh seeds. R. Brown tells me +he believes four W. Indian seeds have been washed on shores of Europe. +I was assured at Keeling Island that seeds were not rarely washed +on shore: so float they must and shall! What a long yarn I have been +spinning. + +If you have several of the Loffoden seeds, do soak some in tepid water, +and get planted with the utmost care: this is an experiment after my own +heart, with chances 1000 to 1 against its success. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 11th [1855]. + +My dear Hooker,--I have just received your note. I am most sincerely +and heartily glad at the news (The appointment of Sir J.D. Hooker as +Assistant Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew.) it contains, and so is +my wife. Though the income is but a poor one, yet the certainty, I hope, +is satisfactory to yourself and Mrs. Hooker. As it must lead in future +years to the Directorship, I do hope you look at it, as a piece of good +fortune. For my own taste I cannot fancy a pleasanter position, than +the Head of such a noble and splendid place; far better, I should +think, than a Professorship in a great town. The more I think of it, the +gladder I am. But I will say no more; except that I hope Mrs. Hooker is +pretty well pleased... + +As the "Gardeners' Chronicle" put in my question, and took notice of it, +I think I am bound to send, which I had thought of doing next week, my +first report to Lindley to give him the option of inserting it; but I +think it likely that he may not think it fit for a Gardening periodical. +When my experiments are ended (should the results appear worthy) and +should the 'Linnean Journal' not object to the previous publication of +imperfect and provisional reports, I should be DELIGHTED to insert the +final report there; for it has cost me so much trouble, that I should +think that probably the result was worthy of more permanent record than +a newspaper; but I think I am bound to send it first to Lindley. + +I begin to think the floating question more serious than the germinating +one; and am making all the inquiries which I can on the subject, and +hope to get some little light on it... + +I hope you managed a good meeting at the Club. The Treasurership must be +a plague to you, and I hope you will not be Treasurer for long: I know I +would much sooner give up the Club than be its Treasurer. + +Farewell, Mr. Assistant Director and dear friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. June 5th, 1855. + +...Miss Thorley (A lady who was for many years a governess in the +family.) and I are doing A LITTLE BOTANICAL WORK! for our amusement, and +it does amuse me very much, viz., making a collection of all the plants, +which grow in a field, which has been allowed to run waste for fifteen +years, but which before was cultivated from time immemorial; and we +are also collecting all the plants in an adjoining and SIMILAR but +cultivated field; just for the fun of seeing what plants have survived +or died out. Hereafter we shall want a bit of help in naming puzzlers. +How dreadfully difficult it is to name plants. + +What a REMARKABLY nice and kind letter Dr. A. Gray has sent me in answer +to my troublesome queries; I retained your copy of his 'Manual' till I +heard from him, and when I have answered his letter, I will return it to +you. + +I thank you much for Hedysarum: I do hope it is not very precious, +for as I told you it is for probably a MOST foolish purpose. I read +somewhere that no plant closes its leaves so promptly in darkness, and I +want to cover it up daily for half an hour, and see if I can teach it +to close by itself, or more easily than at first in darkness...I cannot +make out why you would prefer a continental transmission, as I think +you do, to carriage by sea. I should have thought you would have been +pleased at as many means of transmission as possible. For my own pet +theoretic notions, it is quite indifferent whether they are transmitted +by sea or land, as long as some tolerably probable way is shown. But it +shocks my philosophy to create land, without some other and independent +evidence. Whenever we meet, by a very few words I should, I think, more +clearly understand your views... + +I have just made out my first grass, hurrah! hurrah! I must confess that +fortune favours the bold, for, as good luck would have it, it was the +easy Anthoxanthum odoratum: nevertheless it is a great discovery; I +never expected to make out a grass in all my life, so hurrah! It has +done my stomach surprising good... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [June?] 15th, [1855]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I just write one line to say that the Hedysarum is come QUITE SAFELY, +and thank you for it. + +You cannot imagine what amusement you have given me by naming those +three grasses: I have just got paper to dry and collect all grasses. If +ever you catch quite a beginner, and want to give him a taste of Botany, +tell him to make a perfect list of some little field or wood. Both Miss +Thorley and I agree that it gives a really uncommon interest to the +work, having a nice little definite world to work on, instead of the +awful abyss and immensity of all British Plants. + +Adios. I was really consummately impudent to express my opinion "on the +retrograde step" ("To imagine such enormous geological changes within +the period of the existence of now living beings, on no other ground but +to account for their distribution, seems to me, in our present state +of ignorance on the means of transportal, an almost retrograde step +in science."--Extract from the paper on 'Salt Water and Seeds' in +"Gardeners' Chronicle", May 26, 1855.), and I deserved a good snub, +and upon reflection I am very glad you did not answer me in "Gardeners' +Chronicle". + +I have been VERY MUCH interested with the Florula. (Godron's 'Florula +Juvenalis,' which gives an interesting account of plants introduced in +imported wool.) + + +[Writing on June 5th to Sir J.D. Hooker, my father mentions a letter +from Dr. Asa Gray. The letter referred to was an answer to the +following:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. (The well-known American Botanist. My +father's friendship with Dr. Gray began with the correspondence of which +the present is the first letter. An extract from a letter to Sir J. +Hooker, 1857, shows that my father's strong personal regard for Dr. Gray +had an early origin: "I have been glad to see A. Gray's letters; there +is always something in them that shows that he is a very lovable man.") +Down, April 25th [1855]. + +My dear Sir, + +I hope that you will remember that I had the pleasure of being +introduced to you at Kew. I want to beg a great favour of you, for which +I well know I can offer no apology. But the favour will not, I think, +cause you much trouble, and will greatly oblige me. As I am no botanist, +it will seem so absurd to you my asking botanical questions; that I +may premise that I have for several years been collecting facts on +"variation," and when I find that any general remark seems to hold good +amongst animals, I try to test it in Plants. [Here follows a request for +information on American Alpine plants, and a suggestion as to publishing +on the subject.] I can assure you that I perceive how presumptuous it is +in me, not a botanist, to make even the most trifling suggestion to such +a botanist as yourself; but from what I saw and have heard of you from +our dear and kind friend Hooker, I hope and think you will forgive me, +and believe me, with much respect, + +Dear sir, yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 8th [1855]. + +My dear Sir, + +I thank you cordially for your remarkably kind letter of the 22d. ult., +and for the extremely pleasant and obliging manner in which you have +taken my rather troublesome questions. I can hardly tell you how much +your list of Alpine plants has interested me, and I can now in some +degree picture to myself the plants of your Alpine summits. The new +edition of your Manual is CAPITAL news for me. I know from your preface +how pressed you are for room, but it would take no space to append (Eu) +in brackets to any European plant, and, as far as I am concerned, +this would answer every purpose. (This suggestion Dr. Gray adopted in +subsequent editions.) From my own experience, whilst making out English +plants in our manuals, it has often struck me how much interest it would +give if some notion of their range had been given; and so, I cannot +doubt, your American inquirers and beginners would much like to know +which of their plants were indigenous and which European. Would it not +be well in the Alpine plants to append the very same addition which you +have now sent me in MS.? though here, owing to your kindness, I do not +speak selfishly, but merely pro bono Americano publico. I presume it +would be too troublesome to give in your manual the habitats of those +plants found west of the Rocky Mountains, and likewise those found +in Eastern Asia, taking the Yenesei (?),--which, if I remember right, +according to Gmelin, is the main partition line of Siberia. Perhaps +Siberia more concerns the northern Flora of North America. The ranges of +plants to the east and west, viz., whether most found are in Greenland +and Western Europe, or in E. Asia, appears to me a very interesting +point as tending to show whether the migration has been eastward or +westward. Pray believe me that I am most entirely conscious that +the ONLY USE of these remarks is to show a botanist what points a +non-botanist is curious to learn; for I think every one who studies +profoundly a subject often becomes unaware [on] what points the ignorant +require information. I am so very glad that you think of drawing up +some notice on your geographical distribution, for the air of the Manual +strikes me as in some points better adapted for comparison with Europe +than that of the whole of North America. You ask me to state definitely +some of the points on which I much wish for information; but I really +hardly can, for they are so vague; and I rather wish to see what results +will come out from comparisons, than have as yet defined objects. I +presume that, like other botanists, you would give, for your area, the +proportion (leaving out introduced plants) to the whole of the great +leading families: this is one point I had intended (and, indeed, have +done roughly) to tabulate from your book, but of course I could +have done it only VERY IMPERFECTLY. I should also, of course, have +ascertained the proportion, to the whole Flora, of the European plants +(leaving out introduced) AND OF THE SEPARATE GREAT FAMILIES, in order to +speculate on means of transportal. By the way, I ventured to send a few +days ago a copy of the "Gardeners' Chronicle" with a short report by me +of some trifling experiments which I have been trying on the power of +seeds to withstand sea water. I do not know whether it has struck you, +but it has me, that it would be advisable for botanists to give in WHOLE +NUMBERS, as well as in the lowest fraction, the proportional numbers of +the families, thus I make out from your Manual that of the INDIGENOUS +plants the proportion of the Umbelliferae are 36/1798 = 1/49; for, +without one knows the WHOLE numbers, one cannot judge how really +close the numbers of the plants of the same family are in two distant +countries; but very likely you may think this superfluous. Mentioning +these proportional numbers, I may give you an instance of the sort of +points, and how vague and futile they often are, which I ATTEMPT to work +out...; reflecting on R. Brown's and Hooker's remark, that near identity +of proportional numbers of the great families in two countries, shows +probably that they were once continuously united, I thought I would +calculate the proportions of, for instance, the INTRODUCED Compositae in +Great Britain to all the introduced plants, and the result was, 10/92 = +1/9.2. In our ABORIGINAL or indigenous flora the proportion is 1/10; and +in many other cases I found an equally striking correspondence. I then +took your Manual, and worked out the same question; here I find in the +Compositae an almost equally striking correspondence, viz. 24/206 = 1/8 +in the introduced plants, and 223/1798 = 1/8 in the indigenous; but when +I came to the other families I found the proportion entirely different, +showing that the coincidences in the British Flora were probably +accidental! + +You will, I presume, give the proportion of the species to the genera, +i.e., show on an average how many species each genus contains; though I +have done this for myself. + +If it would not be too troublesome, do you not think it would be very +interesting, and give a very good idea of your Flora, to divide the +species into three groups, viz., (a) species common to the old world, +stating numbers common to Europe and Asia; (b) indigenous species, but +belonging to genera found in the old world; and (c) species belonging +to genera confined to America or the New World. To make (according to my +ideas) perfection perfect, one ought to be told whether there are other +cases, like Erica, of genera common in Europe or in Old World not found +in your area. But honestly I feel that it is quite ridiculous my writing +to you at such length on the subject; but, as you have asked me, I do it +gratefully, and write to you as I should to Hooker, who often laughs at +me unmercifully, and I am sure you have better reason to do so. + +There is one point on which I am MOST anxious for information, and I +mention it with the greatest hesitation, and only in the FULL BELIEF +that you will believe me that I have not the folly and presumption +to hope for a second that you will give it, without you can with very +little trouble. The point can at present interest no one but myself, +which makes the case wholly different from geographical distribution. +The only way in which, I think, you possibly could do it with little +trouble would be to bear in mind, whilst correcting your proof-sheets +of the Manual, my question and put a cross or mark to the species, and +whenever sending a parcel to Hooker to let me have such old sheets. But +this would give you the trouble of remembering my question, and I can +hardly hope or expect that you will do it. But I will just mention what +I want; it is to have marked the "close species" in a Flora, so as +to compare in DIFFERENT Floras whether the same genera have "close +species," and for other purposes too vague to enumerate. I have +attempted, by Hooker's help, to ascertain in a similar way whether the +different species of the same genera in distant quarters of the globe +are variable or present varieties. The definition I should give of a +"CLOSE SPECIES" was one that YOU thought specifically distinct, but +which you could conceive some other GOOD botanist might think only +a race or variety; or, again, a species that you had trouble, though +having opportunities of knowing it well, in discriminating from some +other species. Supposing that you were inclined to be so very kind as +to do this, and could (which I do not expect) spare the time, as I have +said, a mere cross to each such species in any useless proof-sheets +would give me the information desired, which, I may add, I know must be +vague. + +How can I apologise enough for all my presumption and the extreme length +of this letter? The great good nature of your letter to me has been +partly the cause, so that, as is too often the case in this world, you +are punished for your good deeds. With hearty thanks, believe me, + +Yours very truly and gratefully, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, 18th [July, 1855]. + +...I think I am getting a MILD case about Charlock seed (In the +"Gardeners' Chronicle", 1855, page 758, appeared a notice (half a column +in length) by my father on the "Vitality of Seeds." The facts related +refer to the "Sand-walk"; the wood was planted in 1846 on a piece of +pasture land laid down as grass in 1840. In 1855, on the soil being dug +in several places, Charlock (Brassica sinapistrum) sprang up freely. +The subject continued to interest him, and I find a note dated July +2nd, 1874, in which my father recorded that forty-six plants of Charlock +sprang up in that year over a space (14 x 7 feet) which had been dug +to a considerable depth.); but just as about salting, ill-luck to it, I +cannot remember how many years you would allow that Charlock seed might +live in the ground. Next time you write, show a bold face, and say in +how many years, you think, Charlock seed would probably all be dead. A +man told me the other day of, as I thought, a splendid instance,--and +SPLENDID it was, for according to his evidence the seed came up alive +out of the LOWER PART of the LONDON CLAY!! I disgusted him by telling +him that Palms ought to have come up. + +You ask how far I go in attributing organisms to a common descent; I +answer I know not; the way in which I intend treating the subject, is +to show (AS FAR AS I CAN) the facts and arguments for and against the +common descent of the species of the same genus; and then show how +far the same arguments tell for or against forms, more and more widely +different: and when we come to forms of different orders and classes, +there remain only some such arguments as those which can perhaps be +deduced from similar rudimentary structures, and very soon not an +argument is left. + + +[The following extract from a letter to Mr. Fox [October, 1855 (In this +year he published ('Phil. Mag.' x.) a paper 'On the power of icebergs +to make rectilinear uniformly-directed grooves across a submarine +undulatory surface.'") gives a brief mention of the last meeting of the +British Association which he attended:] "I really have no news: the +only thing we have done for a long time, was to go to Glasgow; but the +fatigue was to me more than it was worth, and E. caught a bad cold. On +our return we stayed a single day at Shrewsbury, and enjoyed seeing the +old place. I saw a little of Sir Philip (Sir P. Egerton was a neighbour +of Mr. Fox.) (whom I liked much), and he asked me "why on earth I +instigated you to rob his poultry-yard?' The meeting was a good one, and +the Duke of Argyll spoke excellently."] + + + + +CHAPTER 1.XII. -- THE UNFINISHED BOOK. + +MAY 1856 TO JUNE 1858. + +[In the Autobiographical chapter (page 69,) my father wrote:--"Early in +1856 Lyell advised me to write out my views pretty fully, and I began at +once to do so on a scale three or four times as extensive as that which +was afterwards followed in my 'Origin of Species;' yet it was only an +abstract of the materials which I had collected." The letters in the +present chapter are chiefly concerned with the preparation of this +unfinished book. + +The work was begun on May 14th, and steadily continued up to June 1858, +when it was interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Wallace's MS. During the +two years which we are now considering he wrote ten chapters (that is +about one-half) of the projected book. He remained for the most part at +home, but paid several visits to Dr. Lane's Water-Cure Establishment +at Moor Park, during one of which he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of +Gilbert White at Selborne.] + + +LETTERS. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL May 3 [1856]. + +...With respect to your suggestion of a sketch of my views, I hardly +know what to think, but will reflect on it, but it goes against my +prejudices. To give a fair sketch would be absolutely impossible, for +every proposition requires such an array of facts. If I were +to do anything, it could only refer to the main agency of +change--selection--and perhaps point out a very few of the leading +features, which countenance such a view, and some few of the main +difficulties. But I do not know what to think; I rather hate the idea of +writing for priority, yet I certainly should be vexed if any one were +to publish my doctrines before me. Anyhow, I thank you heartily for +your sympathy. I shall be in London next week, and I will call on you on +Thursday morning for one hour precisely, so as not to lose much of +your time and my own; but will you let me this time come as early as 9 +o'clock, for I have much which I must do in the morning in my strongest +time? Farewell, my dear old patron. + +Yours, C. DARWIN. + +By the way, THREE plants have come up out of the earth, perfectly +enclosed in the roots of the trees. And twenty-nine plants in the +table-spoonful of mud, out of the little pond; Hooker was surprised at +this, and struck with it, when I showed him how much mud I had scraped +off one duck's feet. + +If I did publish a short sketch, where on earth should I publish it? + +If I do NOT hear, I shall understand that I may come from 9 to 10 on +Thursday. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. May 9th, [1856]. + +...I very much want advice and TRUTHFUL consolation if you can give +it. I had a good talk with Lyell about my species work, and he urges +me strongly to publish something. I am fixed against any periodical +or Journal, as I positively will NOT expose myself to an Editor or a +Council, allowing a publication for which they might be abused. If I +publish anything it must be a VERY THIN and little volume, giving +a sketch of my views and difficulties; but it is really dreadfully +unphilosophical to give a resume, without exact references, of an +unpublished work. But Lyell seemed to think I might do this, at the +suggestion of friends, and on the ground, which I might state, that I +had been at work for eighteen (The interval of eighteen years, from 1837 +when he began to collect facts, would bring the date of this letter to +1855, not 1856, nevertheless the latter seems the more probable date.) +years, and yet could not publish for several years, and especially as +I could point out difficulties which seemed to me to require especial +investigation. Now what think you? I should be really grateful for +advice. I thought of giving up a couple of months and writing such a +sketch, and trying to keep my judgment open whether or no to publish +it when completed. It will be simply impossible for me to give exact +references; anything important I should state on the authority of the +author generally; and instead of giving all the facts on which I ground +my opinion, I could give by memory only one or two. In the Preface I +would state that the work could not be considered strictly scientific, +but a mere sketch or outline of a future work in which full references, +etc. should be given. Eheu, eheu, I believe I should sneer at any one +else doing this, and my only comfort is, that I TRULY never dreamed +of it, till Lyell suggested it, and seems deliberately to think it +advisable. + +I am in a peck of troubles and do pray forgive me for troubling you. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. May 11th [1856]. + +...Now for a MORE IMPORTANT! subject, viz., my own self: I am extremely +glad you think well of a separate "Preliminary Essay" (i.e., if anything +whatever is published; for Lyell seemed rather to doubt on this head) +(The meaning of the sentence in parentheses is obscure.); but I cannot +bear the idea of BEGGING some Editor and Council to publish, and then +perhaps to have to APOLOGISE humbly for having led them into a scrape. +In this one respect I am in the state which, according to a very wise +saying of my father's, is the only fit state for asking advice, viz., +with my mind firmly made up, and then, as my father used to say, GOOD +advice was very comfortable, and it was easy to reject BAD advice. But +Heaven knows I am not in this state with respect to publishing at all +any preliminary essay. It yet strikes me as quite unphilosophical +to publish results without the full details which have lead to such +results. + +It is a melancholy, and I hope not quite true view of yours that facts +will prove anything, and are therefore superfluous! But I have rather +exaggerated, I see, your doctrine. I do not fear being tied down +to error, i.e., I feel pretty sure I should give up anything false +published in the preliminary essay, in my larger work; but I may thus, +it is very true, do mischief by spreading error, which as I have often +heard you say is much easier spread than corrected. I confess I lean +more and more to at least making the attempt and drawing up a sketch +and trying to keep my judgment, whether to publish, open. But I always +return to my fixed idea that it is dreadfully unphilosophical to publish +without full details. I certainly think my future work in full would +profit by hearing what my friends or critics (if reviewed) thought of +the outline. + +To any one but you I should apologise for such long discussion on so +personal an affair; but I believe, and indeed you have proved it by the +trouble you have taken, that this would be superfluous. + +Yours truly obliged, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S. What you say (for I have just re-read your letter) that the Essay +might supersede and take away all novelty and value from any future +larger Book, is very true; and that would grieve me beyond everything. +On the other hand (again from Lyell's urgent advice), I published a +preliminary sketch of the Coral Theory, and this did neither good nor +harm. I begin MOST HEARTILY to wish that Lyell had never put this idea +of an Essay into my head. + + +FROM A LETTER TO SIR C. LYELL [July, 1856]. + +"I am delighted that I may say (with absolute truth) that my essay +is published at your suggestion, but I hope it will not need so much +apology as I at first thought; for I have resolved to make it nearly as +complete as my present materials allow. I cannot put in all which you +suggest, for it would appear too conceited." + + +FROM A LETTER TO W.D. FOX. Down, June 14th [1856]. + +"...What you say about my Essay, I dare say is very true; and it gave me +another fit of the wibber-gibbers: I hope that I shall succeed in making +it modest. One great motive is to get information on the many points +on which I want it. But I tremble about it, which I should not do, if +I allowed some three or four more years to elapse before publishing +anything..." + + +[The following extracts from letters to Mr. Fox are worth giving, as +showing how great was the accumulation of material which now had to be +dealt with. + +June 14th [1856]. + +"Very many thanks for the capital information on cats; I see I had +blundered greatly, but I know I had somewhere your original notes; but +my notes are so numerous during nineteen years' collection, that it +would take me at least a year to go over and classify them." + +November 1856. + +"Sometimes I fear I shall break down, for my subject gets bigger and +bigger with each month's work."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL Down, 16th [June, 1856]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I am going to do the most impudent thing in the world. But my blood gets +hot with passion and turns cold alternately at the geological strides, +which many of your disciples are taking. + +Here, poor Forbes made a continent to [i.e., extending to] North America +and another (or the same) to the Gulf weed; Hooker makes one from New +Zealand to South America and round the World to Kerguelen Land. Here +is Wollaston speaking of Madeira and P. Santo "as the sure and certain +witnesses of a former continent." Here is Woodward writes to me, if you +grant a continent over 200 or 300 miles of ocean depths (as if that was +nothing), why not extend a continent to every island in the Pacific and +Atlantic Oceans? And all this within the existence of recent species! If +you do not stop this, if there be a lower region for the punishment of +geologists, I believe, my great master, you will go there. Why, your +disciples in a slow and creeping manner beat all the old Catastrophists +who ever lived. You will live to be the great chief of the +Catastrophists. + +There, I have done myself a great deal of good, and have exploded my +passion. + +So my master, forgive me, and believe me, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S. Don't answer this, I did it to ease myself. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [June] 17th, 1856. + +...I have been very deeply interested by Wollaston's book ('The +Variation of Species,' 1856.), though I differ GREATLY from many of his +doctrines. Did you ever read anything so rich, considering how very +far he goes, as his denunciations against those who go further: "Most +mischievous," "absurd," "unsound." Theology is at the bottom of some +of this. I told him he was like Calvin burning a heretic. It is a very +valuable and clever book in my opinion. He has evidently read very +little out of his own line. I urged him to read the New Zealand essay. +His Geology also is rather eocene, as I told him. In fact I wrote most +frankly; he says he is sure that ultra-honesty is my characteristic: +I do not know whether he meant it as a sneer; I hope not. Talking +of eocene geology, I got so wrath about the Atlantic continent, more +especially from a note from Woodward (who has published a capital book +on shells), who does not seem to doubt that every island in the Pacific +and Atlantic are the remains of continents, submerged within period of +existing species, that I fairly exploded, and wrote to Lyell to protest, +and summed up all the continents created of late years by Forbes (the +head sinner!) YOURSELF, Wollaston, and Woodward, and a pretty nice +little extension of land they make altogether! I am fairly rabid on the +question and therefore, if not wrong already, am pretty sure to become +so... + +I have enjoyed your note much. Adios, C. DARWIN. + +P.S. [June] 18th. Lyell has written me a CAPITAL letter on your side, +which ought to upset me entirely, but I cannot say it does quite. + +Though I must try and cease being rabid and try to feel humble, and +allow you all to make continents, as easily as a cook does pancakes. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, June 25th [1856]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I will have the following tremendous letter copied to make the reading +easier, and as I want to keep a copy. + +As you say you would like to hear my reasons for being most unwilling +to believe in the continental extensions of late authors, I gladly write +them, as, without I am convinced of my error, I shall have to give them +condensed in my essay, when I discuss single and multiple creation; I +shall therefore be particularly glad to have your general opinion on +them. I may QUITE LIKELY have persuaded myself in my wrath that there +is more in them than there is. If there was much more reason to admit a +continental extension in any one or two instances (as in Madeira) than +in other cases, I should feel no difficulty whatever. But if on account +of European plants, and littoral sea shells, it is thought necessary to +join Madeira to the mainland, Hooker is quite right to join New Holland +to New Zealand, and Auckland Island (and Raoul Island to N.E.), and +these to S. America and the Falklands, and these to Tristan d'Acunha, +and these to Kerguelen Land; thus making, either strictly at the same +time, or at different periods, but all within the life of recent +beings, an almost circumpolar belt of land. So again Galapagos and Juan +Fernandez must be joined to America; and if we trust to littoral see +shells, the Galapagos must have been joined to the Pacific Islands (2400 +miles distant) as well as to America, and as Woodward seems to think +all the islands in the Pacific into a magnificent continent; also +the islands in the Southern Indian Ocean into another continent, with +Madagascar and Africa, and perhaps India. In the North Atlantic, Europe +will stretch half-way across the ocean to the Azores, and further north +right across. In short, we must suppose probably, half the present ocean +was land within the period of living organisms. The Globe within this +period must have had a quite different aspect. Now the only way to +test this, that I can see, is to consider whether the continents have +undergone within this same period such wonderful permutations. In all +North and South and Central America, we have both recent and miocene (or +eocene) shells, quite distinct on the opposite sides, and hence I cannot +doubt that FUNDAMENTALLY America has held its place since at least, the +miocene period. In Africa almost all the living shells are distinct on +the opposite sides of the inter-tropical regions, short as the distance +is compared to the range of marine mollusca, in uninterrupted seas; +hence I infer that Africa has existed since our present species were +created. Even the isthmus of Suez and the Aralo-Caspian basin have had a +great antiquity. So I imagine, from the tertiary deposits, has India. +In Australia the great fauna of extinct marsupials shows that before the +present mammals appeared, Australia was a separate continent. I do not +for one second doubt that very large portions of all these continents +have undergone GREAT changes of level within this period, but yet I +conclude that fundamentally they stood as barriers in the sea, where +they now stand; and therefore I should require the weightiest evidence +to make me believe in such immense changes within the period of living +organisms in our oceans, where, moreover, from the great depths, the +changes must have been vaster in a vertical sense. + +SECONDLY. + +Submerge our present continents, leaving a few mountain peaks as +islands, and what will the character of the islands be,--Consider +that the Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada, Apennines, Alps, Carpathians, are +non-volcanic, Etna and Caucasus, volcanic. In Asia, Altai and Himalaya, +I believe non-volcanic. In North Africa the non-volcanic, as I imagine, +Alps of Abyssinia and of the Atlas. In South Africa, the Snow Mountains. +In Australia, the non-volcanic Alps. In North America, the White +Mountains, Alleghanies and Rocky Mountains--some of the latter alone, +I believe, volcanic. In South America to the east, the non-volcanic +[Silla?] of Caracas, and Itacolumi of Brazil, further south the Sierra +Ventanas, and in the Cordilleras, many volcanic but not all. Now compare +these peaks with the oceanic islands; as far as known all are volcanic, +except St. Paul's (a strange bedevilled rock), and the Seychelles, +if this latter can be called oceanic, in the line of Madagascar; the +Falklands, only 500 miles off, are only a shallow bank; New Caledonia, +hardly oceanic, is another exception. This argument has to me great +weight. Compare on a Geographical map, islands which, we have SEVERAL +reasons to suppose, were connected with mainland, as Sardinia, and how +different it appears. Believing, as I am inclined, that continents as +continents, and oceans as oceans, are of immense antiquity--I should +say that if any of the existing oceanic islands have any relation of any +kind to continents, they are forming continents; and that by the time +they could form a continent, the volcanoes would be denuded to their +cores, leaving peaks of syenite, diorite, or porphyry. But have we +nowhere any last wreck of a continent, in the midst of the ocean? St. +Paul's Rock, and such old battered volcanic islands, as St. Helena, may +be; but I think we can see some reason why we should have less evidence +of sinking than of rising continents (if my view in my Coral volume has +any truth in it, viz.: that volcanic outbursts accompany rising areas), +for during subsidence there will be no compensating agent at work, in +rising areas there will be the ADDITIONAL element of outpoured volcanic +matter. + +THIRDLY. + +Considering the depth of the ocean, I was, before I got your letter, +inclined vehemently to dispute the vast amount of subsidence, but I +must strike my colours. With respect to coral reefs, I carefully guarded +against its being supposed that a continent was indicated by the groups +of atolls. It is difficult to guess, as it seems to me, the amount of +subsidence indicated by coral reefs; but in such large areas as the Lowe +Archipelago, the Marshall Archipelago, and Laccadive group, it would, +judging, from the heights of existing oceanic archipelagoes, be odd, if +some peaks of from 8000 to 10,000 feet had not been buried. Even after +your letter a suspicion crossed me whether it would be fair to argue +from subsidences in the middle of the greatest oceans to continents; but +refreshing my memory by talking with Ramsay in regard to the probable +thickness in one vertical line of the Silurian and carboniferous +formation, it seems there must have been AT LEAST 10,000 feet of +subsidence during these formations in Europe and North America, and +therefore during the continuance of nearly the same set of organic +beings. But even 12,000 feet would not be enough for the Azores, or +for Hooker's continent; I believe Hooker does not infer a continuous +continent, but approximate groups of islands, with, if we may judge +from existing continents, not PROFOUNDLY deep sea between them; but +the argument from the volcanic nature of nearly every existing oceanic +island tell against such supposed groups of islands,--for I presume he +does not suppose a mere chain of volcanic islands belting the southern +hemisphere. + +FOURTHLY. + +The supposed continental extensions do not seem to me, perfectly to +account for all the phenomena of distribution on islands; as the absence +of mammals and Batrachians; the absence of certain great groups of +insects on Madeira, and of Acaciae and Banksias, etc., in New Zealand; +the paucity of plants in some cases, etc. Not that those who believe in +various accidental means of dispersal, can explain most of these cases; +but they may at least say that these facts seem hardly compatible with +former continuous land. + +FINALLY. + +For these several reasons, and especially considering it certain +(in which you will agree) that we are extremely ignorant of means of +dispersal, I cannot avoid thinking that Forbes' 'Atlantis,' was +an ill-service to science, as checking a close study of means of +dissemination. I shall be really grateful to hear, as briefly as you +like, whether these arguments have any weight with you, putting yourself +in the position of an honest judge. I told Hooker that I was going to +write to you on this subject; and I should like him to read this; but +whether he or you will think it worth time and postage remains to be +proved. + +Yours most truly, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[On July 8th he wrote to Sir Charles Lyell. + +"I am sorry you cannot give any verdict on Continental extensions; and +I infer that you think my argument of not much weight against such +extensions. I know I wish I could believe so."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, July 20th [1856]. + +...It is not a little egotistical, but I should like to tell you (and +I do not THINK I have) how I view my work. Nineteen years (!) ago it +occurred to me that whilst otherwise employed on Natural History, +I might perhaps do good if I noted any sort of facts bearing on the +question of the origin of species, and this I have since been doing. +Either species have been independently created, or they have descended +from other species, like varieties from one species. I think it can +be shown to be probable that man gets his most distinct varieties by +preserving such as arise best worth keeping and destroying the others, +but I should fill a quire if I were to go on. To be brief, I ASSUME that +species arise like our domestic varieties with MUCH extinction; and +then test this hypothesis by comparison with as many general and pretty +well-established propositions as I can find made out,--in geographical +distribution, geological history, affinities, etc., etc. And it seems +to me that, SUPPOSING that such hypothesis were to explain such general +propositions, we ought, in accordance with the common way of following +all sciences, to admit it till some better hypothesis be found out. For +to my mind to say that species were created so and so is no scientific +explanation, only a reverent way of saying it is so and so. But it is +nonsensical trying to show how I try to proceed in the compass of a +note. But as an honest man, I must tell you that I have come to the +heterodox conclusion that there are no such things as independently +created species--that species are only strongly defined varieties. I +know that this will make you despise me. I do not much underrate the +many HUGE difficulties on this view, but yet it seems to me to explain +too much, otherwise inexplicable, to be false. Just to allude to one +point in your last note, viz., about species of the same genus +GENERALLY having a common or continuous area; if they are actual lineal +descendants of one species, this of course would be the case; and the +sadly too many exceptions (for me) have to be explained by climatal +and geological changes. A fortiori on this view (but on exactly +same grounds), all the individuals of the same species should have a +continuous distribution. On this latter branch of the subject I have +put a chapter together, and Hooker kindly read it over. I thought the +exceptions and difficulties were so great that on the whole the balance +weighed against my notions, but I was much pleased to find that it +seemed to have considerable weight with Hooker, who said he had never +been so much staggered about the permanence of species. + +I must say one word more in justification (for I feel sure that your +tendency will be to despise me and my crotchets), that all my notions +about HOW species change are derived from long continued study of the +works of (and converse with) agriculturists and horticulturists; and +I believe I see my way pretty clearly on the means used by nature +to change her species and ADAPT them to the wondrous and exquisitely +beautiful contingencies to which every living being is exposed... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, July 30th 1856. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your letter is of MUCH value to me. I was not able to get a definite +answer from Lyell (On the continental extensions of Forbes and others.), +as you will see in the enclosed letters, though I inferred that +he thought nothing of my arguments. Had it not been for this +correspondence, I should have written sadly too strongly. You may +rely on it I shall put my doubts moderately. There never was such a +predicament as mine: here you continental extensionists would remove +enormous difficulties opposed to me, and yet I cannot honestly admit the +doctrine, and must therefore say so. I cannot get over the fact that not +a fragment of secondary or palaeozoic rock has been found on any island +above 500 or 600 miles from a mainland. You rather misunderstand me +when you think I doubt the POSSIBILITY of subsidence of 20,000 or 30,000 +feet; it is only probability, considering such evidence as we have +independently of distribution. I have not yet worked out in full detail +the distribution of mammalia, both IDENTICAL and allied, with respect +to the ONE ELEMENT OF DEPTH OF THE SEA; but as far as I have gone, the +results are to me surprisingly accordant with my very most troublesome +belief in not such great geographical changes as you believe; and in +mammalia we certainly know more of MEANS of distribution than in any +other class. Nothing is so vexatious to me, as so constantly finding +myself drawing different conclusions from better judges than myself, +from the same facts. + +I fancy I have lately removed many (not geographical) great difficulties +opposed to my notions, but God knows it may be all hallucination. + +Please return Lyell's letters. + +What a capital letter of Lyell's that to you is, and what a wonderful +man he is. I differ from him greatly in thinking that those who believe +that species are NOT fixed will multiply specific names: I know in my +own case my most frequent source of doubt was whether others would not +think this or that was a God-created Barnacle, and surely deserved +a name. Otherwise I should only have thought whether the amount of +difference and permanence was sufficient to justify a name: I am, also, +surprised at his thinking it immaterial whether species are absolute or +not: whenever it is proved that all species are produced by generation, +by laws of change, what good evidence we shall have of the gaps in +formations. And what a science Natural History will be, when we are +in our graves, when all the laws of change are thought one of the most +important parts of Natural History. + +I cannot conceive why Lyell thinks such notions as mine or of +'Vestiges,' will invalidate specific centres. But I must not run on +and take up your time. My MS. will not, I fear, be copied before you go +abroad. With hearty thanks. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--After giving much condensed, my argument versus continental +extensions, I shall append some such sentence, as that two better judges +than myself have considered these arguments, and attach no weight to +them. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, August 5th [1856]. + +...I quite agree about Lyell's letters to me, which, though to me +interesting, have afforded me no new light. Your letters, under the +GEOLOGICAL point of view, have been more valuable to me. You cannot +imagine how earnestly I wish I could swallow continental extension, +but I cannot; the more I think (and I cannot get the subject out of my +head), the more difficult I find it. If there were only some half-dozen +cases, I should not feel the least difficulty; but the generality of the +facts of all islands (except one or two) having a considerable part of +their productions in common with one or more mainlands utterly staggers +me. What a wonderful case of the Epacridae! It is most vexatious, also +humiliating, to me that I cannot follow and subscribe to the way in +which you strikingly put your view of the case. I look at your facts +(about Eucalyptus, etc.) as DAMNING against continental extension, and +if you like also damning against migration, or at least of ENORMOUS +difficulty. I see the ground of our difference (in a letter I must put +myself on an equality in arguing) lies, in my opinion, that scarcely +anything is known of means of distribution. I quite agree with A. De +Candolle's (and I dare say your) opinion that it is poor work putting +together the merely POSSIBLE means of distribution; but I see no +other way in which the subject can be attacked, for I think that A. De +Candolle's argument, that no plants have been introduced into England +except by man's agency, [is] of no weight. I cannot but think that the +theory of continental extension does do some little harm as stopping +investigation of the means of dispersal, which, whether NEGATIVE or +positive, seems to me of value; when negatived, then every one who +believes in single centres will have to admit continental extensions. + +...I see from your remarks that you do not understand my notions +(whether or no worth anything) about modification; I attribute very +little to the direct action of climate, etc. I suppose, in regard to +specific centres, we are at cross purposes; I should call the kitchen +garden in which the red cabbage was produced, or the farm in which +Bakewell made the Shorthorn cattle, the specific centre of these +SPECIES! And surely this is centralisation enough! + +I thank you most sincerely for all your assistance; and whether or no my +book may be wretched, you have done your best to make it less wretched. +Sometimes I am in very good spirits and sometimes very low about it. My +own mind is decided on the question of the origin of species; but, good +heavens, how little that is worth!... + +[With regard to "specific centres," a passage from a letter dated July +25, 1856, by Sir Charles Lyell to Sir J.D. Hooker ('Life' ii. page 216) +is of interest: + +"I fear much that if Darwin argues that species are phantoms, he will +also have to admit that single centres of dispersion are phantoms also, +and that would deprive me of much of the value which I ascribe to the +present provinces of animals and plants, as illustrating modern and +tertiary changes in physical geography." + +He seems to have recognised, however, that the phantom doctrine would +soon have to be faced, for he wrote in the same letter: "Whether Darwin +persuades you and me to renounce our faith in species (when geological +epochs are considered) or not, I foresee that many will go over to the +indefinite modifiability doctrine." + + +In the autumn my father was still working at geographical distribution, +and again sought the aid of Sir J.D. Hooker. + +A LETTER TO SIR J.D. HOOKER [September, 1856]. + +"In the course of some weeks, you unfortunate wretch, you will have my +MS. on one point of Geographical Distribution. I will however, never ask +such a favour again; but in regard to this one piece of MS., it is of +infinite importance to me for you to see it; for never in my life have +I felt such difficulty what to do, and I heartily wish I could slur the +whole subject over." + +In a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker (June, 1856), the following +characteristic passage occurs, suggested, no doubt, by the kind of work +which his chapter on Geographical Distribution entailed: + +"There is wonderful ill logic in his [E. Forbes'] famous and admirable +memoir on distribution, as it appears to me, now that I have got it up +so as to give the heads in a page. Depend on it, my saying is a true +one, viz., that a compiler is a GREAT man, and an original man a +commonplace man. Any fool can generalise and speculate; but, oh, my +heavens! To get up AT SECOND HAND a New Zealand Flora, that is work." + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. October 3 [1856]. + +...I remember you protested against Lyell's advice of writing a +SKETCH of my species doctrines. Well, when I began I found it such +unsatisfactory work that I have desisted, and am now drawing up my work +as perfect as my materials of nineteen years' collecting suffice, but do +not intend to stop to perfect any line of investigation beyond current +work. Thus far and no farther I shall follow Lyell's urgent advice. Your +remarks weighed with me considerably. I find to my sorrow it will run +to quite a big book. I have found my careful work at pigeons really +invaluable, as enlightening me on many points on variation under +domestication. The copious old literature, by which I can trace the +gradual changes in the breeds of pigeons has been extraordinarily useful +to me. I have just had pigeons and fowls ALIVE from the Gambia! Rabbits +and ducks I am attending to pretty carefully, but less so than pigeons. +I find most remarkable differences in the skeletons of rabbits. Have you +ever kept any odd breeds of rabbits, and can you give me any details? +One other question: You used to keep hawks; do you at all know, after +eating a bird, how soon after they throw up the pellet? + +No subject gives me so much trouble and doubt and difficulty as the +means of dispersal of the same species of terrestrial productions on +the oceanic islands. Land mollusca drive me mad, and I cannot anyhow get +their eggs to experimentise their power of floating and resistance to +the injurious action of salt water. I will not apologise for writing +so much about my own doings, as I believe you will like to hear. Do +sometime, I beg you, let me hear how you get on in health; and IF SO +INCLINED, let me have some words on call-ducks. + +My dear Fox, yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +[With regard to his book he wrote (November 10th) to Sir Charles Lyell]: + +"I am working very steadily at my big book; I have found it quite +impossible to publish any preliminary essay or sketch; but am doing +my work as completely as my present materials allow without waiting to +perfect them. And this much acceleration I owe to you."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Sunday [October 1856]. + +My dear Hooker, + +The seeds are come all safe, many thanks for them. I was very sorry to +run away so soon and miss any part of my MOST pleasant evening; and I +ran away like a Goth and Vandal without wishing Mrs. Hooker good-bye; +but I was only just in time, as I got on the platform the train had +arrived. + +I was particularly glad of our discussion after dinner, fighting a +battle with you always clears my mind wonderfully. I groan to hear that +A. Gray agrees with you about the condition of Botanical Geography. +All I know is that if you had had to search for light in Zoological +Geography you would by contrast, respect your own subject a vast deal +more than you now do. The hawks have behaved like gentlemen, and have +cast up pellets with lots of seeds in them; and I have just had a parcel +of partridge's feet well caked with mud!!! (The mud in such cases often +contains seeds, so that plants are thus transported.) Adios. + +Your insane and perverse friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, November 4th [1856]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I thank you more CORDIALLY than you will think probable, for your note. +Your verdict (On the MS. relating to geographical distribution.) has +been a great relief. On my honour I had no idea whether or not you would +say it was (and I knew you would say it very kindly) so bad, that you +would have begged me to have burnt the whole. To my own mind my MS. +relieved me of some few difficulties, and the difficulties seemed to me +pretty fairly stated, but I had become so bewildered with conflicting +facts, evidence, reasoning and opinions, that I felt to myself that +I had lost all judgment. Your general verdict is INCOMPARABLY more +favourable than I had anticipated... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, November 23rd [1856]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I fear I shall weary you with letters, but do not answer this, for in +truth and without flattery, I so value your letters, that after a heavy +batch, as of late, I feel that I have been extravagant and have drawn +too much money, and shall therefore have to stint myself on another +occasion. + +When I sent my MS. I felt strongly that some preliminary questions on +the causes of variation ought to have been sent you. Whether I am +right or wrong in these points is quite a separate question, but the +conclusion which I have come to, quite independently of geographical +distribution, is that external conditions (to which naturalists so often +appeal) do by themselves VERY LITTLE. How much they do is the point of +all others on which I feel myself very weak. I judge from the facts +of variation under domestication, and I may yet get more light. But at +present, after drawing up a rough copy on this subject, my conclusion +is that external conditions do EXTREMELY little, except in causing mere +variability. This mere variability (causing the child NOT closely to +resemble its parent) I look at as VERY different from the formation of a +marked variety or new species. (No doubt the variability is governed +by laws, some of which I am endeavouring very obscurely to trace.) The +formation of a strong variety or species I look a as almost wholly due +to the selection of what may be incorrectly called CHANCE variations or +variability. This power of selection stands in the most direct relation +to time, and in the state of nature can be only excessively slow. Again, +the slight differences selected, by which a race or species is at last +formed, stands, as I think can be shown (even with plants, and obviously +with animals), in a far more important relation to its associates than +to external conditions. Therefore, according to my principles, whether +right or wrong, I cannot agree with your proposition that time, and +altered conditions, and altered associates, are 'convertible terms.' +I look at the first and the last as FAR more important: time being +important only so far as giving scope to selection. God knows whether +you will perceive at what I am driving. I shall have to discuss and +think more about your difficulty of the temperate and sub-arctic forms +in the S. hemisphere than I have yet done. But I am inclined to think +that I am right (if my general principles are right), that there would +be little tendency to the formation of a new species, during the period +of migration, whether shorter or longer, though considerable variability +may have supervened... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. December 24th [1856]. + +...How I do wish I lived near you to discuss matters with. I have +just been comparing definitions of species, and stating briefly how +systematic naturalists work out their subjects. Aquilegia in the Flora +Indica was a capital example for me. It is really laughable to see what +different ideas are prominent in various naturalists' minds, when they +speak of "species;" in some, resemblance is everything and descent +of little weight--in some, resemblance seems to go for nothing, and +Creation the reigning idea--in some, descent is the key,--in some, +sterility an unfailing test, with others it is not worth a farthing. It +all comes, I believe, from trying to define the undefinable. I +suppose you have lost the odd black seed from the birds' dung, which +germinated,--anyhow, it is not worth taking trouble over. I have now got +about a dozen seeds out of small birds' dung. Adios, + +My dear Hooker, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, January 1st [1857?]. + +My dear Dr Gray, + +I have received the second part of your paper ('Statistics of the Flora +of the Northern United States.' "Silliman's Journal", 1857.), and though +I have nothing particular to say, I must send you my thanks and hearty +admiration. The whole paper strikes me as quite exhausting the subject, +and I quite fancy and flatter myself I now appreciate the character +of your Flora. What a difference in regard to Europe your remark in +relation to the genera makes! I have been eminently glad to see your +conclusion in regard to the species of large genera widely ranging; it +is in strict conformity with the results I have worked out in several +ways. It is of great importance to my notions. By the way you have +paid me a GREAT compliment ("From some investigations of his own, this +sagacious naturalist inclines to think that [the species of] large +genera range over a larger area than the species of small genera +do."--Asa Gray, loc. cit.): to be SIMPLY mentioned even in such a paper +I consider a very great honour. One of your conclusions makes me groan, +viz., that the line of connection of the strictly alpine plants is +through Greenland. I should EXTREMELY like to see your reasons published +in detail, for it "riles" me (this is a proper expression, is it not?) +dreadfully. Lyell told me, that Agassiz having a theory about when +Saurians were first created, on hearing some careful observations +opposed to this, said he did not believe it, "for Nature never lied." +I am just in this predicament, and repeat to you that, "Nature never +lies," ergo, theorisers are always right... + +Overworked as you are, I dare say you will say that I am an odious +plague; but here is another suggestion! I was led by one of my wild +speculations to conclude (though it has nothing to do with geographical +distribution, yet it has with your statistics) that trees would have a +strong tendency to have flowers with dioecious, monoecious or polygamous +structure. Seeing that this seemed so in Persoon, I took one little +British Flora, and discriminating trees from bushes according to Loudon, +I have found that the result was in species, genera and families, as I +anticipated. So I sent my notions to Hooker to ask him to tabulate the +New Zealand Flora for this end, and he thought my result sufficiently +curious, to do so; and the accordance with Britain is very striking, and +the more so, as he made three classes of trees, bushes, and herbaceous +plants. (He says further he shall work the Tasmanian Flora on the same +principle.) The bushes hold an intermediate position between the other +two classes. It seems to me a curious relation in itself, and is very +much so, if my theory and explanation are correct. (See 'Origin,' +Edition i., page 100.) + +With hearty thanks, your most troublesome friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, April 12th [1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your letter has pleased me much, for I never can get it out of my head, +that I take unfair advantage of your kindness, as I receive all and give +nothing. What a splendid discussion you could write on the whole subject +of variation! The cases discussed in your last note are valuable to me +(though odious and damnable), as showing how profoundly ignorant we are +on the causes of variation. I shall just allude to these cases, as a +sort of sub-division of polymorphism a little more definite, I fancy, +than the variation of, for instance, the Rubi, and equally or more +perplexing. + +I have just been putting my notes together on variations APPARENTLY due +to the immediate and direct action of external causes; and I have been +struck with one result. The most firm sticklers for independent creation +admit, that the fur of the SAME species is thinner towards the south of +the range of the same species than to the north--that the SAME shells +are brighter-coloured to the south than north; that the same [shell] +is paler-coloured in deep water--that insects are smaller and darker on +mountains--more livid and testaceous near sea--that plants are smaller +and more hairy and with brighter flowers on mountains: now in all such, +and other cases, distinct species in the two zones follow the same rule, +which seems to me to be most simply explained by species, being only +strongly marked varieties, and therefore following the same laws as +recognised and admitted varieties. I mention all this on account of the +variation of plants in ascending mountains; I have quoted the foregoing +remark only generally with no examples, for I add, there is so much +doubt and dispute what to call varieties; but yet I have stumbled on +so many casual remarks on VARIETIES of plants on mountains being so +characterised, that I presume there is some truth in it. What think +you? Do you believe there is ANY tendency in VARIETIES, as GENERALLY +so-called, of plants to become more hairy and with proportionally larger +and brighter-coloured flowers in ascending a mountain? + +I have been interested in my "weed garden," of 3 x 2 feet square: I mark +each seedling as it appears, and I am astonished at the number that come +up, and still more at the number killed by slugs, etc. Already 59 have +been so killed; I expected a good many, but I had fancied that this +was a less potent check than it seems to be, and I attributed almost +exclusively to mere choking, the destruction of the seedlings. +Grass-seedlings seem to suffer much less than exogens... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Moor Park, Farnham [April (?) 1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your letter has been forwarded to me here, where I am undergoing +hydropathy for a fortnight, having been here a week, and having already +received an amount of good which is quite incredible to myself and quite +unaccountable. I can walk and eat like a hearty Christian, and even my +nights are good. I cannot in the least understand how hydropathy can act +as it certainly does on me. It dulls one's brain splendidly; I have not +thought about a single species of any kind since leaving home. Your note +has taken me aback; I thought the hairiness, etc., of Alpine SPECIES +was generally admitted; I am sure I have seen it alluded to a score of +times. Falconer was haranguing on it the other day to me. Meyen or Gay, +or some such fellow (whom you would despise), I remember, makes some +remark on Chilian Cordillera plants. Wimmer has written a little book on +the same lines, and on VARIETIES being so characterised in the Alps. +But after writing to you, I confess I was staggered by finding one +man (Moquin-Tandon, I think) saying that Alpine flowers are strongly +inclined to be white, and Linnaeus saying that cold makes plants +APETALOUS, even the same species! Are Arctic plants often apetalous? My +general belief from my compiling work is quite to agree with what +you say about the little direct influence of climate; and I have +just alluded to the hairiness of Alpine plants as an EXCEPTION. The +odoriferousness would be a good case for me if I knew of VARIETIES being +more odoriferous in dry habitats. + +I fear that I have looked at the hairiness of Alpine plants as so +generally acknowledged that I have not marked passages, so as at all +to see what kind of evidence authors advance. I must confess, the other +day, when I asked Falconer, whether he knew of INDIVIDUAL plants losing +or acquiring hairiness when transported, he did not. But now THIS +SECOND, my memory flashes on me, and I am certain I have somewhere +got marked a case of hairy plants from the Pyrenees losing hairs when +cultivated at Montpellier. Shall you think me very impudent if I tell +you that I have sometimes thought that (quite independently of the +present case), you are a little too hard on bad observers; that a remark +made by a bad observer CANNOT be right; an observer who deserves to be +damned you would utterly damn. I feel entire deference to any remark you +make out of your own head; but when in opposition to some poor devil, I +somehow involuntarily feel not quite so much, but yet much deference for +your opinion. I do not know in the least whether there is any truth in +this my criticism against you, but I have often thought I would tell you +it. + +I am really very much obliged for your letter, for, though I intended to +put only one sentence and that vaguely, I should probably have put that +much too strongly. + +Ever, my dear Hooker, yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +P.S. This note, as you see, has not anything requiring an answer. + +The distribution of fresh-water molluscs has been a horrid incubus to +me, but I think I know my way now; when first hatched they are very +active, and I have had thirty or forty crawl on a dead duck's foot; and +they cannot be jerked off, and will live fifteen and even twenty-four +hours out of water. + + +[The following letter refers to the expedition of the Austrian frigate +"Novara"; Lyell had asked my father for suggestions.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, February 11th [1857]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I was glad to see in the newspapers about the Austrian Expedition. I +have nothing to add geologically to my notes in the Manual. (The article +"Geology" in the Admiralty Manual of Scientific Enquiry.) I do not know +whether the Expedition is tied down to call at only fixed spots. But +if there be any choice or power in the scientific men to influence +the places--this would be most desirable. It is my most deliberate +conviction that nothing would aid more, Natural History, than careful +collecting and investigating ALL THE PRODUCTIONS of the most isolated +islands, especially of the southern hemisphere. Except Tristan d'Acunha +and Kerguelen Land, they are very imperfectly known; and even at +Kerguelen Land, how much there is to make out about the lignite beds, +and whether there are signs of old Glacial action. Every sea shell and +insect and plant is of value from such spots. Some one in the Expedition +especially ought to have Hooker's New Zealand Essay. What grand work to +explore Rodriguez, with its fossil birds, and little known productions +of every kind. Again the Seychelles, which, with the Cocos so near, must +be a remnant of some older land. The outer island of Juan Fernandez +is little known. The investigation of these little spots by a band of +naturalists would be grand; St. Paul's and Amsterdam would be glorious, +botanically, and geologically. Can you not recommend them to get my +'Journal' and 'Volcanic Islands' on account of the Galapagos. If they +come from the north it will be a shame and a sin if they do not call +at Cocos Islet, one of the Galapagos. I always regretted that I was +not able to examine the great craters on Albemarle Island, one of the +Galapagos. In New Zealand urge on them to look out for erratic boulders +and marks of old glaciers. + +Urge the use of the dredge in the Tropics; how little or nothing we know +of the limit of life downward in the hot seas? + +My present work leads me to perceive how much the domestic animals have +been neglected in out of the way countries. + +The Revillagigedo Island off Mexico, I believe, has never been trodden +by foot of naturalist. + +If the expedition sticks to such places as Rio, Cape of Good Hope, +Ceylon and Australia, etc., it will not do much. + +Ever yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +[The following passage occurs in a letter to Mr. Fox, February 22, 1857, +and has reference to the book on Evolution on which he was still at +work. The remainder of the letter is made up in details of no interest: + +"I am got most deeply interested in my subject; though I wish I could +set less value on the bauble fame, either present or posthumous, than +I do, but not I think, to any extreme degree: yet, if I know myself, I +would work just as hard, though with less gusto, if I knew that my book +would be published for ever anonymously."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Moor Park, May 1st, 1857. + +My dear Sir, + +I am much obliged for your letter of October 10th, from Celebes, +received a few days ago; in a laborious undertaking, sympathy is a +valuable and real encouragement. By your letter and even still more +by your paper ('On the law that has regulated the introduction of new +species.'--Ann. Nat. Hist., 1855.) in the Annals, a year or more ago, I +can plainly see that we have thought much alike and to a certain extent +have come to similar conclusions. In regard to the Paper in the Annals, +I agree to the truth of almost every word of your paper; and I dare +say that you will agree with me that it is very rare to find oneself +agreeing pretty closely with any theoretical paper; for it is lamentable +how each man draws his own different conclusions from the very same +facts. This summer will make the 20th year (!) since I opened my first +note-book, on the question how and in what way do species and varieties +differ from each other. I am now preparing my work for publication, +but I find the subject so very large, that though I have written many +chapters, I do not suppose I shall go to press for two years. I have +never heard how long you intend staying in the Malay Archipelago; I wish +I might profit by the publication of your Travels there before my work +appears, for no doubt you will reap a large harvest of facts. I have +acted already in accordance with your advice of keeping domestic +varieties, and those appearing in a state of nature, distinct; but I +have sometimes doubted of the wisdom of this, and therefore I am glad to +be backed by your opinion. I must confess, however, I rather doubt the +truth of the now very prevalent doctrine of all our domestic animals +having descended from several wild stocks; though I do not doubt that +it is so in some cases. I think there is rather better evidence on the +sterility of hybrid animals than you seem to admit: and in regard to +plants the collection of carefully recorded facts by Kolreuter and +Gaertner (and Herbert,) is ENORMOUS. I most entirely agree with you on +the little effects of "climatal conditions," which one sees referred +to ad nauseam in all books: I suppose some very little effect must be +attributed to such influences, but I fully believe that they are very +slight. It is really IMPOSSIBLE to explain my views (in the compass of a +letter), on the causes and means of variation in a state of nature; but +I have slowly adopted a distinct and tangible idea,--whether true or +false others must judge; for the firmest conviction of the truth of a +doctrine by its author, seems, alas, not to be the slightest guarantee +of truth!... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Moor Park, Saturday [May 2nd, 1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +You have shaved the hair off the Alpine plants pretty effectually. +The case of the Anthyllis will make a "tie" with the believed case of +Pyrenees plants becoming glabrous at low levels. If I DO find that I +have marked such facts, I will lay the evidence before you. I wonder how +the belief could have originated! Was it through final causes to keep +the plants warm? Falconer in talk coupled the two facts of woolly Alpine +plants and mammals. How candidly and meekly you took my Jeremiad on your +severity to second-class men. After I had sent it off, an ugly little +voice asked me, once or twice, how much of my noble defence of the +poor in spirit and in fact, was owing to your having not seldom smashed +favourite notions of my own. I silenced the ugly little voice with +contempt, but it would whisper again and again. I sometimes despise +myself as a poor compiler as heartily as you could do, though I do +NOT despise my whole work, as I think there is enough known to lay a +foundation for the discussion on the origin of species. I have been led +to despise and laugh at myself as a compiler, for having put down that +"Alpine plants have large flowers," and now perhaps I may write over +these very words, "Alpine plants have small or apetalous flowers!"... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [May] 16th [1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +You said--I hope honestly--that you did not dislike my asking questions +on general points, you of course answering or not as time or inclination +might serve. I find in the animal kingdom that the proposition that any +part or organ developed normally (i.e., not a monstrosity) in a species +in any HIGH or UNUSUAL degree, compared with the same part or organ in +allied species, tends to be HIGHLY VARIABLE. I cannot doubt this from +my mass of collected facts. To give an instance, the Cross-bill is +very abnormal in the structure of its bill compared with other allied +Fringillidae, and the beak is EMINENTLY VARIABLE. The Himantopus, +remarkable from the wonderful length of its legs, is VERY variable in +the length of its legs. I could give MANY most striking and curious +illustrations in all classes; so many that I think it cannot be chance. +But I have NONE in the vegetable kingdom, owing, as I believe, to my +ignorance. If Nepenthes consisted of ONE or two species in a group with +a pitcher developed, then I should have expected it to have been very +variable; but I do not consider Nepenthes a case in point, for when a +whole genus or group has an organ, however anomalous, I do not expect +it to be variable,--it is only when one or few species differ greatly in +some one part or organ from the forms CLOSELY ALLIED to it in all other +respects, that I believe such part or organ to be highly variable. Will +you turn this in your mind? It is an important apparent LAW (!) for me. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I do not know how far you will care to hear, but I find +Moquin-Tandon treats in his 'Teratologie' on villosity of plants, and +seems to attribute more to dryness than altitude; but seems to think +that it must be admitted that mountain plants are villose, and that this +villosity is only in part explained by De Candolle's remark that the +dwarfed condition of mountain plants would condense the hairs, and +so give them the APPEARANCE of being more hairy. He quotes Senebier, +'Physiologie Vegetale,' as authority--I suppose the first authority, for +mountain plants being hairy. + +If I could show positively that the endemic species were more hairy in +dry districts, then the case of the varieties becoming more hairy in dry +ground would be a fact for me. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, June 3rd [1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am going to enjoy myself by having a prose on my own subjects to you, +and this is a greater enjoyment to me than you will readily understand, +as I for months together do not open my mouth on Natural History. +Your letter is of great value to me, and staggers me in regard to my +proposition. I dare say the absence of botanical facts may in part be +accounted for by the difficulty of measuring slight variations. Indeed, +after writing, this occurred to me; for I have Crucianella stylosa +coming into flower, and the pistil ought to be very variable in length, +and thinking of this I at once felt how could one judge whether it was +variable in any high degree. How different, for instance, from the +beak of a bird! But I am not satisfied with this explanation, and am +staggered. Yet I think there is something in the law; I have had so +many instances, as the following: I wrote to Wollaston to ask him to +run through the Madeira Beetles and tell me whether any one presented +anything very anomalous in relation to its allies. He gave me a unique +case of an enormous head in a female, and then I found in his book, +already stated, that the size of the head was ASTONISHINGLY variable. +Part of the difference with plants may be accounted for by many of +my cases being secondary male or FEMALE characters, but then I have +striking cases with hermaphrodite Cirripedes. The cases seem to me +far too numerous for accidental coincidences, of great variability and +abnormal development. I presume that you will not object to my putting a +note saying that you had reflected over the case, and though one or +two cases seemed to support, quite as many or more seemed wholly +contradictory. This want of evidence is the more surprising to me, as +generally I find any proposition more easily tested by observations in +botanical works, which I have picked up, than in zoological works. I +never dreamed that you had kept the subject at all before your +mind. Altogether the case is one more of my MANY horrid puzzles. My +observations, though on so infinitely a small scale, on the struggle for +existence, begin to make me see a little clearer how the fight goes on. +Out of sixteen kinds of seed sown on my meadow, fifteen have germinated, +but now they are perishing at such a rate that I doubt whether more than +one will flower. Here we have choking which has taken place likewise on +a great scale, with plants not seedlings, in a bit of my lawn allowed +to grow up. On the other hand, in a bit of ground, 2 by 3 feet, I have +daily marked each seedling weed as it has appeared during March, April +and May, and 357 have come up, and of these 277 have ALREADY been killed +chiefly by slugs. By the way, at Moor Park, I saw rather a pretty case +of the effects of animals on vegetation: there are enormous commons with +clumps of old Scotch firs on the hills, and about eight or ten years ago +some of these commons were enclosed, and all round the clumps nice young +trees are springing up by the million, looking exactly as if planted, +so many are of the same age. In other parts of the common, not yet +enclosed, I looked for miles and not ONE young tree could be seen. +I then went near (within quarter of a mile of the clumps) and looked +closely in the heather, and there I found tens of thousands of young +Scotch firs (thirty in one square yard) with their tops nibbled off by +the few cattle which occasionally roam over these wretched heaths. One +little tree, three inches high, by the rings appeared to be twenty-six +years old, with a short stem about as thick as a stick of sealing-wax. +What a wondrous problem it is, what a play of forces, determining the +kind and proportion of each plant in a square yard of turf! It is to my +mind truly wonderful. And yet we are pleased to wonder when some animal +or plant becomes extinct. + +I am so sorry that you will not be at the Club. I see Mrs. Hooker is +going to Yarmouth; I trust that the health of your children is not the +motive. Good-bye. + +My dear Hooker, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I believe you are afraid to send me a ripe Edwardsia pod, for fear +I should float it from New Zealand to Chile!!! + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, June 5 [1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I honour your conscientious care about the medals. (The Royal Society's +medals.) Thank God! I am only an amateur (but a much interested one) on +the subject. + +It is an old notion of mine that more good is done by giving medals to +younger men in the early part of their career, than as a mere reward to +men whose scientific career is nearly finished. Whether medals ever do +any good is a question which does not concern us, as there the medals +are. I am almost inclined to think that I would rather lower the +standard, and give medals to young workers than to old ones with +no ESPECIAL claims. With regard to especial claims, I think it just +deserving your attention, that if general claims are once admitted, it +opens the door to great laxity in giving them. Think of the case of +a very rich man, who aided SOLELY with his money, but to a grand +extent--or such an inconceivable prodigy as a minister of the Crown who +really cared for science. Would you give such men medals? Perhaps medals +could not be better applied than EXCLUSIVELY to such men. I confess at +present I incline to stick to especial claims which can be put down on +paper... + +I am much confounded by your showing that there are not obvious +instances of my (or rather Waterhouse's) law of abnormal developments +being highly variable. I have been thinking more of your remark about +the difficulty of judging or comparing variability in plants from the +great general variability of parts. I should look at the law as more +completely smashed if you would turn in your mind for a little while +for cases of great variability of an organ, and tell me whether it is +moderately easy to pick out such cases; For IF THEY CAN BE PICKED +OUT, and, notwithstanding, do not coincide with great or abnormal +development, it would be a complete smasher. It is only beginning in +your mind at the variability end of the question instead of at the +abnormality end. PERHAPS cases in which a part is highly variable in all +the species of a group should be excluded, as possibly being something +distinct, and connected with the perplexing subject of polymorphism. +Will you perfect your assistance by further considering, for a little, +the subject this way? + +I have been so much interested this morning in comparing all my notes on +the variation of the several species of the genus Equus and the results +of their crossing. Taking most strictly analogous facts amongst the +blessed pigeons for my guide, I believe I can plainly see the colouring +and marks of the grandfather of the Ass, Horse, Quagga, Hemionus and +Zebra, some millions of generations ago! Should not I [have] sneer[ed] +at any one who made such a remark to me a few years ago; but my evidence +seems to me so good that I shall publish my vision at the end of my +little discussion on this genus. + +I have of late inundated you with my notions, you best of friends and +philosophers. + +Adios, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Moor Park, Farnham, June 25th [1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +This requires no answer, but I will ask you whenever we meet. Look at +enclosed seedling gorses, especially one with the top knocked off. The +leaves succeeding the cotyledons being almost clover-like in shape, +seems to me feebly analogous to embryonic resemblances in young animals, +as, for instance, the young lion being striped. I shall ask you whether +this is so...(See 'Power of Movement in Plants,' page 414.) + +Dr. Lane (The physician at Moor Park.) and wife, and mother-in-law, Lady +Drysdale, are some of the nicest people I ever met. + +I return home on the 30th. Good-bye, my dear Hooker. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[Here follows a group of letters, of various dates, bearing on the +question of large genera varying.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. March 11th [1858]. + +I was led to all this work by a remark of Fries, that the species in +large genera were more closely related to each other than in small +genera; and if this were so, seeing that varieties and species are so +hardly distinguishable, I concluded that I should find more varieties +in the large genera than in the small...Some day I hope you will read +my short discussion on the whole subject. You have done me infinite +service, whatever opinion I come to, in drawing my attention to at least +the possibility or the probability of botanists recording more varieties +in the large than in the small genera. It will be hard work for me to be +candid in coming to my conclusion. + +Ever yours, most truly, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I shall be several weeks at my present job. The work has been +turning out badly for me this morning, and I am sick at heart; and, oh! +how I do hate species and varieties. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. July 14th [1857?]. + +...I write now to supplicate most earnestly a favour, viz., the loan of +"Boreau, Flore du centre de la France", either 1st or 2nd edition, +last best; also "Flora Ratisbonensis," by Dr. Furnrohr, in 'Naturhist. +Topographie von Regensburg, 1839.' If you can POSSIBLY spare them, will +you send them at once to the enclosed address. If you have not them, +will you send one line by return of post: as I must try whether +Kippist (The late Mr. Kippist was at this time in charge of the Linnean +Society's Library.) can anyhow find them, which I fear will be nearly +impossible in the Linnean Library, in which I know they are. + +I have been making some calculations about varieties, etc., and talking +yesterday with Lubbock, he has pointed out to me the grossest blunder +which I have made in principle, and which entails two or three weeks' +lost work; and I am at a dead-lock till I have these books to go over +again, and see what the result of calculation on the right principle is. +I am the most miserable, bemuddled, stupid dog in all England, and am +ready to cry with vexation at my blindness and presumption. + +Ever yours, most miserably, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. Down, [July] 14th [1857]. + +My dear Lubbock, + +You have done me the greatest possible service in helping me to clarify +my brains. If I am as muzzy on all subjects as I am on proportion and +chance,--what a book I shall produce! + +I have divided the New Zealand Flora as you suggested, there are 329 +species in genera of 4 and upwards, and 323 in genera of 3 and less. + +The 339 species have 51 species presenting one or more varieties. The +323 species have only 37. Proportionately (339: 323:: 51: 48.5) they +ought to have had 48 1/2 species presenting vars. So that the case goes +as I want it, but not strong enough, without it be general, for me to +have much confidence in. I am quite convinced yours is the right way; I +had thought of it, but should never have done it had it not been for my +most fortunate conversation with you. + +Un quite shocked to find how easily I am muddled, for I had before +thought over the subject much, and concluded my way was fair. It is +dreadfully erroneous. + +What a disgraceful blunder you have saved me from. I heartily thank you. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--It is enough to make me tear up all my MS. and give up in despair. + +It will take me several weeks to go over all my materials. But oh, if +you knew how thankful I am to you! + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, August [1857]. + +My dear Hooker, + +It is a horrid bore you cannot come soon, and I reproach myself that +I did not write sooner. How busy you must be! with such a heap of +botanists at Kew. Only think, I have just had a letter from Henslow, +saying he will come here between 11th and 15th! Is not that grand? Many +thanks about Furnrohr. I must humbly supplicate Kippist to search for +it: he most kindly got Boreau for me. + +I am got extremely interested in tabulating, according to mere size +of genera, the species having any varieties marked by Greek letters or +otherwise: the result (as far as I have yet gone) seems to me one of the +most important arguments I have yet met with, that varieties are only +small species--or species only strongly marked varieties. The subject +is in many ways so very important for me; I wish much you would think of +any well-worked Floras with from 1000-2000 species, with the varieties +marked. It is good to have hair-splitters and lumpers. (Those who +make many species are the "splitters," and those who make few are the +"lumpers.") I have done, or am doing:-- + + Babington....................... + Henslow......................... + British Flora. London Catalogue. H.C. Watson... + + Boreau.......................... France. + + Miquel.......................... Holland. + + Asa Gray........................ N.U. States. + + Hooker.......................... New Zealand. + Fragment of Indian Flora. + + Wollaston....................... Madeira insects. + + +Has not Koch published a good German Flora? Does he mark varieties? +Could you send it me? Is there not some grand Russian Flora, which +perhaps has varieties marked? The Floras ought to be well known. + +I am in no hurry for a few weeks. Will you turn this in your head when, +if ever, you have leisure? The subject is very important for my work, +though I clearly see MANY causes of error... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, February 21st [1859]. + +My dear Gray, + +My last letter begged no favour, this one does: but it will really cost +you very little trouble to answer to me, and it will be of very GREAT +service to me, owing to a remark made to me by Hooker, which I cannot +credit, and which was suggested to him by one of my letters. He +suggested my asking you, and I told him I would not give the least +hint what he thought. I generally believe Hooker implicitly, but he is +sometimes, I think, and he confesses it, rather over critical, and +his ingenuity in discovering flaws seems to me admirable. Here is my +question:--"Do you think that good botanists in drawing up a local +Flora, whether small or large, or in making a Prodromus like De +Candolle's, would almost universally, but unintentionally and +unconsciously, tend to record (i.e., marking with Greek letters and +giving short characters) varieties in the large or in the small genera? +Or would the tendency be to record the varieties about equally in genera +of all sizes? Are you yourself conscious on reflection that you have +attended to, and recorded more carefully the varieties in large or +small, or very small genera?" + +I know what fleeting and trifling things varieties very often are; +but my query applies to such as have been thought worth marking and +recording. If you could screw time to send me ever so brief an answer to +this, pretty soon, it would be a great service to me. + +Yours most truly obliged, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Do you know whether any one has ever published any remarks on the +geographical range of varieties of plants in comparison with the species +to which they are supposed to belong? I have in vain tried to get some +vague idea, and with the exception of a little information on this head +given me by Mr. Watson in a paper on Land Shells in United States, I +have quite failed; but perhaps it would be difficult for you to give me +even a brief answer on this head, and if so I am not so unreasonable, I +ASSURE YOU, as to expect it. + +If you are writing to England soon, you could enclose other letters +[for] me to forward. + +Please observe the question is not whether there are more or fewer +varieties in larger or smaller genera, but whether there is a stronger +or weaker tendency in the minds of botanists to RECORD such in large or +small genera. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 6th [1858]. + +...I send by this post my MS. on the "commonness," "range," and +"variation" of species in large and small genera. You have undertaken +a horrid job in so very kindly offering to read it, and I thank you +warmly. I have just corrected the copy, and am disappointed in finding +how tough and obscure it is; I cannot make it clearer, and at present +I loathe the very sight of it. The style of course requires further +correction, and if published I must try, but as yet see not how, to make +it clearer. + +If you have much to say and can have patience to consider the whole +subject, I would meet you in London on the Phil. Club day, so as to save +you the trouble of writing. For Heaven's sake, you stern and awful judge +and sceptic, remember that my conclusions may be true, notwithstanding +that Botanists may have recorded more varieties in large than in small +genera. It seems to me a mere balancing of probabilities. Again I thank +you most sincerely, but I fear you will find it a horrid job. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--As usual, Hydropathy has made a man of me for a short time: I hope +the sea will do Mrs. Hooker much good. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, December 22nd, 1857. + +My dear Sir, + +I thank you for your letter of September 27th. I am extremely glad +to hear how you are attending to distribution in accordance with +theoretical ideas. I am a firm believer that without speculation there +is no good and original observation. Few travellers have attended to +such points as you are now at work on; and, indeed, the whole subject +of distribution of animals is dreadfully behind that of plants. You say +that you have been somewhat surprised at no notice having been taken +of your paper in the Annals. ('On the law that has regulated the +introduction of New Species.' Ann. Nat. Hist., 1855.) I cannot say that +I am, for so very few naturalists care for anything beyond the mere +description of species. But you must not suppose that your paper has not +been attended to: two very good men, Sir C. Lyell, and Mr. E. Blyth at +Calcutta, specially called my attention to it. Though agreeing with you +on your conclusions in that paper, I believe I go much further than you; +but it is too long a subject to enter on my speculative notions. I +have not yet seen your paper on the distribution of animals in the Aru +Islands. I shall read it with the utmost interest; for I think that the +most interesting quarter of the whole globe in respect to distribution, +and I have long been very imperfectly trying to collect data for the +Malay Archipelago. I shall be quite prepared to subscribe to your +doctrine of subsidence; indeed, from the quite independent evidence of +the Coral Reefs I coloured my original map (in my Coral volume) of +the Aru Islands as one of subsidence, but got frightened and left it +uncoloured. But I can see that you are inclined to go much further +than I am in regard to the former connection of oceanic islands with +continents. Ever since poor E. Forbes propounded this doctrine it has +been eagerly followed; and Hooker elaborately discusses the former +connection of all the Antarctic Islands and New Zealand and South +America. About a year ago I discussed this subject much with Lyell and +Hooker (for I shall have to treat of it), and wrote out my arguments in +opposition; but you will be glad to hear that neither Lyell nor Hooker +thought much of my arguments. Nevertheless, for once in my life, I dare +withstand the almost preternatural sagacity of Lyell. + +You ask about land-shells on islands far distant from continents: +Madeira has a few identical with those of Europe, and here the evidence +is really good, as some of them are sub-fossil. In the Pacific Islands +there are cases of identity, which I cannot at present persuade myself +to account for by introduction through man's agency; although Dr. +Aug. Gould has conclusively shown that many land-shells have thus +been distributed over the Pacific by man's agency. These cases of +introduction are most plaguing. Have you not found it so in the Malay +Archipelago? It has seemed to me in the lists of mammals of Timor and +other islands, that SEVERAL in all probability have been naturalised... + +You ask whether I shall discuss "man." I think I shall avoid the whole +subject, as so surrounded with prejudices; though I fully admit that it +is the highest and most interesting problem for the naturalist. My work, +on which I have now been at work more or less for twenty years, will +not fix or settle anything; but I hope it will aid by giving a large +collection of facts, with one definite end. I get on very slowly, partly +from ill-health, partly from being a very slow worker. I have got about +half written; but I do not suppose I shall publish under a couple of +years. I have now been three whole months on one chapter on Hybridism! + +I am astonished to see that you expect to remain out three or four years +more. What a wonderful deal you will have seen, and what interesting +areas--the grand Malay Archipelago and the richest parts of South +America! I infinitely admire and honour your zeal and courage in the +good cause of Natural Science; and you have my very sincere and cordial +good wishes for success of all kinds, and may all your theories succeed, +except that on Oceanic Islands, on which subject I will do battle to the +death. + +Pray believe me, my dear sir, yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. February 8th [1858]. + +...I am working very hard at my book, perhaps too hard. It will be very +big, and I am become most deeply interested in the way facts fall into +groups. I am like Croesus overwhelmed with my riches in facts, and I +mean to make my book as perfect as ever I can. I shall not go to press +at soonest for a couple of years... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. February 23rd [1858]. + +...I was not much struck with the great Buckle, and I admired the way +you stuck up about deduction and induction. I am reading his book ('The +History of Civilisation.'), which, with much sophistry, as it seems to +me, is WONDERFULLY clever and original, and with astounding knowledge. + +I saw that you admired Mrs. Farrer's 'Questa tomba' of Beethoven +thoroughly; there is something grand in her sweet tones. + +Farewell. I have partly written this note to drive bee's-cells out of +my head; for I am half-mad on the subject to try to make out some +simple steps from which all the wondrous angles may result. (He had +much correspondence on this subject with the late Professor Miller of +Cambridge.) + +I was very glad to see Mrs. Hooker on Friday; how well she appears to be +and looks. + +Forgive your intolerable but affectionate friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, April 16th [1858]. + +My dear Fox, + +I want you to observe one point for me, on which I am extremely much +interested, and which will give you no trouble beyond keeping your eyes +open, and that is a habit I know full well that you have. + +I find horses of various colours often have a spinal band or stripe of +different and darker tint than the rest of the body; rarely transverse +bars on the legs, generally on the under-side of the front legs, still +more rarely a very faint transverse shoulder-stripe like an ass. + +Is there any breed of Delamere forest ponies? I have found out little +about ponies in these respects. Sir P. Egerton has, I believe, some +quite thoroughbred chestnut horses; have any of them the spinal stripe? +Mouse-coloured ponies, or rather small horses, often have spinal and leg +bars. So have dun horses (by dun I mean real colour of cream mixed with +brown, bay, or chestnut). So have sometimes chestnuts, but I have not +yet got a case of spinal stripe in chestnut, race horse, or in quite +heavy cart-horse. Any fact of this nature of such stripes in horses +would be MOST useful to me. There is a parallel case in the legs of +the donkey, and I have collected some most curious cases of stripes +appearing in various crossed equine animals. I have also a large mass of +parallel facts in the breeds of pigeons about the wing bars. I SUSPECT +it will throw light on the colour of the primeval horse. So do help me +if occasion turns up...My health has been lately very bad from +overwork, and on Tuesday I go for a fortnight's hydropathy. My work is +everlasting. Farewell. + +My dear Fox, I trust you are well. Farewell, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Moor Park, Farnham [April 26th, 1858]. + +...I have just had the innermost cockles of my heart rejoiced by a +letter from Lyell. I said to him (or he to me) that I believed from +the character of the flora of the Azores, that icebergs must have been +stranded there; and that I expected erratic boulders would be detected +embedded between the upheaved lava-beds; and I got Lyell to write to +Hartung to ask, and now H. says my question explains what had astounded +him, viz., large boulders (and some polished) of mica-schist, quartz, +sandstone, etc., some embedded, and some 40 and 50 feet above the level +of the sea, so that he had inferred that they had not been brought as +ballast. Is this not beautiful? + +The water-cure has done me some good, but I [am] nothing to boast of +to-day, so good-bye. + +My dear friend, yours, C.D. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Moor Park, Farnham, April 26th [1858]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have come here for a fortnight's hydropathy, as my stomach had got, +from steady work, into a horrid state. I am extremely much obliged to +you for sending me Hartung's interesting letter. The erratic boulders +are splendid. It is a grand case of floating ice versus glaciers. He +ought to have compared the northern and southern shores of the islands. +It is eminently interesting to me, for I have written a very long +chapter on the subject, collecting briefly all the geological evidence +of glacial action in different parts of the world, and then at great +length (on the theory of species changing) I have discussed the +migration and modification of plants and animals, in sea and land, over +a large part of the world. To my mind, it throws a flood of light on +the whole subject of distribution, if combined with the modification of +species. Indeed, I venture to speak with some little confidence on this, +for Hooker, about a year ago, kindly read over my chapter, and though he +then demurred gravely to the general conclusion, I was delighted to hear +a week or two ago that he was inclined to come round pretty strongly to +my views of distribution and change during the glacial period. I had a +letter from Thompson, of Calcutta, the other day, which helps me much, +as he is making out for me what heat our temperate plants can endure. +But it is too long a subject for a note; and I have written thus only +because Hartung's note has set the whole subject afloat in my mind +again. But I will write no more, for my object here is to think +about nothing, bathe much, walk much, eat much, and read much novels. +Farewell, with many thanks, and very kind remembrance to Lady Lyell. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MRS. DARWIN. Moor Park, Wednesday, April [1858]. + +The weather is quite delicious. Yesterday, after writing to you, I +strolled a little beyond the glade for an hour and a half, and enjoyed +myself--the fresh yet dark-green of the grand Scotch firs, the brown of +the catkins of the old birches, with their white stems, and a fringe of +distant green from the larches made an excessively pretty view. At +last I fell fast asleep on the grass, and awoke with a chorus of +birds singing around me, and squirrels running up the trees, and some +woodpeckers laughing, and it was as pleasant and rural a scene as ever +I saw, and I did not care one penny how any of the beasts or birds had +been formed. I sat in the drawing-room till after eight, and then went +and read the Chief Justice's summing up, and thought Bernard (Simon +Bernard was tried in April 1858 as an accessory to Orsini's attempt on +the life of the Emperor of the French. The verdict was "not guilty.") +guilty, and then read a bit of my novel, which is feminine, virtuous, +clerical, philanthropical, and all that sort of thing, but very +decidedly flat. I say feminine, for the author is ignorant about money +matters, and not much of a lady--for she makes her men say, "My Lady." +I like Miss Craik very much, though we have some battles, and differ on +every subject. I like also the Hungarian; a thorough gentleman, formerly +attache at Paris, and then in the Austrian cavalry, and now a pardoned +exile, with broken health. He does not seem to like Kossuth, but says, +he is certain [he is] a sincere patriot, most clever and eloquent, but +weak, with no determination of character... + + + + +CHAPTER 1. XIII. -- THE WRITING OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' + +JUNE 18, 1858, TO NOVEMBER, 1859. + +[The letters given in the present chapter tell their story with +sufficient clearness, and need but a few words of explanation. Mr. +Wallace's Essay, referred to in the first letter, bore the sub-title, +'On the Tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original +Type,' was published in the Linnean Society's Journal (1858, volume +iii. page 53) as part of the joint paper of "Messrs. C. Darwin and A. +Wallace," of which the full title was 'On the Tendency of Species to +form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by +Natural Means of Selection.' + +My father's contribution to the paper consisted of (1) Extracts from +the sketch of 1844; (2) part of a letter addressed to Dr Asa Gray, +dated September 5, 1857, and which is given above. The paper was +"communicated" to the Society by Sir Charles Lyell and Sir Joseph +Hooker, in whose prefatory letter, a clear account of the circumstances +of the case is given. + +Referring to Mr. Wallace's Essay, they wrote: + +"So highly did Mr. Darwin appreciate the value of the views therein set +forth, that he proposed, in a letter to Sir Charles Lyell, to obtain +Mr. Wallace's consent to allow the Essay to be published as soon as +possible. Of this step we highly approved, provided Mr. Darwin did not +withhold from the public, as he was strongly inclined to do (in favour +of Mr. Wallace), the memoir which he had himself written on the same +subject, and which, as before stated, one of us had perused in 1844, and +the contents of which we had both of us been privy to for many years. On +representing this to Mr. Darwin, he gave us permission to make what +use we thought proper of his memoir, etc.; and in adopting our present +course, of presenting it to the Linnean Society, we have explained to +him that we are not solely considering the relative claims to priority +of himself and his friend, but the interests of science generally."] + + +LETTERS. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, 18th [June 1858]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Some year or so ago you recommended me to read a paper by Wallace in the +'Annals' ('Annals and Magazine of Natural History', 1855.), which had +interested you, and, as I was writing to him, I knew this would please +him much, so I told him. He has to-day sent me the enclosed, and asked +me to forward it to you. It seems to me well worth reading. Your words +have come true with a vengeance--that I should be forestalled. You said +this, when I explained to you here very briefly my views of 'Natural +Selection' depending on the struggle for existence. I never saw a more +striking coincidence; if Wallace had my MS. sketch written out in 1842, +he could not have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand +as heads of my chapters. Please return me the MS., which he does not say +he wishes me to publish, but I shall of course, at once write and offer +to send to any journal. So all my originality, whatever it may amount +to, will be smashed, though my book, if it will ever have any value, +will not be deteriorated; as all the labour consists in the application +of the theory. + +I hope you will approve of Wallace's sketch, that I may tell him what +you say. + +My dear Lyell, yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, Friday [June 25, 1858]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I am very sorry to trouble you, busy as you are, in so merely a personal +an affair; but if you will give me your deliberate opinion, you will do +me as great a service as ever man did, for I have entire confidence in +your judgment and honour... + +There is nothing in Wallace's sketch which is not written out much +fuller in my sketch, copied out in 1844, and read by Hooker some dozen +years ago. About a year ago I sent a short sketch, of which I have a +copy, of my views (owing to correspondence on several points) to Asa +Gray, so that I could most truly say and prove that I take nothing +from Wallace. I should be extremely glad now to publish a sketch of my +general views in about a dozen pages or so; but I cannot persuade myself +that I can do so honourably. Wallace says nothing about publication, and +I enclose his letter. But as I had not intended to publish any sketch, +can I do so honourably, because Wallace has sent me an outline of his +doctrine? I would far rather burn my whole book, than that he or any +other man should think that I had behaved in a paltry spirit. Do you +not think his having sent me this sketch ties my hands?... If I could +honourably publish, I would state that I was induced now to publish a +sketch (and I should be very glad to be permitted to say, to follow +your advice long ago given) from Wallace having sent me an outline of +my general conclusions. We differ only, [in] that I was led to my views +from what artificial selection has done for domestic animals. I would +send Wallace a copy of my letter to Asa Gray, to show him that I had not +stolen his doctrine. But I cannot tell whether to publish now would +not be base and paltry. This was my first impression, and I should have +certainly acted on it had it not been for your letter. + +This is a trumpery affair to trouble you with, but you cannot tell how +much obliged I should be for your advice. + +By the way, would you object to send this and your answer to Hooker to +be forwarded to me, for then I shall have the opinion of my two best and +kindest friends. This letter is miserably written, and I write it now, +that I may for a time banish the whole subject; and I am worn out with +musing... + +My good dear friend forgive me. This is a trumpery letter, influenced by +trumpery feelings. + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +I will never trouble you or Hooker on the subject again. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, 26th [June, 1858]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Forgive me for adding a P.S. to make the case as strong as possible +against myself. + +Wallace might say, "You did not intend publishing an abstract of your +views till you received my communication. Is it fair to take advantage +of my having freely, though unasked, communicated to you my ideas, and +thus prevent me forestalling you?" The advantage which I should take +being that I am induced to publish from privately knowing that Wallace +is in the field. It seems hard on me that I should be thus compelled to +lose my priority of many years' standing, but I cannot feel at all +sure that this alters the justice of the case. First impressions are +generally right, and I at first thought it would be dishonourable in me +now to publish. + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I have always thought you would make a first-rate Lord Chancellor; +and I now appeal to you as a Lord Chancellor. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Tuesday [June 29, 1858]. + +...I have received your letters. I cannot think now (So soon after the +death, from scarlet fever, of his infant child.) on the subject, but +soon will. But I can see that you have acted with more kindness, and so +has Lyell, even than I could have expected from you both, most kind as +you are. + +I can easily get my letter to Asa Gray copied, but it is too short. + +...God bless you. You shall hear soon, as soon as I can think. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Tuesday night [June 29, 1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have just read your letter, and see you want the papers at once. I +am quite prostrated, and can do nothing, but I send Wallace, and the +abstract ("Abstract" is here used in the sense of "extract;" in this +sense also it occurs in the 'Linnean Journal,' where the sources of my +father's paper are described.) of my letter to Asa Gray, which gives +most imperfectly only the means of change, and does not touch on reasons +for believing that species do change. I dare say all is too late. I +hardly care about it. But you are too generous to sacrifice so much time +and kindness. It is most generous, most kind. I send my sketch of 1844 +solely that you may see by your own handwriting that you did read it. +I really cannot bear to look at it. Do not waste much time. It is +miserable in me to care at all about priority. + +The table of contents will show what it is. + +I would make a similar, but shorter and more accurate sketch for the +'Linnean Journal.' + +I will do anything. God bless you, my dear kind friend. + +I can write no more. I send this by my servant to Kew. + +Yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter is that already referred to as forming part of the +joint paper published in the Linnean Society's 'Journal,' 1858]:-- + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, September 5th [1857]. (The date is +given as October in the 'Linnean Journal.' The extracts were printed +from a duplicate undated copy in my father's possession, on which he had +written, "This was sent to Asa Gray 8 or 9 months ago, I think October +1857.") + +My dear Gray, + +I forget the exact words which I used in my former letter, but I dare +say I said that I thought you would utterly despise me when I told you +what views I had arrived at, which I did because I thought I was bound +as an honest man to do so. I should have been a strange mortal, seeing +how much I owe to your quite extraordinary kindness, if in saying this +I had meant to attribute the least bad feeling to you. Permit me to tell +you that, before I had ever corresponded with you, Hooker had shown me +several of your letters (not of a private nature), and these gave me the +warmest feeling of respect to you; and I should indeed be ungrateful +if your letters to me, and all I have heard of you, had not strongly +enhanced this feeling. But I did not feel in the least sure that when +you knew whither I was tending, that you might not think me so wild and +foolish in my views (God knows, arrived at slowly enough, and I hope +conscientiously), that you would think me worth no more notice or +assistance. To give one example: the last time I saw my dear old friend +Falconer, he attacked me most vigorously, but quite kindly, and told me, +"You will do more harm than any ten Naturalists will do good. I can see +that you have already CORRUPTED and half-spoiled Hooker!!" Now when I +see such strong feeling in my oldest friends, you need not wonder that I +always expect my views to be received with contempt. But enough and too +much of this. + +I thank you most truly for the kind spirit of your last letter. I agree +to every word in it, and think I go as far as almost any one in seeing +the grave difficulties against my doctrine. With respect to the extent +to which I go, all the arguments in favour of my notions fall RAPIDLY +away, the greater the scope of forms considered. But in animals, +embryology leads me to an enormous and frightful range. The facts which +kept me longest scientifically orthodox are those of adaptation--the +pollen-masses in asclepias--the mistletoe, with its pollen carried by +insects, and seed by birds--the woodpecker, with its feet and tail, beak +and tongue, to climb the tree and secure insects. To talk of climate or +Lamarckian habit producing such adaptations to other organic beings +is futile. This difficulty I believe I have surmounted. As you seem +interested in the subject, and as it is an IMMENSE advantage to me +to write to you and to hear, ever so briefly, what you think, I will +enclose (copied, so as to save you trouble in reading) the briefest +abstract of my notions on the means by which Nature makes her species. +Why I think that species have really changed, depends on general facts +in the affinities, embryology, rudimentary organs, geological history, +and geographical distribution of organic beings. In regard to my +Abstract, you must take immensely on trust, each paragraph occupying one +or two chapters in my book. You will, perhaps, think it paltry in me, +when I ask you not to mention my doctrine; the reason is, if any one, +like the author of the 'Vestiges,' were to hear of them, he might +easily work them in, and then I should have to quote from a work perhaps +despised by naturalists, and this would greatly injure any chance of +my views being received by those alone whose opinions I value. [Here +follows a discussion on "large genera varying," which has no direct +connection with the remainder of the letter.] + +I. It is wonderful what the principle of Selection by Man, that is the +picking out of individuals with any desired quality, and breeding from +them, and again picking out, can do. Even breeders have been astonished +at their own results. They can act on differences inappreciable to an +uneducated eye. Selection has been METHODICALLY followed in Europe for +only the last half century. But it has occasionally, and even in some +degree methodically, been followed in the most ancient times. There must +have been also a kind of unconscious selection from the most ancient +times, namely, in the preservation of the individual animals (without +any thought of their offspring) most useful to each race of man in +his particular circumstances. The "roguing," as nursery-men call the +destroying of varieties, which depart from their type, is a kind of +selection. I am convinced that intentional and occasional selection has +been the main agent in making our domestic races. But, however this may +be, its great power of modification has been indisputedly shown in late +times. Selection acts only by the accumulation of very slight or greater +variations, caused by external conditions, or by the mere fact that in +generation the child is not absolutely similar to its parent. Man, +by this power of accumulating variations, adapts living beings to his +wants--he MAY BE SAID to make the wool of one sheep good for carpets, +and another for cloth, etc. + +II. Now, suppose there was a being, who did not judge by mere external +appearance, but could study the whole internal organisation--who never +was capricious--who should go on selecting for one end during millions +of generations, who will say what he might not effect! In nature we have +some SLIGHT variations, occasionally in all parts: and I think it can be +shown that a change in the conditions of existence is the main cause +of the child not exactly resembling its parents; and in nature, geology +shows us what changes have taken place, and are taking place. We have +almost unlimited time: no one but a practical geologist can fully +appreciate this: think of the Glacial period, during the whole of which +the same species of shells at least have existed; there must have been +during this period, millions on millions of generations. + +III. I think it can be shown that there is such an unerring power +at work, or NATURAL SELECTION (the title of my book), which selects +exclusively for the good of each organic being. The elder De Candolle, +W. Herbert, and Lyell, have written strongly on the struggle for life; +but even they have not written strongly enough. Reflect that every being +(even the elephant) breeds at such a rate that, in a few years, or at +most a few centuries or thousands of years, the surface of the earth +would not hold the progeny of any one species. I have found it hard +constantly to bear in mind that the increase of every single species is +checked during some part of its life, or during some shortly recurrent +generation. Only a few of those annually born can live to propagate +their kind. What a trifling difference must often determine which shall +survive and which perish. + +IV. Now take the case of a country undergoing some change; this will +tend to cause some of its inhabitants to vary slightly; not but what I +believe most beings vary at all times enough for selection to act on. +Some of its inhabitants will be exterminated, and the remainder will be +exposed to the mutual action of a different set of inhabitants, which +I believe to be more important to the life of each being than mere +climate. Considering the infinitely various ways beings have to obtain +food by struggling with other beings, to escape danger at various times +of life, to have their eggs or seeds disseminated, etc., etc., I cannot +doubt that during millions of generations individuals of a species +will be born with some slight variation profitable to some part of its +economy; such will have a better chance of surviving, propagating this +variation, which again will be slowly increased by the accumulative +action of natural selection; and the variety thus formed will either +coexist with, or more commonly will exterminate its parent form. An +organic being like the woodpecker, or the mistletoe, may thus come to +be adapted to a score of contingencies; natural selection, accumulating +those slight variations in all parts of its structure which are in any +way useful to it, during any part of its life. + +V. Multiform difficulties will occur to every one on this theory. Most +can, I think, be satisfactorily answered.--"Natura non facit saltum" +answer some of the most obvious. The slowness of the change, and only a +very few undergoing change at any one time answers others. The extreme +imperfections of our geological records answers others. + +VI. One other principle, which may be called the principle of +divergence, plays, I believe, an important part in the origin of +species. The same spot will support more life if occupied by very +diverse forms: we see this in the many generic forms in a square yard of +turf (I have counted twenty species belonging to eighteen genera), or in +the plants and insects, on any little uniform islet, belonging to almost +as many genera and families as to species. We can understand this with +the higher animals, whose habits we best understand. We know that it +has been experimentally shown that a plot of land will yield a greater +weight, if cropped with several species of grasses, than with two or +three species. Now every single organic being, by propagating rapidly, +may be said to be striving its utmost to increase in numbers. So it will +be with the offspring of any species after it has broken into varieties, +or sub-species, or true species. And it follows, I think, from the +foregoing facts, that the varying offspring of each species will try +(only a few will succeed) to seize on as many and as diverse places +in the economy of nature as possible. Each new variety or species when +formed will generally take the place of, and so exterminate its +less well-fitted parent. This, I believe, to be the origin of the +classification or arrangement of all organic beings at all times. These +always SEEM to branch and sub-branch like a tree from a common trunk; +the flourishing twigs destroying the less vigorous--the dead and lost +branches rudely representing extinct genera and families. + +This sketch is MOST imperfect; but in so short a space I cannot make +it better. Your imagination must fill up many wide blanks. Without some +reflection, it will appear all rubbish; perhaps it will appear so after +reflection. + +C.D. + +P.S.--This little abstract touches only the accumulative power of +natural selection, which I look at as by far the most important element +in the production of new forms. The laws governing the incipient or +primordial variation (unimportant except as the groundwork for selection +to act on, in which respect it is all important), I shall discuss under +several heads, but I can come, as you may well believe, only to very +partial and imperfect conclusions. + + +[The joint paper of Mr. Wallace and my father was read at the Linnean +Society on the evening of July 1st. Sir Charles Lyell and Sir J.D. +Hooker were present, and both, I believe, made a few remarks, chiefly +with a view of impressing on those present the necessity of giving the +most careful consideration to what they had heard. There was, however, +no semblance of a discussion. Sir Joseph Hooker writes to me: "The +interest excited was intense, but the subject was too novel and too +ominous for the old school to enter the lists, before armouring. After +the meeting it was talked over with bated breath: Lyell's approval, and +perhaps in a small way mine, as his lieutenant in the affair, rather +overawed the Fellows, who would otherwise have flown out against the +doctrine. We had, too, the vantage ground of being familiar with the +authors and their theme."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, July 5th [1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +We are become more happy and less panic-struck, now that we have sent +out of the house every child, and shall remove H.,as soon as she can +move. The first nurse became ill with ulcerated throat and quinsey, +and the second is now ill with the scarlet fever, but, thank God, is +recovering. You may imagine how frightened we have been. It has been a +most miserable fortnight. Thank you much for your note, telling me that +all had gone on prosperously at the Linnean Society. You must let me +once again tell you how deeply I feel your generous kindness and Lyell's +on this occasion. But in truth it shames me that you should have lost +time on a mere point of priority. I shall be curious to see the proofs. +I do not in the least understand whether my letter to A. Gray is to be +printed; I suppose not, only your note; but I am quite indifferent, and +place myself absolutely in your and Lyell's hands. + +I can easily prepare an abstract of my whole work, but I can hardly see +how it can be made scientific for a Journal, without giving facts, which +would be impossible. Indeed, a mere abstract cannot be very short. Could +you give me any idea how many pages of the Journal could probably be +spared me? + +Directly after my return home, I would begin and cut my cloth to my +measure. If the Referees were to reject it as not strictly scientific, I +could, perhaps publish it as a pamphlet. + +With respect to my big interleaved abstract (The Sketch of 1844.), would +you send it any time before you leave England, to the enclosed address? +If you do not go till August 7th-10th, I should prefer it left with +you. I hope you have jotted criticisms on my MS. on big Genera, etc., +sufficient to make you remember your remarks, as I should be infinitely +sorry to lose them. And I see no chance of our meeting if you go soon +abroad. We thank you heartily for your invitation to join you: I can +fancy nothing which I should enjoy more; but our children are too +delicate for us to leave; I should be mere living lumber. + +Lastly, you said you would write to Wallace; I certainly should much +like this, as it would quite exonerate me: if you would send me your +note, sealed up, I would forward it with my own, as I know the address, +etc. + +Will you answer me sometime about your notions of the length of my +abstract. + +If you see Lyell, will you tell him how truly grateful I feel for his +kind interest in this affair of mine. You must know that I look at it, +as very important, for the reception of the view of species not being +immutable, the fact of the greatest Geologist and Botanist in England +taking ANY SORT OF INTEREST in the subject: I am sure it will do much to +break down prejudices. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Miss Wedgwood's, Hartfield, Tunbridge +Wells, [July 13th, 1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your letter to Wallace seems to me perfect, quite clear and most +courteous. I do not think it could possibly be improved, and I have +to day forwarded it with a letter of my own. I always thought it very +possible that I might be forestalled, but I fancied that I had a grand +enough soul not to care; but I found myself mistaken and punished; I +had, however, quite resigned myself, and had written half a letter to +Wallace to give up all priority to him, and should certainly not +have changed had it not been for Lyell's and your quite extraordinary +kindness. I assure you I feel it, and shall not forget it. I am MORE +than satisfied at what took place at the Linnean Society. I had thought +that your letter and mine to Asa Gray were to be only an appendix to +Wallace's paper. + +We go from here in a few days to the sea-side, probably to the Isle of +Wight, and on my return (after a battle with pigeon skeletons) I will +set to work at the abstract, though how on earth I shall make anything +of an abstract in thirty pages of the Journal, I know not, but will try +my best. I shall order Bentham; is it not a pity that you should waste +time in tabulating varieties? for I can get the Down schoolmaster to do +it on my return, and can tell you all the results. + +I must try and see you before your journey; but do not think I am +fishing to ask you to come to Down, for you will have no time for that. + +You cannot imagine how pleased I am that the notion of Natural Selection +has acted as a purgative on your bowels of immutability. Whenever +naturalists can look at species changing as certain, what a magnificent +field will be open,--on all the laws of variation,--on the genealogy of +all living beings,--on their lines of migration, etc., etc. Pray thank +Mrs. Hooker for her very kind little note, and pray, say how truly +obliged I am, and in truth ashamed to think that she should have had +the trouble of copying my ugly MS. It was extraordinarily kind in her. +Farewell, my dear kind friend. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I have had some fun here in watching a slave-making ant; for I +could not help rather doubting the wonderful stories, but I have now +seen a defeated marauding party, and I have seen a migration from one +nest to another of the slave-makers, carrying their slaves (who are +HOUSE, and not field niggers) in their mouths! + +I am inclined to think that it is a true generalisation that, when honey +is secreted at one point of the circle of the corolla, if the pistil +bends, it always bends into the line of the gangway to the honey. The +Larkspur is a good instance, in contrast to Columbine,--if you think of +it, just attend to this little point. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. King's Head Hotel, Sandown, Isle of Wight, +July 18th [1858]. + +...We are established here for ten days, and then go on to Shanklin, +which seems more amusing to one, like myself, who cannot walk. We hope +much that the sea may do H. and L. good. And if it does, our expedition +will answer, but not otherwise. + +I have never half thanked you for all the extraordinary trouble and +kindness you showed me about Wallace's affair. Hooker told me what was +done at the Linnean Society, and I am far more than satisfied, and I do +not think that Wallace can think my conduct unfair in allowing you and +Hooker to do whatever you thought fair. I certainly was a little annoyed +to lose all priority, but had resigned myself to my fate. I am going to +prepare a longer abstract; but it is really impossible to do justice +to the subject, except by giving the facts on which each conclusion is +grounded, and that will, of course, be absolutely impossible. Your name +and Hooker's name appearing as in any way the least interested in my +work will, I am certain, have the most important bearing in leading +people to consider the subject without prejudice. I look at this as so +very important, that I am almost glad of Wallace's paper for having led +to this. + +My dear Lyell, yours most gratefully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter refers to the proof-sheets of the Linnean paper. +The 'introduction' means the prefatory letter signed by Sir C. Lyell and +Sir J.D. Hooker.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. King's Head Hotel, Sandown, Isle of +Wight, July 21st [1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I received only yesterday the proof-sheets, which I now return. I think +your introduction cannot be improved. + +I am disgusted with my bad writing. I could not improve it, without +rewriting all, which would not be fair or worth while, as I have begun +on a better abstract for the Linnean Society. My excuse is that it NEVER +was intended for publication. I have made only a few corrections in the +style; but I cannot make it decent, but I hope moderately intelligible. +I suppose some one will correct the revise. (Shall I?) + +Could I have a clean proof to send to Wallace? + +I have not yet fully considered your remarks on big genera (but your +general concurrence is of the HIGHEST POSSIBLE interest to me); nor +shall I be able till I re-read my MS.; but you may rely on it that +you never make a remark to me which is lost from INATTENTION. I am +particularly glad you do not object to my stating your objections in +a modified form, for they always struck me as very important, and as +having much inherent value, whether or no they were fatal to my notions. +I will consider and reconsider all your remarks... + +I have ordered Bentham, for, as -- says, it will be very curious to see +a Flora written by a man who knows nothing of British plants!! + +I am very glad at what you say about my Abstract, but you may rely on +it that I will condense to the utmost. I would aid in money if it is +too long. (That is to say, he would help to pay for the printing, if +it should prove too long for the Linnean Society.) In how many ways you +have aided me! + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +[The 'Abstract' mentioned in the last sentence of the preceding letter +was in fact the 'Origin of Species,' on which he now set to work. In his +'Autobiography' he speaks of beginning to write in September, but in +his Diary he wrote, "July 20 to August 12, at Sandown, began Abstract of +Species book." "September 16, Recommenced Abstract." The book was +begun with the idea that it would be published as a paper, or series of +papers, by the Linnean Society, and it was only in the late autumn that +it became clear that it must take the form of an independent volume.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Norfolk House, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, +Friday [July] 30th [1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Will you give the enclosed scrap to Sir William to thank him for his +kindness; and this gives me an excuse to amuse myself by writing to you +a note, which requires no answer. + +This is a very charming place, and we have got a very comfortable house. +But, alas, I cannot say that the sea has done H. or L. much good. Nor +has my stomach recovered from all our troubles. I am very glad we left +home, for six children have now died of scarlet fever in Down. We return +on the 14th of August. + +I have got Bentham ('British Flora.'), and am charmed with it, and +William (who has just started for a tour abroad) has been making out all +sorts of new (to me) plants capitally. The little scraps of information +are so capital...The English names in the analytical keys drive us mad: +give them by all means, but why on earth [not] make them subordinate to +the Latin; it puts me in a passion. W. charged into the Compositae and +Umbelliferae like a hero, and demolished ever so many in grand style. + +I pass my time by doing daily a couple of hours of my Abstract, and I +find it amusing and improving work. I am now most heartily obliged to +you and Lyell for having set me on this; for I shall, when it is done, +be able to finish my work with greater ease and leisure. I confess I +hated the thought of the job; and now I find it very unsatisfactory in +not being able to give my reasons for each conclusion. + +I will be longer than I expected; it will take thirty-five of my MS. +folio pages to give an abstract on variation under domestication alone; +but I will try to put in nothing which does not seem to me of some +interest, and which was once new to me. It seems a queer plan to give an +abstract of an unpublished work; nevertheless, I repeat, I am extremely +glad I have begun in earnest on it. + +I hope you and Mrs. Hooker will have a very very pleasant tour. +Farewell, my dear Hooker. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Norfolk House, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, +Thursday [August 5, 1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I should think the note apologetical about the style of the abstract was +best as a note...But I write now to ask you to send me by return of post +the MS. on big genera, that I may make an abstract of a couple of pages +in length. I presume that you have quite done with it, otherwise I would +not for anything have it back. If you tie it with string, and mark it +MS. for printing, it will not cost, I should think, more than 4 pence. +I shall wish much to say that you have read this MS. and concur; but you +shall, before I read it to the Society, hear the sentence. + +What you tell me after speaking with Busk about the length of the +Abstract is an IMMENSE relief to me; it will make the labour far less, +not having to shorten so much every single subject; but I will try not +to be too diffusive. I fear it will spoil all interest in my book (The +larger book begun in 1856.), whenever published. The Abstract will +do very well to divide into several parts: thus I have just finished +"Variation under Domestication," in forty-four MS. pages, and that would +do for one evening; but I should be extremely sorry if all could not be +published together. + +What else you say about my Abstract pleases me highly, but frightens me, +for I fear I shall never be able to make it good enough. But how I do +run on about my own affairs to you! + +I was astonished to see Sir W. Hooker's card here two or three days +ago: I was unfortunately out walking. Henslow, also, has written to me, +proposing to come to Down on the 9th, but alas, I do not return till the +13th, and my wife not till a week later; so that I am also most sorry to +think I shall not see you, for I should not like to leave home so soon. +I had thought of going to London and running down for an hour or two to +Kew... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Norfolk House, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, +[August] [1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I write merely to say that the MS. came safely two or three days ago. +I am much obliged for the correction of style: I find it unutterably +difficult to write clearly. When we meet I must talk over a few points +on the subject. + +You speak of going to the sea-side somewhere; we think this the nicest +seaside place which we have ever seen, and we like Shanklin better than +other spots on the south coast of the island, though many are charming +and prettier, so that I would suggest your thinking of this place. We +are on the actual coast; but tastes differ so much about places. + +If you go to Broadstairs, when there is a strong wind from the coast of +France and in fine, dry, warm weather, look out, and you will PROBABLY +(!) see thistle-seeds blown across the Channel. The other day I saw one +blown right inland, and then in a few minutes a second one and then a +third; and I said to myself, God bless me, how many thistles there must +be in France; and I wrote a letter in imagination to you. But I then +looked at the LOW clouds, and noticed that they were not coming inland, +so I feared a screw was loose. I then walked beyond a headland, and +found the wind parallel to the coast, and on this very headland a noble +bed of thistles, which by every wide eddy were blown far out to sea, and +then came right in at right angles to the shore! One day such a number +of insects were washed up by the tide, and I brought to life thirteen +species of Coleoptera; not that I suppose these came from France. But do +you watch for thistle-seed as you saunter along the coast... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. August 11th [1858]. + +My dear Gray, + +Your note of July 27th has just reached me in the Isle of Wight. It is a +real and great pleasure to me to write to you about my notions; and +even if it were not so, I should be a most ungrateful dog, after all +the invaluable assistance you have rendered me, if I did not do anything +which you asked. + +I have discussed in my long MS. the later changes of climate and the +effect on migration, and I will here give you an ABSTRACT of an ABSTRACT +(which latter I am preparing of my whole work for the Linnean Society). +I cannot give you facts, and I must write dogmatically, though I do not +feel so on any point. I may just mention, in order that you may believe +that I have SOME foundation for my views, that Hooker has read my MS., +and though he at first demurred to my main point, he has since told me +that further reflection and new facts have made him a convert. + +In the older, or perhaps newer, Pliocene age (a little BEFORE the +Glacial epoch) the temperature was higher; of this there can be little +doubt; the land, on a LARGE SCALE, held much its present disposition: +the species were mainly, judging from shells, what they are now. At this +period when all animals and plants ranged 10 or 15 degrees nearer the +poles, I believe the northern part of Siberia and of North America being +almost CONTINUOUS, were peopled (it is quite possible, considering +the shallow water, that Behring Straits were united, perhaps a little +southward) by a nearly uniform fauna and flora, just as the Arctic +regions now are. The climate then became gradually colder till it became +what it now is; and then the temperate parts of Europe and America would +be separated, as far as migration is concerned, just as they now are. +Then came on the Glacial period, driving far south all living things; +middle or even southern Europe being peopled with Arctic productions; +as the warmth returned, the Arctic productions slowly crawled up the +mountains as they became denuded of snow; and we now see on their +summits the remnants of a once continuous flora and fauna. This is E. +Forbes' theory, which, however, I may add, I had written out four years +before he published. + +Some facts have made me vaguely SUSPECT that between the glacial and +the present temperature there was a period of SLIGHTLY greater warmth. +According to my modification-doctrines, I look at many of the species of +North America which CLOSELY represent those of Europe, as having become +modified since the Pliocene period, when in the northern part of the +world there was nearly free communication between the old and new +worlds. But now comes a more important consideration; there is a +considerable body of geological evidence that during the Glacial epoch +the whole world was colder; I inferred that, many years ago, from +erratic boulder phenomena carefully observed by me on both the east and +west coast of South America. Now I am so bold as to believe that at the +height of the Glacial epoch, AND WHEN ALL TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS MUST +HAVE BEEN CONSIDERABLY DISTRESSED, that several temperate forms slowly +travelled into the heart of the Tropics, and even reached the southern +hemisphere; and some few southern forms penetrated in a reverse +direction northward. (Heights of Borneo with Australian forms, Abyssinia +with Cape forms.) Wherever there was nearly continuous HIGH land, this +migration would have been immensely facilitated; hence the European +character of the plants of Tierra del Fuego and summits of Cordilleras; +hence ditto on Himalaya. As the temperature rose, all the temperate +intruders would crawl up the mountains. Hence the European forms on +Nilgherries, Ceylon, summit of Java, Organ Mountains of Brazil. But +these intruders being surrounded with new forms would be very liable to +be improved or modified by natural selection, to adapt them to the new +forms with which they had to compete; hence most of the forms on the +mountains of the Tropics are not identical, but REPRESENTATIVE forms of +North temperate plants. + +There are similar classes of facts in marine productions. All this will +appear very rash to you, and rash it may be; but I am sure not so rash +as it will at first appear to you: Hooker could not stomach it at all at +first, but has become largely a convert. From mammalia and shallow sea, +I believe Japan to have been joined to main land of China within no +remote period; and then the migration north and south before, during, +and after the Glacial epoch would act on Japan, as on the corresponding +latitude of China and the United States. + +I should beyond anything like to know whether you have any Alpine +collections from Japan, and what is their character. This letter is +miserably expressed, but perhaps it will suffice to show what I believe +have been the later main migrations and changes of temperature... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [Down] October 6th, 1858. + +...If you have or can make leisure, I should very much like to hear news +of Mrs. Hooker, yourself, and the children. Where did you go, and what +did you do and are doing? There is a comprehensive text. + +You cannot tell how I enjoyed your little visit here, it did me much +good. If Harvey is still with you, pray remember me very kindly to him. + +...I am working most steadily at my Abstract, but it grows to an +inordinate length; yet fully to make my view clear (and never giving +briefly more than a fact or two, and slurring over difficulties), I +cannot make it shorter. It will yet take me three or four months; so +slow do I work, though never idle. You cannot imagine what a service you +have done me in making me make this Abstract; for though I thought I had +got all clear, it has clarified my brains very much, by making me weigh +the relative importance of the several elements. + +I have been reading with much interest your (as I believe it to be) +capital memoir of R. Brown in the "Gardeners' Chronicle"... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, October 12th, [1858]. + +...I have sent eight copies (Of the joint paper by C. Darwin and A.R. +Wallace.) by post to Wallace, and will keep the others for him, for I +could not think of any one to send any to. + +I pray you not to pronounce too strongly against Natural Selection, till +you have read my abstract, for though I dare say you will strike out +MANY difficulties, which have never occurred to me; yet you cannot have +thought so fully on the subject as I have. + +I expect my Abstract will run into a small volume, which will have to be +published separately... + +What a splendid lot of work you have in hand. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, October 13th [1858]. + +...I have been a little vexed at myself at having asked you not "to +pronounce too strongly against Natural Selection." I am sorry to have +bothered you, though I have been much interested by your note in answer. +I wrote the sentence without reflection. But the truth is, that I have +so accustomed myself, partly from being quizzed by my non-naturalist +relations, to expect opposition and even contempt, that I forgot for +the moment that you are the one living soul from whom I have constantly +received sympathy. Believe [me] that I never forget for even a minute +how much assistance I have received from you. You are quite correct that +I never even suspected that my speculations were a "jam-pot" to you; +indeed, I thought, until quite lately, that my MS. had produced no +effect on you, and this has often staggered me. Nor did I know that you +had spoken in general terms about my work to our friends, excepting to +dear old Falconer, who some few years ago once told me that I should do +more mischief than any ten other naturalists would do good, [and] that I +had half spoiled you already! All this is stupid egotistical stuff, +and I write it only because you may think me ungrateful for not having +valued and understood your sympathy; which God knows is not the case. It +is an accursed evil to a man to become so absorbed in any subject as I +am in mine. + +I was in London yesterday for a few hours with Falconer, and he gave +me a magnificent lecture on the age of man. We are not upstarts; we can +boast of a pedigree going far back in time coeval with extinct species. +He has a grand fact of some large molar tooth in the Trias. + +I am quite knocked up, and am going next Monday to revive under +Water-cure at Moor Park. + +My dear Hooker, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. November 1858. + +...I had vowed not to mention my everlasting Abstract to you again, for +I am sure I have bothered you far more than enough about it; but, as you +allude to its previous publication, I may say that I have the chapters +on Instinct and Hybridism to abstract, which may take a fortnight each; +and my materials for Palaeontology, Geographical Distribution, and +Affinities, being less worked up, I dare say each of these will take me +three weeks, so that I shall not have done at soonest till April, and +then my Abstract will in bulk make a small volume. I never give more +than one or two instances, and I pass over briefly all difficulties, and +yet I cannot make my Abstract shorter, to be satisfactory, than I am now +doing, and yet it will expand to a small volume... + + +[About this time my father revived his old knowledge of beetles in +helping his boys in their collecting. He sent a short notice to the +'Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer,' June 25th, 1859, recording the +capture of Licinus silphoides, Clytus mysticus, Panagaeus 4-pustulatus. +The notice begins with the words, "We three very young collectors having +lately taken in the parish of Down," etc., and is signed by three of his +boys, but was clearly not written by them. I have a vivid recollection +of the pleasure of turning out my bottle of dead beetles for my father +to name, and the excitement, in which he fully shared, when any of them +proved to be uncommon ones. The following letters to Mr. Fox (November +13, 1858), and to Sir John Lubbock, illustrate this point:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, November 13th [1858]. + +...W., my son, is now at Christ's College, in the rooms above yours. +My old Gyp, Impey, was astounded to hear that he was my son, and very +simply asked, "Why, has he been long married?" What pleasant hours those +were when I used to come and drink coffee with you daily! I am reminded +of old days by my third boy having just begun collecting beetles, and +he caught the other day Brachinus crepitans, of immortal Whittlesea +Mere memory. My blood boiled with old ardour when he caught a Licinus--a +prize unknown to me... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. Thursday [before 1857]. + +Dear Lubbock, + +I do not know whether you care about beetles, but for the chance I +send this in a bottle, which I never remember having seen; though it +is excessively rash to speak from a twenty-five-year old remembrance. +Whenever we meet you can tell me whether you know it... + +I feel like an old war-horse at the sound of the trumpet, when I read +about the capturing of rare beetles--is not this a magnanimous simile +for a decayed entomologist?--It really almost makes me long to begin +collecting again. Adios. + +"Floreat Entomologia"!--to which toast at Cambridge I have drunk many a +glass of wine. So again, "Floreat Entomologia." N.B. I have NOT now been +drinking any glasses full of wine. + +Yours, C.D. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HERBERT SPENCER. Down, November 25th [1858]. + +Dear Sir, + +I beg permission to thank you sincerely for your very kind present +of your Essays. ('Essays, Scientific, Political, and Speculative,' by +Herbert Spencer, 1858-74.) I have already read several of them with +much interest. Your remarks on the general argument of the so-called +development theory seems to me admirable. I am at present preparing an +Abstract of a larger work on the changes of species; but I treat the +subject simply as a naturalist, and not from a general point of view, +otherwise, in my opinion, your argument could not have been improved on, +and might have been quoted by me with great advantage. Your article +on Music has also interested me much, for I had often thought on the +subject, and had come to nearly the same conclusion with you, though +unable to support the notion in any detail. Furthermore, by a curious +coincidence, expression has been for years a persistent subject with +me for LOOSE speculation, and I must entirely agree with you that +all expression has some biological meaning. I hope to profit by your +criticism on style, and with very best thanks, I beg leave to remain, +dear Sir, + +Yours truly obliged, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, December 24th [1858]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your news about your unsolicited salary and house is jolly, and +creditable to the Government. My room (28 x 19), with divided room +above, with ALL FIXTURES (and painted), not furniture, and plastered +outside, cost about 500 pounds. I am heartily glad of this news. + +Your facts about distribution are, indeed, very striking. I remember +well that none of your many wonderful facts in your several works, +perplexed me, for years, more than the migration having been mainly from +north to south, and not in the reverse direction. I have now at last +satisfied MYSELF (but that is very different from satisfying others) on +this head; but it would take a little volume to fully explain myself. +I did not for long see the bearing of a conclusion, at which I had +arrived, with respect to this subject. It is, that species inhabiting a +very large area, and therefore existing in large numbers, and which have +been subjected to the severest competition with many other forms, will +have arrived, through natural selection, at a higher stage of perfection +than the inhabitants of a small area. Thus I explain the fact of so many +anomalies, or what may be called "living fossils," inhabiting now only +fresh water, having been beaten out, and exterminated in the sea, by +more improved forms; thus all existing Ganoid fishes are fresh water, +as [are] Lepidosiren and Ornithorhynchus, etc. The plants of Europe and +Asia, as being the largest territory, I look at as the most "improved," +and therefore as being able to withstand the less-perfected Australian +plants; [whilst] these could not resist the Indian. See how all the +productions of New Zealand yield to those of Europe. I dare say you will +think all this utter bosh, but I believe it to be solid truth. + +You will, I think, admit that Australian plants, flourishing so in +India, is no argument that they could hold their own against the ten +thousand natural contingencies of other plants, insects, animals, etc., +etc. With respect to South West Australia and the Cape, I am shut up, +and can only d--n the whole case. + +...You say you should like to see my MS., but you did read and approve +of my long Glacial chapter, and I have not yet written my Abstract on +the whole of the Geographical Distribution, nor shall I begin it for two +or three weeks. But either Abstract or the old MS. I should be DELIGHTED +to send you, especially the Abstract chapter... + +I have now written 330 folio pages of my abstract, and it will require +150-200 [more]; so that it will make a printed volume of 400 pages, +and must be printed separately, which I think will be better in many +respects. The subject really seems to me too large for discussion at any +Society, and I believe religion would be brought in by men whom I know. + +I am thinking of a 12mo volume, like Lyell's fourth or fifth edition of +the 'Principles.'... + +I have written you a scandalously long note. So now good-bye, my dear +Hooker, + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, January 20th, 1859. + +My dear Hooker, + +I should very much like to borrow Heer at some future time, for I want +to read nothing perplexing at present till my Abstract is done. +Your last very instructive letter shall make me very cautious on the +hyper-speculative points we have been discussing. + +When you say you cannot master the train of thoughts, I know well enough +that they are too doubtful and obscure to be mastered. I have often +experienced what you call the humiliating feeling of getting more and +more involved in doubt the more one thinks of the facts and reasoning +on doubtful points. But I always comfort myself with thinking of the +future, and in the full belief that the problems which we are just +entering on, will some day be solved; and if we just break the ground we +shall have done some service, even if we reap no harvest. + +I quite agree that we only differ in DEGREE about the means of +dispersal, and that I think a satisfactory amount of accordance. You put +in a very striking manner the mutation of our continents, and I quite +agree; I doubt only about our oceans. + +I also agree (I am in a very agreeing frame of mind) with your +argumentum ad hominem, about the highness of the Australian Flora +from the number of species and genera; but here comes in a superlative +bothering element of doubt, viz., the effect of isolation. + +The only point in which I PRESUMPTUOUSLY rather demur is about the +status of the naturalised plants in Australia. I think Muller speaks of +their having spread largely beyond cultivated ground; and I can hardly +believe that our European plants would occupy stations so barren that +the native plants could not live there. I should require much evidence +to make me believe this. I have written this note merely to thank you, +as you will see it requires no answer. + +I have heard to my amazement this morning from Phillips that the +Geological Council have given me the Wollaston Medal!!! + +Ever yours, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, January 23d, 1859. + +...I enclose letters to you and me from Wallace. I admire extremely the +spirit in which they are written. I never felt very sure what he would +say. He must be an amiable man. Please return that to me, and Lyell +ought to be told how well satisfied he is. These letters have vividly +brought before me how much I owe to your and Lyell's most kind and +generous conduct in all this affair. + +...How glad I shall be when the Abstract is finished, and I can rest!... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, January 25th [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +I was extremely much pleased at receiving three days ago your letter to +me and that to Dr. Hooker. Permit me to say how heartily I admire +the spirit in which they are written. Though I had absolutely nothing +whatever to do in leading Lyell and Hooker to what they thought a fair +course of action, yet I naturally could not but feel anxious to hear +what your impression would be. I owe indirectly much to you and them; +for I almost think that Lyell would have proved right, and I should +never have completed my larger work, for I have found my Abstract hard +enough with my poor health, but now, thank God, I am in my last chapter +but one. My Abstract will make a small volume of 400 or 500 pages. +Whenever published, I will, of course, send you a copy, and then you +will see what I mean about the part which I believe selection has played +with domestic productions. It is a very different part, as you suppose, +from that played by "Natural Selection." I sent off, by the same address +as this note, a copy of the 'Journal of the Linnean Society,' and +subsequently I have sent some half-dozen copies of the paper. I have +many other copies at your disposal... + +I am glad to hear that you have been attending to birds' nests. I have +done so, though almost exclusively under one point of view, viz., to +show that instincts vary, so that selection could work on and improve +them. Few other instincts, so to speak, can be preserved in a Museum. + +Many thanks for your offer to look after horses' stripes; If there +are any donkeys, pray add them. I am delighted to hear that you have +collected bees' combs...This is an especial hobby of mine, and I think +I can throw a light on the subject. If you can collect duplicates, at no +very great expense, I should be glad of some specimens for myself with +some bees of each kind. Young, growing, and irregular combs, and +those which have not had pupae, are most valuable for measurements and +examination. Their edges should be well protected against abrasion. + +Every one whom I have seen has thought your paper very well written and +interesting. It puts my extracts (written in 1839, now just twenty years +ago!), which I must say in apology were never for an instant intended +for publication, into the shade. + +You ask about Lyell's frame of mind. I think he is somewhat staggered, +but does not give in, and speaks with horror, often to me, of what a +thing it would be, and what a job it would be for the next edition of +'The Principles,' if he were "PERverted." But he is most candid and +honest, and I think will end by being PERverted. Dr. Hooker has become +almost as heterodox as you or I, and I look at Hooker as BY FAR the most +capable judge in Europe. + +Most cordially do I wish you health and entire success in all your +pursuits, and, God knows, if admirable zeal and energy deserve success, +most amply do you deserve it. I look at my own career as nearly run out. +If I can publish my Abstract and perhaps my greater work on the same +subject, I shall look at my course as done. + +Believe me, my dear sir, yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, March 2nd [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Here is an odd, though very little, fact. I think it would be hardly +possible to name a bird which apparently could have less to do with +distribution than a Petrel. Sir W. Milner, at St. Kilda, cut open some +young nestling Petrels, and he found large, curious nuts in their crops; +I suspect picked up by parent birds from the Gulf stream. He seems to +value these nuts excessively. I have asked him (but I doubt whether +he will) to send a nut to Sir William Hooker (I gave this address for +grandeur sake) to see if any of you can name it and its native country. +Will you PLEASE MENTION this to Sir William Hooker, and if the nut does +arrive, will you oblige me by returning it to "Sir W. Milner, Bart., +Nunappleton, Tadcaster," in a registered letter, and I will repay you +postage. Enclose slip of paper with the name and country if you can, and +let me hereafter know. Forgive me asking you to take this much trouble; +for it is a funny little fact after my own heart. + +Now for another subject. I have finished my Abstract of the chapter on +Geographical Distribution, as bearing on my subject. I should like you +much to read it; but I say this, believing that you will not do so, if, +as I believe to be the case, you are extra busy. On my honour, I shall +not be mortified, and I earnestly beg you not to do it, if it will +bother you. I want it, because I here feel especially unsafe, and errors +may have crept in. Also, I should much like to know what parts you will +MOST VEHEMENTLY object to. I know we do, and must, differ widely on +several heads. Lastly, I should like particularly to know whether I +have taken anything from you, which you would like to retain for first +publication; but I think I have chiefly taken from your published +works, and, though I have several times, in this chapter and elsewhere, +acknowledged your assistance, I am aware that it is not possible for +me in the Abstract to do it sufficiently. ("I never did pick any one's +pocket, but whilst writing my present chapter I keep on feeling (even +when differing most from you) just as if I were stealing from you, so +much do I owe to your writings and conversation, so much more than mere +acknowledgments show."--Letter to Sir J.D. Hooker, 1859.) But again +let me say that you must not offer to read it if very irksome. It is +long--about ninety pages, I expect, when fully copied out. + +I hope you are all well. Moor Park has done me some good. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Heaven forgive me, here is another question: How far am I right +in supposing that with plants, the most important characters for main +divisions are Embryological? The seed itself cannot be considered as +such, I suppose, nor the albumens, etc. But I suppose the Cotyledons and +their position, and the position of the plumule and the radicle, and the +position and form of the whole embryo in the seed are embryological, and +how far are these very important? I wish to instance plants as a case +of high importance of embryological characters in classification. In the +Animal Kingdom there is, of course, no doubt of this. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, March 5th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Many thanks about the seed...it is curious. Petrels at St. Kilda +apparently being fed by seeds raised in the West Indies. It should be +noted whether it is a nut ever imported into England. I am VERY glad +you will read my Geographical MS.; it is now copying, and it will (I +presume) take ten days or so in being finished; it shall be sent as soon +as done... + +I shall be very glad to see your embryological ideas on plants; by the +sentence which I sent you, you will see that I only want one sentence; +if facts are at all, as I suppose, and I shall see this from your note, +for sending which very many thanks. + +I have been so poorly, the last three days, that I sometimes doubt +whether I shall ever get my little volume done, though so nearly +completed... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, March 15th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am PLEASED at what you say of my chapter. You have not attacked it +nearly so much as I feared you would. You do not seem to have detected +MANY errors. It was nearly all written from memory, and hence I was +particularly fearful; it would have been better if the whole had first +been carefully written out, and abstracted afterwards. I look at it as +morally certain that it must include much error in some of its general +views. I will just run over a few points in your note, but do not +trouble yourself to reply without you have something important to say... + +...I should like to know whether the case of Endemic bats in islands +struck you; it has me especially; perhaps too strongly. + +With hearty thanks, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S. You cannot tell what a relief it has been to me your looking over +this chapter, as I felt very shaky on it. + +I shall to-morrow finish my last chapter (except a recapitulation) on +Affinities, Homologies, Embryology, etc., and the facts seem to me to +come out VERY strong for mutability of species. + +I have been much interested in working out the chapter. + +I shall now, thank God, begin looking over the old first chapters for +press. + +But my health is now so very poor, that even this will take me long. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down [March] 24th [1859]. + +My dear Fox, + +It was very good of you to write to me in the midst of all your +troubles, though you seem to have got over some of them, in the recovery +of your wife's and your own health. I had not heard lately of your +mother's health, and am sorry to hear so poor an account. But as she +does not suffer much, that is the great thing; for mere life I do not +think is much valued by the old. What a time you must have had of it, +when you had to go backwards and forwards. + +We are all pretty well, and our eldest daughter is improving. I can see +daylight through my work, and am now finally correcting my chapters for +the press; and I hope in a month or six weeks to have proof-sheets. I am +weary of my work. It is a very odd thing that I have no sensation that +I overwork my brain; but facts compel me to conclude that my brain was +never formed for much thinking. We are resolved to go for two or three +months, when I have finished, to Ilkley, or some such place, to see if +I can anyhow give my health a good start, for it certainly has been +wretched of late, and has incapacitated me for everything. You do me +injustice when you think that I work for fame; I value it to a certain +extent; but, if I know myself, I work from a sort of instinct to try to +make out truth. How glad I should be if you could sometime come to Down; +especially when I get a little better, as I still hope to be. We have +set up a billiard table, and I find it does me a deal of good, and +drives the horrid species out of my head. Farewell, my dear old friend. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, March 28th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +If I keep decently well, I hope to be able to go to press with my volume +early in May. This being so, I want much to beg a little advice from +you. From an expression in Lady Lyell's note, I fancy that you have +spoken to Murray. Is it so? And is he willing to publish my Abstract? +If you will tell me whether anything, and what has passed, I will then +write to him. Does he know at all of the subject of the book? Secondly, +can you advise me, whether I had better state what terms of publication +I should prefer, or first ask him to propose terms? And what do you +think would be fair terms for an edition? Share profits, or what? + +Lastly, will you be so very kind as to look at the enclosed title and +give me your opinion and any criticisms; you must remember that, if I +have health and it appears worth doing, I have a much larger and full +book on the same subject nearly ready. + +My Abstract will be about five hundred pages of the size of your first +edition of the 'Elements of Geology.' + +Pray forgive me troubling you with the above queries; and you shall have +no more trouble on the subject. I hope the world goes well with you, and +that you are getting on with your various works. + +I am working very hard for me, and long to finish and be free and try to +recover some health. + +My dear Lyell, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +Very sincere thanks to you for standing my proxy for the Wollaston +Medal. + +P.S. Would you advise me to tell Murray that my book is not more +UN-orthodox than the subject makes inevitable. That I do not discuss the +origin of man. That I do not bring in any discussion about Genesis, +etc., etc., and only give facts, and such conclusions from them as seem +to me fair. + +Or had I better say NOTHING to Murray, and assume that he cannot object +to this much unorthodoxy, which in fact is not more than any Geological +Treatise which runs slap counter to Genesis. + +INCLOSURE. + +AN ABSTRACT OF AN ESSAY + +ON THE + +ORIGIN + +OF + +SPECIES AND VARIETIES + +THROUGH NATURAL SELECTION + +BY + +CHARLES DARWIN, M.A. + +Fellow of the Royal Geological and Linnean Societies... + +LONDON: + +etc., etc., etc., etc. + +1859. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, March 30th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +You have been uncommonly kind in all you have done. You not only have +saved me much trouble and some anxiety, but have done all incomparably +better than I could have done it. I am much pleased at all you say about +Murray. I will write either to-day or to-morrow to him, and will send +shortly a large bundle of MS., but unfortunately I cannot for a week, as +the first three chapters are in the copyists' hands. + +I am sorry about Murray objecting to the term Abstract, as I look at +it as the only possible apology for NOT giving references and facts in +full, but I will defer to him and you. I am also sorry about the term +"natural selection." I hope to retain it with explanation somewhat as +thus-- + +"Through natural selection, or the preservation of favoured Races." + +Why I like the term is that it is constantly used in all works on +breeding, and I am surprised that it is not familiar to Murray; but I +have so long studied such works that I have ceased to be a competent +judge. + +I again most truly and cordially thank you for your really valuable +assistance. + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, April 2nd [1859]. + +...I wrote to him [Mr. Murray] and gave him the headings of the +chapters, and told him he could not have the MS. for ten days or so; +and this morning I received a letter, offering me handsome terms, and +agreeing to publish without seeing the MS.! So he is eager enough; I +think I should have been cautious, anyhow, but, owing to your letter, +I told him most EXPLICITLY that I accept his offer solely on condition +that, after he has seen part or all the MS., he has full power of +retracting. You will think me presumptuous, but I think my book will +be popular to a certain extent (enough to ensure [against] heavy loss) +amongst scientific and semi-scientific men; why I think so is, because +I have found in conversation so great and surprising an interest amongst +such men, and some o-scientific [non-scientific] men on this subject, +and all my chapters are not NEARLY so dry and dull as that which you +have read on geographical distribution. Anyhow, Murray ought to be the +best judge, and if he chooses to publish it, I think I may wash my hands +of all responsibility. I am sure my friends, i.e., Lyell and you, have +been EXTRAORDINARILY kind in troubling yourselves on the matter. + +I shall be delighted to see you the day before Good Friday; there would +be one advantage for you in any other day--as I believe both my boys +come home on that day--and it would be almost impossible that I could +send the carriage for you. There will, I believe, be some relations in +the house--but I hope you will not care for that, as we shall easily get +as much talking as my IMBECILE STATE allows. I shall deeply enjoy seeing +you. + +...I am tired, so no more. + +My dear Hooker, your affectionate, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Please to send, well TIED UP with strong string, my Geographical +MS., towards the latter half of next week--i.e., 7th or 8th--that I may +send it with more to Murray; and God help him if he tries to read it. + +...I cannot help a little doubting whether Lyell would take much pains +to induce Murray to publish my book; this was not done at my request, +and it rather grates against my pride. + +I know that Lyell has been INFINITELY kind about my affair, but your +dashed (i.e., underlined) "INDUCE" gives the idea that Lyell had +unfairly urged Murray. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. April 4th [1859]. + +...You ask to see my sheets as printed off; I assure you that it will be +the HIGHEST satisfaction to me to do so: I look at the request as a high +compliment. I shall not, you may depend, forget a request which I look +at as a favour. But (and it is a heavy "but" to me) it will be long +before I go to press; I can truly say I am NEVER idle; indeed, I work +too hard for my much weakened health; yet I can do only three hours of +work daily, and I cannot at all see when I shall have finished: I have +done eleven long chapters, but I have got some other very difficult +ones: as palaeontology, classifications, and embryology, etc., and I +have to correct and add largely to all those done. I find, alas! each +chapter takes me on an average three months, so slow I am. There is +no end to the necessary digressions. I have just finished a chapter on +Instinct, and here I found grappling with such a subject as bees' +cells, and comparing all my notes made during twenty years, took up a +despairing length of time. + +But I am running on about myself in a most egotistical style. Yet I must +just say how useful I have again and again found your letters, which I +have lately been looking over and quoting! but you need not fear that I +shall quote anything you would dislike, for I try to be very cautious +on this head. I most heartily hope you may succeed in getting your +"incubus" of old work off your hands, and be in some degree a free +man... + +Again let me say that I do indeed feel grateful to you... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. MURRAY. Down, April 5th [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +I send by this post, the Title (with some remarks on a separate page), +and the first three chapters. If you have patience to read all Chapter +I., I honestly think you will have a fair notion of the interest of the +whole book. It may be conceit, but I believe the subject will interest +the public, and I am sure that the views are original. If you think +otherwise, I must repeat my request that you will freely reject my +work; and though I shall be a little disappointed, I shall be in no way +injured. + +If you choose to read Chapters II. and III., you will have a dull and +rather abstruse chapter, and a plain and interesting one, in my opinion. + +As soon as you have done with the MS., please to send it by CAREFUL +MESSENGER, AND PLAINLY DIRECTED, to Miss G. Tollett, 14, Queen Anne +Street, Cavendish Square. + +This lady, being an excellent judge of style, is going to look out for +errors for me. + +You must take your own time, but the sooner you finish, the sooner she +will, and the sooner I shall get to press, which I so earnestly wish. + +I presume you will wish to see Chapter IV., the key-stone of my arch, +and Chapters X. and XI., but please to inform me on this head. + +My dear Sir, yours sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, April 11th [1859]. + +...I write one line to say that I heard from Murray yesterday, and he +says he has read the first three chapters of one MS.(and this includes a +very dull one), and he abides by his offer. Hence he does not want more +MS., and you can send my Geographical chapter when it pleases you... + + +[Part of the MS. seems to have been lost on its way back to my father; +he wrote (April 14) to Sir J.D. Hooker:] + +"I have the old MS., otherwise, the loss would have killed me! The worst +is now that it will cause delay in getting to press, and FAR WORST of +all, lose all advantage of your having looked over my chapter, except +the third part returned. I am very sorry Mrs. Hooker took the trouble of +copying the two pages." + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [April or May, 1859]. + +...Please do not say to any one that I thought my book on Species would +be fairly popular, and have a fairly remunerative sale (which was the +height of my ambition), for if it prove a dead failure, it would make me +the more ridiculous. + +I enclose a criticism, a taste of the future-- + +REV. S. HAUGHTON'S ADDRESS TO THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, DUBLIN. (February +9, 1859.) + +"This speculation of Messrs. Darwin and Wallace would not be worthy +of notice were it not for the weight of authority of the names (i.e. +Lyell's and yours), under whose auspices it has been brought forward. If +it means what it says, it is a truism; if it means anything more, it is +contrary to fact." + +Q.E.D. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 11th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Thank you for telling me about obscurity of style. But on my life no +nigger with lash over him could have worked harder at clearness than +I have done. But the very difficulty to me, of itself leads to the +probability that I fail. Yet one lady who has read all my MS. has found +only two or three obscure sentences, but Mrs. Hooker having so found +it, makes me tremble. I will do my best in proofs. You are a good man to +take the trouble to write about it. + +With respect to our mutual muddle ("When I go over the chapter I will +see what I can do, but I hardly know how I am obscure, and I think we +are somehow in a mutual muddle with respect to each other, from starting +from some fundamentally different notions."--Letter of May 6, 1859.), +I never for a moment thought we could not make our ideas clear to each +other by talk, or if either of us had time to write in extenso. + +I imagine from some expressions (but if you ask me what, I could not +answer) that you look at variability as some necessary contingency with +organisms, and further that there is some necessary tendency in the +variability to go on diverging in character or degree. IF YOU DO, I do +not agree. "Reversion" again (a form of inheritance), I look at as in no +way directly connected with Variation, though of course inheritance is +of fundamental importance to us, for if a variation be not inherited, +it is of no significance to us. It was on such points as these I FANCIED +that we perhaps started differently. + +I fear that my book will not deserve at all the pleasant things you say +about it; and Good Lord, how I do long to have done with it! + +Since the above was written, I have received and have been MUCH +INTERESTED by A. Gray. I am delighted at his note about my and Wallace's +paper. He will go round, for it is futile to give up very many species, +and stop at an arbitrary line at others. It is what my grandfather +called Unitarianism, "a feather bed to catch a falling Christian."... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 18th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +My health has quite failed. I am off to-morrow for a week of Hydropathy. +I am very very sorry to say that I cannot look over any proofs (Of Sir +J. Hooker's Introduction to the 'Flora of Australia.') in the week, +as my object is to drive the subject out of my head. I shall return +to-morrow week. If it be worth while, which probably it is not, you +could keep back any proofs till my return home. + +In haste, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[Ten days later he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker: + +"...I write one word to say that I shall return on Saturday, and if you +have any proof-sheets to send, I shall be glad to do my best in any +criticisms. I had... great prostration of mind and body, but entire +rest, and the douche, and 'Adam Bede,' have together done me a world of +good."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. MURRAY. Down, June 14th [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +The diagram will do very well, and I will send it shortly to Mr. West to +have a few trifling corrections made. + +I get on very slowly with proofs. I remember writing to you that I +thought there would not be much correction. I honestly wrote what I +thought, but was most grievously mistaken. I find the style incredibly +bad, and most difficult to make clear and smooth. I am extremely +sorry to say, on account of expense, and loss of time for me, that +the corrections are very heavy, as heavy as possible. But from casual +glances, I still hope that later chapters are not so badly written. How +I could have written so badly is quite inconceivable, but I suppose +it was owing to my whole attention being fixed on the general line of +argument, and not on details. All I can say is, that I am very sorry. + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +P.S. I have been looking at the corrections, and considering them. +It seems to me that I shall put you to a quite unfair expense. If +you please I should like to enter into some such arrangement as the +following: when work completed, you to allow in the account a fairly +moderately heavy charge for corrections, and all excess over that to be +deducted from my profits, or paid by me individually. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, June 21st [1859]. + +I am working very hard, but get on slowly, for I find that my +corrections are terrifically heavy, and the work most difficult to me. I +have corrected 130 pages, and the volume will be about 500. I have tried +my best to make it clear and striking, but very much fear that I have +failed--so many discussions are and must be very perplexing. I have done +my best. If you had all my materials, I am sure you would have made a +splendid book. I long to finish, for I am nearly worn out. + +My dear Lyell, ever yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, 22nd [June, 1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I did not answer your pleasant note, with a good deal of news to me, +of May 30th, as I have been expecting proofs from you. But now, having +nothing particular to do, I will fly a note, though I have nothing +particular to say or ask. Indeed, how can a man have anything to say, +who spends every day in correcting accursed proofs; and such proofs! I +have fairly to blacken them, and fasten slips of paper on, so miserable +have I found the style. You say that you dreamt that my book was +ENTERTAINING; that dream is pretty well over with me, and I begin to +fear that the public will find it intolerably dry and perplexing. But I +will never give up that a better man could have made a splendid book +out of the materials. I was glad to hear about Prestwich's paper. (Mr. +Prestwich wrote on the occurrence of flint instruments associated with +the remains of extinct animals in France.--(Proc. R. Soc., 1859.)) +My doubt has been (and I see Wright has inserted the same in the +'Athenaeum') whether the pieces of flint are really tools; their +numbers make me doubt, and when I formerly looked at Boucher de Perthe's +drawings, I came to the conclusion that they were angular fragments +broken by ice action. + +Did crossing the Acacia do any good? I am so hard worked, that I can +make no experiments. I have got only to 150 pages in first proof. + +Adios, my dear Hooker, ever yours, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. MURRAY. Down, July 25th [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +I write to say that five sheets are returned to the printers ready to +strike off, and two more sheets require only a revise; so that I presume +you will soon have to decide what number of copies to print off. + +I am quite incapable of forming an opinion. I think I have got the style +FAIRLY good and clear, with infinite trouble. But whether the book will +be successful to a degree to satisfy you, I really cannot conjecture. I +heartily hope it may. + +My dear Sir, yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, August 9th, 1859. + +My dear Mr. Wallace, + +I received your letter and memoir (This seems to refer to Mr. Wallace's +paper, "On the Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago," 'Linn. +Soc. Journ,' 1860.) on the 7th, and will forward it to-morrow to the +Linnean Society. But you will be aware that there is no meeting till +the beginning of November. Your paper seems to me ADMIRABLE in matter, +style, and reasoning; and I thank you for allowing me to read it. Had I +read it some months ago, I should have profited by it for my forthcoming +volume. But my two chapters on this subject are in type, and, though not +yet corrected, I am so wearied out and weak in health, that I am fully +resolved not to add one word, and merely improve the style. So you will +see that my views are nearly the same with yours, and you may rely on it +that not one word shall be altered owing to my having read your +ideas. Are you aware that Mr. W. Earl (Probably Mr. W. Earle's paper, +Geographical Soc. Journal, 1845.) published several years ago the view +of distribution of animals in the Malay Archipelago, in relation to the +depth of the sea between the islands? I was much struck with this, +and have been in the habit of noting all facts in distribution in +that archipelago, and elsewhere, in this relation. I have been led +to conclude that there has been a good deal of naturalisation in the +different Malay islands, and which I have thought, to a certain extent, +would account for anomalies. Timor has been my greatest puzzle. What do +you say to the peculiar Felis there? I wish that you had visited Timor; +it has been asserted that a fossil mastodon's or elephant's tooth (I +forget which) has been found there, which would be a grand fact. I was +aware that Celebes was very peculiar; but the relation to Africa is +quite new to me, and marvellous, and almost passes belief. It is as +anomalous as the relation of PLANTS in S.W. Australia to the Cape of +Good Hope. I differ WHOLLY from you on the colonisation of oceanic +islands, but you will have EVERY ONE else on your side. I quite agree +with respect to all islands not situated far in the ocean. I quite agree +on the little occasional intermigration between lands [islands?] when +once pretty well stocked with inhabitants, but think this does not apply +to rising and ill-stocked islands. Are you aware that ANNUALLY birds are +blown to Madeira, the Azores (and to Bermuda from America). I wish I had +given a fuller abstract of my reasons for not believing in Forbes' great +continental extensions; but it is too late, for I will alter nothing--I +am worn out, and must have rest. Owen, I do not doubt, will bitterly +oppose us...Hooker is publishing a grand introduction to the Flora of +Australia, and goes the whole length. I have seen proofs of about half. +With every good wish. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, September 1st [1859]. + +...I am not surprised at your finding your Introduction very difficult. +But do not grudge the labour, and do not say you "have burnt your +fingers," and are "deep in the mud"; for I feel sure that the result +will be well worth the labour. Unless I am a fool, I must be a judge +to some extent of the value of such general essays, and I am fully +convinced that yours are the must valuable ever published. + +I have corrected all but the last two chapters of my book, and hope to +have done revises and all in about three weeks, and then I (or we all) +shall start for some months' hydropathy; my health has been very bad, +and I am becoming as weak as a child, and incapable of doing anything +whatever, except my three hours daily work at proof-sheets. God knows +whether I shall ever be good at anything again, perhaps a long rest and +hydropathy may do something. + +I have not had A. Gray's Essay, and should not feel up to criticise it, +even if I had the impertinence and courage. You will believe me that +I speak strictly the truth when I say that your Australian Essay is +EXTREMELY interesting to me, rather too much so. I enjoy reading it +over, and if you think my criticisms are worth anything to you, I beg +you to send the sheets (if you can give me time for good days); but +unless I can render you any little, however little assistance, I would +rather read the essay when published. Pray understand that I should be +TRULY vexed not to read them, if you wish it for your own sake. + +I had a terribly long fit of sickness yesterday, which makes the world +rather extra gloomy to-day, and I have an insanely strong wish to finish +my accursed book, such corrections every page has required as I never +saw before. It is so weariful, killing the whole afternoon, after 12 +o'clock doing nothing whatever. But I will grumble no more. So farewell, +we shall meet in the winter I trust. + +Farewell, my dear Hooker, your affectionate friend, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 2nd [1859]. + +...I am very glad you wish to see my clean sheets: I should have offered +them, but did not know whether it would bore you; I wrote by this +morning's post to Murray to send them. Unfortunately I have not got to +the part which will interest you, I think most, and which tells most +in favour of the view, viz., Geological Succession, Geographical +Distribution, and especially Morphology, Embryology and Rudimentary +Organs. I will see that the remaining sheets, when printed off, are sent +to you. But would you like for me to send the last and perfect revises +of the sheets as I correct them? if so, send me your address in a blank +envelope. I hope that you will read all, whether dull (especially latter +part of Chapter II.) or not, for I am convinced there is not a sentence +which has not a bearing on the whole argument. You will find Chapter +IV. perplexing and unintelligible, without the aid of the enclosed queer +diagram (The diagram illustrates descent with divergence.), of which +I send an old and useless proof. I have, as Murray says, corrected so +heavily, as almost to have re-written it; but yet I fear it is poorly +written. Parts are intricate; and I do not think that even you could +make them quite clear. Do not, I beg, be in a hurry in committing +yourself (like so many naturalists) to go a certain length and no +further; for I am deeply convinced that it is absolutely necessary to +go the whole vast length, or stick to the creation of each separate +species; I argue this point briefly in the last chapter. Remember that +your verdict will probably have more influence than my book in deciding +whether such views as I hold will be admitted or rejected at present; in +the future I cannot doubt about their admittance, and our posterity will +marvel as much about the current belief as we do about fossils shells +having been thought to have been created as we now see them. But forgive +me for running on about my hobby-horse... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [September] 11th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I corrected the last proof yesterday, and I have now my revises, index, +etc., which will take me near to the end of the month. So that the neck +of my work, thank God, is broken. + +I write now to say that I am uneasy in my conscience about hesitating to +look over your proofs, but I was feeling miserably unwell and shattered +when I wrote. I do not suppose I could be of hardly any use, but if I +could, pray send me any proofs. I should be (and fear I was) the most +ungrateful man to hesitate to do anything for you after some fifteen or +more years' help from you. + +As soon as ever I have fairly finished I shall be off to Ilkley, or some +other Hydropathic establishment. But I shall be some time yet, as my +proofs have been so utterly obscured with corrections, that I have to +correct heavily on revises. + +Murray proposes to publish the first week in November. Oh, good heavens, +the relief to my head and body to banish the whole subject from my mind! + +I hope to God, you do not think me a brute about your proof-sheets. + +Farewell, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 20th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +You once gave me intense pleasure, or rather delight, by the way you +were interested, in a manner I never expected, in my Coral Reef notions, +and now you have again given me similar pleasure by the manner you have +noticed my species work. (Sir Charles was President of the Geological +section at the meeting of the British Association at Aberdeen in 1859. +The following passage occurs in the address: "On this difficult and +mysterious subject a work will very shortly appear by Mr. Charles +Darwin, the result of twenty years of observations and experiments in +Zoology, Botany, and Geology, by which he had been led to the conclusion +that those powers of nature which give rise to races and permanent +varieties in animals and plants, are the same as those which in much +longer periods produce species, and in a still longer series of ages +give rise to differences of generic rank. He appears to me to have +succeeded by his investigations and reasonings in throwing a flood +of light on many classes of phenomena connected with the affinities, +geographical distribution, and geological succession of organic beings, +for which no other hypothesis has been able, or has even attempted to +account.") Nothing could be more satisfactory to me, and I thank you for +myself, and even more for the subject's sake, as I know well that +the sentence will make many fairly consider the subject, instead of +ridiculing it. Although your previously felt doubts on the immutability +of species, may have more influence in converting you (if you be +converted) than my book; yet as I regard your verdict as far more +important in my own eyes, and I believe in the eyes of the world than of +any other dozen men, I am naturally very anxious about it. Therefore +let me beg you to keep your mind open till you receive (in perhaps a +fortnight's time) my latter chapters, which are the most important of +all on the favourable side. The last chapter, which sums up and balances +in a mass all the arguments contra and pro, will, I think, be useful to +you. I cannot too strongly express my conviction of the general truth +of my doctrines, and God knows I have never shirked a difficulty. I am +foolishly anxious for your verdict, not that I shall be disappointed if +you are not converted; for I remember the long years it took me to +come round; but I shall be most deeply delighted if you do come round, +especially if I have a fair share in the conversion, I shall then +feel that my career is run, and care little whether I ever am good for +anything again in this life. + +Thank you much for allowing me to put in the sentence about your grave +doubt. (As to the immutability of species, 'Origin,' Edition i., page +310.) So much and too much about myself. + +I have read with extreme interest in the Aberdeen paper about the flint +tools; you have made the whole case far clearer to me; I suppose that +you did not think the evidence sufficient about the Glacial period. + +With cordial thanks for your splendid notice of my book. + +Believe me, my dear Lyell, your affectionate disciple, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Down, September 23rd [1859]. + +My dear Fox, + +I was very glad to get your letter a few days ago. I was wishing to hear +about you, but have been in such an absorbed, slavish, overworked +state, that I had not heart without compulsion to write to any one or +do anything beyond my daily work. Though your account of yourself is +better, I cannot think it at all satisfactory, and I wish you would soon +go to Malvern again. My father used to believe largely in an old saying +that, if a man grew thinner between fifty and sixty years of age, his +chance of long life was poor, and that on the contrary it was a very +good sign if he grew fatter; so that your stoutness, I look at as a +very good omen. My health has been as bad as it well could be all this +summer; and I have kept on my legs, only by going at short intervals to +Moor Park; but I have been better lately, and, thank Heaven, I have at +last as good as done my book, having only the index and two or three +revises to do. It will be published in the first week in November, and a +copy shall be sent you. Remember it is only an Abstract (but has cost +me above thirteen months to write!!), and facts and authorities are far +from given in full. I shall be curious to hear what you think of it, but +I am not so silly as to expect to convert you. Lyell has read about +half of the volume in clean sheets, and gives me very great kudos. He +is wavering so much about the immutability of species, that I expect +he will come round. Hooker has come round, and will publish his belief +soon. So much for my abominable volume, which has cost me so much labour +that I almost hate it. On October 3rd I start for Ilkley, but shall +take three days for the journey! It is so late that we shall not take +a house; but I go there alone for three or four weeks, then return home +for a week and go to Moor Park for three or four weeks, and then I shall +get a moderate spell of hydropathy: and I intend, if I can keep to my +resolution, of being idle this winter. But I fear ennui will be as bad +as a bad stomach... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 25th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I send by this post four corrected sheets. I have altered the sentence +about the Eocene fauna being beaten by recent, thanks to your remark. +But I imagined that it would have been clear that I supposed the climate +to be nearly similar; you do not doubt, I imagine, that the climate of +the eocene and recent periods in DIFFERENT parts of the world could +be matched. Not that I think climate nearly so important as most +naturalists seem to think. In my opinion no error is more mischievous +than this. + +I was very glad to find that Hooker, who read over, in MS., my +Geographical chapters, quite agreed in the view of the greater +importance of organic relations. I should like you to consider page 77 +and reflect on the case of any organism in the midst of its range. + +I shall be curious hereafter to hear what you think of distribution +during the glacial and preceding warmer periods. I am so glad you do +not think the Chapter on the Imperfection of the Geological Record +exaggerated; I was more fearful about this chapter than about any part. + +Embryology in Chapter VIII. is one of my strongest points I think. But +I must not bore you by running on. My mind is so wearisomely full of the +subject. + +I do thank you for your eulogy at Aberdeen. I have been so wearied and +exhausted of late that I have for months doubted whether I have not been +throwing away time and labour for nothing. But now I care not what the +universal world says; I have always found you right, and certainly on +this occasion I am not going to doubt for the first time. Whether you go +far, or but a very short way with me and others who believe as I do, I +am contented, for my work cannot be in vain. You would laugh if you knew +how often I have read your paragraph, and it has acted like a little +dram... + +Farewell, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 30th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I sent off this morning the last sheets, but without index, which is not +in type. I look at you as my Lord High Chancellor in Natural Science, +and therefore I request you, after you have finished, just to RERUN over +the heads in the Recapitulation-part of last chapter. I shall be deeply +anxious to hear what you decide (if you are able to decide) on the +balance of the pros and contras given in my volume, and of such other +pros and contras as may occur to you. I hope that you will think that I +have given the difficulties fairly. I feel an entire conviction that if +you are now staggered to any moderate extent, that you will come more +and more round, the longer you keep the subject at all before your mind. +I remember well how many long years it was before I could look into the +faces of some of the difficulties and not feel quite abashed. I fairly +struck my colours before the case of neuter insects. + +I suppose that I am a very slow thinker, for you would be surprised at +the number of years it took me to see clearly what some of the problems +were which had to be solved, such as the necessity of the principle of +divergence of character, the extinction of intermediate varieties, on +a continuous area, with graduated conditions; the double problem of +sterile first crosses and sterile hybrids, etc., etc. + +Looking back, I think it was more difficult to see what the problems +were than to solve them, so far as I have succeeded in doing, and this +seems to me rather curious. Well, good or bad, my work, thank God, is +over; and hard work, I can assure you, I have had, and much work which +has never borne fruit. You can see, by the way I am scribbling, that +I have an idle and rainy afternoon. I was not able to start for Ilkley +yesterday as I was too unwell; but I hope to get there on Tuesday or +Wednesday. Do, I beg you, when you have finished my book and thought a +little over it, let me hear from you. Never mind and pitch into me, if +you think it requisite; some future day, in London possibly, you may +give me a few criticisms in detail, that is, if you have scribbled any +remarks on the margin, for the chance of a second edition. + +Murray has printed 1250 copies, which seems to me rather too large an +edition, but I hope he will not lose. + +I make as much fuss about my book as if it were my first. Forgive me, +and believe me, my dear Lyell, + +Yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Ilkley, Yorkshire, October 15th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Be a good man and screw out time enough to write me a note and tell me a +little about yourself, your doings, and belongings. + +Is your Introduction fairly finished? I know you will abuse it, and I +know well how much I shall like it. I have been here nearly a fortnight, +and it has done me very much good, though I sprained my ankle last +Sunday, which has quite stopped walking. All my family come here on +Monday to stop three or four weeks, and then I shall go back to the +great establishment, and stay a fortnight; so that if I can keep my +spirits, I shall stay eight weeks here, and thus give hydropathy a +fair chance. Before starting here I was in an awful state of stomach, +strength, temper, and spirits. My book has been completely finished some +little time; as soon as copies are ready, of course one will be sent +you. I hope you will mark your copy with scores, so that I may profit +by any criticisms. I should like to hear your general impression. From +Lyell's letters, he thinks favourably of it, but seems staggered by +the lengths to which I go. But if you go any considerable length in the +admission of modification, I can see no possible means of drawing the +line, and saying here you must stop. Lyell is going to reread my book, +and I yet entertain hopes that he will be converted, or perverted, as he +calls it. Lyell has been EXTREMELY kind in writing me three volume-like +letters; but he says nothing about dispersal during the glacial period. +I should like to know what he thinks on this head. I have one question +to ask: Would it be any good to send a copy of my book to Decaisne? +and do you know any philosophical botanists on the Continent, who read +English and care for such subjects? if so, give their addresses. How +about Andersson in Sweden? You cannot think how refreshing it is to +idle away the whole day, and hardly ever think in the least about my +confounded book which half-killed me. I much wish I could hear of your +taking a real rest. I know how very strong you are, mentally, but I +never will believe you can go on working as you have worked of late with +impunity. You will some day stretch the string too tight. Farewell, my +good, and kind, and dear friend, + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Ilkley, Otley, Yorkshire, October 15th +[1859]. + +My dear Huxley, + +I am here hydropathising and coming to life again, after having finished +my accursed book, which would have been easy work to any one else, but +half-killed me. I have thought you would give me one bit of information, +and I know not to whom else to apply; viz., the addresses of Barrande, +Von Siebold, Keyserling (I dare say Sir Roderick would know the latter). + +Can you tell me of any good and SPECULATIVE foreigners to whom it would +be worth while to send copies of my book, on the 'Origin of Species'? +I doubt whether it is worth sending to Siebold. I should like to send a +few copies about, but how many I can afford I know not yet till I hear +what price Murray affixes. + +I need not say that I will send, of course, one to you, in the first +week of November. I hope to send copies abroad immediately. I shall be +INTENSELY curious to hear what effect the book produces on you. I know +that there will be much in it which you will object to, and I do not +doubt many errors. I am very far from expecting to convert you to many +of my heresies; but if, on the whole, you and two or three others think +I am on the right road, I shall not care what the mob of naturalists +think. The penultimate chapter (Chapter XIII. is on Classification, +Morphology, Embryology, and Rudimentary Organs.), though I believe it +includes the truth, will, I much fear, make you savage. Do not act and +say, like Macleay versus Fleming, "I write with aqua fortis to bite into +brass." + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley, Yorkshire, October 20th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have been reading over all your letters consecutively, and I do not +feel that I have thanked you half enough for the extreme pleasure which +they have given me, and for their utility. I see in them evidence of +fluctuation in the degree of credence you give to the theory; nor am +I at all surprised at this, for many and many fluctuations I have +undergone. + +There is one point in your letter which I did not notice, about the +animals (and many plants) naturalised in Australia, which you think +could not endure without man's aid. I cannot see how man does aid the +feral cattle. But, letting that pass, you seem to think, that because +they suffer prodigious destruction during droughts, that they would all +be destroyed. In the "gran secos" of La Plata, the indigenous animals, +such as the American deer, die by thousands, and suffer apparently as +much as the cattle. In parts of India, after a drought, it takes ten +or more years before the indigenous mammals get up to their full number +again. Your argument would, I think, apply to the aborigines as well as +to the feral. + +An animal or plant which becomes feral in one small territory might be +destroyed by climate, but I can hardly believe so, when once feral over +several large territories. Again, I feel inclined to swear at climate: +do not think me impudent for attacking you about climate. You say you +doubt whether man could have existed under the Eocene climate, but man +can now withstand the climate of Esquimaux-land and West Equatorial +Africa; and surely you do not think the Eocene climate differed from the +present throughout all Europe, as much as the Arctic regions differ from +Equatorial Africa? + +With respect to organisms being created on the American type in America, +it might, I think, be said that they were so created to prevent them +being too well created, so as to beat the aborigines; but this seems to +me, somehow, a monstrous doctrine. + +I have reflected a good deal on what you say on the necessity of +continued intervention of creative power. I cannot see this necessity; +and its admission, I think, would make the theory of Natural Selection +valueless. Grant a simple Archetypal creature, like the Mud-fish or +Lepidosiren, with the five senses and some vestige of mind, and I +believe natural selection will account for the production of every +vertebrate animal. + +Farewell; forgive me for indulging in this prose, and believe me, with +cordial thanks, + +Your ever attached disciple, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--When, and if, you reread, I supplicate you to write on the margin +the word "expand," when too condensed, or "not clear." or "?." Such +marks would cost you little trouble, and I could copy them and reflect +on them, and their value would be infinite to me. + +My larger book will have to be wholly re-written, and not merely the +present volume expanded; so that I want to waste as little time over +this volume as possible, if another edition be called for; but I fear +the subject will be too perplexing, as I have treated it, for general +public. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Ilkley, Yorkshire, Sunday [October 23rd, +1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I congratulate you on your 'Introduction' ("Australian Flora".) being in +fact finished. I am sure from what I read of it (and deeply I shall be +interested in reading it straight through), that it must have cost you +a prodigious amount of labour and thought. I shall like very much to +see the sheet, which you wish me to look at. Now I am so completely a +gentleman, that I have sometimes a little difficulty to pass the day; +but it is astonishing how idle a three weeks I have passed. If it is any +comfort to you, pray delude yourself by saying that you intend "sticking +to humdrum science." But I believe it just as much as if a plant were +to say that, "I have been growing all my life, and, by Jove, I will stop +growing." You cannot help yourself; you are not clever enough for that. +You could not even remain idle, as I have done, for three weeks! What +you say about Lyell pleases me exceedingly; I had not at all inferred +from his letters that he had come so much round. I remember thinking, +above a year ago, that if ever I lived to see Lyell, yourself, +and Huxley come round, partly by my book, and partly by their own +reflections, I should feel that the subject is safe, and all the world +might rail, but that ultimately the theory of Natural Selection (though, +no doubt, imperfect in its present condition, and embracing many errors) +would prevail. Nothing will ever convince me that three such men, with +so much diversified knowledge, and so well accustomed to search for +truth, could err greatly. I have spoken of you here as a convert made +by me; but I know well how much larger the share has been of your own +self-thought. I am intensely curious to hear Huxley's opinion of my +book. I fear my long discussion on Classification will disgust him; for +it is much opposed to what he once said to me. + +But, how I am running on. You see how idle I am; but I have so enjoyed +your letter that you must forgive me. With respect to migration during +the glacial period: I think Lyell quite comprehends, for he has given me +a supporting fact. But, perhaps, he unconsciously hates (do not say so +to him) the view as slightly staggering him on his favourite theory of +all changes of climate being due to changes in the relative position of +land and water. + +I will send copies of my book to all the men specified by you;... you +would be so kind as to add title, as Doctor, or Professor, or Monsieur, +or Von, and initials (when wanted), and addresses to the names on the +enclosed list, and let me have it pretty SOON, as towards the close +of this week Murray says the copies to go abroad will be ready. I am +anxious to get my view generally known, and not, I hope and think, for +mere personal conceit... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley, Yorkshire, October 25th [1859]. + +...Our difference on "principle of improvement" and "power of +adaptation" is too profound for discussion by letter. If I am wrong, I +am quite blind to my error. If I am right, our difference will be got +over only by your re-reading carefully and reflecting on my first four +chapters. I supplicate you to read these again carefully. The so-called +improvement of our Shorthorn cattle, pigeons, etc., does not presuppose +or require any aboriginal "power of adaptation," or "principle of +improvement;" it requires only diversified variability, and man to +select or take advantage of those modifications which are useful to him; +so under nature any slight modification which CHANCES to arise, and is +useful to any creature, is selected or preserved in the struggle for +life; any modification which is injurious is destroyed or rejected; +any which is neither useful nor injurious will be left a fluctuating +element. When you contrast natural selection and "improvement," you seem +always to overlook (for I do not see how you can deny) that every step +in the natural selection of each species implies improvement in that +species in relation to its conditions of life. No modification can be +selected without it be an improvement or advantage. Improvement implies, +I suppose, each form obtaining many parts or organs, all excellently +adapted for their functions. As each species is improved, and as the +number of forms will have increased, if we look to the whole course of +time, the organic condition of life for other forms will become more +complex, and there will be a necessity for other forms to become +improved, or they will be exterminated; and I can see no limit to this +process of improvement, without the intervention of any other and direct +principle of improvement. All this seems to me quite compatible with +certain forms fitted for simple conditions, remaining unaltered, or +being degraded. + +If I have a second edition, I will reiterate "Natural Selection," and, +as a general consequence, "Natural Improvement." + +As you go, as far as you do, I begin strongly to think, judging from +myself, that you will go much further. How slowly the older geologists +admitted your grand views on existing geological causes of change! + +If at any time you think I can answer any question, it is a real +pleasure to me to write. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. MURRAY. Ilkley, Yorkshire [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +I have received your kind note and the copy; I am infinitely pleased and +proud at the appearance of my child. + +I quite agree to all you propose about price. But you are really too +generous about the, to me, scandalously heavy corrections. Are you not +acting unfairly towards yourself? Would it not be better at least to +share the 72 pounds 8 shillings? I shall be fully satisfied, for I had +no business to send, though quite unintentionally and unexpectedly, such +badly composed MS. to the printers. + +Thank you for your kind offer to distribute the copies to my friends and +assistors as soon as possible. Do not trouble yourself much about the +foreigners, as Messrs. Williams and Norgate have most kindly offered +to do their best, and they are accustomed to send to all parts of the +world. + +I will pay for my copies whenever you like. I am so glad that you were +so good as to undertake the publication of my book. + +My dear Sir, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--Please do not forget to let me hear about two days before the +copies are distributed. + +I do not know when I shall leave this place, certainly not for several +weeks. Whenever I am in London I will call on you. + + + + +CHAPTER 1.XIV. -- BY PROFESSOR HUXLEY. + +ON THE RECEPTION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' + +To the present generation, that is to say, the people a few years on +the hither and thither side of thirty, the name of Charles Darwin stands +alongside of those of Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday; and, like them, +calls up the grand ideal of a searcher after truth and interpreter of +Nature. They think of him who bore it as a rare combination of genius, +industry, and unswerving veracity, who earned his place among the most +famous men of the age by sheer native power, in the teeth of a gale of +popular prejudice, and uncheered by a sign of favour or appreciation +from the official fountains of honour; as one who in spite of an acute +sensitiveness to praise and blame, and notwithstanding provocations +which might have excused any outbreak, kept himself clear of all envy, +hatred, and malice, nor dealt otherwise than fairly and justly with the +unfairness and injustice which was showered upon him; while, to the end +of his days, he was ready to listen with patience and respect to the +most insignificant of reasonable objectors. + +And with respect to that theory of the origin of the forms of life +peopling our globe, with which Darwin's name is bound up as closely +as that of Newton with the theory of gravitation, nothing seems to be +further from the mind of the present generation than any attempt to +smother it with ridicule or to crush it by vehemence of denunciation. +"The struggle for existence," and "Natural selection," have become +household words and every-day conceptions. The reality and the +importance of the natural processes on which Darwin founds his +deductions are no more doubted than those of growth and multiplication; +and, whether the full potency attributed to them is admitted or not, +no one doubts their vast and far-reaching significance. Wherever the +biological sciences are studied, the 'Origin of Species' lights the +paths of the investigator; wherever they are taught it permeates the +course of instruction. Nor has the influence of Darwinian ideas +been less profound, beyond the realms of Biology. The oldest of all +philosophies, that of Evolution, was bound hand and foot and cast into +utter darkness during the millennium of theological scholasticism. But +Darwin poured new life-blood into the ancient frame; the bonds burst, +and the revivified thought of ancient Greece has proved itself to be a +more adequate expression of the universal order of things than any of +the schemes which have been accepted by the credulity and welcomed by +the superstition of seventy later generations of men. + +To any one who studies the signs of the times, the emergence of the +philosophy of Evolution, in the attitude of claimant to the throne +of the world of thought, from the limbo of hated and, as many hoped, +forgotten things, is the most portentous event of the nineteenth +century. But the most effective weapons of the modern champions of +Evolution were fabricated by Darwin; and the 'Origin of Species' has +enlisted a formidable body of combatants, trained in the severe school +of Physical Science, whose ears might have long remained deaf to the +speculations of a priori philosophers. + +I do not think any candid or instructed person will deny the truth +of that which has just been asserted. He may hate the very name of +Evolution, and may deny its pretensions as vehemently as a Jacobite +denied those of George the Second. But there it is--not only as +solidly seated as the Hanoverian dynasty, but happily independent of +Parliamentary sanction--and the dullest antagonists have come to see +that they have to deal with an adversary whose bones are to be broken by +no amount of bad words. + +Even the theologians have almost ceased to pit the plain meaning of +Genesis against the no less plain meaning of Nature. Their more candid, +or more cautious, representatives have given up dealing with Evolution +as if it were a damnable heresy, and have taken refuge in one of two +courses. Either they deny that Genesis was meant to teach scientific +truth, and thus save the veracity of the record at the expense of +its authority; or they expend their energies in devising the cruel +ingenuities of the reconciler, and torture texts in the vain hope of +making them confess the creed of Science. But when the peine forte et +dure is over, the antique sincerity of the venerable sufferer always +reasserts itself. Genesis is honest to the core, and professes to be no +more than it is, a repository of venerable traditions of unknown origin, +claiming no scientific authority and possessing none. + +As my pen finishes these passages, I can but be amused to think what +a terrible hubbub would have been made (in truth was made) about any +similar expressions of opinion a quarter of a century ago. In fact, +the contrast between the present condition of public opinion upon the +Darwinian question; between the estimation in which Darwin's views are +now held in the scientific world; between the acquiescence, or at least +quiescence, of the theologians of the self-respecting order at the +present day and the outburst of antagonism on all sides in 1858-9, when +the new theory respecting the origin of species first became known to +the older generation to which I belong, is so startling that, except +for documentary evidence, I should be sometimes inclined to think my +memories dreams. I have a great respect for the younger generation +myself (they can write our lives, and ravel out all our follies, if +they choose to take the trouble, by and by), and I should be glad to be +assured that the feeling is reciprocal; but I am afraid that the +story of our dealings with Darwin may prove a great hindrance to that +veneration for our wisdom which I should like them to display. We have +not even the excuse that, thirty years ago, Mr. Darwin was an obscure +novice, who had no claims on our attention. On the contrary, his +remarkable zoological and geological investigations had long given him +an assured position among the most eminent and original investigators of +the day; while his charming 'Voyage of a Naturalist' had justly earned +him a wide-spread reputation among the general public. I doubt if there +was any man then living who had a better right to expect that anything +he might choose to say on such a question as the Origin of Species would +be listened to with profound attention, and discussed with respect; and +there was certainly no man whose personal character should have afforded +a better safeguard against attacks, instinct with malignity and spiced +with shameless impertinences. + +Yet such was the portion of one of the kindest and truest men that it +was ever my good fortune to know; and years had to pass away before +misrepresentation, ridicule, and denunciation, ceased to be the most +notable constituents of the majority of the multitudinous criticisms +of his work which poured from the press. I am loth to rake any of these +ancient scandals from their well-deserved oblivion; but I must make good +a statement which may seem overcharged to the present generation, and +there is no piece justificative more apt for the purpose, or more worthy +of such dishonour, than the article in the 'Quarterly Review' for July, +1860. (I was not aware when I wrote these passages that the authorship +of the article had been publicly acknowledged. Confession unaccompanied +by penitence, however, affords no ground for mitigation of judgment; +and the kindliness with which Mr. Darwin speaks of his assailant, Bishop +Wilberforce (vol. ii.), is so striking an exemplification of his singular +gentleness and modesty, that it rather increases one's indignation +against the presumption of his critic.) Since Lord Brougham assailed Dr. +Young, the world has seen no such specimen of the insolence of a shallow +pretender to a Master in Science as this remarkable production, in which +one of the most exact of observers, most cautious of reasoners, and most +candid of expositors, of this or any other age, is held up to scorn as +a "flighty" person, who endeavours "to prop up his utterly rotten fabric +of guess and speculation," and whose "mode of dealing with nature" is +reprobated as "utterly dishonourable to Natural Science." And all this +high and mighty talk, which would have been indecent in one of Mr. +Darwin's equals, proceeds from a writer whose want of intelligence, or +of conscience, or of both, is so great, that, by way of an objection +to Mr. Darwin's views, he can ask, "Is it credible that all favourable +varieties of turnips are tending to become men;" who is so ignorant of +paleontology, that he can talk of the "flowers and fruits" of the plants +of the carboniferous epoch; of comparative anatomy, that he can gravely +affirm the poison apparatus of the venomous snakes to be "entirely +separate from the ordinary laws of animal life, and peculiar to +themselves;" of the rudiments of physiology, that he can ask, "what +advantage of life could alter the shape of the corpuscles into which +the blood can be evaporated?" Nor does the reviewer fail to flavour this +outpouring of preposterous incapacity with a little stimulation of the +odium theologicum. Some inkling of the history of the conflicts between +Astronomy, Geology, and Theology, leads him to keep a retreat open by +the proviso that he cannot "consent to test the truth of Natural Science +by the word of Revelation;" but, for all that, he devotes pages to the +exposition of his conviction that Mr. Darwin's theory "contradicts the +revealed relation of the creation to its Creator," and is "inconsistent +with the fulness of his glory." + +If I confine my retrospect of the reception of the 'Origin of Species' +to a twelvemonth, or thereabouts, from the time of its publication, I do +not recollect anything quite so foolish and unmannerly as the 'Quarterly +Review' article, unless, perhaps, the address of a Reverend Professor to +the Dublin Geological Society might enter into competition with it. But +a large proportion of Mr. Darwin's critics had a lamentable resemblance +to the 'Quarterly' reviewer, in so far as they lacked either the will, +or the wit, to make themselves masters of his doctrine; hardly any +possessed the knowledge required to follow him through the immense range +of biological and geological science which the 'Origin' covered; while, +too commonly, they had prejudiced the case on theological grounds, and, +as seems to be inevitable when this happens, eked out lack of reason by +superfluity of railing. + +But it will be more pleasant and more profitable to consider those +criticisms, which were acknowledged by writers of scientific authority, +or which bore internal evidence of the greater or less competency and, +often, of the good faith, of their authors. Restricting my survey to a +twelvemonth, or thereabouts, after the publication of the 'Origin,' +I find among such critics Louis Agassiz ("The arguments presented by +Darwin in favor of a universal derivation from one primary form of all +the peculiarities existing now among living beings have not made the +slightest impression on my mind.") + +"Until the facts of Nature are shown to have been mistaken by those who +have collected them, and that they have a different meaning from +that now generally assigned to them, I shall therefore consider the +transmutation theory as a scientific mistake, untrue in its +facts, unscientific in its method, and mischievous in its +tendency."--Silliman's 'Journal,' July, 1860, pages 143, 154. Extract +from the 3rd volume of 'Contributions to the Natural History of the +United States.'); Murray, an excellent entomologist; Harvey, a botanist +of considerable repute; and the author of an article in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' all strongly adverse to Darwin. Pictet, the distinguished and +widely learned paleontogist of Geneva, treats Mr. Darwin with a respect +which forms a grateful contrast to the tone of some of the preceding +writers, but consents to go with him only a very little way. ("I see no +serious objections to the formation of varieties by natural selection +in the existing world, and that, so far as earlier epochs are concerned, +this law may be assumed to explain the origin of closely allied species, +supposing for this purpose a very long period of time." + +"With regard to simple varieties and closely allied species, I believe +that Mr. Darwin's theory may explain many things, and throw a great +light upon numerous questions."--'Sur l'Origine de l'Espece. Par Charles +Darwin.' ('Archives des Sc. de la Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve,' +pages 242, 243, Mars 1860.) On the other hand, Lyell, up to that time a +pillar of the anti-transmutationists (who regarded him, ever afterwards, +as Pallas Athene may have looked at Dian, after the Endymion affair), +declared himself a Darwinian, though not without putting in a serious +caveat. Nevertheless, he was a tower of strength, and his courageous +stand for truth as against consistency, did him infinite honour. As +evolutionists, sans phrase, I do not call to mind among the biologists +more than Asa Gray, who fought the battle splendidly in the United +States; Hooker, who was no less vigorous here; the present Sir John +Lubbock and myself. Wallace was far away in the Malay Archipelago; but, +apart from his direct share in the promulgation of the theory of natural +selection, no enumeration of the influences at work, at the time I am +speaking of, would be complete without the mention of his powerful essay +'On the Law which has regulated the Introduction of New Species,' which +was published in 1855. On reading it afresh, I have been astonished to +recollect how small was the impression it made. + +In France, the influence of Elie de Beaumont and of Flourens--the +former of whom is said to have "damned himself to everlasting fame" by +inventing the nickname of "la science moussante" for Evolutionism +(One is reminded of the effect of another small academic epigram. The +so-called vertebral theory of the skull is said to have been nipped in +the bud in France by the whisper of an academician to his neighbour, +that, in that case, one's head was a "vertebre pensante."),--to say +nothing of the ill-will of other powerful members of the Institut, +produced for a long time the effect of a conspiracy of silence; and many +years passed before the Academy redeemed itself from the reproach that +the name of Darwin was not to be found on the list of its members. +However, an accomplished writer, out of the range of academical +influences, M. Laugel, gave an excellent and appreciative notice of the +'Origin' in the 'Revue des Deux Mondes.' Germany took time to consider; +Bronn produced a slightly Bowdlerized translation of the 'Origin'; and +'Kladderadatsch' cut his jokes upon the ape origin of man; but I do not +call to mind that any scientific notability declared himself publicly +in 1860. (However, the man who stands next to Darwin in his influence +on modern biologists, K.E. von Baer, wrote to me, in August 1860, +expressing his general assent to evolutionist views. His phrase, "J'ai +enonce les memes idees...que M. Darwin" (volume ii.) is shown by his +subsequent writings to mean no more than this.) None of us dreamed that, +in the course of a few years, the strength (and perhaps I may add +the weakness) of "Darwinismus" would have its most extensive and most +brilliant illustrations in the land of learning. If a foreigner may +presume to speculate on the cause of this curious interval of silence, +I fancy it was that one moiety of the German biologists were orthodox at +any price, and the other moiety as distinctly heterodox. The latter were +evolutionists, a priori, already, and they must have felt the disgust +natural to deductive philosophers at being offered an inductive and +experimental foundation for a conviction which they had reached by +a shorter cut. It is undoubtedly trying to learn that, though your +conclusions may be all right, your reasons for them are all wrong, or, +at any rate, insufficient. + +On the whole, then, the supporters of Mr. Darwin's views in 1860 were +numerically extremely insignificant. There is not the slightest doubt +that, if a general council of the Church scientific had been held at +that time, we should have been condemned by an overwhelming majority. +And there is as little doubt that, if such a council gathered now, the +decree would be of an exactly contrary nature. It would indicate a +lack of sense, as well as of modesty, to ascribe to the men of that +generation less capacity or less honesty than their successors possess. +What, then, are the causes which led instructed and fair-judging men of +that day to arrive at a judgment so different from that which seems +just and fair to those who follow them? That is really one of the most +interesting of all questions connected with the history of science, and +I shall try to answer it. I am afraid that in order to do so I must run +the risk of appearing egotistical. However, if I tell my own story it is +only because I know it better than that of other people. + +I think I must have read the 'Vestiges' before I left England in 1846; +but, if I did, the book made very little impression upon me, and I was +not brought into serious contact with the 'Species' question until after +1850. At that time, I had long done with the Pentateuchal cosmogony, +which had been impressed upon my childish understanding as Divine truth, +with all the authority of parents and instructors, and from which it +had cost me many a struggle to get free. But my mind was unbiassed in +respect of any doctrine which presented itself, if it professed to be +based on purely philosophical and scientific reasoning. It seemed to +me then (as it does now) that "creation," in the ordinary sense of the +word, is perfectly conceivable. I find no difficulty in imagining that, +at some former period, this universe was not in existence; and that +it made its appearance in six days (or instantaneously, if that is +preferred), in consequence of the volition of some pre-existent Being. +Then, as now, the so-called a priori arguments against Theism; and, +given a Deity, against the possibility of creative acts, appeared to me +to be devoid of reasonable foundation. I had not then, and I have not +now, the smallest a priori objection to raise to the account of the +creation of animals and plants given in 'Paradise Lost,' in which Milton +so vividly embodies the natural sense of Genesis. Far be it from me to +say that it is untrue because it is impossible. I confine myself to what +must be regarded as a modest and reasonable request for some particle of +evidence that the existing species of animals and plants did originate +in that way, as a condition of my belief in a statement which appears to +me to be highly improbable. + +And, by way of being perfectly fair, I had exactly the same answer to +give to the evolutionists of 1851-8. Within the ranks of the biologists, +at that time, I met with nobody, except Dr. Grant, of University +College, who had a word to say for Evolution--and his advocacy was not +calculated to advance the cause. Outside these ranks, the only person +known to me whose knowledge and capacity compelled respect, and who +was, at the same time, a thorough-going evolutionist, was Mr. Herbert +Spencer, whose acquaintance I made, I think, in 1852, and then entered +into the bonds of a friendship which, I am happy to think, has known +no interruption. Many and prolonged were the battles we fought on this +topic. But even my friend's rare dialectic skill and copiousness of apt +illustration could not drive me from my agnostic position. I took my +stand upon two grounds: firstly, that up to that time, the evidence in +favour of transmutation was wholly insufficient; and secondly, that no +suggestion respecting the causes of the transmutation assumed, which +had been made, was in any way adequate to explain the phenomena. Looking +back at the state of knowledge at that time, I really do not see that +any other conclusion was justifiable. + +In those days I had never even heard of Treviranus' 'Biologie.' However, +I had studied Lamarck attentively and I had read the 'Vestiges' with due +care; but neither of them afforded me any good ground for changing my +negative and critical attitude. As for the 'Vestiges,' I confess that +the book simply irritated me by the prodigious ignorance and thoroughly +unscientific habit of mind manifested by the writer. If it had any +influence on me at all, it set me against Evolution; and the only +review I ever have qualms of conscience about, on the ground of needless +savagery, is one I wrote on the 'Vestiges' while under that influence. + +With respect to the 'Philosophie Zoologique,' it is no reproach to +Lamarck to say that the discussion of the Species question in that work, +whatever might be said for it in 1809, was miserably below the level +of the knowledge of half a century later. In that interval of time the +elucidation of the structure of the lower animals and plants had +given rise to wholly new conceptions of their relations; histology and +embryology, in the modern sense, had been created; physiology had been +reconstituted; the facts of distribution, geological and geographical, +had been prodigiously multiplied and reduced to order. To any biologist +whose studies had carried him beyond mere species-mongering in 1850, +one-half of Lamarck's arguments were obsolete and the other half +erroneous, or defective, in virtue of omitting to deal with the various +classes of evidence which had been brought to light since his time. +Moreover his one suggestion as to the cause of the gradual modification +of species--effort excited by change of conditions--was, on the face of +it, inapplicable to the whole vegetable world. I do not think that any +impartial judge who reads the 'Philosophie Zoologique' now, and who +afterwards takes up Lyell's trenchant and effectual criticism (published +as far back as 1830), will be disposed to allot to Lamarck a much higher +place in the establishment of biological evolution than that which +Bacon assigns to himself in relation to physical science +generally,--buccinator tantum. (Erasmus Darwin first promulgated +Lamarck's fundamental conceptions, and, with greater logical +consistency, he had applied them to plants. But the advocates of his +claims have failed to show that he, in any respect, anticipated the +central idea of the 'Origin of Species.') + +But, by a curious irony of fate, the same influence which led me to +put as little faith in modern speculations on this subject, as in the +venerable traditions recorded in the first two chapters of Genesis, +was perhaps more potent than any other in keeping alive a sort of +pious conviction that Evolution, after all, would turn out true. I have +recently read afresh the first edition of the 'Principles of Geology'; +and when I consider that this remarkable book had been nearly thirty +years in everybody's hands, and that it brings home to any reader of +ordinary intelligence a great principle and a great fact--the principle, +that the past must be explained by the present, unless good cause be +shown to the contrary; and the fact, that, so far as our knowledge of +the past history of life on our globe goes, no such cause can be shown +(The same principle and the same fact guide the result from all sound +historical investigation. Grote's 'History of Greece' is a product of +the same intellectual movement as Lyell's 'Principles.')--I cannot but +believe that Lyell, for others, as for myself, was the chief agent +for smoothing the road for Darwin. For consistent uniformitarianism +postulates evolution as much in the organic as in the inorganic world. +The origin of a new species by other than ordinary agencies would be a +vastly greater "catastrophe" than any of those which Lyell successfully +eliminated from sober geological speculation. + +In fact, no one was better aware of this than Lyell himself. (Lyell, +with perfect right, claims this position for himself. He speaks of +having "advocated a law of continuity even in the organic world, so far +as possible without adopting Lamarck's theory of transmutation"...) + +"But while I taught that as often as certain forms of animals and plants +disappeared, for reasons quite intelligible to us, others took their +place by virtue of a causation which was beyond our comprehension; it +remained for Darwin to accumulate proof that there is no break between +the incoming and the outgoing species, that they are the work of +evolution, and not of special creation... + +"I had certainly prepared the way in this country, in six editions of my +work before the 'Vestiges of Creation' appeared in 1842 [1844], for +the reception of Darwin's gradual and insensible evolution of +species."--('Life and Letters,' Letter to Haeckel, volume ii. page 436. +November 23, 1868.) If one reads any of the earlier editions of the +'Principles' carefully (especially by the light of the interesting +series of letters recently published by Sir Charles Lyell's biographer), +it is easy to see that, with all his energetic opposition to Lamarck, on +the one hand, and to the ideal quasi-progressionism of Agassiz, on the +other, Lyell, in his own mind, was strongly disposed to account for the +origination of all past and present species of living things by natural +causes. But he would have liked, at the same time, to keep the name of +creation for a natural process which he imagined to be incomprehensible. + +In a letter addressed to Mantell (dated March 2, 1827), Lyell speaks +of having just read Lamarck; he expresses his delight at Lamarck's +theories, and his personal freedom from any objection based on +theological grounds. And though he is evidently alarmed at the pithecoid +origin of man involved in Lamarck's doctrine, he observes:-- + +"But, after all, what changes species may really undergo! How impossible +will it be to distinguish and lay down a line, beyond which some of the +so-called extinct species have never passed into recent ones." + +Again, the following remarkable passage occurs in the postscript of a +letter addressed to Sir John Herschel in 1836:-- + +"In regard to the origination of new species, I am very glad to find +that you think it probable that it may be carried on through the +intervention of intermediate causes. I left this rather to be inferred, +not thinking it worth while to offend a certain class of persons by +embodying in words what would only be a speculation." (In the same +sense, see the letter to Whewell, March 7, 1837, volume ii., page 5):-- + +"In regard to this last subject [the changes from one set of animal and +vegetable species to another]...you remember what Herschel said in his +letter to me. If I had stated as plainly as he has done the possibility +of the introduction or origination of fresh species being a natural, in +contradistinction to a miraculous process, I should have raised a host +of prejudices against me, which are unfortunately opposed at every +step to any philosopher who attempts to address the public on these +mysterious subjects." See also letter to Sedgwick, January 12, 1838 ii. +page 35.) He goes on to refer to the criticisms which have been directed +against him on the ground that, by leaving species to be originated by +miracle, he is inconsistent with his own doctrine of uniformitarianism; +and he leaves it to be understood that he had not replied, on the ground +of his general objection to controversy. + +Lyell's contemporaries were not without some inkling of his esoteric +doctrine. Whewell's 'History of the Inductive Sciences,' whatever its +philosophical value, is always worth reading and always interesting, if +under no other aspect than that of an evidence of the speculative limits +within which a highly-placed divine might, at that time, safely range +at will. In the course of his discussion of uniformitarianism, the +encyclopaedic Master of Trinity observes:-- + +"Mr. Lyell, indeed, has spoken of an hypothesis that 'the successive +creation of species may constitute a regular part of the economy of +nature,' but he has nowhere, I think, so described this process as +to make it appear in what department of science we are to place the +hypothesis. Are these new species created by the production, at long +intervals, of an offspring different in species from the parents? Or +are the species so created produced without parents? Are they gradually +evolved from some embryo substance? Or do they suddenly start from the +ground, as in the creation of the poet?... + +"Some selection of one of these forms of the hypothesis, rather than the +others, with evidence for the selection, is requisite to entitle us to +place it among the known causes of change, which in this chapter we are +considering. The bare conviction that a creation of species has taken +place, whether once or many times, so long as it is unconnected with +our organical sciences, is a tenet of Natural Theology rather than of +Physical Philosophy." (Whewell's 'History,' volume iii. page 639-640 +(Edition 2, 1847.)) + +The earlier part of this criticism appears perfectly just and +appropriate; but, from the concluding paragraph, Whewell evidently +imagines that by "creation" Lyell means a preternatural intervention of +the Deity; whereas the letter to Herschel shows that, in his own +mind, Lyell meant natural causation; and I see no reason to doubt (The +following passages in Lyell's letters appear to me decisive on this +point):-- + +To Darwin, October 3, 1859 (ii, 325), on first reading the 'Origin.' + +"I have long seen most clearly that if any concession is made, all that +you claim in your concluding pages will follow. + +"It is this which has made me so long hesitate, always feeling that the +case of Man and his Races, and of other animals, and that of plants, is +one and the same, and that if a vera causa be admitted for one instant, +[instead] of a purely unknown and imaginary one, such as the word +'creation,' all the consequences must follow." + +To Darwin, March 15, 1863 (volume ii. page 365). + +"I remember that it was the conclusion he [Lamarck] came to about man +that fortified me thirty years ago against the great impression which +his arguments at first made on my mind, all the greater because Constant +Prevost, a pupil of Cuvier's forty years ago, told me his conviction +'that Cuvier thought species not real, but that science could not +advance without assuming that they were so.'" + +To Hooker, March 9, 1863 (volume ii. page 361), in reference to Darwin's +feeling about the 'Antiquity of Man.' + +"He [Darwin] seems much disappointed that I do not go farther with him, +or do not speak out more. I can only say that I have spoken out to +the full extent of my present convictions, and even beyond my state of +FEELING as to man's unbroken descent from the brutes, and I find I am +half converting not a few who were in arms against Darwin, and are even +now against Huxley." He speaks of having had to abandon "old and long +cherished ideas, which constituted the charm to me of the theoretical +part of the science in my earlier day, when I believed with Pascal in +the theory, as Hallam terms it, of 'the arch-angel ruined.'" + +See the same sentiment in the letter to Darwin, March 11, 1863, page +363:-- + +"I think the old 'creation' is almost as much required as ever, but +of course it takes a new form if Lamarck's views improved by yours +are adopted." that, if Sir Charles could have avoided the inevitable +corollary of the pithecoid origin of man--for which, to the end of his +life, he entertained a profound antipathy--he would have advocated the +efficiency of causes now in operation to bring about the condition +of the organic world, as stoutly as he championed that doctrine in +reference to inorganic nature. + +The fact is, that a discerning eye might have seen that some form or +other of the doctrine of transmutation was inevitable, from the time +when the truth enunciated by William Smith that successive strata are +characterised by different kinds of fossil remains, became a firmly +established law of nature. No one has set forth the speculative +consequences of this generalisation better than the historian of the +'Inductive Sciences':-- + +"But the study of geology opens to us the spectacle of many groups of +species which have, in the course of the earth's history, succeeded +each other at vast intervals of time; one set of animals and plants +disappearing, as it would seem, from the face of our planet, and others, +which did not before exist, becoming the only occupants of the globe. +And the dilemma then presents itself to us anew:--either we must accept +the doctrine of the transmutation of species, and must suppose that the +organized species of one geological epoch were transmuted into those +of another by some long-continued agency of natural causes; or else, +we must believe in many successive acts of creation and extinction of +species, out of the common course of nature; acts which, therefore, +we may properly call miraculous." (Whewell's 'History of the Inductive +Sciences.' Edition ii., 1847, volume iii. pages 624-625. See for the +author's verdict, pages 638- 39.) + +Dr. Whewell decides in favour of the latter conclusion. And if any one +had plied him with the four questions which he puts to Lyell in the +passage already cited, all that can be said now is that he would +certainly have rejected the first. But would he really have had the +courage to say that a Rhinoceros tichorhinus, for instance, "was +produced without parents;" or was "evolved from some embryo substance;" +or that it suddenly started from the ground like Milton's lion "pawing +to get free his hinder parts." I permit myself to doubt whether even +the Master of Trinity's well-tried courage--physical, intellectual, +and moral--would have been equal to this feat. No doubt the sudden +concurrence of half-a-ton of inorganic molecules into a live rhinoceros +is conceivable, and therefore may be possible. But does such an event +lie sufficiently within the bounds of probability to justify the +belief in its occurrence on the strength of any attainable, or, indeed, +imaginable, evidence? + +In view of the assertion (often repeated in the early days of the +opposition to Darwin) that he had added nothing to Lamarck, it is very +interesting to observe that the possibility of a fifth alternative, in +addition to the four he has stated, has not dawned upon Dr. Whewell's +mind. The suggestion that new species may result from the selective +action of external conditions upon the variations from their specific +type which individuals present--and which we call "spontaneous," +because we are ignorant of their causation--is as wholly unknown to the +historian of scientific ideas as it was to biological specialists +before 1858. But that suggestion is the central idea of the 'Origin of +Species,' and contains the quintessence of Darwinism. + +Thus, looking back into the past, it seems to me that my own position +of critical expectancy was just and reasonable, and must have been taken +up, on the same grounds, by many other persons. If Agassiz told me that +the forms of life which had successively tenanted the globe were the +incarnations of successive thoughts of the Deity; and that he had wiped +out one set of these embodiments by an appalling geological catastrophe +as soon as His ideas took a more advanced shape, I found myself not +only unable to admit the accuracy of the deductions from the facts of +paleontology, upon which this astounding hypothesis was founded, but I +had to confess my want of any means of testing the correctness of his +explanation of them. And besides that, I could by no means see what the +explanation explained. Neither did it help me to be told by an eminent +anatomist that species had succeeded one another in time, in virtue of +"a continuously operative creational law." That seemed to me to be no +more than saying that species had succeeded one another, in the form of +a vote-catching resolution, with "law" to please the man of science, +and "creational" to draw the orthodox. So I took refuge in that "thatige +Skepsis" which Goethe has so well defined; and, reversing the apostolic +precept to be all things to all men, I usually defended the tenability +of the received doctrines, when I had to do with the transmutationists; +and stood up for the possibility of transmutation among the +orthodox--thereby, no doubt, increasing an already current, but quite +undeserved, reputation for needless combativeness. + +I remember, in the course of my first interview with Mr. Darwin, +expressing my belief in the sharpness of the lines of demarcation +between natural groups and in the absence of transitional forms, with +all the confidence of youth and imperfect knowledge. I was not aware, +at that time, that he had then been many years brooding over the +species-question; and the humorous smile which accompanied his gentle +answer, that such was not altogether his view, long haunted and puzzled +me. But it would seem that four or five years' hard work had enabled me +to understand what it meant; for Lyell ('Life and Letters,' volume ii. +page 212.), writing to Sir Charles Bunbury (under date of April 30, +1856), says:-- + +"When Huxley, Hooker, and Wollaston were at Darwin's last week they (all +four of them) ran a tilt against species--further, I believe, than they +are prepared to go." + +I recollect nothing of this beyond the fact of meeting Mr. Wollaston; +and except for Sir Charles' distinct assurance as to "all four," I +should have thought my "outrecuidance" was probably a counterblast to +Wollaston's conservatism. With regard to Hooker, he was already, +like Voltaire's Habbakuk, "capable du tout" in the way of advocating +Evolution. + +As I have already said, I imagine that most of those of my +contemporaries who thought seriously about the matter, were very much +in my own state of mind--inclined to say to both Mosaists and +Evolutionists, "a plague on both your houses!" and disposed to turn +aside from an interminable and apparently fruitless discussion, +to labour in the fertile fields of ascertainable fact. And I may, +therefore, further suppose that the publication of the Darwin and +Wallace papers in 1858, and still more that of the 'Origin' in 1859, had +the effect upon them of the flash of light, which to a man who has lost +himself in a dark night, suddenly reveals a road which, whether it takes +him straight home or not, certainly goes his way. That which we were +looking for, and could not find, was a hypothesis respecting the origin +of known organic forms, which assumed the operation of no causes but +such as could be proved to be actually at work. We wanted, not to pin +our faith to that or any other speculation, but to get hold of clear and +definite conceptions which could be brought face to face with facts and +have their validity tested. The 'Origin' provided us with the working +hypothesis we sought. Moreover, it did the immense service of freeing us +for ever from the dilemma--refuse to accept the creation hypothesis, and +what have you to propose that can be accepted by any cautious reasoner? +In 1857, I had no answer ready, and I do not think that any one else +had. A year later, we reproached ourselves with dullness for being +perplexed by such an inquiry. My reflection, when I first made myself +master of the central idea of the 'Origin,' was, "How extremely stupid +not to have thought of that!" I suppose that Columbus' companions +said much the same when he made the egg stand on end. The facts of +variability, of the struggle for existence, of adaptation to conditions, +were notorious enough; but none of us had suspected that the road to the +heart of the species problem lay through them, until Darwin and Wallace +dispelled the darkness, and the beacon-fire of the 'Origin' guided the +benighted. + +Whether the particular shape which the doctrine of evolution, as applied +to the organic world, took in Darwin's hands, would prove to be final or +not, was, to me, a matter of indifference. In my earliest criticisms +of the 'Origin' I ventured to point out that its logical foundation was +insecure so long as experiments in selective breeding had not produced +varieties which were more or less infertile; and that insecurity remains +up to the present time. But, with any and every critical doubt which +my sceptical ingenuity could suggest, the Darwinian hypothesis remained +incomparably more probable than the creation hypothesis. And if we had +none of us been able to discern the paramount significance of some of +the most patent and notorious of natural facts, until they were, so +to speak, thrust under our noses, what force remained in the +dilemma--creation or nothing? It was obvious that, hereafter, the +probability would be immensely greater, that the links of natural +causation were hidden from our purblind eyes, than that natural +causation should be incompetent to produce all the phenomena of nature. +The only rational course for those who had no other object than the +attainment of truth, was to accept "Darwinism" as a working hypothesis, +and see what could be made of it. Either it would prove its capacity to +elucidate the facts of organic life, or it would break down under the +strain. This was surely the dictate of common sense; and, for once, +common sense carried the day. The result has been that complete +volte-face of the whole scientific world, which must seem so surprising +to the present generation. I do not mean to say that all the leaders of +biological science have avowed themselves Darwinians; but I do not think +that there is a single zoologist, or botanist, or palaeontologist, among +the multitude of active workers of this generation, who is other than an +evolutionist, profoundly influenced by Darwin's views. Whatever may +be the ultimate fate of the particular theory put forth by Darwin, I +venture to affirm that, so far as my knowledge goes, all the ingenuity +and all the learning of hostile critics have not enabled them to adduce +a solitary fact, of which it can be said, this is irreconcilable with +the Darwinian theory. In the prodigious variety and complexity of +organic nature, there are multitudes of phenomena which are not +deducible from any generalisations we have yet reached. But the same +may be said of every other class of natural objects. I believe that +astronomers cannot yet get the moon's motions into perfect accordance +with the theory of gravitation. + +It would be inappropriate, even if it were possible, to discuss the +difficulties and unresolved problems which have hitherto met the +evolutionist, and which will probably continue to puzzle him for +generations to come, in the course of this brief history of the +reception of Mr. Darwin's great work. But there are two or three +objections of a more general character, based, or supposed to be based, +upon philosophical and theological foundations, which were loudly +expressed in the early days of the Darwinian controversy, and which, +though they have been answered over and over again, crop up now and then +to the present day. + +The most singular of these, perhaps immortal, fallacies, which live on, +Tithonus-like, when sense and force have long deserted them, is that +which charges Mr. Darwin with having attempted to reinstate the old +pagan goddess, Chance. It is said that he supposes variations to come +about "by chance," and that the fittest survive the "chances" of +the struggle for existence, and thus "chance" is substituted for +providential design. + +It is not a little wonderful that such an accusation as this should +be brought against a writer who has, over and over again, warned his +readers that when he uses the word "spontaneous," he merely means that +he is ignorant of the cause of that which is so termed; and whose whole +theory crumbles to pieces if the uniformity and regularity of natural +causation for illimitable past ages is denied. But probably the best +answer to those who talk of Darwinism meaning the reign of "chance," is +to ask them what they themselves understand by "chance"? Do they believe +that anything in this universe happens without reason or without a +cause? Do they really conceive that any event has no cause, and could +not have been predicted by any one who had a sufficient insight into +the order of Nature? If they do, it is they who are the inheritors of +antique superstition and ignorance, and whose minds have never been +illumined by a ray of scientific thought. The one act of faith in the +convert to science, is the confession of the universality of order and +of the absolute validity in all times and under all circumstances, of +the law of causation. This confession is an act of faith, because, +by the nature of the case, the truth of such propositions is not +susceptible of proof. But such faith is not blind, but reasonable; +because it is invariably confirmed by experience, and constitutes the +sole trustworthy foundation for all action. + +If one of these people, in whom the chance-worship of our remoter +ancestors thus strangely survives, should be within reach of the sea +when a heavy gale is blowing, let him betake himself to the shore and +watch the scene. Let him note the infinite variety of form and size of +the tossing waves out at sea; or of the curves of their foam-crested +breakers, as they dash against the rocks; let him listen to the roar and +scream of the shingle as it is cast up and torn down the beach; or look +at the flakes of foam as they drive hither and thither before the wind; +or note the play of colours, which answers a gleam of sunshine as it +falls upon the myriad bubbles. Surely here, if anywhere, he will say +that chance is supreme, and bend the knee as one who has entered the +very penetralia of his divinity. But the man of science knows that here, +as everywhere, perfect order is manifested; that there is not a curve +of the waves, not a note in the howling chorus, not a rainbow-glint on +a bubble, which is other than a necessary consequence of the ascertained +laws of nature; and that with a sufficient knowledge of the conditions, +competent physico-mathematical skill could account for, and indeed +predict, every one of these "chance" events. + +A second very common objection to Mr. Darwin's views was (and is), that +they abolish Teleology, and eviscerate the argument from design. It +is nearly twenty years since I ventured to offer some remarks on this +subject, and as my arguments have as yet received no refutation, I hope +I may be excused for reproducing them. I observed, "that the doctrine +of Evolution is the most formidable opponent of all the commoner and +coarser forms of Teleology. But perhaps the most remarkable service to +the Philosophy of Biology rendered by Mr. Darwin is the reconciliation +of Teleology and Morphology, and the explanation of the facts of both, +which his views offer. The teleology which supposes that the eye, such +as we see it in man, or one of the higher vertebrata, was made with the +precise structure it exhibits, for the purpose of enabling the animal +which possesses it to see, has undoubtedly received its death-blow. +Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that there is a wider +teleology which is not touched by the doctrine of Evolution, but is +actually based upon the fundamental proposition of Evolution. This +proposition is that the whole world, living and not living, is the +result of the mutual interaction, according to definite laws, of the +forces (I should now like to substitute the word powers for "forces.") +possessed by the molecules of which the primitive nebulosity of the +universe was composed. If this be true, it is no less certain that +the existing world lay potentially in the cosmic vapour, and that a +sufficient intelligence could, from a knowledge of the properties of the +molecules of that vapour, have predicted, say the state of the fauna of +Britain in 1869, with as much certainty as one can say what will happen +to the vapour of the breath on a cold winter's day... + +...The teleological and the mechanical views of nature are not, +necessarily, mutually exclusive. On the contrary, the more purely a +mechanist the speculator is, the more firmly does he assume a primordial +molecular arrangement of which all the phenomena of the universe are the +consequences, and the more completely is he thereby at the mercy of the +teleologist, who can always defy him to disprove that this primordial +molecular arrangement was not intended to evolve the phenomena of the +universe." (The "Genealogy of Animals" ('The Academy,' 1869), reprinted +in 'Critiques and Addresses.') + +The acute champion of Teleology, Paley, saw no difficulty in admitting +that the "production of things" may be the result of trains of +mechanical dispositions fixed beforehand by intelligent appointment and +kept in action by a power at the centre ('Natural Theology,' chapter +xxiii.), that is to say, he proleptically accepted the modern doctrine +of Evolution; and his successors might do well to follow their leader, +or at any rate to attend to his weighty reasonings, before rushing into +an antagonism which has no reasonable foundation. + +Having got rid of the belief in chance and the disbelief in design, +as in no sense appurtenances of Evolution, the third libel upon that +doctrine, that it is anti-theistic, might perhaps be left to shift for +itself. But the persistence with which many people refuse to draw the +plainest consequences from the propositions they profess to accept, +renders it advisable to remark that the doctrine of Evolution is neither +Anti-theistic nor Theistic. It simply has no more to do with Theism +than the first book of Euclid has. It is quite certain that a normal +fresh-laid egg contains neither cock nor hen; and it is also as certain +as any proposition in physics or morals, that if such an egg is kept +under proper conditions for three weeks, a cock or hen chicken will be +found in it. It is also quite certain that if the shell were transparent +we should be able to watch the formation of the young fowl, day by day, +by a process of evolution, from a microscopic cellular germ to its +full size and complication of structure. Therefore Evolution, in the +strictest sense, is actually going on in this and analogous millions and +millions of instances, wherever living creatures exist. Therefore, +to borrow an argument from Butler, as that which now happens must be +consistent with the attributes of the Deity, if such a Being exists, +Evolution must be consistent with those attributes. And, if so, the +evolution of the universe, which is neither more nor less explicable +than that of a chicken, must also be consistent with them. The doctrine +of Evolution, therefore, does not even come into contact with Theism, +considered as a philosophical doctrine. That with which it does collide, +and with which it is absolutely inconsistent, is the conception of +creation, which theological speculators have based upon the history +narrated in the opening of the book of Genesis. + +There is a great deal of talk and not a little lamentation about the +so-called religious difficulties which physical science has created. +In theological science, as a matter of fact, it has created none. Not +a solitary problem presents itself to the philosophical Theist, at the +present day, which has not existed from the time that philosophers began +to think out the logical grounds and the logical consequences of Theism. +All the real or imaginary perplexities which flow from the conception +of the universe as a determinate mechanism, are equally involved in +the assumption of an Eternal, Omnipotent and Omniscient Deity. The +theological equivalent of the scientific conception of order is +Providence; and the doctrine of determinism follows as surely from +the attributes of foreknowledge assumed by the theologian, as from the +universality of natural causation assumed by the man of science. The +angels in 'Paradise Lost' would have found the task of enlightening Adam +upon the mysteries of "Fate, Foreknowledge, and Free-will," not a whit +more difficult, if their pupil had been educated in a "Real-schule" and +trained in every laboratory of a modern university. In respect of the +great problems of Philosophy, the post-Darwinian generation is, in one +sense, exactly where the prae-Darwinian generations were. They remain +insoluble. But the present generation has the advantage of being better +provided with the means of freeing itself from the tyranny of certain +sham solutions. + +The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on +an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our +business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add +something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions. And even a +cursory glance at the history of the biological sciences during the last +quarter of a century is sufficient to justify the assertion, that +the most potent instrument for the extension of the realm of natural +knowledge which has come into men's hands, since the publication of +Newton's 'Principia,' is Darwin's 'Origin of Species.' + +It was badly received by the generation to which it was first addressed, +and the outpouring of angry nonsense to which it gave rise is sad to +think upon. But the present generation will probably behave just as +badly if another Darwin should arise, and inflict upon them that which +the generality of mankind most hate--the necessity of revising their +convictions. Let them, then, be charitable to us ancients; and if they +behave no better than the men of my day to some new benefactor, let them +recollect that, after all, our wrath did not come to much, and vented +itself chiefly in the bad language of sanctimonious scolds. Let them +as speedily perform a strategic right-about-face, and follow the truth +wherever it leads. The opponents of the new truth will discover, as +those of Darwin are doing, that, after all, theories do not alter facts, +and that the universe remains unaffected even though texts crumble. Or, +it may be, that, as history repeats itself, their happy ingenuity will +also discover that the new wine is exactly of the same vintage as +the old, and that (rightly viewed) the old bottles prove to have been +expressly made for holding it. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Letters of Charles +Darwin, Volume I (of II), by Charles Darwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LETTERS OF DARWIN *** + +***** This file should be named 2087.txt or 2087.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/8/2087/ + +Produced by Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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