diff options
Diffstat (limited to '2088-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 2088-0.txt | 21296 |
1 files changed, 21296 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/2088-0.txt b/2088-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17e137f --- /dev/null +++ b/2088-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21296 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II (of II), by Charles Darwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II (of II) + Edited by His Son + +Author: Charles Darwin + +Editor: Francis Darwin + +Release Date: February 2000 [eBook #2088] +[Most recently updated: January 15, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Sue Asscher and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LETTERS OF DARWIN, VOL II *** + + + + +THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN + +INCLUDING AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER + +EDITED BY HIS SON + +FRANCIS DARWIN + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOLUME II + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +VOLUME II. + + +CHAPTER 2.I.--The Publication of the 'Origin of Species'--October 3, +1859, to December 31, 1859. + +CHAPTER 2.II.--The 'Origin of Species' (continued)--1860. + +CHAPTER 2.III.--The Spread of Evolution--1861-1862. + +CHAPTER 2.IV.--The Spread of Evolution. 'Variation of Animals and +Plants' --1863-1866. + +CHAPTER 2.V.--The Publication of the 'Variation of Animals and Plants +under Domestication'--January 1867-June 1868. + +CHAPTER 2.VI.--Work on 'Man'--1864-1870. + +CHAPTER 2.VII.--The Publication of the 'Descent of Man.' Work on +'Expression'--1871-1873. + +CHAPTER 2.VIII.--Miscellanea, including Second Editions of 'Coral +Reefs,' the 'Descent of Man,' and the 'Variation of Animals and +Plants'--1874 and 1875. + +CHAPTER 2.IX.--Miscellanea (continued). A Revival of Geological +Work--The Book on Earthworms--Life of Erasmus Darwin--Miscellaneous +Letters--1876-1882. + +BOTANICAL LETTERS. + +CHAPTER 2.X.--Fertilisation of Flowers--1839-1880. + +CHAPTER 2.XI.--The 'Effects of Cross- and Self-Fertilisation in the +Vegetable Kingdom'--1866-1877. + +CHAPTER 2.XII.--'Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the same +Species' --1860-1878. + +CHAPTER 2.XIII.--Climbing and Insectivorous Plants--1863-1875. + +CHAPTER 2.XIV.--The 'Power of Movement in Plants'--1878-1881. + +CHAPTER 2.XV.--Miscellaneous Botanical Letters--1873-1882.... + +CHAPTER 2.XVI.--Conclusion. + + +APPENDICES. + +I.--The Funeral in Westminster Abbey. + +II.--List of Works by C. Darwin. + +III.--Portraits. + +IV.--Honours, Degrees, Societies, etc. + + + + +TRANSCRIPT OF A FACSIMILE OF A PAGE FROM A NOTE-BOOK OF 1837. + +--led to comprehend true affinities. My theory would give zest to recent +& Fossil Comparative Anatomy: it would lead to study of instincts, +heredity, & mind heredity, whole metaphysics, it would lead to closest +examination of hybridity & generation, causes of change in order to know +what we have come from & to what we tend, to what circumstances favour +crossing & what prevents it, this & direct examination of direct +passages of structure in species, might lead to laws of change, which +would then be main object of study, to guide our speculations. + + + + +LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN. + + + + +VOLUME II. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.I. -- THE PUBLICATION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' + +OCTOBER 3, 1859, TO DECEMBER 31, 1859. + + +1859. + +[Under the date of October 1st, 1859, in my father's Diary occurs the +entry: "Finished proofs (thirteen months and ten days) of Abstract +on 'Origin of Species'; 1250 copies printed. The first edition was +published on November 24th, and all copies sold first day." + +On October 2d he started for a water-cure establishment at Ilkley, near +Leeds, where he remained with his family until December, and on the 9th +of that month he was again at Down. The only other entry in the Diary +for this year is as follows: "During end of November and beginning of +December, employed in correcting for second edition of 3000 copies; +multitude of letters." + +The first and a few of the subsequent letters refer to proof sheets, and +to early copies of the 'Origin' which were sent to friends before the +book was published.] + +C. LYELL TO CHARLES DARWIN. (Part of this letter is given in the 'Life +of Sir Charles Lyell,' volume ii. page 325.) October 3d, 1859. + +My dear Darwin, + +I have just finished your volume and right glad I am that I did my best +with Hooker to persuade you to publish it without waiting for a time +which probably could never have arrived, though you lived till the age +of a hundred, when you had prepared all your facts on which you ground +so many grand generalizations. + +It is a splendid case of close reasoning, and long substantial argument +throughout so many pages; the condensation immense, too great perhaps +for the uninitiated, but an effective and important preliminary +statement, which will admit, even before your detailed proofs appear, +of some occasional useful exemplification, such as your pigeons and +cirripedes, of which you make such excellent use. + +I mean that, when, as I fully expect, a new edition is soon called for, +you may here and there insert an actual case to relieve the vast +number of abstract propositions. So far as I am concerned, I am so well +prepared to take your statements of facts for granted, that I do +not think the "pieces justificatives" when published will make much +difference, and 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, instead of a +purely unknown and imaginary one, such as the word "Creation," all the +consequences must follow. + +I fear I have not time to-day, as I am just leaving this place, to +indulge in a variety of comments, and to say how much I was delighted +with Oceanic Islands--Rudimentary Organs--Embryology--the genealogical +key to the Natural System, Geographical Distribution, and if I went on I +should be copying the heads of all your chapters. But I will say a word +of the Recapitulation, in case some slight alteration, or at least, +omission of a word or two be still possible in that. + +In the first place, at page 480, it cannot surely be said that the most +eminent naturalists have rejected the view of the mutability of species? +You do not mean to ignore G. St. Hilaire and Lamarck. As to the latter, +you may say, that in regard to animals you substitute natural selection +for volition to a certain considerable extent, but in his theory of the +changes of plants he could not introduce volition; he may, no doubt, +have laid an undue comparative stress on changes in physical conditions, +and too little on those of contending organisms. He at least was for the +universal mutability of species and for a genealogical link between +the first and the present. The men of his school also appealed to +domesticated varieties. (Do you mean LIVING naturalists?) (In the +published copies of the first edition, page 480, the words are "eminent +living naturalists.") + +The first page of this most important summary gives the adversary an +advantage, by putting forth so abruptly and crudely such a startling +objection as the formation of "the eye," not by means analogous to man's +reason, or rather by some power immeasurably superior to human reason, +but by superinduced variation like those of which a cattle-breeder +avails himself. Pages would be required thus to state an objection and +remove it. It would be better, as you wish to persuade, to say nothing. +Leave out several sentences, and in a future edition bring it out more +fully. Between the throwing down of such a stumbling-block in the way of +the reader, and the passage to the working ants, in page 460, there +are pages required; and these ants are a bathos to him before he has +recovered from the shock of being called upon to believe the eye to have +been brought to perfection, from a state of blindness or purblindness, +by such variations as we witness. I think a little omission would +greatly lessen the objectionableness of these sentences if you have not +time to recast and amplify. + +... But these are small matters, mere spots on the sun. Your comparison +of the letters retained in words, when no longer wanted for the sound, +to rudimentary organs is excellent, as both are truly genealogical. + +The want of peculiar birds in Madeira is a greater difficulty than +seemed to me allowed for. I could cite passages where you show that +variations are superinduced from the new circumstances of new colonists, +which would require some Madeira birds, like those of the Galapagos, to +be peculiar. There has been ample time in the case of Madeira and Porto +Santo... + +You enclose your sheets in old MS., so the Post Office very properly +charge them as letters, 2 pence extra. I wish all their fines on MS. +were worth as much. I paid 4 shillings 6 pence for such wash the other +day from Paris, from a man who can prove 300 deluges in the valley of +the Seine. + +With my hearty congratulations to you on your grand work, believe me, + +Ever very affectionately yours, CHAS. LYELL. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley, Yorkshire, October 11th [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I thank you cordially for giving me so much of your valuable time in +writing me the long letter of 3d, and still longer of 4th. I wrote a +line with the missing proof-sheet to Scarborough. I have adopted most +thankfully all your minor corrections in the last chapter, and the +greater ones as far as I could with little trouble. I damped the opening +passage about the eye (in my bigger work I show the gradations in +structure of the eye) by putting merely "complex organs." But you are a +pretty Lord Chancellor to tell the barrister on one side how best to +win the cause! The omission of "living" before eminent naturalists was a +dreadful blunder. + +MADEIRA AND BERMUDA BIRDS NOT PECULIAR. + +You are right, there is a screw out here; I thought no one would have +detected it; I blundered in omitting a discussion, which I have written +out in full. But once for all, let me say as an excuse, that it was most +difficult to decide what to omit. Birds, which have struggled in their +own homes, when settled in a body, nearly simultaneously in a new +country, would not be subject to much modification, for their mutual +relations would not be much disturbed. But I quite agree with you, that +in time they ought to undergo some. In Bermuda and Madeira they have, as +I believe, been kept constant by the frequent arrival, and the crossing +with unaltered immigrants of the same species from the mainland. In +Bermuda this can be proved, in Madeira highly probable, as shown me +by letters from E.V. Harcourt. Moreover, there are ample grounds for +believing that the crossed offspring of the new immigrants (fresh blood +as breeders would say), and old colonists of the same species would +be extra vigorous, and would be the most likely to survive; thus the +effects of such crossing in keeping the old colonists unaltered would be +much aided. + +ON GALAPAGOS PRODUCTIONS HAVING AMERICAN TYPE ON VIEW OF CREATION. + +I cannot agree with you, that species if created to struggle with +American forms, would have to be created on the American type. Facts +point diametrically the other way. Look at the unbroken and untilled +ground in La Plata, COVERED with European products, which have no near +affinity to the indigenous products. They are not American types which +conquer the aborigines. So in every island throughout the world. Alph. +De Candolle's results (though he does not see its full importance), that +thoroughly well naturalised [plants] are in general very different from +the aborigines (belonging in large proportion of cases to non-indigenous +genera) is most important always to bear in mind. Once for all, I am +sure, you will understand that I thus write dogmatically for brevity +sake. + +ON THE CONTINUED CREATION Of MONADS. + +This doctrine is superfluous (and groundless) on the theory of Natural +Selection, which implies no NECESSARY tendency to progression. A monad, +if no deviation in its structure profitable to it under its EXCESSIVELY +SIMPLE conditions of life occurred, might remain unaltered from long +before the Silurian Age to the present day. I grant there will generally +be a tendency to advance in complexity of organisation, though in beings +fitted for very simple conditions it would be slight and slow. How could +a complex organisation profit a monad? if it did not profit it there +would be no advance. The Secondary Infusoria differ but little from the +living. The parent monad form might perfectly well survive unaltered +and fitted for its simple conditions, whilst the offspring of this +very monad might become fitted for more complex conditions. The one +primordial prototype of all living and extinct creatures may, it is +possible, be now alive! Moreover, as you say, higher forms might be +occasionally degraded, the snake Typhlops SEEMS (?!) to have the habits +of earth-worms. So that fresh creatures of simple forms seem to me +wholly superfluous. + +"MUST YOU NOT ASSUME A PRIMEVAL CREATIVE POWER WHICH DOES NOT ACT WITH +UNIFORMITY, OR HOW COULD MAN SUPERVENE?" + +I am not sure that I understand your remarks which follow the above. +We must under present knowledge assume the creation of one or of a few +forms in the same manner as philosophers assume the existence of a power +of attraction without any explanation. But I entirely reject, as in my +judgment quite unnecessary, any subsequent addition "of new powers and +attributes and forces;" or of any "principle of improvement," except in +so far as every character which is naturally selected or preserved is in +some way an advantage or improvement, otherwise it would not have been +selected. If I were convinced that I required such additions to the +theory of natural selection, I would reject it as rubbish, but I have +firm faith in it, as I cannot believe, that if false, it would explain +so many whole classes of facts, which, if I am in my senses, it seems +to explain. As far as I understand your remarks and illustrations, you +doubt the possibility of gradations of intellectual powers. Now, it +seems to me, looking to existing animals alone, that we have a very fine +gradation in the intellectual powers of the Vertebrata, with one rather +wide gap (not half so wide as in many cases of corporeal structure), +between say a Hottentot and a Ourang, even if civilised as much mentally +as the dog has been from the wolf. I suppose that you do not doubt that +the intellectual powers are as important for the welfare of each being +as corporeal structure; if so, I can see no difficulty in the most +intellectual individuals of a species being continually selected; +and the intellect of the new species thus improved, aided probably by +effects of inherited mental exercise. I look at this process as now +going on with the races of man; the less intellectual races being +exterminated. But there is not space to discuss this point. If I +understand you, the turning-point in our difference must be, that you +think it impossible that the intellectual powers of a species should +be much improved by the continued natural selection of the most +intellectual individuals. To show how minds graduate, just reflect how +impossible every one has yet found it, to define the difference in mind +of man and the lower animals; the latter seem to have the very same +attributes in a much lower stage of perfection than the lowest savage. I +would give absolutely nothing for the theory of Natural Selection, if +it requires miraculous additions at any one stage of descent. I think +Embryology, Homology, Classification, etc., etc., show us that all +vertebrata have descended from one parent; how that parent appeared we +know not. If you admit in ever so little a degree, the explanation which +I have given of Embryology, Homology and Classification, you will +find it difficult to say: thus far the explanation holds good, but no +further; here we must call in "the addition of new creative forces." +I think you will be driven to reject all or admit all: I fear by your +letter it will be the former alternative; and in that case I shall feel +sure it is my fault, and not the theory's fault, and this will certainly +comfort me. With regard to the descent of the great Kingdoms (as +Vertebrata, Articulata, etc.) from one parent, I have said in the +conclusion, that mere analogy makes me think it probable; my arguments +and facts are sound in my judgment only for each separate kingdom. + +THE FORMS WHICH ARE BEATEN INHERITING SOME INFERIORITY IN COMMON. + +I dare say I have not been guarded enough, but might not the term +inferiority include less perfect adaptation to physical conditions? + +My remarks apply not to single species, but to groups or genera; the +species of most genera are adapted at least to rather hotter, and rather +less hot, to rather damper and dryer climates; and when the several +species of a group are beaten and exterminated by the several species of +another group, it will not, I think, generally be from EACH new species +being adapted to the climate, but from all the new species having some +common advantage in obtaining sustenance, or escaping enemies. As groups +are concerned, a fairer illustration than negro and white in Liberia +would be the almost certain future extinction of the genus ourang by +the genus man, not owing to man being better fitted for the climate, but +owing to the inherited intellectual inferiority of the Ourang-genus +to Man-genus, by his intellect, inventing fire-arms and cutting +down forests. I believe from reasons given in my discussion, that +acclimatisation is readily effected under nature. It has taken me +so many years to disabuse my mind of the TOO great importance of +climate--its important influence being so conspicuous, whilst that of a +struggle between creature and creature is so hidden--that I am inclined +to swear at the North Pole, and, as Sydney Smith said, even to speak +disrespectfully of the Equator. I beg you often to reflect (I have found +NOTHING so instructive) on the case of thousands of plants in the middle +point of their respective ranges, and which, as we positively know, can +perfectly well withstand a little more heat and cold, a little more damp +and dry, but which in the metropolis of their range do not exist in vast +numbers, although if many of the other inhabitants were destroyed [they] +would cover the ground. We thus clearly see that their numbers are kept +down, in almost every case, not by climate, but by the struggle with +other organisms. All this you will perhaps think very obvious; but, +until I repeated it to myself thousands of times, I took, as I believe, +a wholly wrong view of the whole economy of nature... + +HYBRIDISM. + +I am so much pleased that you approve of this chapter; you would be +astonished at the labour this cost me; so often was I, on what I believe +was, the wrong scent. + +RUDIMENTARY ORGANS. + +On the theory of Natural Selection there is a wide distinction between +Rudimentary Organs and what you call germs of organs, and what I call +in my bigger book "nascent" organs. An organ should not be called +rudimentary unless it be useless--as teeth which never cut through the +gums--the papillae, representing the pistil in male flowers, wing of +Apteryx, or better, the little wings under soldered elytra. These organs +are now plainly useless, and a fortiori, they would be useless in a +less developed state. Natural Selection acts exclusively by preserving +successive slight, USEFUL modifications. Hence Natural Selection cannot +possibly make a useless or rudimentary organ. Such organs are solely due +to inheritance (as explained in my discussion), and plainly bespeak an +ancestor having the organ in a useful condition. They may be, and +often have been, worked in for other purposes, and then they are only +rudimentary for the original function, which is sometimes plainly +apparent. A nascent organ, though little developed, as it has to be +developed must be useful in every stage of development. As we cannot +prophesy, we cannot tell what organs are now nascent; and nascent organs +will rarely have been handed down by certain members of a class from a +remote period to the present day, for beings with any important organ +but little developed, will generally have been supplanted by their +descendants with the organ well developed. The mammary glands in +Ornithorhynchus may, perhaps, be considered as nascent compared with +the udders of a cow--Ovigerous frena, in certain cirripedes, are nascent +branchiae--in [illegible] the swim bladder is almost rudimentary for +this purpose, and is nascent as a lung. The small wing of penguin, used +only as a fin, might be nascent as a wing; not that I think so; for +the whole structure of the bird is adapted for flight, and a penguin +so closely resembles other birds, that we may infer that its wings have +probably been modified, and reduced by natural selection, in accordance +with its sub-aquatic habits. Analogy thus often serves as a guide in +distinguishing whether an organ is rudimentary or nascent. I believe the +Os coccyx gives attachment to certain muscles, but I can not doubt that +it is a rudimentary tail. The bastard wing of birds is a rudimentary +digit; and I believe that if fossil birds are found very low down in the +series, they will be seen to have a double or bifurcated wing. Here is a +bold prophecy! + +To admit prophetic germs, is tantamount to rejecting the theory of +Natural Selection. + +I am very glad you think it worth while to run through my book again, as +much, or more, for the subject's sake as for my own sake. But I look at +your keeping the subject for some little time before your mind--raising +your own difficulties and solving them--as far more important than +reading my book. If you think enough, I expect you will be perverted, +and if you ever are, I shall know that the theory of Natural Selection, +is, in the main, safe; that it includes, as now put forth, many errors, +is almost certain, though I cannot see them. Do not, of course, think of +answering this; but if you have other OCCASION to write again, just +say whether I have, in ever so slight a degree, shaken any of your +objections. Farewell. With my cordial thanks for your long letters and +valuable remarks, + +Believe me, yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--You often allude to Lamarck's work; I do not know what you think +about it, but it appeared to me extremely poor; I got not a fact or idea +from it. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. AGASSIZ. (Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, born at +Mortier, on the lake of Morat in Switzerland, on May 28, 1807. He +emigrated to America in 1846, where he spent the rest of his life, and +died December 14, 1873. His 'Life,' written by his widow, was published +in 1885. The following extract from a letter to Agassiz (1850) is worth +giving, as showing how my father regarded him, and it may be added that +his cordial feelings towards the great American naturalist remained +strong to the end of his life:-- + +"I have seldom been more deeply gratified than by receiving your most +kind present of 'Lake Superior.' I had heard of it, and had much wished +to read it, but I confess that it was the very great honour of having in +my possession a work with your autograph as a presentation copy that has +given me such lively and sincere pleasure. I cordially thank you for +it. I have begun to read it with uncommon interest, which I see will +increase as I go on.") Down, November 11th [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +I have ventured to send you a copy of my book (as yet only an abstract) +on the 'Origin of Species.' As the conclusions at which I have arrived +on several points differ so widely from yours, I have thought (should +you at any time read my volume) that you might think that I had sent it +to you out of a spirit of defiance or bravado; but I assure you that +I act under a wholly different frame of mind. I hope that you will at +least give me credit, however erroneous you may think my conclusions, +for having earnestly endeavoured to arrive at the truth. With sincere +respect, I beg leave to remain, + +Yours, very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. DE CANDOLLE. Down, November 11th [1859]. + +Dear Sir, + +I have thought that you would permit me to send you (by Messrs. Williams +and Norgate, booksellers) a copy of my work (as yet only an abstract) +on the 'Origin of Species.' I wish to do this, as the only, though quite +inadequate manner, by which I can testify to you the extreme interest +which I have felt, and the great advantage which I have derived, from +studying your grand and noble work on Geographical Distribution. Should +you be induced to read my volume, I venture to remark that it will be +intelligible only by reading the whole straight through, as it is very +much condensed. It would be a high gratification to me if any portion +interested you. But I am perfectly well aware that you will entirely +disagree with the conclusion at which I have arrived. + +You will probably have quite forgotten me; but many years ago you did +me the honour of dining at my house in London to meet M. and Madame +Sismondi (Jessie Allen, sister of Mrs. Josiah Wedgwood of Maer.), the +uncle and aunt of my wife. With sincere respect, I beg to remain, + +Yours, very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HUGH FALCONER. Down, November 11th [1859]. + +My dear Falconer, + +I have told Murray to send you a copy of my book on the 'Origin of +Species,' which as yet is only an abstract. + +If you read it, you must read it straight through, otherwise from its +extremely condensed state it will be unintelligible. + +Lord, how savage you will be, if you read it, and how you will long to +crucify me alive! I fear it will produce no other effect on you; but +if it should stagger you in ever so slight a degree, in this case, I +am fully convinced that you will become, year after year, less fixed +in your belief in the immutability of species. With this audacious and +presumptuous conviction, + +I remain, my dear Falconer, Yours most truly, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, November 11th [1859]. + +My dear Gray, + +I have directed a copy of my book (as yet only an abstract) on the +'Origin of Species' to be sent you. I know how you are pressed for time; +but if you can read it, I shall be infinitely gratified...If ever you do +read it, and can screw out time to send me (as I value your opinion so +highly), however short a note, telling me what you think its weakest and +best parts, I should be extremely grateful. As you are not a geologist, +you will excuse my conceit in telling you that Lyell highly approves of +the two Geological chapters, and thinks that on the Imperfection of the +Geological Record not exaggerated. He is nearly a convert to my views... + +Let me add I fully admit that there are very many difficulties not +satisfactorily explained by my theory of descent with modification, +but 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... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.S. HENSLOW. Down, November 11th, 1859. + +My dear Henslow, + +I have told Murray to send a copy of my book on Species to you, my +dear old master in Natural History; I fear, however, that you will not +approve of your pupil in this case. The book in its present state does +not show the amount of labour which I have bestowed on the subject. + +If you have time to read it carefully, and would take the trouble to +point out what parts seem weakest to you and what best, it would be +a most material aid to me in writing my bigger book, which I hope +to commence in a few months. You know also how highly I value your +judgment. But I am not so unreasonable as to wish or expect you to +write detailed and lengthy criticisms, but merely a few general remarks, +pointing out the weakest parts. + +If you are IN EVEN SO SLIGHT A DEGREE staggered (which I hardly expect) +on the immutability of species, then I am convinced with further +reflection you will become more and more staggered, for this has been +the process through which my mind has gone. My dear Henslow, + +Yours affectionately and gratefully, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. (The present Sir John Lubbock.) Ilkley, +Yorkshire, Saturday [November 12th, 1859]. + +... Thank you much for asking me to Brighton. I hope much that you will +enjoy your holiday. I have told Murray to send a copy for you to Mansion +House Street, and I am surprised that you have not received it. There +are so many valid and weighty arguments against my notions, that you, +or any one, if you wish on the other side, will easily persuade yourself +that I am wholly in error, and no doubt I am in part in error, perhaps +wholly so, though I cannot see the blindness of my ways. I dare say when +thunder and lightning were first proved to be due to secondary causes, +some regretted to give up the idea that each flash was caused by the +direct hand of God. + +Farewell, I am feeling very unwell to-day, so no more. + +Yours very truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. Ilkley, Yorkshire, Tuesday [November +15th, 1859]. + +My dear Lubbock, + +I beg pardon for troubling you again. I do not know how I blundered +in expressing myself in making you believe that we accepted your kind +invitation to Brighton. I meant merely to thank you sincerely for +wishing to see such a worn-out old dog as myself. I hardly know when we +leave this place,--not under a fortnight, and then we shall wish to rest +under our own roof-tree. + +I do not think I hardly ever admired a book more than Paley's 'Natural +Theology.' I could almost formerly have said it by heart. + +I am glad you have got my book, but I fear that you value it far too +highly. I should be grateful for any criticisms. I care not for Reviews; +but for the opinion of men like you and Hooker and Huxley and Lyell, +etc. + +Farewell, with our joint thanks to Mrs. Lubbock and yourself. Adios. + +C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS. (Now Rev. L. Blomefield.) Ilkley, +Yorkshire, November 13th, 1859. + +My dear Jenyns, + +I must thank you for your very kind note forwarded to me from Down. I +have been much out of health this summer, and have been hydropathising +here for the last six weeks with very little good as yet. I shall stay +here for another fortnight at least. Please remember that my book +is only an abstract, and very much condensed, and, to be at all +intelligible, must be carefully read. I shall be very grateful for any +criticisms. But I know perfectly well that you will not at all agree +with the lengths which I go. It took long years to convert me. I may, of +course, be egregiously wrong; but I cannot persuade myself that a theory +which explains (as I think it certainly does) several large classes of +facts, can be wholly wrong; notwithstanding the several difficulties +which have to be surmounted somehow, and which stagger me even to this +day. + +I wish that my health had allowed me to publish in extenso; if ever I +get strong enough I will do so, as the greater part is written out, and +of which MS. the present volume is an abstract. + +I fear this note will be almost illegible; but I am poorly, and can +hardly sit up. Farewell; with thanks for your kind note and pleasant +remembrance of good old days. + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Ilkley, November 13th, 1859. + +My dear Sir, + +I have told Murray to send you by post (if possible) a copy of my book, +and I hope that you will receive it at nearly the same time with this +note. (N.B. I have got a bad finger, which makes me write extra badly.) +If you are so inclined, I should very much like to hear your general +impression of the book, as you have thought so profoundly on the +subject, and in so nearly the same channel with myself. I hope there +will be some little new to you, but I fear not much. Remember it is only +an abstract, and very much condensed. God knows what the public will +think. No one has read it, except Lyell, with whom I have had much +correspondence. Hooker thinks him a complete convert, but he does not +seem so in his letters to me; but is evidently deeply interested in the +subject. I do not think your share in the theory will be overlooked by +the real judges, as Hooker, Lyell, Asa Gray, etc. I have heard from Mr. +Slater that your paper on the Malay Archipelago has been read at the +Linnean Society, and that he was EXTREMELY much interested by it. + +I have not seen one naturalist for six or nine months, owing to the +state of my health, and therefore I really have no news to tell you. I +am writing this at Ilkley Wells, where I have been with my family for +the last six weeks, and shall stay for some few weeks longer. As yet I +have profited very little. God knows when I shall have strength for my +bigger book. + +I sincerely hope that you keep your health; I suppose that you will be +thinking of returning (Mr. Wallace was in the Malay Archipelago.) soon +with your magnificent collections, and still grander mental materials. +You will be puzzled how to publish. The Royal Society fund will be worth +your consideration. With every good wish, pray believe me, + +Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S. I think that I told you before that Hooker is a complete convert. +If I can convert Huxley I shall be content. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX. Ilkley, Yorkshire, Wednesday [November 16th, +1859]. + +... I like the place very much, and the children have enjoyed it much, +and it has done my wife good. It did H. good at first, but she has gone +back again. I have had a series of calamities; first a sprained ankle, +and then a badly swollen whole leg and face, much rash, and a frightful +succession of boils--four or five at once. I have felt quite ill, and +have little faith in this "unique crisis," as the doctor calls it, +doing me much good...You will probably have received, or will very soon +receive, my weariful book on species, I naturally believe it mainly +includes the truth, but you will not at all agree with me. Dr. Hooker, +whom I consider one of the best judges in Europe, is a complete convert, +and he thinks Lyell is likewise; certainly, judging from Lyell's letters +to me on the subject, he is deeply staggered. Farewell. If the spirit +moves you, let me have a line... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.B. CARPENTER. Ilkley, Yorkshire, November 18th +[1859]. + +My dear Carpenter, + +I must thank you for your letter on my own account, and if I know +myself, still more warmly for the subject's sake. As you seem to have +understood my last chapter without reading the previous chapters, you +must have maturely and most profoundly self-thought out the subject; for +I have found the most extraordinary difficulty in making even able men +understand at what I was driving. There will be strong opposition to +my views. If I am in the main right (of course including partial errors +unseen by me), the admission in my views will depend far more on +men, like yourself, with well-established reputations, than on my own +writings. Therefore, on the supposition that when you have read my +volume you think the view in the main true, I thank and honour you for +being willing to run the chance of unpopularity by advocating the view. +I know not in the least whether any one will review me in any of the +Reviews. I do not see how an author could enquire or interfere; but if +you are willing to review me anywhere, I am sure from the admiration +which I have long felt and expressed for your 'Comparative Physiology,' +that your review will be excellently done, and will do good service in +the cause for which I think I am not selfishly deeply interested. I +am feeling very unwell to-day, and this note is badly, perhaps hardly +intelligibly, expressed; but you must excuse me, for I could not let a +post pass, without thanking you for your note. You will have a tough +job even to shake in the slightest degree Sir H. Holland. I do not think +(privately I say it) that the great man has knowledge enough to enter on +the subject. Pray believe me with sincerity, Yours truly obliged, + +C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--As you are not a practical geologist, let me add that Lyell +thinks the chapter on the Imperfection of the Geological Record NOT +exaggerated. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.B. CARPENTER. Ilkley, Yorkshire, November 19th +[1859]. + +My dear Carpenter, + +I beg pardon for troubling you again. If, after reading my book, you are +able to come to a conclusion in any degree definite, will you think me +very unreasonable in asking you to let me hear from you. I do not ask +for a long discussion, but merely for a brief idea of your general +impression. From your widely extended knowledge, habit of investigating +the truth, and abilities, I should value your opinion in the very +highest rank. Though I, of course, believe in the truth of my own +doctrine, I suspect that no belief is vivid until shared by others. +As yet I know only one believer, but I look at him as of the greatest +authority, viz., Hooker. When I think of the many cases of men who have +studied one subject for years, and have persuaded themselves of the +truth of the foolishest doctrines, I feel sometimes a little frightened, +whether I may not be one of these mon-maniacs. + +Again pray excuse this, I fear, unreasonable request. A short note would +suffice, and I could bear a hostile verdict, and shall have to bear many +a one. + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Ilkley, Yorkshire, Sunday [November +1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have just read a review on my book in the "Athenaeum" (November 19, +1859.), and it excites my curiosity much who is the author. If you +should hear who writes in the "Athenaeum" I wish you would tell me. It +seems to me well done, but the reviewer gives no new objections, and, +being hostile, passes over every single argument in favour of the +doctrine,... I fear from the tone of the review, that I have written in +a conceited and cocksure style (The Reviewer speaks of the author's +"evident self-satisfaction," and of his disposing of all difficulties +"more or less confidently."), which shames me a little. There is another +review of which I should like to know the author, viz., of H.C. Watson +in the "Gardener's Chronicle". Some of the remarks are like yours, and +he does deserve punishment; but surely the review is too severe. Don't +you think so? + +I hope you got the three copies for Foreign Botanists in time for your +parcel, and your own copy. I have heard from Carpenter, who, I think, is +likely to be a convert. Also from Quatrefages, who is inclined to go +a long way with us. He says that he exhibited in his lecture a diagram +closely like mine! + +I shall stay here one fortnight more, and then go to Down, staying on +the road at Shrewsbury a week. I have been very unfortunate: out of +seven weeks I have been confined for five to the house. This has been +bad for me, as I have not been able to help thinking to a foolish extent +about my book. If some four or five GOOD men came round nearly to our +view, I shall not fear ultimate success. I long to learn what Huxley +thinks. Is your introduction (Introduction to the 'Flora of Australia.') +published? I suppose that you will sell it separately. Please answer +this, for I want an extra copy to send away to Wallace. I am very +bothersome, farewell. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +I was very glad to see the Royal Medal for Mr. Bentham. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, December 21st, 1859. + +My dear Hooker, + +Pray give my thanks to Mrs. Hooker for her extremely kind note, which +has pleased me much. We are very sorry she cannot come here, but shall +be delighted to see you and W. (our boys will be at home) here in the +2nd week of January, or any other time. I shall much enjoy discussing +any points in my book with you... + +I hate to hear you abuse your own work. I, on the contrary, so sincerely +value all that you have written. It is an old and firm conviction of +mine, that the Naturalists who accumulate facts and make many partial +generalisations are the REAL benefactors of science. Those who merely +accumulate facts I cannot very much respect. + +I had hoped to have come up for the Club to-morrow, but very much doubt +whether I shall be able. Ilkley seems to have done me no essential good. +I attended the Bench on Monday, and was detained in adjudicating some +troublesome cases 1 1/2 hours longer than usual, and came home utterly +knocked up, and cannot rally. I am not worth an old button... Many thanks +for your pleasant note. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I feel confident that for the future progress of the subject of +the origin and manner of formation of species, the assent and arguments +and facts of working naturalists, like yourself, are far more important +than my own book; so for God's sake do not abuse your Introduction. + + +H.C. WATSON TO CHARLES DARWIN. Thames Ditton, November 21st [1859]. + +My dear Sir, + +Once commenced to read the 'Origin,' I could not rest till I had +galloped through the whole. I shall now begin to re-read it more +deliberately. Meantime I am tempted to write you the first +impressions, not doubting that they will, in the main, be the permanent +impressions:-- + +1st. Your leading idea will assuredly become recognised as an +established truth in science, i.e. "Natural Selection." It has the +characteristics of all great natural truths, clarifying what was +obscure, simplifying what was intricate, adding greatly to previous +knowledge. You are the greatest revolutionist in natural history of this +century, if not of all centuries. + +2nd. You will perhaps need, in some degree, to limit or modify, +possibly in some degree also to extend, your present applications of the +principle of natural selection. Without going to matters of more detail, +it strikes me that there is one considerable primary inconsistency, by +one failure in the analogy between varieties and species; another by a +sort of barrier assumed for nature on insufficient grounds and arising +from "divergence." These may, however, be faults in my own mind, +attributable to yet incomplete perception of your views. And I had +better not trouble you about them before again reading the volume. + +3rd. Now these novel views are brought fairly before the scientific +public, it seems truly remarkable how so many of them could have failed +to see their right road sooner. How could Sir C. Lyell, for instance, +for thirty years read, write, and think, on the subject of species AND +THEIR SUCCESSION, and yet constantly look down the wrong road! + +A quarter of a century ago, you and I must have been in something like +the same state of mind on the main question, but you were able to see +and work out the quo modo of the succession, the all-important thing, +while I failed to grasp it. I send by this post a little controversial +pamphlet of old date--Combe and Scott. If you will take the trouble +to glance at the passages scored on the margin, you will see that, a +quarter of a century ago, I was also one of the few who then doubted the +absolute distinctness of species, and special creations of them. Yet I, +like the rest, failed to detect the quo modo which was reserved for your +penetration to DISCOVER, and your discernment to APPLY. + +You answered my query about the hiatus between Satyrus and Homo as was +expected. The obvious explanation really never occurred to me till some +months after I had read the papers in the 'Linnean Proceedings.' The +first species of Fere-homo ("Almost-man.") would soon make direct and +exterminating war upon his Infra-homo cousins. The gap would thus be +made, and then go on increasing, into the present enormous and still +widening hiatus. But how greatly this, with your chronology of animal +life, will shock the ideas of many men! + +Very sincerely, HEWETT C. WATSON. + + +J.D. HOOKER TO CHARLES DARWIN. Athenaeum, Monday [November 21st, 1859]. + +My dear Darwin, + +I am a sinner not to have written you ere this, if only to thank you for +your glorious book--what a mass of close reasoning on curious facts and +fresh phenomena--it is capitally written, and will be very successful. I +say this on the strength of two or three plunges into as many chapters, +for I have not yet attempted to read it. Lyell, with whom we are +staying, is perfectly enchanted, and is absolutely gloating over it. +I must accept your compliment to me, and acknowledgment of supposed +assistance from me, as the warm tribute of affection from an honest +(though deluded) man, and furthermore accept it as very pleasing to +my vanity; but, my dear fellow, neither my name nor my judgment nor my +assistance deserved any such compliments, and if I am dishonest +enough to be pleased with what I don't deserve, it must just pass. How +different the BOOK reads from the MS. I see I shall have much to talk +over with you. Those lazy printers have not finished my luckless Essay; +which, beside your book, will look like a ragged handkerchief beside a +Royal Standard... + +All well, ever yours affectionately, JOS. D. HOOKER. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Ilkley, Yorkshire [November 1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I cannot help it, I must thank you for your affectionate and most kind +note. My head will be turned. By Jove, I must try and get a bit modest. +I was a little chagrined by the review. (This refers to the review in +the "Athenaeum", November 19, 1859, where the reviewer, after touching +on the theological aspects of the book, leaves the author to "the +mercies of the Divinity Hall, the College, the Lecture Room, and the +Museum.") I hope it was NOT --. As advocate, he might think himself +justified in giving the argument only on one side. But the manner in +which he drags in immortality, and sets the priests at me, and leaves me +to their mercies, is base. He would, on no account, burn me, but he will +get the wood ready, and tell the black beasts how to catch me... It would +be unspeakably grand if Huxley were to lecture on the subject, but I can +see this is a mere chance; Faraday might think it too unorthodox. + +... I had a letter from [Huxley] with such tremendous praise of my book, +that modesty (as I am trying to cultivate that difficult herb) prevents +me sending it to you, which I should have liked to have done, as he is +very modest about himself. + +You have cockered me up to that extent, that I now feel I can face a +score of savage reviewers. I suppose you are still with the Lyells. Give +my kindest remembrance to them. I triumph to hear that he continues to +approve. + +Believe me, your would-be modest friend, C.D. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley Wells, Yorkshire, November 23 [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +You seemed to have worked admirably on the species question; there could +not have been a better plan than reading up on the opposite side. +I rejoice profoundly that you intend admitting the doctrine of +modification in your new edition (It appears from Sir Charles Lyell's +published letters that he intended to admit the doctrine of evolution in +a new edition of the 'Manual,' but this was not published till 1865. He +was, however, at work on the 'Antiquity of Man' in 1860, and had already +determined to discuss the 'Origin' at the end of the book.); nothing, I +am convinced, could be more important for its success. I honour you most +sincerely. To have maintained in the position of a master, one side of +a question for thirty years, and then deliberately give it up, is a fact +to which I much doubt whether the records of science offer a parallel. +For myself, also, I rejoice profoundly; for, thinking of so many cases +of men pursuing an illusion for years, often and often a cold shudder +has run through me, and I have asked myself whether I may not have +devoted my life to a phantasy. Now I look at it as morally impossible +that investigators of truth, like you and Hooker, can be wholly wrong, +and therefore I rest in peace. Thank you for criticisms, which, if there +be a second edition, I will attend to. I have been thinking that if I +am much execrated as an atheist, etc., whether the admission of the +doctrine of natural selection could injure your works; but I hope and +think not, for as far as I can remember, the virulence of bigotry is +expended on the first offender, and those who adopt his views are only +pitied as deluded, by the wise and cheerful bigots. + +I cannot help thinking that you overrate the importance of the multiple +origin of dogs. The only difference is, that in the case of single +origins, all difference of the races has originated since man +domesticated the species. In the case of multiple origins part of the +difference was produced under natural conditions. I should INFINITELY +prefer the theory of single origin in all cases, if facts would permit +its reception. But there seems to me some a priori improbability (seeing +how fond savages are of taming animals), that throughout all times, and +throughout all the world, that man should have domesticated one single +species alone, of the widely distributed genus Canis. Besides this, the +close resemblance of at least three kinds of American domestic dogs +to wild species still inhabiting the countries where they are now +domesticated, seem to almost compel admission that more than one wild +Canis has been domesticated by man. + +I thank you cordially for all the generous zeal and interest you have +shown about my book, and I remain, my dear Lyell, + +Your affectionate friend and disciple, CHARLES DARWIN. + +Sir J. Herschel, to whom I sent a copy, is going to read my book. He +says he leans to the side opposed to me. If you should meet him after he +has read me, pray find out what he thinks, for, of course, he will +not write; and I should excessively like to hear whether I produce any +effect on such a mind. + + +T.H. HUXLEY TO CHARLES DARWIN. Jermyn Street W., November 23rd, 1859. + +My dear Darwin, + +I finished your book yesterday, a lucky examination having furnished me +with a few hours of continuous leisure. + +Since I read Von Baer's (Karl Ernst von Baer, born 1792, died at Dorpat +1876--one of the most distinguished biologists of the century. He +practically founded the modern science of embryology.) essays, nine +years ago, no work on Natural History Science I have met with has made +so great an impression upon me, and I do most heartily thank you for +the great store of new views you have given me. Nothing, I think, can +be better than the tone of the book, it impresses those who know nothing +about the subject. As for your doctrine, I am prepared to go to the +stake, if requisite, in support of Chapter IX., and most parts of +Chapters X., XI., XII., and Chapter XIII. contains much that is most +admirable, but on one or two points I enter a caveat until I can see +further into all sides of the question. + +As to the first four chapters, I agree thoroughly and fully with all the +principles laid down in them. I think you have demonstrated a true cause +for the production of species, and have thrown the onus probandi that +species did not arise in the way you suppose, on your adversaries. + +But I feel that I have not yet by any means fully realized the bearings +of those most remarkable and original Chapters III., IV. and V., and I +will write no more about them just now. + +The only objections that have occurred to me are, 1st that you have +loaded yourself with an unnecessary difficulty in adopting Natura non +facit saltum so unreservedly... And 2nd, it is not clear to me why, if +continual physical conditions are of so little moment as you suppose, +variation should occur at all. + +However, I must read the book two or three times more before I presume +to begin picking holes. + +I trust you will not allow yourself to be in any way disgusted or +annoyed by the considerable abuse and misrepresentation which, unless I +greatly mistake, is in store for you. Depend upon it you have earned the +lasting gratitude of all thoughtful men. And as to the curs which will +bark and yelp, you must recollect that some of your friends, at any +rate, are endowed with an amount of combativeness which (though you have +often and justly rebuked it) may stand you in good stead. + +I am sharpening up my claws and beak in readiness. + +Looking back over my letter, it really expresses so feebly all I think +about you and your noble book that I am half ashamed of it; but you will +understand that, like the parrot in the story, "I think the more." + +Ever yours faithfully, T.H. HUXLEY. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Ilkley, November 25th [1859]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Your letter has been forwarded to me from Down. Like a good Catholic who +has received extreme unction, I can now sing "nunc dimittis." I should +have been more than contented with one quarter of what you have said. +Exactly fifteen months ago, when I put pen to paper for this volume, I +had awful misgivings; and thought perhaps I had deluded myself, like +so many have done, and I then fixed in my mind three judges, on whose +decision I determined mentally to abide. The judges were Lyell, Hooker, +and yourself. It was this which made me so excessively anxious for your +verdict. I am now contented, and can sing my nunc dimittis. What a joke +it would be if I pat you on the back when you attack some immovable +creationist! You have most cleverly hit on one point, which has greatly +troubled me; if, as I must think, external conditions produce little +DIRECT effect, what the devil determines each particular variation? What +makes a tuft of feathers come on a cock's head, or moss on a moss-rose? +I shall much like to talk over this with you... + +My dear Huxley, I thank you cordially for your letter. + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Hereafter I shall be particularly curious to hear what you think +of my explanation of Embryological similarity. On classification I fear +we shall split. Did you perceive the argumentum ad hominem Huxley about +kangaroo and bear? + + +ERASMUS DARWIN (His brother.) TO CHARLES DARWIN. November 23rd [1859]. + +Dear Charles, + +I am so much weaker in the head, that I hardly know if I can write, but +at all events I will jot down a few things that the Dr. (Dr., afterwards +Sir Henry Holland.) has said. He has not read much above half, so as he +says he can give no definite conclusion, and it is my private belief he +wishes to remain in that state... He is evidently in a dreadful state of +indecision, and keeps stating that he is not tied down to either view, +and that he has always left an escape by the way he has spoken of +varieties. I happened to speak of the eye before he had read that part, +and it took away his breath--utterly impossible--structure, function, +etc., etc., etc., but when he had read it he hummed and hawed, and +perhaps it was partly conceivable, and then he fell back on the bones +of the ear, which were beyond all probability or conceivability. He +mentioned a slight blot, which I also observed, that in speaking of the +slave-ants carrying one another, you change the species without giving +notice first, and it makes one turn back... + +... For myself I really think it is the most interesting book I ever +read, and can only compare it to the first knowledge of chemistry, +getting into a new world or rather behind the scenes. To me the +geographical distribution, I mean the relation of islands to continents, +is the most convincing of the proofs, and the relation of the oldest +forms to the existing species. I dare say I don't feel enough the +absence of varieties, but then I don't in the least know if everything +now living were fossilized whether the paleontologists could distinguish +them. In fact the a priori reasoning is so entirely satisfactory to me +that if the facts won't fit in, why so much the worse for the facts is +my feeling. My ague has left me in such a state of torpidity that I wish +I had gone through the process of natural selection. + +Yours affectionately, E.A.D. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley, November [24th, 1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Again I have to thank you for a most valuable lot of criticisms in a +letter dated 22nd. + +This morning I heard also from Murray that he sold the whole edition +(First edition, 1250 copies.) the first day to the trade. He wants a new +edition instantly, and this utterly confounds me. Now, under water-cure, +with all nervous power directed to the skin, I cannot possibly do +head-work, and I must make only actually necessary corrections. But +I will, as far as I can without my manuscript, take advantage of your +suggestions: I must not attempt much. Will you send me one line to say +whether I must strike out about the secondary whale (The passage +was omitted in the second edition.), it goes to my heart. About the +rattle-snake, look to my Journal, under Trigonocephalus, and you will +see the probable origin of the rattle, and generally in transitions it +is the premier pas qui coute. + +Madame Belloc wants to translate my book into French; I have offered +to look over proofs for SCIENTIFIC errors. Did you ever hear of her? I +believe Murray has agreed at my urgent advice, but I fear I have been +rash and premature. Quatrefages has written to me, saying he agrees +largely with my views. He is an excellent naturalist. I am pressed for +time. Will you give us one line about the whales? Again I thank you +for neve-tiring advice and assistance; I do in truth reverence your +unselfish and pure love of truth. + +My dear Lyell, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[With regard to a French translation, he wrote to Mr. Murray in November +1859: "I am EXTREMELY anxious, for the subject's sake (and God knows +not for mere fame), to have my book translated; and indirectly its being +known abroad will do good to the English sale. If it depended on me, I +should agree without payment, and instantly send a copy, and only beg +that she [Mme. Belloc] would get some scientific man to look over +the translation... You might say that, though I am a very poor French +scholar, I could detect any scientific mistake, and would read over the +French proofs." + +The proposed translation was not made, and a second plan fell through +in the following year. He wrote to M. de Quatrefages: "The gentleman +who wished to translate my 'Origin of Species' has failed in getting a +publisher. Balliere, Masson, and Hachette all rejected it with contempt. +It was foolish and presumptuous in me, hoping to appear in a French +dress; but the idea would not have entered my head had it not been +suggested to me. It is a great loss. I must console myself with the +German edition which Prof. Bronn is bringing out." (See letters to +Bronn, page 70.) + +A sentence in another letter to M. de Quatrefages shows how anxious he +was to convert one of the greatest of contemporary Zoologists: "How I +should like to know whether Milne Edwards had read the copy which I sent +him, and whether he thinks I have made a pretty good case on our side +of the question. There is no naturalist in the world for whose opinion I +have so profound a respect. Of course I am not so silly as to expect to +change his opinion."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley, [November 26th, 1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have received your letter of the 24th. It is no use trying to thank +you; your kindness is beyond thanks. I will certainly leave out the +whale and bear... + +The edition was 1250 copies. When I was in spirits, I sometimes fancied +that my book would be successful, but I never even built a castle in the +air of such success as it has met with; I do not mean the sale, but the +impression it has made on you (whom I have always looked at as chief +judge) and Hooker and Huxley. The whole has infinitely exceeded my +wildest hopes. + +Farewell, I am tired, for I have been going over the sheets. + +My kind friend, farewell, yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Ilkley, Yorkshire, December 2nd [1859]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Every note which you have sent me has interested me much. Pray thank +Lady Lyell for her remark. In the chapters she refers to, I was unable +to modify the passage in accordance with your suggestion; but in the +final chapter I have modified three or four. Kingsley, in a note (The +letter is given below) to me, had a capital paragraph on such notions +as mine being NOT opposed to a high conception of the Deity. I have +inserted it as an extract from a letter to me from a celebrated author +and divine. I have put in about nascent organs. I had the greatest +difficulty in partially making out Sedgwick's letter, and I dare say I +did greatly underrate its clearness. Do what I could, I fear I shall +be greatly abused. In answer to Sedgwick's remark that my book would be +"mischievous," I asked him whether truth can be known except by being +victorious over all attacks. But it is no use. H.C. Watson tells me that +one zoologist says he will read my book, "but I will never believe it." +What a spirit to read any book in! Crawford writes to me that his notice +(John Crawford, orientalist, ethnologist, etc., 1783-1868. The review +appeared in the "Examiner", and, though hostile, is free from bigotry, +as the following citation will show: "We cannot help saying that piety +must be fastidious indeed that objects to a theory the tendency of which +is to show that all organic beings, man included, are in a perpetual +progress of amelioration, and that is expounded in the reverential +language which we have quoted.") will be hostile, but that "he will +not calumniate the author." He says he has read my book, "at least such +parts as he could understand." He sent me some notes and suggestions +(quite unimportant), and they show me that I have unavoidably done +harm to the subject, by publishing an abstract. He is a real Pallasian; +nearly all our domestic races descended from a multitude of wild species +now commingled. I expected Murchison to be outrageous. How little he +could ever have grappled with the subject of denudation! How singular +so great a geologist should have so unphilosophical a mind! I have had +several notes from --, very civil and less decided. Says he shall not +pronounce against me without much reflection, PERHAPS WILL SAY NOTHING +on the subject. X. says -- will go to that part of hell, which Dante +tells us is appointed for those who are neither on God's side nor on +that of the devil. + +I fully believe that I owe the comfort of the next few years of my life +to your generous support, and that of a very few others. I do not think +I am brave enough to have stood being odious without support; now I feel +as bold as a lion. But there is one thing I can see I must learn, viz., +to think less of myself and my book. Farewell, with cordial thanks. + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +I return home on the 7th, and shall sleep at Erasmus's. I will call on +you about ten o'clock, on Thursday, the 8th, and sit with you, as I have +so often sat, during your breakfast. + +I wish there was any chance of Prestwich being shaken; but I fear he is +too much of a catastrophist. + + +[In December there appeared in 'Macmillan's Magazine' an article, "Time +and Life," by Professor Huxley. It is mainly occupied by an analysis +of the argument of the 'Origin,' but it also gives the substance of +a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution before that book was +published. Professor Huxley spoke strongly in favour of evolution in his +Lecture, and explains that in so doing he was to a great extent resting +on a knowledge of "the general tenor of the researches in which Mr. +Darwin had been so long engaged," and was supported in so doing by his +perfect confidence in his knowledge, perseverance, and "high-minded love +of truth." My father was evidently deeply pleased by Mr. Huxley's words, +and wrote: + +"I must thank you for your extremely kind notice of my book in +'Macmillan.' No one could receive a more delightful and honourable +compliment. I had not heard of your Lecture, owing to my retired life. +You attribute much too much to me from our mutual friendship. You have +explained my leading idea with admirable clearness. What a gift you have +of writing (or more properly) thinking clearly."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.B. CARPENTER. Ilkley, Yorkshire, December 3rd +[1859]. + +My dear Carpenter, + +I am perfectly delighted at your letter. It is a great thing to have got +a great physiologist on our side. I say "our" for we are now a good and +compact body of really good men, and mostly not old men. In the long run +we shall conquer. I do not like being abused, but I feel that I can now +bear it; and, as I told Lyell, I am well convinced that it is the first +offender who reaps the rich harvest of abuse. You have done an essential +kindness in checking the odium theologicum in the E.R. (This must refer +to Carpenter's critique which would now have been ready to appear in the +January number of the "Edinburgh Review", 1860, and in which the odium +theologicum is referred to.) It much pains all one's female relations +and injures the cause. + +I look at it as immaterial whether we go quite the same lengths; and I +suspect, judging from myself, that you will go further, by thinking of +a population of forms like Ornithorhyncus, and by thinking of the +common homological and embryological structure of the several vertebrate +orders. But this is immaterial. I quite agree that the principle is +everything. In my fuller MS. I have discussed a good many instincts; +but there will surely be more unfilled gaps here than with corporeal +structure, for we have no fossil instincts, and know scarcely any except +of European animals. When I reflect how very slowly I came round myself, +I am in truth astonished at the candour shown by Lyell, Hooker, Huxley, +and yourself. In my opinion it is grand. I thank you cordially for +taking the trouble of writing a review for the 'National.' God knows +I shall have few enough in any degree favourable. (See a letter to Dr. +Carpenter below.) + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Saturday [December 5th, 1859]. + +... I have had a letter from Carpenter this morning. He reviews me in +the 'National.' He is a convert, but does not go quite so far as I, but +quite far enough, for he admits that all birds are from one progenitor, +and probably all fishes and reptiles from another parent. But the +last mouthful chokes him. He can hardly admit all vertebrates from one +parent. He will surely come to this from Homology and Embryology. I look +at it as grand having brought round a great physiologist, for great I +think he certainly is in that line. How curious I shall be to know what +line Owen will take; dead against us, I fear; but he wrote me a most +liberal note on the reception of my book, and said he was quite prepared +to consider fairly and without prejudice my line of argument. + + +J.D. HOOKER TO CHARLES DARWIN. Kew, Monday. + +Dear Darwin, + +You have, I know, been drenched with letters since the publication of +your book, and I have hence forborne to add my mite. I hope now that you +are well through Edition II., and I have heard that you were flourishing +in London. I have not yet got half-through the book, not from want of +will, but of time--for it is the very hardest book to read, to full +profits, that I ever tried--it is so cram-full of matter and reasoning. +I am all the more glad that you have published in this form, for the +three volumes, unprefaced by this, would have choked any Naturalist +of the nineteenth century, and certainly have softened my brain in +the operation of assimilating their contents. I am perfectly tired of +marvelling at the wonderful amount of facts you have brought to bear, +and your skill in marshalling them and throwing them on the enemy; it +is also extremely clear as far as I have gone, but very hard to fully +appreciate. Somehow it reads very different from the MS., and I often +fancy I must have been very stupid not to have more fully followed it in +MS. Lyell told me of his criticisms. I did not appreciate them all, and +there are many little matters I hope one day to talk over with you. I +saw a highly flattering notice in the 'English Churchman,' short and +not at all entering into discussion, but praising you and your book, and +talking patronizingly of the doctrine!... Bentham and Henslow will still +shake their heads I fancy... + +Ever yours affectionately, JOS. D. HOOKER. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, Saturday [December 12th, 1859]. + +... I had very long interviews with --, which perhaps you would like to +hear about... I infer from several expressions that, at bottom, he goes +an immense way with us... + +He said to the effect that my explanation was the best ever published of +the manner of formation of species. I said I was very glad to hear it. +He took me up short: "You must not at all suppose that I agree with you +in all respects." I said I thought it no more likely that I should be +right in nearly all points, than that I should toss up a penny and get +heads twenty times running. I asked him what he thought the weakest +part. He said he had no particular objection to any part. He added:-- + +"If I must criticise, I should say, 'we do not want to know what Darwin +believes and is convinced of, but what he can prove.'" I agreed most +fully and truly that I have probably greatly sinned in this line, and +defended my general line of argument of inventing a theory and seeing +how many classes of facts the theory would explain. I added that I +would endeavour to modify the "believes" and "convinceds." He took me up +short: "You will then spoil your book, the charm of (!) it is that it is +Darwin himself." He added another objection, that the book was too teres +atque rotundus--that it explained everything, and that it was improbable +in the highest degree that I should succeed in this. I quite agree with +this rather queer objection, and it comes to this that my book must be +very bad or very good... + +I have heard, by roundabout channel, that Herschel says my book "is the +law of higgledy-piggledy." What this exactly means I do not know, but +it is evidently very contemptuous. If true this is a great blow and +discouragement. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. December 14th [1859]. + +... The latter part of my stay at Ilkley did me much good, but I suppose +I never shall be strong, for the work I have had since I came back has +knocked me up a little more than once. I have been busy in getting a +reprint (with a very few corrections) through the press. + +My book has been as yet VERY MUCH more successful than I ever dreamed +of: Murray is now printing 3000 copies. Have you finished it? If so, +pray tell me whether you are with me on the GENERAL issue, or against +me. If you are against me, I know well how honourable, fair, and candid +an opponent I shall have, and which is a good deal more than I can say +of all my opponents... + +Pray tell me what you have been doing. Have you had time for any Natural +History?... + +P.S.--I have got--I wish and hope I might say that WE have got--a fair +number of excellent men on our side of the question on the mutability of +species. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, December 14th [1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your approval of my book, for many reasons, gives me intense +satisfaction; but I must make some allowance for your kindness and +sympathy. Any one with ordinary faculties, if he had PATIENCE enough and +plenty of time, could have written my book. You do not know how I admire +your and Lyell's generous and unselfish sympathy, I do not believe +either of you would have cared so much about your own work. My book, as +yet, has been far more successful than I ever even formerly ventured in +the wildest day-dreams to anticipate. We shall soon be a good body +of working men, and shall have, I am convinced, all young and rising +naturalists on our side. I shall be intensely interested to hear whether +my book produces any effect on A. Gray; from what I heard at Lyell's, I +fancy your correspondence has brought him some way already. I fear that +there is no chance of Bentham being staggered. Will he read my book? Has +he a copy? I would send him one of the reprints if he has not. Old J.E. +Gray (John Edward Gray (1800-1875), was the son of S.F. Gray, author +of the 'Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia.' In 1821 he published in his +father's name 'The Natural Arrangement of British Plants,' one of the +earliest works in English on the natural method. In 1824 he became +connected with the Natural History Department of the British Museum, and +was appointed Keeper of the Zoological collections in 1840. He was the +author of 'Illustrations of Indian Zoology,' 'The Knowsley Menagerie,' +etc., and of innumerable descriptive Zoological papers.), at the British +Museum, attacked me in fine style: "You have just reproduced Lamarck's +doctrine and nothing else, and here Lyell and others have been attacking +him for twenty years, and because YOU (with a sneer and laugh) say the +very same thing, they are all coming round; it is the most ridiculous +inconsistency, etc., etc." + +You must be very glad to be settled in your house, and I hope all the +improvements satisfy you. As far as my experience goes, improvements +are never perfection. I am very sorry to hear that you are still so very +busy, and have so much work. And now for the main purport of my note, +which is to ask and beg you and Mrs. Hooker (whom it is really an age +since I have seen), and all your children, if you like, to come +and spend a week here. It would be a great pleasure to me and to my +wife... As far as we can see, we shall be at home all the winter; and all +times probably would be equally convenient; but if you can, do not put +it off very late, as it may slip through. Think of this and persuade +Mrs. Hooker, and be a good man and come. + +Farewell, my kind and dear friend, Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I shall be very curious to hear what you think of my discussion on +Classification in Chapter XIII.; I believe Huxley demurs to the whole, +and says he has nailed his colours to the mast, and I would sooner die +than give up; so that we are in as fine a frame of mind to discuss the +point as any two religionists. + +Embryology is my pet bit in my book, and, confound my friends, not one +has noticed this to me. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, December 21st [1859]. + +My dear Gray, + +I have just received your most kind, long, and valuable letter. I will +write again in a few days, for I am at present unwell and much pressed +with business: to-day's note is merely personal. I should, for several +reasons, be very glad of an American Edition. I have made up my mind to +be well abused; but I think it of importance that my notions should be +read by intelligent men, accustomed to scientific argument, though NOT +naturalists. It may seem absurd, but I think such men will drag after +them those naturalists who have too firmly fixed in their heads that a +species is an entity. The first edition of 1250 copies was sold on the +first day, and now my publisher is printing off, as RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE, +3000 more copies. I mention this solely because it renders probable +a remunerative sale in America. I should be infinitely obliged if you +could aid an American reprint; and could make, for my sake and the +publisher's, any arrangement for any profit. The new edition is only a +reprint, yet I have made a FEW important corrections. I will have the +clean sheets sent over in a few days of as many sheets as are printed +off, and the remainder afterwards, and you can do anything you like,--if +nothing, there is no harm done. I should be glad for the new edition to +be reprinted and not the old.--In great haste, and with hearty thanks, + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +I will write soon again. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, 22nd [December, 1859]. + +My dear Lyell, Thanks about "Bears" (See 'Origin,' edition i., page +184.), a word of il-omen to me. + +I am too unwell to leave home, so shall not see you. + +I am very glad of your remarks on Hooker. (Sir C. Lyell wrote to Sir +J.D. Hooker, December 19, 1859 ('Life,' ii. page 327): "I have just +finished the reading of your splendid Essay [the 'Flora of Australia'] +on the origin of species, as illustrated by your wide botanical +experience, and think it goes very far to raise the variety-making +hypothesis to the rank of a theory, as accounting for the manner in +which new species enter the world.") I have not yet got the essay. +The parts which I read in sheets seemed to me grand, especially the +generalization about the Australian flora itself. How superior to +Robert Brown's celebrated essay! I have not seen Naudin's paper ('Revue +Horticole,' 1852. See historical Sketch in the later editions of the +'Origin of Species.'), and shall not be able till I hunt the libraries. +I am very anxious to see it. Decaisne seems to think he gives my whole +theory. I do not know when I shall have time and strength to grapple +with Hooker... + +P.S.--I have heard from Sir W. Jardine (Jardine, Sir William, Bart., +1800-1874), was the son of Sir A. Jardine of Applegarth, Dumfriesshire. +He was educated at Edinburgh, and succeeded to the title on his father's +decease in 1821. He published, jointly with Mr. Prideaux, J. Selby, +Sir Stamford Raffles, Dr. Horsfield, and other ornithologists, +'Illustrations of Ornithology,' and edited the 'Naturalist's Library,' +in 40 volumes, which included the four branches: Mammalia, Ornithology, +Ichnology, and Entomology. Of these 40 volumes 14 were written by +himself. In 1836 he became editor of the 'Magazine of Zoology and +Botany,' which, two years later, was transformed into 'Annals of Natural +History,' but remained under his direction. For Bohn's Standard Library +he edited White's 'Natural History of Selborne.' Sir W. Jardine was also +joint editor of the 'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,' and was author of +'British Salmonidae,' 'Ichthyology of Annandale,' 'Memoirs of the +late Hugh Strickland,' 'Contributions to Ornithology,' 'Ornithological +Synonyms,' etc.--(Taken from Ward, 'Men of the Reign,' and Cates, +'Dictionary of General Biography.'): his criticisms are quite +unimportant; some of the Galapagos so-called species ought to be called +varieties, which I fully expected; some of the sub-genera, thought to be +wholly endemic, have been found on the Continent (not that he gives his +authority), but I do not make out that the species are the same. His +letter is brief and vague, but he says he will write again. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [23rd December, 1859]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I received last night your 'Introduction,' for which very many thanks; +I am surprised to see how big it is: I shall not be able to read it very +soon. It was very good of you to send Naudin, for I was very curious to +see it. I am surprised that Decaisne should say it was the same as +mine. Naudin gives artificial selection, as well as a score of English +writers, and when he says species were formed in the same manner, I +thought the paper would certainly prove exactly the same as mine. But +I cannot find one word like the struggle for existence and natural +selection. On the contrary, he brings in his principle (page 103) of +finality (which I do not understand), which, he says, with some authors +is fatality, with others providence, and which adapts the forms of every +being, and harmonises them all throughout nature. + +He assumes like old geologists (who assumed that the forces of nature +were formerly greater), that species were at first more plastic. His +simile of tree and classification is like mine (and others), but he +cannot, I think, have reflected much on the subject, otherwise he would +see that genealogy by itself does not give classification; I declare I +cannot see a MUCH closer approach to Wallace and me in Naudin than in +Lamarck--we all agree in modification and descent. If I do not hear from +you I will return the 'Revue' in a few days (with the cover). I dare say +Lyell would be glad to see it. By the way, I will retain the volume till +I hear whether I shall or not send it to Lyell. I should rather like +Lyell to see this note, though it is foolish work sticking up for +independence or priority. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +A. SEDGWICK (Rev. Adam Sedgwick, 1785-1873, Woodwardian Professor of +Geology in the University of Cambridge.) TO CHARLES DARWIN. Cambridge, +December 24th, [1859]. + +My dear Darwin, + +I write to thank you for your work on the 'Origin of Species.' It came, +I think, in the latter part of last week; but it MAY have come a few +days sooner, and been overlooked among my book-parcels, which often +remain unopened when I am lazy or busy with any work before me. So +soon as I opened it I began to read it, and I finished it, after many +interruptions, on Tuesday. Yesterday I was employed--1st, in preparing +for my lecture; 2ndly, in attending a meeting of my brother Fellows +to discuss the final propositions of the Parliamentary Commissioners; +3rdly, in lecturing; 4thly, in hearing the conclusion of the discussion +and the College reply, whereby, in conformity with my own wishes, we +accepted the scheme of the Commissioners; 5thly, in dining with an old +friend at Clare College; 6thly, in adjourning to the weekly meeting of +the Ray Club, from which I returned at 10 P.M., dog-tired, and hardly +able to climb my staircase. Lastly, in looking through the "Times" to +see what was going on in the busy world. + +I do not state this to fill space (though I believe that Nature does +abhor a vacuum), but to prove that my reply and my thanks are sent to +you by the earliest leisure I have, though that is but a very contracted +opportunity. If I did not think you a good-tempered and truth-loving +man, I should not tell you that (spite of the great knowledge, store of +facts, capital views of the correlation of the various parts of organic +nature, admirable hints about the diffusion, through wide regions of +many related organic beings, etc., etc.) I have read your book with more +pain than pleasure. Parts of it I admired greatly, parts I laughed at +till my sides were almost sore; other parts I read with absolute sorrow, +because I think them utterly false and grievously mischievous. You +have DESERTED--after a start in that tram-road of all solid physical +truth--the true method of induction, and started us in machinery as +wild, I think, as Bishop Wilkins's locomotive that was to sail with us +to the moon. Many of your wide conclusions are based upon assumptions +which can neither be proved nor disproved, why then express them in the +language and arrangement of philosophical induction? As to your grand +principle--NATURAL SELECTION--what is it but a secondary consequence of +supposed, or known, primary facts! Development is a better word, because +more close to the cause of the fact? For you do not deny causation. I +call (in the abstract) causation the will of God; and I can prove that +He acts for the good of His creatures. He also acts by laws which we +can study and comprehend. Acting by law, and under what is called +final causes, comprehends, I think, your whole principle. You write of +"natural selection" as if it were done curiously by the selecting +agent. 'Tis but a consequence of the presupposed development, and +the subsequent battle for life. This view of nature you have stated +admirably, though admitted by all naturalists and denied by no one of +common sense. We all admit development as a fact of history: but how +came it about? Here, in language, and still more in logic, we are +point-blank at issue. There is a moral or metaphysical part of nature +as well a physical. A man who denies this is deep in the mire of folly. +'Tis the crown and glory of organic science that it DOES through FINAL +CAUSE, link material and moral; and yet DOES NOT allow us to mingle them +in our first conception of laws, and our classification of such laws, +whether we consider one side of nature or the other. You have ignored +this link; and, if I do not mistake your meaning, you have done your +best in one or two pregnant cases to break it. Were it possible (which, +thank God, it is not) to break it, humanity, in my mind, would suffer +a damage that might brutalize it, and sink the human race into a lower +grade of degradation than any into which it has fallen since its written +records tell us of its history. Take the case of the bee-cells. If your +development produced the successive modification of the bee and its +cells (which no mortal can prove), final cause would stand good as +the directing cause under which the successive generations acted and +gradually improved. Passages in your book, like that to which I have +alluded (and there are others almost as bad), greatly shocked my moral +taste. I think, in speculating on organic descent, you OVER-state the +evidence of geology; and that you UNDER-state it while you are talking +of the broken links of your natural pedigree: but my paper is nearly +done, and I must go to my lecture-room. Lastly, then, I greatly dislike +the concluding chapter--not as a summary, for in that light it appears +good--but I dislike it from the tone of triumphant confidence in which +you appeal to the rising generation (in a tone I condemned in the author +of the 'Vestiges') and prophesy of things not yet in the womb of time, +nor (if we are to trust the accumulated experience of human sense and +the inferences of its logic) ever likely to be found anywhere but in the +fertile womb of man's imagination. And now to say a word about a son of +a monkey and an old friend of yours: I am better, far better, than I was +last year. I have been lecturing three days a week (formerly I gave six +a week) without much fatigue, but I find by the loss of activity and +memory, and of all productive powers, that my bodily frame is sinking +slowly towards the earth. But I have visions of the future. They are as +much a part of myself as my stomach and my heart, and these visions are +to have their antitype in solid fruition of what is best and greatest. +But on one condition only--that I humbly accept God's revelation of +Himself both in his works and in His word, and do my best to act in +conformity with that knowledge which He only can give me, and He only +can sustain me in doing. If you and I do all this we shall meet in +heaven. + +I have written in a hurry, and in a spirit of brotherly love, therefore +forgive any sentence you happen to dislike; and believe me, spite of +any disagreement in some points of the deepest moral interest, your +tru-hearted old friend, + +A. SEDGWICK. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, December 25th [1859]. + +My dear Huxley, + +One part of your note has pleased me so much that I must thank you for +it. Not only Sir H.H. [Holland], but several others, have attacked +me about analogy leading to belief in one primordial CREATED form. +('Origin,' edition i. page 484.--"Therefore I should infer from analogy +that probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth +have descended from some one primordial form, into which life was first +breathed.") (By which I mean only that we know nothing as yet [of] how +life originates.) I thought I was universally condemned on this head. +But I answered that though perhaps it would have been more prudent +not to have put it in, I would not strike it out, as it seemed to me +probable, and I give it on no other grounds. You will see in your mind +the kind of arguments which made me think it probable, and no one +fact had so great an effect on me as your most curious remarks on the +apparent homologies of the head of Vertebrata and Articulata. + +You have done a real good turn in the Agency business ("My General +Agent" was a sobriquet applied at this time by my father to Mr. Huxley.) +(I never before heard of a hard-working, unpaid agent besides yourself), +in talking with Sir H.H., for he will have great influence over many. +He floored me from my ignorance about the bones of the ear, and I made a +mental note to ask you what the facts were. + +With hearty thanks and real admiration for your generous zeal for the +subject. + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + +You may smile about the care and precautions I have taken about my ugly +MS. (Manuscript left with Mr. Huxley for his perusal.); it is not so +much the value I set on them, but the remembrance of the intolerable +labour--for instance, in tracing the history of the breeds of pigeons. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, 25th [December, 1859]. + +... I shall not write to Decaisne (With regard to Naudin's paper in the +'Revue Horticole,' 1852.); I have always had a strong feeling that +no one had better defend his own priority. I cannot say that I am as +indifferent to the subject as I ought to be, but one can avoid doing +anything in consequence. + +I do not believe one iota about your having assimilated any of my +notions unconsciously. You have always done me more than justice. But I +do think I did you a bad turn by getting you to read the old MS., as it +must have checked your own original thoughts. There is one thing I +am fully convinced of, that the future progress (which is the really +important point) of the subject will have depended on really good and +well-known workers, like yourself, Lyell, and Huxley, having taken up +the subject, than on my own work. I see plainly it is this that strikes +my no-scientific friends. + +Last night I said to myself, I would just cut your Introduction, but +would not begin to read, but I broke down, and had a good hour's read. + +Farewell, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. December 28th, 1859. + +... Have you seen the splendid essay and notice of my book in the +"Times"? (December 26th.) I cannot avoid a strong suspicion that it is +by Huxley; but I never heard that he wrote in the "Times". It will do +grand service,... + + +C. DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, December 28th [1859]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Yesterday evening, when I read the "Times" of a previous day, I was +amazed to find a splendid essay and review of me. Who can the author +be? I am intensely curious. It included an eulogium of me which quite +touched me, though I am not vain enough to think it all deserved. The +author is a literary man, and German scholar. He has read my book +very attentively; but, what is very remarkable, it seems that he is a +profound naturalist. He knows my Barnacle-book, and appreciates it +too highly. Lastly, he writes and thinks with quite uncommon force and +clearness; and what is even still rarer, his writing is seasoned with +most pleasant wit. We all laughed heartily over some of the sentences. +I was charmed with those unreasonable mortals, who know anything, all +thinking fit to range themselves on one side. (The reviewer proposes +to pass by the orthodox view, according to which the phenomena of +the organic world are "the immediate product of a creative fiat, and +consequently are out of the domain of science altogether." And he does +so "with less hesitation, as it so happens that those persons who +are practically conversant with the facts of the case (plainly a +considerable advantage) have always thought fit to range themselves" +in the category of those holding "views which profess to rest on a +scientific basis only, and therefore admit of being argued to their +consequences.") Who can it be? Certainly I should have said that there +was only one man in England who could have written this essay, and +that YOU were the man. But I suppose I am wrong, and that there is some +hidden genius of great calibre. For how could you influence Jupiter +Olympius and make him give three and a half columns to pure science? The +old fogies will think the world will come to an end. Well, whoever the +man is, he has done great service to the cause, far more than by a +dozen reviews in common periodicals. The grand way he soars above common +religious prejudices, and the admission of such views into the "Times", +I look at as of the highest importance, quite independently of the mere +question of species. If you should happen to be ACQUAINTED with the +author, for Heaven-sake tell me who he is? + +My dear Huxley, yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +[It is impossible to give in a short space an adequate idea of Mr. +Huxley's article in the "Times" of December 26. It is admirably planned, +so as to claim for the 'Origin' a respectful hearing, and it abstains +from anything like dogmatism in asserting the truth of the doctrines +therein upheld. A few passages may be quoted:--"That this most ingenious +hypothesis enables us to give a reason for many apparent anomalies in +the distribution of living beings in time and space, and that it is not +contradicted by the main phenomena of life and organisation, appear to +us to be unquestionable." Mr. Huxley goes on to recommend to the readers +of the 'Origin' a condition of "thatige Skepsis"--a state of "doubt +which so loves truth that it neither dares rest in doubting, nor +extinguish itself by unjustified belief." The final paragraph is in a +strong contrast to Professor Sedgwick and his "ropes of bubbles" (see +below). Mr. Huxley writes: "Mr. Darwin abhors mere speculation as +nature abhors a vacuum. He is as greedy of cases and precedents as any +constitutional lawyer, and all the principles he lays down are capable +of being brought to the test of observation and experiment. The path +he bids us follow professes to be not a mere airy track, fabricated of +ideal cobwebs, but a solid and broad bridge of facts. If it be so, it +will carry us safely over many a chasm in our knowledge, and lead us to +a region free from the snares of those fascinating but barren virgins, +the Final Causes, against whom a high authority has so justly warned +us." + +There can be no doubt that this powerful essay, appearing as it did +in the leading daily Journal, must have had a strong influence on the +reading public. Mr. Huxley allows me to quote from a letter an account +of the happy chance that threw into his hands the opportunity of writing +it. + +"The 'Origin' was sent to Mr. Lucas, one of the staff of the "Times" +writers at that day, in what I suppose was the ordinary course of +business. Mr. Lucas, though an excellent journalist, and, at a later +period, editor of 'Once a Week,' was as innocent of any knowledge of +science as a babe, and bewailed himself to an acquaintance on having to +deal with such a book. Whereupon he was recommended to ask me to get +him out of his difficulty, and he applied to me accordingly, explaining, +however, that it would be necessary for him formally to adopt anything I +might be disposed to write, by prefacing it with two or three paragraphs +of his own. + +"I was too anxious to seize upon the opportunity thus offered of giving +the book a fair chance with the multitudinous readers of the "Times" to +make any difficulty about conditions; and being then very full of the +subject, I wrote the article faster, I think, than I ever wrote anything +in my life, and sent it to Mr. Lucas, who duly prefixed his opening +sentences. + +"When the article appeared, there was much speculation as to its +authorship. The secret leaked out in time, as all secrets will, but not +by my aid; and then I used to derive a good deal of innocent amusement +from the vehement assertions of some of my more acute friends, that they +knew it was mine from the first paragraph! + +"As the "Times" some years since, referred to my connection with +the review, I suppose there will be no breach of confidence in the +publication of this little history, if you think it worth the space it +will occupy."] + + + + +CHAPTER 2.II. -- THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES' (continued). + +1860. + +[I extract a few entries from my father's Diary:-- + +"January 7th. The second edition, 3000 copies, of 'Origin' was +published." + +"May 22nd. The first edition of 'Origin' in the United States was 2500 +copies." + +My father has here noted down the sums received for the 'Origin.' + +First Edition......180 pounds Second Edition.....636 pounds 13 shillings +4 pence + +Total..............816 pounds 13 shillings 4 pence. + +After the publication of the second edition he began at once, on January +9th, looking over his materials for the 'Variation of Animals and +Plants;' the only other work of the year was on Drosera. + +He was at Down during the whole of this year, except for a visit to +Dr. Lane's Water-cure Establishment at Sudbrooke, and in June, and +for visits to Miss Elizabeth Wedgwood's house at Hartfield, in Sussex +(July), and to Eastbourne, September 22 to November 16.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, January 3rd [1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have finished your Essay. ('Australian Flora.') As probably you would +like to hear my opinion, though a non-botanist, I will give it without +any exaggeration. To my judgment it is by far the grandest and most +interesting essay, on subjects of the nature discussed, I have ever +read. You know how I admired your former essays, but this seems to me +far grander. I like all the part after page xxvi better than the first +part, probably because newer to me. I dare say you will demur to this, +for I think every author likes the most speculative parts of his own +productions. How superior your essay is to the famous one of Brown +(here will be sneer 1st from you). You have made all your conclusions so +admirably clear, that it would be no use at all to be a botanist (sneer +No. 2). By Jove, it would do harm to affix any idea to the long names of +outlandish orders. One can look at your conclusions with the philosophic +abstraction with which a mathematician looks at his a times x + the +square root of z squared, etc. etc. I hardly know which parts have +interested me most; for over and over again I exclaimed, "this beats +all." The general comparison of the Flora of Australia with the rest +of the world, strikes me (as before) as extremely original, good, and +suggestive of many reflections. + +... The invading Indian Flora is very interesting, but I think the fact +you mention towards the close of the essay--that the Indian vegetation, +in contradistinction to the Malayan vegetation, is found in low and +level parts of the Malay Islands, GREATLY lessens the difficulty which +at first (page 1) seemed so great. There is nothing like one's own +hobby-horse. I suspect it is the same case as of glacial migration, +and of naturalised production--of production of greater area conquering +those of lesser; of course the Indian forms would have a greater +difficulty in seizing on the cool parts of Australia. I demur to your +remarks (page 1), as not "conceiving anything in soil, climate, or +vegetation of India," which could stop the introduction of Australian +plants. Towards the close of the essay (page civ), you have +admirable remarks on our profound ignorance of the cause of possible +naturalisation or introduction; I would answer page 1, by a later page, +viz. page civ. + +Your contrast of the south-west and south-east corners is one of the +most wonderful cases I ever heard of... You show the case with wonderful +force. Your discussion on mixed invaders of the south-east corner (and +of New Zealand) is as curious and intricate a problem as of the races +of men in Britain. Your remark on mixed invading Flora keeping down or +destroying an original Flora, which was richer in number of species, +strikes me as EMINENTLY NEW AND IMPORTANT. I am not sure whether to me +the discussion on the New Zealand Flora is not even more instructive. I +cannot too much admire both. But it will require a long time to suck in +all the facts. Your case of the largest Australian orders having none, +or very few, species in New Zealand, is truly marvellous. Anyhow, you +have now DEMONSTRATED (together with no mammals in New Zealand) (bitter +sneer No. 3), that New Zealand has never been continuously, or even +nearly continuously, united by land to Australia!! At page lxxxix, is +the only sentence (on this subject) in the whole essay at which I am +much inclined to quarrel, viz. that no theory of trans-oceanic migration +can explain, etc. etc. Now I maintain against all the world, that no man +knows anything about the power of trans-oceanic migration. You do not +know whether or not the absent orders have seeds which are killed by +sea-water, like almost all Leguminosae, and like another order which +I forget. Birds do not migrate from Australia to New Zealand, and +therefore floatation SEEMS the only possible means; but yet I maintain +that we do not know enough to argue on the question, especially as we do +not know the main fact whether the seeds of Australian orders are killed +by sea-water. + +The discussion on European Genera is profoundly interesting; but here +alone I earnestly beg for more information, viz. to know which of +these genera are absent in the Tropics of the world, i.e. confined to +temperate regions. I excessively wish to know, ON THE NOTION OF GLACIAL +MIGRATION, how much modification has taken place in Australia. I had +better explain when we meet, and get you to go over and mark the list. + +... The list of naturalised plants is extremely interesting, but why at +the end, in the name of all that is good and bad, do you not sum up and +comment on your facts? Come, I will have a sneer at you in return for +the many which you will have launched at this letter. Should you have +remarked on the number of plants naturalised in Australia and the United +States UNDER EXTREMELY DIFFERENT CLIMATES, as showing that climate is +so important, and [on] the considerable sprinkling of plants from +India, North America, and South Africa, as showing that the frequent +introduction of seeds is so important? With respect to "abundance of +unoccupied ground in Australia," do you believe that European plants +introduced by man now grow on spots in Australia which were absolutely +bare? But I am an impudent dog, one must defend one's own fancy theories +against such cruel men as you. I dare say this letter will appear +very conceited, but one must form an opinion on what one reads with +attention, and in simple truth, I cannot find words strong enough to +express my admiration of your essay. + +My dear old friend, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I differ about the "Saturday Review". ("Saturday Review", December +24, 1859. The hostile arguments of the reviewer are geological, and he +deals especially with the denudation of the Weald. The reviewer remarks +that, "if a million of centuries, more or less, is needed for any +part of his argument, he feels no scruple in taking them to suit +his purpose.") One cannot expect fairness in a reviewer, so I do not +complain of all the other arguments besides the 'Geological Record' +being omitted. Some of the remarks about the lapse of years are +very good, and the reviewer gives me some good and well-deserved +raps--confound it. I am sorry to confess the truth: but it does not at +all concern the main argument. That was a nice notice in the "Gardeners' +Chronicle". I hope and imagine that Lindley is almost a convert. Do not +forget to tell me if Bentham gets all the more staggered. + +With respect to tropical plants during the Glacial period, I throw +in your teeth your own facts, at the base of the Himalaya, on the +possibility of the co-existence of at least forms of the tropical and +temperate regions. I can give a parallel case for animals in Mexico. Oh! +my dearly beloved puny child, how cruel men are to you! I am very glad +you approve of the Geographical chapters... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, [January 4th, 1860]. + +My dear L. + +"Gardeners' Chronicle" returned safe. Thanks for note. I am beyond +measure glad that you get more and more roused on the subject of +species, for, as I have always said, I am well convinced that your +opinions and writings will do far more to convince the world than mine. +You will make a grand discussion on man. You are very bold in this, +and I honour you. I have been, like you, quite surprised at the want +of originality in opposed arguments and in favour too. Gwyn Jeffreys +attacks me justly in his letter about strictly littoral shells not being +often embedded at least in Tertiary deposits. I was in a muddle, for I +was thinking of Secondary, yet Chthamalus applied to Tertiary... + +Possibly you might like to see the enclosed note (Dr. Whewell wrote +(January 2, 1860): "... I cannot, yet at least, become a convert. But +there is so much of thought and of fact in what you have written that +it is not to be contradicted without careful selection of the ground and +manner of the dissent." Dr. Whewell dissented in a practical manner for +some years, by refusing to allow a copy of the 'Origin of Species' to +be placed in the Library of Trinity College.) from Whewell, merely as +showing that he is not horrified with us. You can return it whenever you +have occasion to write, so as not to waste your time. + +C.D. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, [January 4th? 1860]. + +... I have had a brief note from Keyserling (Joint author with Murchison +of the 'Geology of Russia,' 1845.), but not worth sending you. He +believes in change of species, grants that natural selection explains +well adaptation of form, but thinks species change too regularly, as +if by some chemical law, for natural selection to be the sole cause of +change. I can hardly understand his brief note, but this is I think the +upshot. + +... I will send A. Murray's paper whenever published. (The late Andrew +Murray wrote two papers on the 'Origin' in the Proc. R. Soc. Edin. 1860. +The one referred to here is dated January 16, 1860. The following is +quoted from page 6 of the separate copy: "But the second, and, as it +appears to me, by much the most important phase of reversion to type +(and which is practically, if not altogether ignored by Mr. Darwin), +is the instinctive inclination which induces individuals of the same +species by preference to intercross with those possessing the qualities +which they themselves want, so as to preserve the purity or equilibrium +of the breed... It is trite to a proverb, that tall men marry little +women... a man of genius marries a fool... and we are told that this is +the result of the charm of contrast, or of qualities admired in others +because we do not possess them. I do not so explain it. I imagine it is +the effort of nature to preserve the typical medium of the race.") +It includes speculations (which he perhaps will modify) so rash, and +without a single fact in support, that had I advanced them he or other +reviewers would have hit me very hard. I am sorry to say that I have +no "consolatory view" on the dignity of man. I am content that man will +probably advance, and care not much whether we are looked at as mere +savages in a remotely distant future. Many thanks for your last note. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +I have received, in a Manchester newspaper, rather a good squib, showing +that I have proved "might is right," and therefore that Napoleon is +right, and every cheating tradesman is also right. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.B. CARPENTER. Down, January 6th [1860]? + +My dear Carpenter, + +I have just read your excellent article in the 'National.' It will do +great good; especially if it becomes known as your production. It seems +to me to give an excellently clear account of Mr. Wallace's and my +views. How capitally you turn the flanks of the theological opposers by +opposing to them such men as Bentham and the more philosophical of the +systematists! I thank you sincerely for the EXTREMELY honourable +manner in which you mention me. I should have liked to have seen some +criticisms or remarks on embryology, on which subject you are so well +instructed. I do not think any candid person can read your article +without being much impressed with it. The old doctrine of immutability +of specific forms will surely but slowly die away. It is a shame to +give you trouble, but I should be very much obliged if you could tell me +where differently coloured eggs in individuals of the cuckoo have been +described, and their laying in twent-seven kinds of nests. Also do you +know from your own observation that the limbs of sheep imported into +the West Indies change colour? I have had detailed information about the +loss of wool; but my accounts made the change slower than you describe. + +With most cordial thanks and respect, believe me, my dear Carpenter, +yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. JENYNS. (Rev. L. Blomefield.) Down, January 7th, +1860. + +My dear Jenyns, + +I am very much obliged for your letter. It is of great use and interest +to me to know what impression my book produces on philosophical and +instructed minds. I thank you for the kind things which you say; and you +go with me much further than I expected. You will think it presumptuous, +but I am convinced, IF CIRCUMSTANCES LEAD YOU TO KEEP THE SUBJECT +IN MIND, that you will go further. No one has yet cast doubts on my +explanation of the subordination of group to group, on homologies, +embryology, and rudimentary organs; and if my explanation of these +classes of facts be at all right, whole classes of organic beings must +be included in one line of descent. + +The imperfection of the Geological Record is one of the greatest +difficulties... During the earliest period the record would be most +imperfect, and this seems to me sufficient to account for our not +finding intermediate forms between the classes in the same great +kingdoms. It was certainly rash in me putting in my belief of the +probability of all beings having descended from ONE primordial form; +but as this seems yet to me probable, I am not willing to strike it out. +Huxley alone supports me in this, and something could be said in its +favour. With respect to man, I am very far from wishing to obtrude +my belief; but I thought it dishonest to quite conceal my opinion. +Of course it is open to every one to believe that man appeared by +a separate miracle, though I do not myself see the necessity or +probability. + +Pray accept my sincere thanks for your kind note. Your going some way +with me gives me great confidence that I am not very wrong. For a very +long time I halted half way; but I do not believe that any enquiring +mind will rest half-way. People will have to reject all or admit all; by +ALL I mean only the members of each great kingdom. + +My dear Jenyns, yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, January 10th [1860]. + +... It is perfectly true that I owe nearly all the corrections (The +second edition of 3000 copies of the 'Origin' was published on January +7th.) to you, and several verbal ones to you and others; I am heartily +glad you approve of them, as yet only two things have annoyed me; +those confounded millions (This refers to the passage in the 'Origin of +Species' (2nd edition, page 285), in which the lapse of time implied by +the denudation of the Weald is discussed. The discussion closes with the +sentence: "So that it is not improbable that a longer period than +300 million years has elapsed since the latter part of the Secondary +period." This passage is omitted in the later editions of the 'Origin,' +against the advice of some of his friends, as appears from the pencil +notes in my father's copy of the second edition.) of years (not that +I think it is probably wrong), and my not having (by inadvertance) +mentioned Wallace towards the close of the book in the summary, not that +any one has noticed this to me. I have now put in Wallace's name at page +484 in a conspicuous place. I cannot refer you to tables of mortality +of children, etc. etc. I have notes somewhere, but I have not the LEAST +idea where to hunt, and my notes would now be old. I shall be truly +glad to read carefully any MS. on man, and give my opinion. You used to +caution me to be cautious about man. I suspect I shall have to return +the caution a hundred fold! Yours will, no doubt, be a grand discussion; +but it will horrify the world at first more than my whole volume; +although by the sentence (page 489, new edition (First edition, page +488.)) I show that I believe man is in the same predicament with other +animals. It is, in fact, impossible to doubt it. I have thought (only +vaguely) on man. With respect to the races, one of my best chances of +truth has broken down from the impossibility of getting facts. I have +one good speculative line, but a man must have entire credence in +Natural Selection before he will even listen to it. Psychologically, I +have done scarcely anything. Unless, indeed, expression of countenance +can be included, and on that subject I have collected a good many facts, +and speculated, but I do not suppose I shall ever publish, but it is an +uncommonly curious subject. By the way, I sent off a lot of questions +the day before yesterday to Tierra del Fuego on expression! I suspect +(for I have never read it) that Spencer's 'Psychology' has a bearing on +Psychology as we should look at it. By all means read the Preface, in +about 20 pages, of Hensleigh Wedgwood's new Dictionary on the first +origin of Language; Erasmus would lend it. I agree about Carpenter, +a very good article, but with not much original... Andrew Murray has +criticised, in an address to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, the +notice in the 'Linnean Journal,' and "has disposed of" the whole theory +by an ingenious difficulty, which I was very stupid not to have thought +of; for I express surprise at more and analogous cases not being known. +The difficulty is, that amongst the blind insects of the caves in +distant parts of the world there are some of the same genus, and yet the +genus is not found out of the caves or living in the free world. I have +little doubt that, like the fish Amblyopsis, and like Proteus in Europe, +these insects are "wrecks of ancient life," or "living fossils," saved +from competition and extermination. But that formerly SEEING insects +of the same genus roamed over the whole area in which the cases are +included. + +Farewell, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--OUR ancestor was an animal which breathed water, had a swim +bladder, a great swimming tail, an imperfect skull, and undoubtedly was +an hermaphrodite! + +Here is a pleasant genealogy for mankind. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, January 14th [1860]. + +... I shall be much interested in reading your man discussion, and will +give my opinion carefully, whatever that may be worth; but I have so +long looked at you as the type of cautious scientific judgment (to my +mind one of the highest and most useful qualities), that I suspect my +opinion will be superfluous. It makes me laugh to think what a joke +it will be if I have to caution you, after your cautions on the same +subject to me! + +I will order Owen's book ('Classification of the Mammalia,' 1859.); I am +very glad to hear Huxley's opinion on his classification of man; without +having due knowledge, it seemed to me from the very first absurd; all +classifications founded on single characters I believe have failed. + +... What a grand, immense benefit you conferred on me by getting Murray +to publish my book. I never till to-day realised that it was getting +widely distributed; for in a letter from a lady to-day to E., she says +she heard a man enquiring for it at the RAILWAY STATION!!! at Waterloo +Bridge; and the bookseller said that he had none till the new edition +was out. The bookseller said he had not read it, but had heard it was a +very remarkable book!!!... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, 14th [January, 1860]. + +... I heard from Lyell this morning, and he tells me a piece of news. You +are a good-for-nothing man; here you are slaving yourself to death with +hardly a minute to spare, and you must write a review of my book! I +thought it ('Gardeners' Chronicle', 1860. Referred to above. Sir J.D. +Hooker took the line of complete impartiality, so as not to commit +Lindley.) a very good one, and was so much struck with it that I sent it +to Lyell. But I assumed, as a matter of course, that it was Lindley's. +Now that I know it is yours, I have re-read it, and, my kind and good +friend, it has warmed my heart with all the honourable and noble things +you say of me and it. I was a good deal surprised at Lindley hitting on +some of the remarks, but I never dreamed of you. I admired it chiefly +as so well adapted to tell on the readers of the 'Gardeners' Chronicle'; +but now I admired it in another spirit. Farewell, with hearty +thanks... Lyell is going at man with an audacity that frightens me. It is +a good joke; he used always to caution me to slip over man. + + +[In the "Gardeners' Chronicle", January 21, 1860, appeared a short +letter from my father which was called forth by Mr. Westwood's +communication to the previous number of the journal, in which certain +phenomena of cros-breeding are discussed in relation to the 'Origin of +Species.' Mr. Westwood wrote in reply (February 11) and adduced further +evidence against the doctrine of descent, such as the identity of the +figures of ostriches on the ancient "Egyptian records," with the bird as +we now know it. The correspondence is hardly worth mentioning, except as +one of the very few cases in which my father was enticed into anything +resembling a controversy.] + + +ASA GRAY TO J.D. HOOKER. Cambridge, Mass., January 5th, 1860. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your last letter, which reached me just before Christmas, has got +mislaid during the upturnings in my study which take place at that +season, and has not yet been discovered. I should be very sorry to lose +it, for there were in it some botanical mems. which I had not secured... + +The principal part of your letter was high laudation of Darwin's book. + +Well, the book has reached me, and I finished its careful perusal four +days ago; and I freely say that your laudation is not out of place. + +It is done in a MASTERLY MANNER. It might well have taken twenty years +to produce it. It is crammed full of most interesting matter--thoroughly +digested--well expressed--close, cogent, and taken as a system it makes +out a better case than I had supposed possible... + +Agassiz, when I saw him last, had read but a part of it. He says it is +POOR--VERY POOR!! (entre nous). The fact [is] he is very much annoyed by +it,... and I do not wonder at it. To bring all IDEAL systems within the +domain of science, and give good physical or natural explanations of +all his capital points, is as bad as to have Forbes take the glacier +materials... and give scientific explanation of all the phenomena. + +Tell Darwin all this. I will write to him when I get a chance. As I have +promised, he and you shall have fair-play here... I must myself write +a review of Darwin's book for 'Silliman's Journal' (the more so that I +suspect Agassiz means to come out upon it) for the next (March) No., and +I am now setting about it (when I ought to be every moment working the +Expl[oring] Expedition Compositae, which I know far more about). And +really it is no easy job, as you may well imagine. + +I doubt if I shall please you altogether. I know I shall not please +Agassiz at all. I hear another reprint is in the Press, and the book +will excite much attention here, and some controversy... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, January 28th [1860]. + +My dear Gray, + +Hooker has forwarded to me your letter to him; and I cannot express how +deeply it has gratified me. To receive the approval of a man whom one +has long sincerely respected. And whose judgment and knowledge are most +universally admitted, is the highest reward an author can possibly wish +for; and I thank you heartily for your most kind expressions. + +I have been absent from home for a few days, and so could not earlier +answer your letter to me of the 10th of January. You have been extremely +kind to take so much trouble and interest about the edition. It has been +a mistake of my publisher not thinking of sending over the sheets. I +had entirely and utterly forgotten your offer of receiving the sheets +as printed off. But I must not blame my publisher, for had I remembered +your most kind offer I feel pretty sure I should not have taken +advantage of it; for I never dreamed of my book being so successful with +general readers; I believe I should have laughed at the idea of sending +the sheets to America. (In a letter to Mr. Murray, 1860, my father +wrote:--"I am amused by Asa Gray's account of the excitement my book has +made amongst naturalists in the United States. Agassiz has denounced +it in a newspaper, but yet in such terms that it is in fact a fine +advertisement!" This seems to refer to a lecture given before the +Mercantile Library Association.) + +After much consideration, and on the strong advice of Lyell and others, +I have resolved to leave the present book as it is (excepting correcting +errors, or here and there inserting short sentences) and to use all my +strength, WHICH IS BUT LITTLE, to bring out the first part (forming a +separate volume with index, etc.) of the three volumes which will make +my bigger work; so that I am very unwilling to take up time in +making corrections for an American edition. I enclose a list of a few +corrections in the second reprint, which you will have received by this +time complete, and I could send four or five corrections or additions of +equally small importance, or rather of equal brevity. I also intend to +write a SHORT preface with a brief history of the subject. These I will +set about, as they must some day be done, and I will send them to you +in a short time--the few corrections first, and the preface afterwards, +unless I hear that you have given up all idea of a separate edition. You +will then be able to judge whether it is worth having the new edition +with YOUR REVIEW PREFIXED. Whatever be the nature of your review, +I assure you I should feel it a GREAT honour to have my book thus +preceded... + + +ASA GRAY TO CHARLES DARWIN. Cambridge, January 23rd, 1860. + +My dear Darwin, + +You have my hurried letter telling you of the arrival of the remainder +of the sheets of the reprint, and of the stir I had made for a reprint +in Boston. Well, all looked pretty well, when, lo, we found that a +second New York publishing house had announced a reprint also! I wrote +then to both New York publishers, asking them to give way to the AUTHOR +and his reprint of a revised edition. I got an answer from the Harpers +that they withdraw --from the Appletons that they had got the book OUT +(and the next day I saw a copy); but that, "if the work should have +any considerable sale, we certainly shall be disposed to pay the author +reasonably and liberally." + +The Appletons being thus out with their reprint, the Boston house +declined to go on. So I wrote to the Appletons taking them at their +word, offering to aid their reprint, to give them the use of the +alterations in the London reprint, as soon as I find out what they are, +etc. etc. And I sent them the first leaf, and asked them to insert in +their future issue the additional matter from Butler (A quotation from +Butler's 'Analogy,' on the use of the word natural, which in the second +edition is placed with the passages from Whewell and Bacon on page ii, +opposite the title-page.), which tells just right. So there the matter +stands. If you furnish any matter in advance of the London third +edition, I will make them pay for it. + +I may get something for you. All got is clear gain; but it will not be +very much, I suppose. + +Such little notices in the papers here as have yet appeared are quite +handsome and considerate. + +I hope next week to get printed sheets of my review from New Haven, and +send [them] to you, and will ask you to pass them on to Dr. Hooker. + +To fulfil your request, I ought to tell you what I think the weakest, +and what the best, part of your book. But this is not easy, nor to be +done in a word or two. The BEST PART, I think, is the WHOLE, i.e., +its PLAN and TREATMENT, the vast amount of facts and acute inferences +handled as if you had a perfect mastery of them. I do not think twenty +years too much time to produce such a book in. + +Style clear and good, but now and then wants revision for little matters +(page 97, self-fertilises ITSELF, etc.). + +Then your candour is worth everything to your cause. It is refreshing +to find a person with a new theory who frankly confesses that he finds +difficulties, insurmountable, at least for the present. I know some +people who never have any difficulties to speak of. + +The moment I understood your premisses, I felt sure you had a real +foundation to hold on. Well, if one admits your premisses, I do not see +how he is to stop short of your conclusions, as a probable hypothesis at +least. + +It naturally happens that my review of your book does not exhibit +anything like the full force of the impression the book has made upon +me. Under the circumstances I suppose I do your theory more good +here, by bespeaking for it a fair and favourable consideration, and by +standing non-committed as to its full conclusions, than I should if I +announced myself a convert; nor could I say the latter, with truth. + +Well, what seems to me the weakest point in the book is the attempt +to account for the formation of organs, the making of eyes, etc., by +natural selection. Some of this reads quite Lamarckian. + +The chapter on HYBRIDISM is not a WEAK, but a STRONG chapter. You have +done wonders there. But still you have not accounted, as you may be held +to account, for divergence up to a certain extent producing increased +fertility of the crosses, but carried one short almost imperceptible +step more, giving rise to sterility, or reversing the tendency. Very +likely you are on the right track; but you have something to do yet in +that department. + +Enough for the present. + +... I am not insensible to your compliments, the very high compliment +which you pay me in valuing my opinion. You evidently think more of it +than I do, though from the way I write [to] you, and especially [to] +Hooker, this might not be inferred from the reading of my letters. + +I am free to say that I never learnt so much from one book as I have +from yours, there remain a thousand things I long to say about it. + +Ever yours, ASA GRAY. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. [February? 1860]. + +... Now I will just run through some points in your letter. What you say +about my book gratifies me most deeply, and I wish I could feel all was +deserved by me. I quite think a review from a man, who is not an entire +convert, if fair and moderately favourable, is in all respects the best +kind of review. About the weak points I agree. The eye to this day gives +me a cold shudder, but when I think of the fine known gradations, my +reason tells me I ought to conquer the cold shudder. + +Pray kindly remember and tell Prof. Wyman how very grateful I should be +for any hints, information, or criticisms. I have the highest respect +for his opinion. I am so sorry about Dana's health. I have already asked +him to pay me a visit. + +Farewell, you have laid me under a load of obligation--not that I feel +it a load. It is the highest possible gratification to me to think that +you have found my book worth reading and reflection; for you and three +others I put down in my own mind as the judges whose opinions I should +value most of all. + +My dear Gray, yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I feel pretty sure, from my own experience, that if you are led +by your studies to keep the subject of the origin of species before your +mind, you will go further and further in your belief. It took me long +years, and I assure you I am astonished at the impression my book has +made on many minds. I fear twenty years ago, I should not have been half +as candid and open to conviction. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [January 31st, 1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have resolved to publish a little sketch of the progress of opinion on +the change of species. Will you or Mrs. Hooker do me the favour to copy +ONE sentence out of Naudin's paper in the 'Revue Horticole,' 1852, page +103, namely, that on his principle of Finalite. Can you let me have it +soon, with those confounded dashes over the vowels put in carefully? Asa +Gray, I believe, is going to get a second edition of my book, and I want +to send this little preface over to him soon. I did not think of the +necessity of having Naudin's sentence on finality, otherwise I would +have copied it. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I shall end by just alluding to your Australian Flora +Introduction. What was the date of publication: December 1859, or +January 1860? Please answer this. + +My preface will also do for the French edition, which I BELIEVE, is +agreed on. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. February [1860]. + +... As the 'Origin' now stands, Harvey's (William Henry Harvey was +descended from a Quaker family of Youghal, and was born in February, +1811, at Summerville, a country house on the banks of the Shannon. He +died at Torquay in 1866. In 1835, Harvey went to Africa (Table Bay) to +pursue his botanical studies, the results of which were given in his +'Genera of South African Plants.' In 1838, ill-health compelled him to +obtain leave of absence, and return to England for a time; in 1840 he +returned to Cape Town, to be again compelled by illness to leave. In +1843 he obtained the appointment of Botanical Professor at Trinity +College, Dublin. In 1854, 1855, and 1856 he visited Australia, New +Zealand, the Friendly and Fiji Islands. In 1857 Dr. Harvey reached home, +and was appointed the successor of Professor Allman to the Chair of +Botany in Dublin University. He was author of several botanical works, +principally on Algae.--(From a Memoir published in 1869.)) is a good +hit against my talking so much of the insensibly fine gradations; and +certainly it has astonished me that I should be pelted with the fact, +that I had not allowed abrupt and great enough variations under nature. +It would take a good deal more evidence to make me admit that forms have +often changed by saltum. + +Have you seen Wollaston's attack in the 'Annals'? ('Annals and Magazine +of Natural History,' 1860.) The stones are beginning to fly. But +Theology has more to do with these two attacks than Science... + + +[In the above letter a paper by Harvey in the "Gardeners' Chronicle", +February 18, 1860, is alluded to. He describes a case of monstrosity +in Begonia frigida, in which the "sport" differed so much from a normal +Begonia that it might have served as the type of a distinct natural +order. Harvey goes on to argue that such a case is hostile to the theory +of natural selection, according to which changes are not supposed to +take place per saltum, and adds that "a few such cases would overthrow +it [Mr. Darwin's hypothesis] altogether." In the following number of +the "Gardeners' Chronicle" Sir J.D. Hooker showed that Dr. Harvey had +misconceived the bearing of the Begonia case, which he further showed +to be by no means calculated to shake the validity of the doctrine +of modification by means of natural selection. My father mentions the +Begonia case in a letter to Lyell (February 18, 1860):-- + +"I send by this post an attack in the "Gardeners' Chronicle", by Harvey +(a first-rate Botanist, as you probably know). It seems to me rather +strange; he assumes the permanence of monsters, whereas, monsters are +generally sterile, and not often inheritable. But grant his case, it +comes that I have been too cautious in not admitting great and sudden +variations. Here again comes in the mischief of my ABSTRACT. In the +fuller MS. I have discussed a parallel case of a normal fish like the +monstrous gold-fish." + +With reference to Sir J.D. Hooker's reply, my father wrote:] + +Down, [February 26th, 1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your answer to Harvey seems to me ADMIRABLY good. You would have made a +gigantic fortune as a barrister. What an omission of Harvey's about the +graduated state of the flowers! But what strikes me most is that surely +I ought to know my own book best, yet, by Jove, you have brought forward +ever so many arguments which I did not think of! Your reference to +classification (viz. I presume to such cases as Aspicarpa) is EXCELLENT, +for the monstrous Begonia no doubt in all details would be Begonia. I +did not think of this, nor of the RETROGRADE step from separated sexes +to an hermaphrodite state; nor of the lessened fertility of the monster. +Proh pudor to me. + +The world would say what a lawyer has been lost in a MERE botanist! + +Farewell, my dear master in my own subject, + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +I am so heartily pleased to see that you approve of the chapter on +Classification. + +I wonder what Harvey will say. But no one hardly, I think, is able at +first to see when he is beaten in an argument. + + +[The following letters refer to the first translation (1860) of the +'Origin of Species' into German, which was superintended by H.G. Bronn, +a good zoologist and palaeontologist, who was at the time at Freiburg, +but afterwards Professor at Heidelberg. I have been told that the +translation was not a success, it remained an obvious translation, and +was correspondingly unpleasant to read. Bronn added to the translation +an appendix of the difficulties that occurred to him. For instance, +how can natural selection account for differences between species, when +these differences appear to be of no service to their possessors; e.g., +the length of the ears and tail, or the folds in the enamel of the teeth +of various species of rodents? Krause, in his book, 'Charles Darwin,' +page 91, criticises Bronn's conduct in this manner, but it will be seen +that my father actually suggested the addition of Bronn's remarks. A +more serious charge against Bronn made by Krause (op. cit. page 87) is +that he left out passages of which he did not approve, as, for instance, +the passage ('Origin,' first edition, page 488) "Light will be thrown on +the origin of man and his history." I have no evidence as to whether my +father did or did not know of these alterations.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.G. BRONN. Down, February 4 [1860]. + +Dear and much honoured Sir, + +I thank you sincerely for your most kind letter; I feared that you would +much disapprove of the 'Origin,' and I sent it to you merely as a mark +of my sincere respect. I shall read with much interest your work on the +productions of Islands whenever I receive it. I thank you cordially for +the notice in the 'Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie,' and still more for +speaking to Schweitzerbart about a translation; for I am most anxious +that the great and intellectual German people should know something +about my book. + +I have told my publisher to send immediately a copy of the NEW +(Second edition.) edition to Schweitzerbart, and I have written to +Schweitzerbart that I gave up all right to profit for myself, so that I +hope a translation will appear. I fear that the book will be difficult +to translate, and if you could advise Schweitzerbart about a GOOD +translator, it would be of very great service. Still more, if you would +run your eye over the more difficult parts of the translation; but this +is too great a favour to expect. I feel sure that it will be difficult +to translate, from being so much condensed. + +Again I thank you for your noble and generous sympathy, and I remain, +with entire respect, + +Yours, truly obliged, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--The new edition has some few corrections, and I will send in +MS. some additional corrections, and a short historical preface, to +Schweitzerbart. + +How interesting you could make the work by EDITING (I do not +mean translating) the work, and appending notes of REFUTATION or +confirmation. The book has sold so very largely in England, that an +editor would, I think, make profit by the translation. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.G. BRONN. Down, February 14 [1860]. + +My dear and much honoured Sir, + +I thank you cordially for your extreme kindness in superintending the +translation. I have mentioned this to some eminent scientific men, and +they all agree that you have done a noble and generous service. If I am +proved quite wrong, yet I comfort myself in thinking that my book may +do some good, as truth can only be known by rising victorious from every +attack. I thank you also much for the review, and for the kind manner +in which you speak of me. I send with this letter some corrections and +additions to M. Schweitzerbart, and a short historical preface. I am +not much acquainted with German authors, as I read German very slowly; +therefore I do not know whether any Germans have advocated similar +views with mine; if they have, would you do me the favour to insert a +foot-note to the preface? M. Schweitzerbart has now the reprint ready +for a translator to begin. Several scientific men have thought the term +"Natural Selection" good, because its meaning is NOT obvious, and each +man could not put on it his own interpretation, and because it at +once connects variation under domestication and nature. Is there any +analogous term used by German breeders of animals? "Adelung," ennobling, +would, perhaps, be too metaphysical. It is folly in me, but I cannot +help doubting whether "Wahl der Lebensweise" expresses my notion. It +leaves the impression on my mind of the Lamarckian doctrine (which I +reject) of habits of life being al-important. Man has altered, and +thus improved the English race-horse by SELECTING successive fleeter +individuals; and I believe, owing to the struggle for existence, that +similar SLIGHT variations in a wild horse, IF ADVANTAGEOUS TO IT, would +be SELECTED or PRESERVED by nature; hence Natural Selection. But I +apologise for troubling you with these remarks on the importance of +choosing good German terms for "Natural Selection." With my heartfelt +thanks, and with sincere respect, + +I remain, dear Sir, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.G. BRONN. Down, July 14 [1860]. + +Dear and honoured Sir, + +On my return home, after an absence of some time, I found the +translation of the third part (The German translation was published in +three pamphle-like numbers.) of the 'Origin,' and I have been delighted +to see a final chapter of criticisms by yourself. I have read the first +few paragraphs and final paragraph, and am perfectly contented, indeed +more than contented, with the generous and candid spirit with which you +have considered my views. You speak with too much praise of my work. +I shall, of course, carefully read the whole chapter; but though I can +read descriptive books like Gaertner's pretty easily, when any reasoning +comes in, I find German excessively difficult to understand. At some +FUTURE time I should very much like to hear how my book has been +received in Germany, and I most sincerely hope M. Schweitzerbart +will not lose money by the publication. Most of the reviews have been +bitterly opposed to me in England, yet I have made some converts, and +SEVERAL naturalists who would not believe in a word of it, are now +coming slightly round, and admit that natural selection may have done +something. This gives me hope that more will ultimately come round to a +certain extent to my views. + +I shall ever consider myself deeply indebted to you for the immense +service and honour which you have conferred on me in making the +excellent translation of my book. Pray believe me, with most sincere +respect, + +Dear Sir, yours gratefully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, [February 12th, 1860]. + +... I think it was a great pity that Huxley wasted so much time in the +lecture on the preliminary remarks;... but his lecture seemed to me very +fine and very bold. I have remonstrated (and he agrees) against the +impression that he would leave, that sterility was a universal and +infallible criterion of species. + +You will, I am sure, make a grand discussion on man. I am so glad to +hear that you and Lady Lyell will come here. Pray fix your own time; and +if it did not suit us we would say so. We could then discuss man well... + +How much I owe to you and Hooker! I do not suppose I should hardly ever +have published had it not been for you. + + +[The lecture referred to in the last letter was given at the Royal +Institution, February 10, 1860. The following letter was written +in reply to Mr. Huxley's request for information about breeding, +hybridisation, etc. It is of interest as giving a vivid retrospect of +the writer's experience on the subject.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Ilkley, Yorks, November 27 [1859]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Gartner grand, Kolreuter grand, but papers scattered through many +volumes and very lengthy. I had to make an abstract of the whole. +Herbert's volume on Amaryllidaceae very good, and two excellent papers +in the 'Horticultural Journal.' For animals, no resume to be trusted at +all; facts are to be collected from all original sources. (This caution +is exemplified in the following extract from an earlier letter to +Professor Huxley:--"The inaccuracy of the blessed gang (of which I +am one) of compilers passes all bounds. MONSTERS have frequently been +described as hybrids without a tittle of evidence. I must give one other +case to show how we jolly fellows work. A Belgian Baron (I forget his +name at this moment) crossed two distinct geese and got SEVEN hybrids, +which he proved subsequently to be quite sterile; well, compiler +the first, Chevreul, says that the hybrids were propagated for SEVEN +generations inter se. Compiler second (Morton) mistakes the French name, +and gives Latin names for two more distinct geese, and says CHEVREUL +himself propagated them inter se for seven generations; and the latter +statement is copied from book to book.") I fear my MS. for the bigger +book (twice or thrice as long as in present book), with all references, +would be illegible, but it would save you infinite labour; of course I +would gladly lend it, but I have no copy, so care would have to be taken +of it. But my accursed handwriting would be fatal, I fear. + +About breeding, I know of no one book. I did not think well of Lowe, +but I can name none better. Youatt I look at as a far better and MORE +PRACTICAL authority; but then his views and facts are scattered through +three or four thick volumes. I have picked up most by reading really +numberless special treatises and ALL agricultural and horticultural +journals; but it is a work of long years. THE DIFFICULTY IS TO KNOW WHAT +TO TRUST. No one or two statements are worth a farthing; the facts are +so complicated. I hope and think I have been really cautious in what I +state on this subject, although all that I have given, as yet, is FAR +too briefly. I have found it very important associating with fanciers +and breeders. For instance, I sat one evening in a gin palace in the +Borough amongst a set of pigeon fanciers, when it was hinted that Mr. +Bull had crossed his Pouters with Runts to gain size; and if you had +seen the solemn, the mysterious, and awful shakes of the head which +all the fanciers gave at this scandalous proceeding, you would have +recognised how little crossing has had to do with improving breeds, +and how dangerous for endless generations the process was. All this was +brought home far more vividly than by pages of mere statements, etc. +But I am scribbling foolishly. I really do not know how to advise about +getting up facts on breeding and improving breeds. Go to Shows is one +way. Read ALL treatises on any ONE domestic animal, and believe nothing +without largely confirmed. For your lectures I can give you a few +amusing anecdotes and sentences, if you want to make the audience laugh. + +I thank you particularly for telling me what naturalists think. If we +can once make a compact set of believers we shall in time conquer. I +am EMINENTLY glad Ramsey is on our side, for he is, in my opinion, a +firs-rate geologist. I sent him a copy. I hope he got it. I shall be +very curious to hear whether any effect has been produced on Prestwich; +I sent him a copy, not as a friend, but owing to a sentence or two in +some paper, which made me suspect he was doubting. + +Rev. C. Kingsley has a mind to come round. Quatrefages writes that he +goes some long way with me; says he exhibited diagrams like mine. With +most hearty thanks, + +Yours very tired, C. DARWIN. + + +[I give the conclusion of Professor Huxley's lecture, as being one of +the earliest, as well as one of the most eloquent of his utterances in +support of the 'Origin of Species']: + +"I have said that the man of science is the sworn interpreter of nature +in the high court of reason. But of what avail is his honest speech, if +ignorance is the assessor of the judge, and prejudice the foreman of the +jury? I hardly know of a great physical truth, whose universal reception +has not been preceded by an epoch in which most estimable persons have +maintained that the phenomena investigated were directly dependent on +the Divine Will, and that the attempt to investigate them was not only +futile, but blasphemous. And there is a wonderful tenacity of life about +this sort of opposition to physical science. Crushed and maimed in every +battle, it yet seems never to be slain; and after a hundred defeats it +is at this day as rampant, though happily not so mischievous, as in the +time of Galileo. + +"But to those whose life is spent, to use Newton's noble words, in +picking up here a pebble and there a pebble on the shores of the great +ocean of truth--who watch, day by day, the slow but sure advance of that +mighty tide, bearing on its bosom the thousand treasures wherewith man +ennobles and beautifies his life--it would be laughable, if it were not +so sad, to see the little Canutes of the hour enthroned in solemn state, +bidding that great wave to stay, and threatening to check its beneficent +progress. The wave rises and they fly; but, unlike the brave old Dane, +they learn no lesson of humility: the throne is pitched at what seems a +safe distance, and the folly is repeated. + +"Surely it is the duty of the public to discourage anything of this +kind, to discredit these foolish meddlers who think they do the Almighty +a service by preventing a thorough study of His works. + +"The Origin of Species is not the first, and it will not be the last, of +the great questions born of science, which will demand settlement from +this generation. The general mind is seething strangely, and to those +who watch the signs of the times, it seems plain that this nineteenth +century will see revolutions of thought and practice as great as those +which the sixteenth witnessed. Through what trials and sore contests the +civilised world will have to pass in the course of this new reformation, +who can tell? + +"But I verily believe that come what will, the part which England may +play in the battle is a grand and a noble one. She may prove to the +world that, for one people, at any rate, despotism and demagogy are not +the necessary alternatives of government; that freedom and order are +not incompatible; that reverence is the handmaid of knowledge; that free +discussion is the life of truth, and of true unity in a nation. + +"Will England play this part? That depends upon how you, the public, +deal with science. Cherish her, venerate her, follow her methods +faithfully and implicitly in their application to all branches of human +thought, and the future of this people will be greater than the past. + +"Listen to those who would silence and crush her, and I fear our +children will see the glory of England vanishing like Arthur in the +mist; they will cry too late the woful cry of Guinever:-- + + 'It was my duty to have loved the highest; + It surely was my profit had I known; + It would have been my pleasure had I seen.'"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down [February 15th, 1860]. + +... I am perfectly convinced (having read this morning) that the review +in the 'Annals' (Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist. third series, vol. 5, +page 132. My father has obviously taken the expression "pestilent" from +the following passage (page 138): "But who is this Nature, we have a +right to ask, who has such tremendous power, and to whose efficiency +such marvellous performances are ascribed? What are her image and +attributes, when dragged from her wordy lurking-place? Is she aught +but a pestilent abstraction, like dust cast in our eyes to obscure the +workings of an Intelligent First Cause of all?" The reviewer pays a +tribute to my father's candour, "so manly and outspoken as almost to +'cover a multitude of sins.'" The parentheses (to which allusion is made +above) are so frequent as to give a characteristic appearance to Mr. +Wollaston's pages.) is by Wollaston; no one else in the world would have +used so many parentheses. I have written to him, and told him that the +"pestilent" fellow thanks him for his kind manner of speaking about him. +I have also told him that he would be pleased to hear that the Bishop of +Oxford says it is the most unphilosophical (Another version of the words +is given by Lyell, to whom they were spoken, viz. "the most illogical +book ever written."--'Life,' volume ii. page 358.) work he ever read. +The review seems to me clever, and only misinterprets me in a few +places. Like all hostile men, he passes over the explanation given of +Classification, Morphology, Embryology, and Rudimentary Organs, etc. I +read Wallace's paper in MS. ("On the Zoological Geography of the Malay +Archipelago."--Linn. Soc. Journ. 1860.), and thought it admirably +good; he does not know that he has been anticipated about the depth of +intervening sea determining distribution... The most curious point in +the paper seems to me that about the African character of the Celebes +productions, but I should require further confirmation... + +Henslow is staying here; I have had some talk with him; he is in much +the same state as Bunbury (The late Sir Charles Bunbury, well-known as a +Palaeo-botanist.), and will go a very little way with us, but brings up +no real argument against going further. He also shudders at the eye! +It is really curious (and perhaps is an argument in our favour) how +differently different opposers view the subject. Henslow used to rest +his opposition on the imperfection of the Geological Record, but he now +thinks nothing of this, and says I have got well out of it; I wish I +could quite agree with him. Baden Powell says he never read anything so +conclusive as my statement about the eye!! A stranger writes to me about +sexual selection, and regrets that I boggle about such a trifle as the +brush of hair on the male turkey, and so on. As L. Jenyns has a really +philosophical mind, and as you say you like to see everything, I send an +old letter of his. In a later letter to Henslow, which I have seen, he +is more candid than any opposer I have heard of, for he says, though he +CANNOT go so far as I do, yet he can give no good reason why he should +not. It is funny how each man draws his own imaginary line at which to +halt. It reminds me so vividly what I was told (By Professor Henslow.) +about you when I first commenced geology--to believe a LITTLE, but on no +account to believe all. + +Ever yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, February 18th [1860]. + +My dear Gray, + +I received about a week ago two sheets of your Review (The 'American +Journal of Science and Arts,' March, 1860. Reprinted in 'Darwiniana,' +1876.); read them, and sent them to Hooker; they are now returned and +r-read with care, and to-morrow I send them to Lyell. Your Review seems +to me ADMIRABLE; by far the best which I have read. I thank you from +my heart both for myself, but far more for the subject's sake. Your +contrast between the views of Agassiz and such as mine is very curious +and instructive. (The contrast is briefly summed up thus: "The theory +of Agassiz regards the origin of species and their present general +distribution over the world as equally primordial, equally supernatural; +that of Darwin as equally derivative, equally natural."--'Darwiniana,' +page 14.) By the way, if Agassiz writes anything on the subject, I hope +you will tell me. I am charmed with your metaphor of the streamlet never +running against the force of gravitation. Your distinction between an +hypothesis and theory seems to me very ingenious; but I do not think +it is ever followed. Every one now speaks of the undulatory THEORY of +light; yet the ether is itself hypothetical, and the undulations are +inferred only from explaining the phenomena of light. Even in the THEORY +of gravitation is the attractive power in any way known, except by +explaining the fall of the apple, and the movements of the Planets? +It seems to me that an hypothesis is DEVELOPED into a theory solely by +explaining an ample lot of facts. Again and again I thank you for your +generous aid in discussing a view, about which you very properly hold +yourself unbiassed. + +My dear Gray, yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Several clergymen go far with me. Rev. L. Jenyns, a very good +naturalist. Henslow will go a very little way with me, and is not +shocked with me. He has just been visiting me. + + +[With regard to the attitude of the more liberal representatives of the +Church, the following letter (already referred to) from Charles Kingsley +is of interest:] + + +C. KINGSLEY TO CHARLES DARWIN. Eversley Rectory, Winchfield, November +18th, 1859. + +Dear Sir, + +I have to thank you for the unexpected honour of your book. That the +Naturalist whom, of all naturalists living, I most wish to know and to +learn from, should have sent a scientist like me his book, encourages me +at least to observe more carefully, and perhaps more slowly. + +I am so poorly (in brain), that I fear I cannot read your book just now +as I ought. All I have seen of it AWES me; both with the heap of facts +and the prestige of your name, and also with the clear intuition, that +if you be right, I must give up much that I have believed and written. + +In that I care little. Let God be true, and every man a liar! Let us +know what IS, and, as old Socrates has it, epesthai to logo--follow up +the villainous shifty fox of an argument, into whatsoever unexpected +bogs and brakes he may lead us, if we do but run into him at last. + +From two common superstitions, at least, I shall be free while judging +of your books:-- + +1. I have long since, from watching the crossing of domesticated animals +and plants, learnt to disbelieve the dogma of the permanence of species. + +2. I have gradually learnt to see that it is just as noble a conception +of Deity, to believe that he created primal forms capable of self +development into all forms needful pro tempore and pro loco, as to +believe that He required a fresh act of intervention to supply the +lacunas which He Himself had made. I question whether the former be not +the loftier thought. + +Be it as it may, I shall prize your book, both for itself, and as a +proof that you are aware of the existence of such a person as + +Your faithful servant, C. KINGSLEY. + + +[My father's old friend, the Rev. J. Brodie Innes, of Milton Brodie, who +was for many years Vicar of Down, writes in the same spirit: + +"We never attacked each other. Before I knew Mr. Darwin I had adopted, +and publicly expressed, the principle that the study of natural history, +geology, and science in general, should be pursued without reference +to the Bible. That the Book of Nature and Scripture came from the same +Divine source, ran in parallel lines, and when properly understood would +never cross... + +"His views on this subject were very much to the same effect from his +side. Of course any conversations we may have had on purely religious +subjects are as sacredly private now as in his life; but the quaint +conclusion of one may be given. We had been speaking of the apparent +contradiction of some supposed discoveries with the Book of Genesis; he +said, 'you are (it would have been more correct to say you ought to be) +a theologian, I am a naturalist, the lines are separate. I endeavour to +discover facts without considering what is said in the Book of Genesis. +I do not attack Moses, and I think Moses can take care of himself.' To +the same effect he wrote more recently, 'I cannot remember that I ever +published a word directly against religion or the clergy; but if you +were to read a little pamphlet which I received a couple of days ago +by a clergyman, you would laugh, and admit that I had some excuse +for bitterness. After abusing me for two or three pages, in language +sufficiently plain and emphatic to have satisfied any reasonable man, +he sums up by saying that he has vainly searched the English language +to find terms to express his contempt for me and all Darwinians.' In +another letter, after I had left Down, he writes, 'We often differed, +but you are one of those rare mortals from whom one can differ and yet +feel no shade of animosity, and that is a thing [of] which I should feel +very proud, if any one could say [it] of me.' + +"On my last visit to Down, Mr. Darwin said, at his dinner-table, 'Brodie +Innes and I have been fast friends for thirty years, and we never +thoroughly agreed on any subject but once, and then we stared hard at +each other, and thought one of us must be very ill.'"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, February 23rd [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +That is a splendid answer of the father of Judge Crompton. How curious +that the Judge should have hit on exactly the same points as yourself. +It shows me what a capital lawyer you would have made, how many unjust +acts you would have made appear just! But how much grander a field has +science been than the law, though the latter might have made you Lord +Kinnordy. I will, if there be another edition, enlarge on gradation in +the eye, and on all forms coming from one prototype, so as to try and +make both less glaringly improbable... + +With respect to Bronn's objection that it cannot be shown how life +arises, and likewise to a certain extent Asa Gray's remark that +natural selection is not a vera causa, I was much interested by finding +accidentally in Brewster's 'Life of Newton,' that Leibnitz objected to +the law of gravity because Newton could not show what gravity itself +is. As it has chanced, I have used in letters this very same argument, +little knowing that any one had really thus objected to the law of +gravity. Newton answers by saying that it is philosophy to make out the +movements of a clock, though you do not know why the weight descends +to the ground. Leibnitz further objected that the law of gravity was +opposed to Natural Religion! Is this not curious? I really think I shall +use the facts for some introductory remarks for my bigger book. + +... You ask (I see) why we do not have monstrosities in higher animals; +but when they live they are almost always sterile (even giants and +dwarfs are GENERALLY sterile), and we do not know that Harvey's monster +would have bred. There is I believe only one case on record of a peloric +flower being fertile, and I cannot remember whether this reproduced +itself. + +To recur to the eye. I really think it would have been dishonest, not to +have faced the difficulty; and worse (as Talleyrand would have said), it +would have been impolitic I think, for it would have been thrown in my +teeth, as H. Holland threw the bones of the ear, till Huxley shut him up +by showing what a fine gradation occurred amongst living creatures. + +I thank you much for your most pleasant letter. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I send a letter by Herbert Spencer, which you can read or not +as you think fit. He puts, to my mind, the philosophy of the argument +better than almost any one, at the close of the letter. I could make +nothing of Dana's idealistic notions about species; but then, as +Wollaston says, I have not a metaphysical head. + +By the way, I have thrown at Wollaston's head, a paper by Alexander +Jordan, who demonstrates metaphysically that all our cultivated races +are Go-created species. + +Wollaston misrepresents accidentally, to a wonderful extent, some +passages in my book. He reviewed, without relooking at certain passages. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, February 25th [1860]. + +... I cannot help wondering at your zeal about my book. I declare to +heaven you seem to care as much about my book as I do myself. You have +no right to be so eminently unselfish! I have taken off my spit [i.e. +file] a letter of Ramsay's, as every geologist convert I think very +important. By the way, I saw some time ago a letter from H.D. Rogers +(Professor of Geology in the University of Glasgow. Born in the United +States 1809, died 1866.) to Huxley, in which he goes very far with us... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Saturday, March 3rd, [1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +What a day's work you had on that Thursday! I was not able to go to +London till Monday, and then I was a fool for going, for, on Tuesday +night, I had an attack of fever (with a touch of pleurisy), which came +on like a lion, but went off as a lamb, but has shattered me a good bit. + +I was much interested by your last note... I think you expect too much in +regard to change of opinion on the subject of Species. One large class +of men, more especially I suspect of naturalists, never will care about +ANY general question, of which old Gray, of the British Museum, may +be taken as a type; and secondly, nearly all men past a moderate age, +either in actual years or in mind, are, I am fully convinced, incapable +of looking at facts under a new point of view. Seriously, I am +astonished and rejoiced at the progress which the subject has made; look +at the enclosed memorandum. (See table of names below.) -- says my book +will be forgotten in ten years, perhaps so; but, with such a list, I +feel convinced the subject will not. The outsiders, as you say, are +strong. + +You say that you think that Bentham is touched, "but, like a wise +man, holds his tongue." Perhaps you only mean that he cannot decide, +otherwise I should think such silence the reverse of magnanimity; for +if others behaved the same way, how would opinion ever progress? It is +a dereliction of actual duty. (In a subsequent letter to Sir J.D. Hooker +(March 12th, 1860), my father wrote, "I now quite understand Bentham's +silence.") + +I am so glad to hear about Thwaites. (Dr. G.J.K. Thwaites, who was +born in 1811, established a reputation in this country as an expert +microscopist, and an acute observer, working especially at cryptogamic +botany. On his appointment as Director of the Botanic Gardens at +Peradenyia, Ceylon, Dr. Thwaites devoted himself to the flora of Ceylon. +As a result of this he has left numerous and valuable collections, a +description of which he embodied in his 'Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae' +(1864). Dr. Thwaites was a fellow of the Linnean Society, but beyond the +above facts little seems to have been recorded of his life. His death +occurred in Ceylon on September 11th, 1882, in his seventy-second year. +"Athenaeum", October 14th, 1882, page 500.)... I have had an astounding +letter from Dr. Boott (The letter is enthusiastically laudatory, and +obviously full of genuine feeling.); it might be turned into ridicule +against him and me, so I will not send it to any one. He writes in a +noble spirit of love of truth. + +I wonder what Lindley thinks; probably too busy to read or think on the +question. + +I am vexed about Bentham's reticence, for it would have been of real +value to know what parts appeared weakest to a man of his powers of +observation. + +Farewell, my dear Hooker, yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Is not Harvey in the class of men who do not at all care for +generalities? I remember your saying you could not get him to write on +Distribution. I have found his works very unfruitful in every respect. + + + [Here follows the memorandum referred to:] + + Geologists. Zoologists and Physiologists. Botanists. + Palaeontologists. + + Lyell. Huxley. Carpenter. Hooker. + + Ramsay.* J. Lubbock. Sir H. Holland H.C. Watson. + (to large extent). + + Jukes.* L. Jenyns Asa Gray + (to large extent). (to some extent). + + H.D. Rogers. Searles Wood.* Dr. Boott + (to large extent). + + Thwaites. + + (*Andrew Ramsay, late Director-General of the Geological Survey. + +Joseph Beete Jukes, M.A., F.R.S., 1811-1869. He was educated at +Cambridge, and from 1842 to 1846 he acted as naturalist to H.M.S. +"Fly", on an exploring expedition in Australia and New Guinea. He was +afterwards appointed Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland. He +was the author of many papers, and of more than one good hand-book of +geology. + +Searles Valentine Wood, February 14, 1798-1880. Chiefly known for his +work on the Mollusca of the 'Crag.') + + +[The following letter is of interest in connection with the mention of +Mr. Bentham in the last letter:] + +G. BENTHAM TO FRANCIS DARWIN. 25 Wilton Place, S.W., May 30th, 1882. + +My dear Sir, + +In compliance with your note which I received last night, I send +herewith the letters I have from your father. I should have done so on +seeing the general request published in the papers, but that I did not +think there were any among them which could be of any use to you. Highly +flattered as I was by the kind and friendly notice with which Mr. Darwin +occasionally honoured me, I was never admitted into his intimacy, and he +therefore never made any communications to me in relation to his views +and labours. I have been throughout one of his most sincere admirers, +and fully adopted his theories and conclusions, notwithstanding the +severe pain and disappointment they at first occasioned me. On the day +that his celebrated paper was read at the Linnean Society, July 1st, +1858, a long paper of mine had been set down for reading, in which, +in commenting on the British Flora, I had collected a number of +observations and facts illustrating what I then believed to be a fixity +in species, however difficult it might be to assign their limits, +and showing a tendency of abnormal forms produced by cultivation +or otherwise, to withdraw within those original limits when left to +themselves. Most fortunately my paper had to give way to Mr. +Darwin's and when once that was read, I felt bound to defer mine for +reconsideration; I began to entertain doubts on the subject, and on +the appearance of the 'Origin of Species,' I was forced, however +reluctantly, to give up my long-cherished convictions, the results of +much labour and study, and I cancelled all that part of my paper which +urged original fixity, and published only portions of the remainder +in another form, chiefly in the 'Natural History Review.' I have since +acknowledged on various occasions my full adoption of Mr. Darwin's +views, and chiefly in my Presidential Address of 1863, and in my +thirteenth and last address, issued in the form of a report to the +British Association at its meeting at Belfast in 1874. + +I prize so highly the letters that I have of Mr. Darwin's, that I should +feel obliged by your returning them to me when you have done with them. +Unfortunately I have not kept the envelopes, and Mr. Darwin usually only +dated them by the month not by the year, so that they are not in any +chronological order. + +Yours very sincerely, GEORGE BENTHAM. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down [March] 12th [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Thinking over what we talked about, the high state of intellectual +development of the old Grecians with the little or no subsequent +improvement, being an apparent difficulty, it has just occurred to me +that in fact the case harmonises perfectly with our views. The case +would be a decided difficulty on the Lamarckian or Vestigian doctrine +of necessary progression, but on the view which I hold of progression +depending on the conditions, it is no objection at all, and harmonises +with the other facts of progression in the corporeal structure of other +animals. For in a state of anarchy, or despotism, or bad government, +or after irruption of barbarians, force, strength, or ferocity, and not +intellect, would be apt to gain the day. + +We have so enjoyed your and Lady Lyell's visit. + +Good-night. C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--By an odd chance (for I had not alluded even to the subject) +the ladies attacked me this evening, and threw the high state of old +Grecians into my teeth, as an unanswerable difficulty, but by good +chance I had my answer all pat, and silenced them. Hence I have thought +it worth scribbling to you... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. PRESTWICH. (Now Professor of Geology in the +University of Oxford.) Down, March 12th [1860]. + +... At some future time, when you have a little leisure, and when you +have read my 'Origin of Species,' I should esteem it a SINGULAR +favour if you would send me any general criticisms. I do not mean of +unreasonable length, but such as you could include in a letter. I have +always admired your various memoirs so much that I should be eminently +glad to receive your opinion, which might be of real service to me. + +Pray do not suppose that I expect to CONVERT or PERVERT you; if I could +stagger you in ever so slight a degree I should be satisfied; nor fear +to annoy me by severe criticisms, for I have had some hearty kicks from +some of my best friends. If it would not be disagreeable to you to send +me your opinion, I certainly should be truly obliged... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, April 3rd [1860]. + +... I remember well the time when the thought of the eye made me cold +all over, but I have got over this stage of the complaint, and now small +trifling particulars of structure often make me very uncomfortable. The +sight of a feather in a peacock's tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me +sick!... + +You may like to hear about reviews on my book. Sedgwick (as I and +Lyell feel CERTAIN from internal evidence) has reviewed me savagely +and unfairly in the "Spectator". (See the quotations which follow the +present letter.) The notice includes much abuse, and is hardly fair in +several respects. He would actually lead any one, who was ignorant +of geology, to suppose that I had invented the great gaps between +successive geological formations, instead of its being an almost +universally admitted dogma. But my dear old friend Sedgwick, with his +noble heart, is old, and is rabid with indignation. It is hard to please +every one; you may remember that in my last letter I asked you to leave +out about the Weald denudation: I told Jukes this (who is head man of +the Irish geological survey), and he blamed me much, for he believed +every word of it, and thought it not at all exaggerated! In fact, +geologists have no means of gauging the infinitude of past time. There +has been one prodigy of a review, namely, an OPPOSED one (by Pictet +(Francois Jules Pictet, in the 'Archives des Sciences de la Bibliotheque +Universelle,' Mars 1860. The article is written in a courteous and +considerate tone, and concludes by saying that the 'Origin' will be of +real value to naturalists, especially if they are not led away by +its seductive arguments to believe in the dangerous doctrine of +modification. A passage which seems to have struck my father as being +valuable, and opposite which he has made double pencil marks and written +the word "good," is worth quoting: "La theorie de M. Darwin s'accorde +mal avec l'histoire des types a formes bien tranchees et definies qui +paraissent n'avoir vecu que pendant un temps limite. On en pourrait +citer des centaines d'exemples, tel que les reptiles volants, les +ichthyosaures, les belemnites, les ammonites, etc." Pictet was born in +1809, died 1872; he was Professor of Anatomy and Zoology at Geneva.), +the palaeontologist, in the Bib. Universelle of Geneva) which is +PERFECTLY fair and just, and I agree to every word he says; our only +difference being that he attaches less weight to arguments in favour, +and more to arguments opposed, than I do. Of all the opposed reviews, +I think this the only quite fair one, and I never expected to see one. +Please observe that I do not class your review by any means as opposed, +though you think so yourself! It has done me MUCH too good service ever +to appear in that rank in my eyes. But I fear I shall weary you with so +much about my book. I should rather think there was a good chance of +my becoming the most egotistical man in all Europe! What a proud +pre-eminence! Well, you have helped to make me so and therefore you must +forgive me if you can. + +My dear Gray, ever yours most gratefully, C. DARWIN. + + +[In a letter to Sir Charles Lyell reference is made to Sedgwick's review +in the "Spectator", March 24: + +"I now feel certain that Sedgwick is the author of the article in +the "Spectator". No one else could use such abusive terms. And what a +misrepresentation of my notions! Any ignoramus would suppose that I +had FIRST broached the doctrine, that the breaks between successive +formations marked long intervals of time. It is very unfair. But +poor dear old Sedgwick seems rabid on the question. "Demoralised +understanding!" If ever I talk with him I will tell him that I never +could believe that an inquisitor could be a good man: but now I know +that a man may roast another, and yet have as kind and noble a heart as +Sedgwick's." + +The following passages are taken from the review: + +"I need hardly go on any further with these objections. But I cannot +conclude without expressing my detestation of the theory, because of its +unflinching materialism;--because it has deserted the inductive track, +the only track that leads to physical truth;--because it utterly +repudiates final causes, and thereby indicates a demoralised +understanding on the part of its advocates." + +"Not that I believe that Darwin is an atheist; though I cannot but +regard his materialism as atheistical. I think it untrue, because +opposed to the obvious course of nature, and the very opposite of +inductive truth. And I think it intensely mischievous." + +"Each series of facts is laced together by a series of assumptions, and +repetitions of the one false principle. You cannot make a good rope out +of a string of air bubbles." + +"But any startling and (supposed) novel paradox, maintained very boldly +and with something of imposing plausibility, produces in some minds a +kind of pleasing excitement which predisposes them in its favour; and +if they are unused to careful reflection, and averse to the labour of +accurate investigation, they will be likely to conclude that what is +(apparently) ORIGINAL, must be a production of original GENIUS, and +that anything very much opposed to prevailing notions must be a grand +DISCOVERY,--in short, that whatever comes from the 'bottom of a well' +must be the 'truth' supposed to be hidden there." + +In a review in the December number of 'Macmillan's Magazine,' 1860, +Fawcett vigorously defended my father from the charge of employing a +false method of reasoning; a charge which occurs in Sedgwick's review, +and was made at the time ad nauseam, in such phrases as: "This is not +the true Baconian method." Fawcett repeated his defence at the meeting +of the British Association in 1861. (See an interesting letter from my +father in Mr. Stephen's 'Life of Henry Fawcett,' 1886, page 101.)] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.B CARPENTER. Down, April 6th [1860]. + +My dear Carpenter, + +I have this minute finished your review in the 'Med. Chirurg. Review.' +(April 1860.) You must let me express my admiration at this most able +essay, and I hope to God it will be largely read, for it must produce a +great effect. I ought not, however, to express such warm admiration, for +you give my book, I fear, far too much praise. But you have gratified me +extremely; and though I hope I do not care very much for the approbation +of the non-scientific readers, I cannot say that this is at all so with +respect to such few men as yourself. I have not a criticism to make, for +I object to not a word; and I admire all, so that I cannot pick out +one part as better than the rest. It is all so well balanced. But it is +impossible not to be struck with your extent of knowledge in geology, +botany, and zoology. The extracts which you give from Hooker seem to me +EXCELLENTLY chosen, and most forcible. I am so much pleased in what +you say also about Lyell. In fact I am in a fit of enthusiasm, and had +better write no more. With cordial thanks, + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, April 10th [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Thank you much for your note of the 4th; I am very glad to hear that you +are at Torquay. I should have amused myself earlier by writing to you, +but I have had Hooker and Huxley staying here, and they have fully +occupied my time, as a little of anything is a full dose for me... There +has been a plethora of reviews, and I am really quite sick of myself. +There is a very long review by Carpenter in the 'Medical and Chirurg. +Review,' very good and well balanced, but not brilliant. He discusses +Hooker's books at as great length as mine, and makes excellent extracts; +but I could not get Hooker to feel the least interest in being praised. + +Carpenter speaks of you in thoroughly proper terms. There is a BRILLIANT +review by Huxley ('Westminster Review,' April 1860.), with capital hits, +but I do not know that he much advances the subject. I THINK I have +convinced him that he has hardly allowed weight enough to the case of +varieties of plants being in some degrees sterile. + +To diverge from reviews: Asa Gray sends me from Wyman (who will write), +a good case of all the pigs being black in the Everglades of Virginia. +On asking about the cause, it seems (I have got capital analogous cases) +that when the BLACK pigs eat a certain nut their bones become red, and +they suffer to a certain extent, but that the WHITE pigs lose their +hoofs and perish, "and we aid by SELECTION, for we kill most of the +young white pigs." This was said by men who could hardly read. By the +way, it is a great blow to me that you cannot admit the potency of +natural selection. The more I think of it, the less I doubt its +power for great and small changes. I have just read the 'Edinburgh' +('Edinburgh Review,' April 1860.), which without doubt is by --. It is +extremely malignant, clever, and I fear will be very damaging. He is +atrociously severe on Huxley's lecture, and very bitter against Hooker. +So we three ENJOYED it together. Not that I really enjoyed it, for +it made me uncomfortable for one night; but I have got quite over it +to-day. It requires much study to appreciate all the bitter spite of +many of the remarks against me; indeed I did not discover all myself. +It scandalously misrepresents many parts. He misquotes some passages, +altering words within inverted commas... + +It is painful to be hated in the intense degree with which -- hates me. + +Now for a curious thing about my book, and then I have done. In last +Saturday's "Gardeners' Chronicle" (April 7th, 1860.), a Mr. Patrick +Matthew publishes a long extract from his work on 'Naval Timber and +Arboriculture,' published in 1831, in which he briefly but completely +anticipates the theory of Natural Selection. I have ordered the book, +as some few passages are rather obscure, but it is certainly, I think, a +complete but not developed anticipation! Erasmus always said that surely +this would be shown to be the case some day. Anyhow, one may be excused +in not having discovered the fact in a work on Naval Timber. + +I heartily hope that your Torquay work may be successful. Give my +kindest remembrances to Falconer, and I hope he is pretty well. Hooker +and Huxley (with Mrs. Huxley) were extremely pleasant. But poor dear +Hooker is tired to death of my book, and it is a marvel and a prodigy if +you are not worse tired--if that be possible. Farewell, my dear Lyell, + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [April 13th, 1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Questions of priority so often lead to odious quarrels, that I should +esteem it a great favour if you would read the enclosed. ((My father +wrote ("Gardeners' Chronicle", 1860, page 362, April 21st): "I have been +much interested by Mr. Patrick Matthew's communication in the number of +your paper dated April 7th. I freely acknowledge that Mr. Matthew has +anticipated by many years the explanation which I have offered of the +origin of species, under the name of natural selection. I think that +no one will feel surprised that neither I, nor apparently any other +naturalist, had heard of Mr. Matthew's views, considering how briefly +they are given, and that they appeared in the appendix to a work on +Naval Timber and Arboriculture. I can do no more than offer my apologies +to Mr. Matthew for my entire ignorance of this publication. If any +other edition of my work is called for, I will insert to the foregoing +effect." In spite of my father's recognition of his claims, Mr. Matthew +remained unsatisfied, and complained that an article in the 'Saturday +Analyst and Leader' was "scarcely fair in alluding to Mr. Darwin as the +parent of the origin of species, seeing that I published the whole +that Mr. Darwin attempts to prove, more than twenty-nine years +ago."--"Saturday Analyst and Leader", November 24, 1860.) If you think +it proper that I should send it (and of this there can hardly be any +question), and if you think it full and ample enough, please alter the +date to the day on which you post it, and let that be soon. The case in +the "Gardeners' Chronicle" seems a LITTLE stronger than in Mr. Matthew's +book, for the passages are therein scattered in three places; but it +would be mere hair-splitting to notice that. If you object to my letter, +please return it; but I do not expect that you will, but I thought that +you would not object to run your eye over it. My dear Hooker, it is a +great thing for me to have so good, true, and old a friend as you. I owe +much for science to my friends. + +Many thanks for Huxley's lecture. The latter part seemed to be grandly +eloquent. + +... I have gone over [the 'Edinburgh'] review again, and compared +passages, and I am astonished at the misrepresentations. But I am glad +I resolved not to answer. Perhaps it is selfish, but to answer and think +more on the subject is too unpleasant. I am so sorry that Huxley by my +means has been thus atrociously attacked. I do not suppose you much care +about the gratuitous attack on you. + +Lyell in his letter remarked that you seemed to him as if you were +overworked. Do, pray, be cautious, and remember how many and many a man +has done this--who thought it absurd till too late. I have often thought +the same. You know that you were bad enough before your Indian journey. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, April [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I was very glad to get your nice long letter from Torquay. A press of +letters prevented me writing to Wells. I was particularly glad to hear +what you thought about not noticing [the 'Edinburgh'] review. Hooker and +Huxley thought it a sort of duty to point out the alteration of quoted +citations, and there is truth in this remark; but I so hated the thought +that I resolved not to do so. I shall come up to London on Saturday the +14th, for Sir B. Brodie's party, as I have an accumulation of things to +do in London, and will (if I do not hear to the contrary) call about a +quarter before ten on Sunday morning, and sit with you at breakfast, but +will not sit long, and so take up much of your time. I must say one more +word about our quasi-theological controversy about natural selection, +and let me have your opinion when we meet in London. Do you consider +that the successive variations in the size of the crop of the Pouter +Pigeon, which man has accumulated to please his caprice, have been due +to "the creative and sustaining powers of Brahma?" In the sense that +an omnipotent and omniscient Deity must order and know everything, this +must be admitted; yet, in honest truth, I can hardly admit it. It seems +preposterous that a maker of a universe should care about the crop of a +pigeon solely to please man's silly fancies. But if you agree with me in +thinking such an interposition of the Deity uncalled for, I can see +no reason whatever for believing in such interpositions in the case of +natural beings, in which strange and admirable peculiarities have been +naturally selected for the creature's own benefit. Imagine a Pouter in +a state of nature wading into the water and then, being buoyed up by +its inflated crop, sailing about in search of food. What admiration this +would have excited--adaptation to the laws of hydrostatic pressure, etc. +etc. For the life of me I cannot see any difficulty in natural selection +producing the most exquisite structure, IF SUCH STRUCTURE CAN BE ARRIVED +AT BY GRADATION, and I know from experience how hard it is to name any +structure towards which at least some gradations are not known. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--The conclusion at which I have come, as I have told Asa Gray, is +that such a question, as is touched on in this note, is beyond the human +intellect, like "predestination and free will," or the "origin of evil." + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [April 18th, 1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I return --'s letter... Some of my relations say it cannot POSSIBLY be +--'s article (The 'Edinburgh Review.'), because the reviewer speaks +so very highly of --. Poor dear simple folk! My clever neighbour, Mr. +Norman, says the article is so badly written, with no definite object, +that no one will read it. Asa Gray has sent me an article ('North +American Review,' April, 1860. "By Professor Bowen," is written on my +father's copy. The passage referred to occurs at page 488, where +the author says that we ought to find "an infinite number of other +varieties--gross, rude, and purposeless--the unmeaning creations of an +unconscious cause.") from the United States, clever, and dead against +me. But one argument is funny. The reviewer says, that if the doctrine +were true, geological strata would be full of monsters which have +failed! A very clear view this writer had of the struggle for existence! + +... I am glad you like Adam Bede so much. I was charmed with it... + +We think you must by mistake have taken with your own numbers of the +'National Review' my precious number. (This no doubt refers to the +January number, containing Dr. Carpenter's review of the 'Origin.') I +wish you would look. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, April 25th [1860]. + +My dear Gray, + +I have no doubt I have to thank you for the copy of a review on the +'Origin' in the 'North American Review.' It seems to me clever, and I do +not doubt will damage my book. I had meant to have made some remarks +on it; but Lyell wished much to keep it, and my head is quite confused +between the many reviews which I have lately read. I am sure the +reviewer is wrong about bees' cells, i.e. about the distance; any lesser +distance would do, or even greater distance, but then some of the places +would lie outside the generative spheres; but this would not add much +difficulty to the work. The reviewer takes a strange view of instinct: +he seems to regard intelligence as a developed instinct; which I believe +to be wholly false. I suspect he has never much attended to instinct and +the minds of animals, except perhaps by reading. + +My chief object is to ask you if you could procure for me a copy of the +"New York Times" for Wednesday, March 28th. It contains A VERY STRIKING +review of my book, which I should much like to keep. How curious that +the two most striking reviews (i.e. yours and this) should have appeared +in America. This review is not really useful, but somehow is impressive. +There was a good review in the 'Revue des Deux Mondes,' April 1st, by M. +Laugel, said to be a very clever man. + +Hooker, about a fortnight ago, stayed here a few days, and was very +pleasant; but I think he overworks himself. What a gigantic undertaking, +I imagine, his and Bentham's 'Genera Plantarum' will be! I hope he +will not get too much immersed in it, so as not to spare some time for +Geographical Distribution and other such questions. + +I have begun to work steadily, but very slowly as usual, at details on +variation under domestication. + +My dear Gray, Yours always truly and gratefully, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, [May 8th, 1860]. + +... I have sent for the 'Canadian Naturalist.' If I cannot procure a copy +I will borrow yours. I had a letter from Henslow this morning, who says +that Sedgwick was, on last Monday night, to open a battery on me at the +Cambridge Philosophical Society. Anyhow, I am much honoured by being +attacked there, and at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. + +I do not think it worth while to contradict single cases nor is it +worth while arguing against those who do not attend to what I state. A +moment's reflection will show you that there must be (on our doctrine) +large genera not varying (see page 56 on the subject, in the second +edition of the 'Origin'). Though I do not there discuss the case in +detail. + +It may be sheer bigotry for my own notions, but I prefer to the +Atlantis, my notion of plants and animals having migrated from the Old +to the New World, or conversely, when the climate was much hotter, by +approximately the line of Behring's Straits. It is most important, as +you say, to see living forms of plants going back so far in time. I +wonder whether we shall ever discover the flora of the dry land of the +coal period, and find it not so anomalous as the swamp or coal-making +flora. I am working away over the blessed Pigeon Manuscript; but, from +one cause or another, I get on very slowly... + +This morning I got a letter from the Academy of Natural Sciences of +Philadelphia, announcing that I am elected a correspondent... It shows +that some Naturalists there do not think me such a scientific profligate +as many think me here. + +My dear Lyell, yours gratefully, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--What a grand fact about the extinct stag's horn worked by man! + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [May 13th, 1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I return Henslow, which I was very glad to see. How good of him to +defend me. (Against Sedgwick's attack before the Cambridge Philosophical +Society.) I will write and thank him. + +As you said you were curious to hear Thomson's (Dr. Thomas Thomson the +Indian Botanist. He was a collaborateur in Hooker and Thomson's Flora +Indica. 1855.) opinion, I send his kind letter. He is evidently a strong +opposer to us... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [May 15th, 1860]. + +... How paltry it is in such men as X, Y and Co. not reading your essay. +It is incredibly paltry. (These remarks do not apply to Dr. Harvey, who +was, however, in a somewhat similar position. See below.) They may all +attack me to their hearts' content. I am got case-hardened. As for the +old fogies in Cambridge, it really signifies nothing. I look at their +attacks as a proof that our work is worth the doing. It makes me resolve +to buckle on my armour. I see plainly that it will be a long uphill +fight. But think of Lyell's progress with Geology. One thing I see most +plainly, that without Lyell's, yours, Huxley's and Carpenter's aid, my +book would have been a mere flash in the pan. But if we all stick to +it, we shall surely gain the day. And I now see that the battle is worth +fighting. I deeply hope that you think so. Does Bentham progress at all? +I do not know what to say about Oxford. (His health prevented him from +going to Oxford for the meeting of the British Association.) I should +like it much with you, but it must depend on health... + +Yours must affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, May 18th [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I send a letter from Asa Gray to show how hotly the battle rages there. +Also one from Wallace, very just in his remarks, though too laudatory +and too modest, and how admirably free from envy or jealousy. He must be +a good fellow. Perhaps I will enclose a letter from Thomson of Calcutta; +not that it is much, but Hooker thinks so highly of him... + +Henslow informs me that Sedgwick (Sedgwick's address is given somewhat +abbreviated in "The Cambridge Chronicle", May 19th, 1860.) and then +Professor Clarke [sic] (The late William Clark, Professor of Anatomy, +my father seems to have misunderstood his informant. I am assured by Mr. +J.W. Clark that his father (Prof. Clark) did not support Sedgwick in the +attack.) made a regular and savage onslaught on my book lately at the +Cambridge Philosophical Society, but Henslow seems to have defended +me well, and maintained that the subject was a legitimate one for +investigation. Since then Phillips (John Phillips, M.A., F.R.S., born +1800, died 1874, from the effects of a fall. Professor of Geology at +King's College, London, and afterwards at Oxford. He gave the 'Rede' +lecture at Cambridge on May 15th, 1860, on 'The Succession of Life +on the earth.' The Rede Lecturer is appointed annually by the +Vice-Chancellor, and is paid by an endowment left in 1524 by Sir +Robert Rede, Lord Chief Justice, in the reign of Henry VIII.) has given +lectures at Cambridge on the same subject, but treated it very fairly. +How splendidly Asa Gray is fighting the battle. The effect on me of +these multiplied attacks is simply to show me that the subject is worth +fighting for, and assuredly I will do my best... I hope all the attacks +make you keep up your courage, and courage you assuredly will require... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, May 18th, 1860. + +My dear Mr. Wallace, + +I received this morning your letter from Amboyna, dated February 16th, +containing some remarks and your too high approval of my book. Your +letter has pleased me very much, and I most completely agree with you on +the parts which are strongest and which are weakest. The imperfection of +the Geological Record is, as you say, the weakest of all; but yet I am +pleased to find that there are almost more geological converts than of +pursuers of other branches of natural science... I think geologists are +more easily converted than simple naturalists, because more accustomed +to reasoning. Before telling you about the progress of opinion on the +subject, you must let me say how I admire the generous manner in which +you speak of my book. Most persons would in your position have felt some +envy or jealousy. How nobly free you seem to be of this common failing +of mankind. But you speak far too modestly of yourself. You would, if +you had my leisure, have done the work just as well, perhaps better, +than I have done it... + +... Agassiz sends me a personal civil message, but incessantly attacks +me; but Asa Gray fights like a hero in defence. Lyell keeps as firm as a +tower, and this Autumn will publish on the 'Geological History of Man,' +and will then declare his conversion, which now is universally known. I +hope that you have received Hooker's splendid essay... Yesterday I heard +from Lyell that a German, Dr. Schaaffhausen (Hermann Schaaffhausen +'Ueber Bestandigkeit und Umwandlung der Arten.' Verhandl. d. Naturhist. +Vereins, Bonn, 1853. See 'Origin,' Historical Sketch.), has sent him +a pamphlet published some years ago, in which the same view is nearly +anticipated; but I have not yet seen this pamphlet. My brother, who is a +very sagacious man, always said, "you will find that some one will have +been before you." I am at work at my larger work, which I shall publish +in a separate volume. But from ill-health and swarms of letters, I get +on very very slowly. I hope that I shall not have wearied you with these +details. With sincere thanks for your letter, and with most deeply felt +wishes for your success in science, and in every way, believe me, + +Your sincere well-wisher, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, May 22nd 1860. + +My dear Gray, + +Again I have to thank you for one of your very pleasant letters of May +7th, enclosing a very pleasant remittance of 22 pounds. I am in simple +truth astonished at all the kind trouble you have taken for me. I +return Appleton's account. For the chance of your wishing for a formal +acknowledgment I send one. If you have any further communication to the +Appletons, pray express my acknowledgment for [their] generosity; for +it is generosity in my opinion. I am not at all surprised at the sale +diminishing; my extreme surprise is at the greatness of the sale. No +doubt the public has been SHAMEFULLY imposed on! for they bought the +book thinking that it would be nice easy reading. I expect the sale to +stop soon in England, yet Lyell wrote to me the other day that calling +at Murray's he heard that fifty copies had gone in the previous +forty-eight hours. I am extremely glad that you will notice in +'Silliman' the additions in the 'Origin.' Judging from letters (and I +have just seen one from Thwaites to Hooker), and from remarks, the most +serious omission in my book was not explaining how it is, as I believe, +that all forms do not necessarily advance, how there can now be SIMPLE +organisms still existing... I hear there is a VERY severe review on me +in the 'North British,' by a Rev. Mr. Dunns (This statement as to +authorship was made on the authority of Robert Chambers.), a Free Kirk +minister, and dabbler in Natural History. I should be very glad to see +any good American reviews, as they are all more or less useful. You say +that you shall touch on other reviews. Huxley told me some time ago that +after a time he would write a review on all the reviews, whether he will +I know not. If you allude to the 'Edinburgh,' pray notice SOME of the +points which I will point out on a separate slip. In the "Saturday +Review" (one of our cleverest periodicals) of May 5th, page 573, there +is a nice article on [the 'Edinburgh'] review, defending Huxley, but not +Hooker; and the latter, I think, [the 'Edinburgh' reviewer] treats most +ungenerously. (In a letter to Mr. Huxley my father wrote: "Have you seen +the last "Saturday Review"? I am very glad of the defence of you and of +myself. I wish the reviewer had noticed Hooker. The reviewer, whoever he +is, is a jolly good fellow, as this review and the last on me showed. +He writes capitally, and understands well his subject. I wish he had +slapped [the 'Edinburgh' reviewer] a little bit harder.") But surely you +will get sick unto death of me and my reviewers. + +With respect to the theological view of the question. This is +always painful to me. I am bewildered. I had no intention to write +atheistically. But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and +as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides +of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade +myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly +created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding +within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with +mice. Not believing this, I see no necessity in the belief that the eye +was expressly designed. On the other hand, I cannot anyhow be contented +to view this wonderful universe, and especially the nature of man, and +to conclude that everything is the result of brute force. I am inclined +to look at everything as resulting from designed laws, with the details, +whether good or bad, left to the working out of what we may call chance. +Not that this notion AT ALL satisfies me. I feel most deeply that the +whole subject is too profound for the human intellect. A dog might as +well speculate on the mind of Newton. Let each man hope and believe +what he can. Certainly I agree with you that my views are not at all +necessarily atheistical. The lightning kills a man, whether a good one +or bad one, owing to the excessively complex action of natural laws. +A child (who may turn out an idiot) is born by the action of even more +complex laws, and I can see no reason why a man, or other animal, may +not have been aboriginally produced by other laws, and that all these +laws may have been expressly designed by an omniscient Creator, who +foresaw every future event and consequence. But the more I think the +more bewildered I become; as indeed I probably have shown by this +letter. + +Most deeply do I feel your generous kindness and interest. + +Yours sincerely and cordially, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +{Here follow my father's criticisms on the 'Edinburgh Review'}: + +"What a quibble to pretend he did not understand what I meant by +INHABITANTS of South America; and any one would suppose that I had not +throughout my volume touched on Geographical Distribution. He ignores +also everything which I have said on Classification, Geological +Succession, Homologies, Embryology, and Rudimentary Organs--page 496. + +He falsely applies what I said (too rudely) about "blindness of +preconceived opinions" to those who believe in creation, whereas I +exclusively apply the remark to those who give up multitudes of species +as true species, but believe in the remainder--page 500. + +He slightly alters what I say,--I ASK whether creationists really +believe that elemental atoms have flashed into life. He says that I +describe them as so believing, and this, surely, is a difference--page +501. + +He speaks of my "clamouring against" all who believe in creation, and +this seems to me an unjust accusation--page 501. + +He makes me say that the dorsal vertebrae vary; this is simply false: I +nowhere say a word about dorsal vertebrae--page 522. + +What an illiberal sentence that is about my pretension to candour, and +about my rushing through barriers which stopped Cuvier: such an argument +would stop any progress in science--page 525. + +How disingenuous to quote from my remark to you about my BRIEF letter +[published in the 'Linn. Soc. Journal'], as if it applied to the whole +subject--page 530. + +How disingenuous to say that we are called on to accept the theory, from +the imperfection of the geological record, when I over and over again +[say] how grave a difficulty the imperfection offers--page 530."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 30th [1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I return Harvey's letter, I have been very glad to see the reason why he +has not read your Essay. I feared it was bigotry, and I am glad to see +that he goes a little way (VERY MUCH further than I supposed) with us... + +I was not sorry for a natural opportunity of writing to Harvey, just to +show that I was not piqued at his turning me and my book into ridicule +(A "serio-comic squib," read before the 'Dublin University Zoological +and Botanical Association,' February 17, 1860, and privately printed. My +father's presentation copy is inscribed "With the writer's REPENTANCE, +October 1860."), not that I think it was a proceeding which I deserved, +or worthy of him. It delights me that you are interested in watching +the progress of opinion on the change of Species; I feared that you were +weary of the subject; and therefore did not send A. Gray's letters. The +battle rages furiously in the United States. Gray says he was preparing +a speech, which would take 1 1/2 hours to deliver, and which he "fondly +hoped would be a stunner." He is fighting splendidly, and there seems +to have been many discussions with Agassiz and others at the meetings. +Agassiz pities me much at being so deluded. As for the progress of +opinion, I clearly see that it will be excessively slow, almost as slow +as the change of species... I am getting wearied at the storm of hostile +reviews and hardly any useful... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, Friday night [June 1st, 1860]. + +... Have you seen Hopkins (William Hopkins died in 1866, "in his +sevent-third year." He began life with a farm in Suffolk, but ultimately +entered, comparatively late in life, at Peterhouse, Cambridge; he +took his degree in 1827, and afterward became an Esquire Bedell of the +University. He was chiefly known as a mathematical "coach," and +was eminently successful in the manufacture of Senior Wranglers. +Nevertheless Mr. Stephen says ('Life of Fawcett,' page 26) that he +"was conspicuous for inculcating" a "liberal view of the studies of +the place. He endeavoured to stimulate a philosophical interest in +the mathematical sciences, instead of simply rousing an ardour for +competition." He contributed many papers on geological and mathematical +subjects to the scientific journals. He had a strong influence for good +over the younger men with whom he came in contact. The letter which +he wrote to Henry Fawcett on the occasion of his blindness illustrates +this. Mr. Stephen says ('Life of Fawcett,' page 48) that by "this +timely word of good cheer," Fawcett was roused from "his temporary +prostration," and enabled to take a "more cheerful and resolute tone.") +in the new 'Fraser'? the public will, I should think, find it heavy. He +will be dead against me, as you prophesied; but he is generally civil +to me personally. ('Fraser's Magazine,' June 1860. My father, no doubt, +refers to the following passage, page 752, where the Reviewer Expresses +his "full participation in the high respect in which the author is +universally held, both as a man and a naturalist; and the more so, +because in the remarks which will follow in the second part of this +Essay we shall be found to differ widely from him as regards many of his +conclusions and the reasonings on which he has founded them, and shall +claim the full right to express such differences of opinion with all +that freedom which the interests of scientific truth demands, and which +we are sure Mr. Darwin would be one of the last to refuse to any one +prepared to exercise it with candour and courtesy." Speaking of this +review, my father wrote to Dr. Asa Gray: "I have remonstrated with him +[Hopkins] for so coolly saying that I base my views on what I reckon +as great difficulties. Any one, by taking these difficulties alone, can +make a most strong case against me. I could myself write a more damning +review than has as yet appeared!" A second notice by Hopkins appeared +in the July number of 'Fraser's Magazine.') On his standard of proof, +NATURAL science would never progress, for without the making of theories +I am convinced there would be no observation. + +... I have begun reading the 'North British' (May 1860.), which so far +strikes me as clever. + +Phillips's Lecture at Cambridge is to be published. + +All these reiterated attacks will tell heavily; there will be no +more converts, and probably some will go back. I hope you do not grow +disheartened, I am determined to fight to the last. I hear, however, +that the great Buckle highly approves of my book. + +I have had a note from poor Blyth (Edward Blyth, 1810-1873. His +indomitable love of natural history made him neglect the druggist's +business with which he started in life, and he soon got into serious +difficulties. After supporting himself for a few years as a writer on +Field Natural History, he ultimately went out to India as Curator of the +Museum of the R. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, where the greater part of his +working life was spent. His chief publications were the monthly reports +made as part of his duty to the Society. He had stored in his remarkable +memory a wonderful wealth of knowledge, especially with regard to the +mammalia and birds of India--knowledge of which he freely gave to +those who asked. His letters to my father give evidence of having been +carefully studied, and the long list of entries after his name in the +index to 'Animals and Plants,' show how much help was received from him. +His life was an unprosperous and unhappy one, full of money difficulties +and darkened by the death of his wife after a few years of marriage.), +of Calcutta, who is much disappointed at hearing that Lord Canning will +not grant any money; so I much fear that all your great pains will be +thrown away. Blyth says (and he is in many respects a very good judge) +that his ideas on species are quite revolutionised... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, June 5th [1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +It is a pleasure to me to write to you, as I have no one to talk about +such matters as we write on. But I seriously beg you not to write to +me unless so inclined; for busy as you are, and seeing many people, the +case is very different between us... + +Have you seen --'s abusive article on me?... It out does even the 'North +British' and 'Edinburgh' in misapprehension and misrepresentation. +I never knew anything so unfair as in discussing cells of bees, his +ignoring the case of Melipona, which builds combs almost exactly +intermediate between hive and humble bees. What has -- done that he +feels so immeasurably superior to all us wretched naturalists, and to +all political economists, including that great philosopher Malthus? This +review, however, and Harvey's letter have convinced me that I must be +a very bad explainer. Neither really understand what I mean by Natural +Selection. I am inclined to give up the attempt as hopeless. Those who +do not understand, it seems, cannot be made to understand. + +By the way, I think, we entirely agree, except perhaps that I use too +forcible language about selection. I entirely agree, indeed would almost +go further than you when you say that climate (i.e. variability from all +unknown causes) is "an active handmaid, influencing its mistress most +materially." Indeed, I have never hinted that Natural Selection is "the +efficient cause to the exclusion of the other," i.e. variability from +Climate, etc. The very term SELECTION implies something, i.e. variation +or difference, to be selected... + +How does your book progress (I mean your general sort of book on +plants), I hope to God you will be more successful than I have been in +making people understand your meaning. I should begin to think myself +wholly in the wrong, and that I was an utter fool, but then I cannot yet +persuade myself, that Lyell, and you and Huxley, Carpenter, Asa Gray, +and Watson, etc., are all fools together. Well, time will show, and +nothing but time. Farewell... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, June 6th [1860]. + +... It consoles me that -- sneers at Malthus, for that clearly shows, +mathematician though he may be, he cannot understand common reasoning. +By the way what a discouraging example Malthus is, to show during what +long years the plainest case may be misrepresented and misunderstood. I +have read the 'Future'; how curious it is that several of my reviewers +should advance such wild arguments, as that varieties of dogs and cats +do not mingle; and should bring up the old exploded doctrine of definite +analogies... I am beginning to despair of ever making the majority +understand my notions. Even Hopkins does not thoroughly. By the way, I +have been so much pleased by the way he personally alludes to me. I must +be a very bad explainer. I hope to Heaven that you will succeed better. +Several reviews and several letters have shown me too clearly how little +I am understood. I suppose "natural selection" was a bad term; but to +change it now, I think, would make confusion worse confounded, nor can I +think of a better; "Natural Preservation" would not imply a preservation +of particular varieties, and would seem a truism, and would not bring +man's and nature's selection under one point of view. I can only hope +by reiterated explanations finally to make the matter clearer. If my MS. +spreads out, I think I shall publish one volume exclusively on variation +of animals and plants under domestication. I want to show that I have +not been quite so rash as many suppose. + +Though weary of reviews, I should like to see Lowell's (The late J.A. +Lowell in the 'Christian Examiner' (Boston, U.S., May, 1860.) some +time... I suppose Lowell's difficulty about instinct is the same as +Bowen's; but it seems to me wholly to rest on the assumption that +instincts cannot graduate as finely as structures. I have stated in my +volume that it is hardly possible to know which, i.e. whether instinct +or structure, change first by insensible steps. Probably sometimes +instinct, sometimes structure. When a British insect feeds on an exotic +plant, instinct has changed by very small steps, and their structures +might change so as to fully profit by the new food. Or structure +might change first, as the direction of tusks in one variety of Indian +elephants, which leads it to attack the tiger in a different manner from +other kinds of elephants. Thanks for your letter of the 2nd, chiefly +about Murray. (N.B. Harvey of Dublin gives me, in a letter, the argument +of tall men marrying short women, as one of great weight!) + +I do not quite understand what you mean by saying, "that the more they +prove that you underrate physical conditions, the better for you, as +Geology comes in to your aid." + +... I see in Murray and many others one incessant fallacy, when alluding +to slight differences of physical conditions as being very important; +namely, oblivion of the fact that all species, except very local ones, +range over a considerable area, and though exposed to what the world +calls considerable DIVERSITIES, yet keep constant. I have just alluded +to this in the 'Origin' in comparing the productions of the Old and the +New Worlds. Farewell, shall you be at Oxford? If H. gets quite well, +perhaps I shall go there. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down [June 14th, 1860]. + +... Lowell's review (J.A. Lowell in the 'Christian Examiner,' May 1860.) +is pleasantly written, but it is clear that he is not a naturalist. He +quite overlooks the importance of the accumulation of mere individual +differences, and which, I think I can show, is the great agency of +change under domestication. I have not finished Schaaffhausen, as I read +German so badly. I have ordered a copy for myself, and should like to +keep yours till my own arrives, but will return it to you instantly if +wanted. He admits statements rather rashly, as I dare say I do. I see +only one sentence as yet at all approaching natural selection. + +There is a notice of me in the penultimate number of 'All the Year +Round,' but not worth consulting; chiefly a well-done hash of my own +words. Your last note was very interesting and consolatory to me. + +I have expressly stated that I believe physical conditions have a more +direct effect on plants than on animals. But the more I study, the +more I am led to think that natural selection regulates, in a state +of nature, most trifling differences. As squared stone, or bricks, or +timber, are the indispensable materials for a building, and influence +its character, so is variability not only indispensable, but +influential. Yet in the same manner as the architect is the ALL +important person in a building, so is selection with organic bodies... + + +[The meeting of the British Association at Oxford in 1860 is famous +for two pitched battles over the 'Origin of Species.' Both of them +originated in unimportant papers. On Thursday, June 28, Dr. Daubeny of +Oxford made a communication to Section D: "On the final causes of the +sexuality of plants, with particular reference to Mr. Darwin's work on +the 'Origin of Species.'" Mr. Huxley was called on by the President, but +tried (according to the "Athenaeum" report) to avoid a discussion, on +the ground "that a general audience, in which sentiment would unduly +interfere with intellect, was not the public before which such a +discussion should be carried on." However, the subject was not allowed +to drop. Sir R. Owen (I quote from the "Athenaeum", July 7, 1860), who +"wished to approach this subject in the spirit of the philosopher," +expressed his "conviction that there were facts by which the public +could come to some conclusion with regard to the probabilities of the +truth of Mr. Darwin's theory." He went on to say that the brain of the +gorilla "presented more differences, as compared with the brain of man, +than it did when compared with the brains of the very lowest and most +problematical of the Quadrumana." Mr. Huxley replied, and gave these +assertions a "direct and unqualified contradiction," pledging himself to +"justify that unusual procedure elsewhere" ('Man's Place in Nature,' by +T.H. Huxley, 1863, page 114.), a pledge which he amply fulfilled. +(See the 'Nat. Hist. Review,' 1861.) On Friday there was peace, but on +Saturday 30th, the battle arose with redoubled fury over a paper by +Dr. Draper of New York, on the 'Intellectual development of Europe +considered with reference to the views of Mr. Darwin.' + +The following account is from an eye-witness of the scene. + +"The excitement was tremendous. The Lecture-room, in which it had been +arranged that the discussion should be held, proved far too small for +the audience, and the meeting adjourned to the Library of the Museum, +which was crammed to suffocation long before the champions entered +the lists. The numbers were estimated at from 700 to 1000. Had it been +term-time, or had the general public been admitted, it would have been +impossible to have accommodated the rush to hear the oratory of the +bold Bishop. Professor Henslow, the President of Section D, occupied +the chair and wisely announced in limine that none who had not valid +arguments to bring forward on one side or the other, would be allowed to +address the meeting: a caution that proved necessary, for no fewer than +four combatants had their utterances burked by him, because of their +indulgence in vague declamation. + +"The Bishop was up to time, and spoke for full half-an-hour with +inimitable spirit, emptiness and unfairness. It was evident from his +handling of the subject that he had been 'crammed' up to the throat, and +that he knew nothing at first hand; in fact, he used no argument not +to be found in his 'Quarterly' article. He ridiculed Darwin badly, and +Huxley savagely, but all in such dulcet tones, so persuasive a manner, +and in such well-turned periods, that I who had been inclined to blame +the President for allowing a discussion that could serve no scientific +purpose now forgave him from the bottom of my heart. Unfortunately the +Bishop, hurried along on the current of his own eloquence, so far forgot +himself as to push his attempted advantage to the verge of personality +in a telling passage in which he turned round and addressed Huxley: +I forgot the precise words, and quote from Lyell. 'The Bishop asked +whether Huxley was related by his grandfather's or grandmother's side to +an ape.' (Lyell's 'Letters,' vol. ii. page 335.) Huxley replied to the +scientific argument of his opponent with force and eloquence, and to +the personal allusion with a sel-restraint, that gave dignity to his +crushing rejoinder." + +Many versions of Mr. Huxley's speech were current: the following report +of his conclusion is from a letter addressed by the late John Richard +Green, then an undergraduate, to a fellow-student, now Professor Boyd +Dawkins. "I asserted, and I repeat, that a man has no reason to be +ashamed of having an ape for his grandfather. If there were an ancestor +whom I should feel shame in recalling, it would be a MAN, a man of +restless and versatile intellect, who, not content with an equivocal +(Prof. V. Carus, who has a distinct recollection of the scene, does not +remember the word equivocal. He believes too that Lyell's version of +the "ape" sentence is slightly incorrect.) success in his own sphere of +activity, plunges into scientific questions with which he has no real +acquaintance, only to obscure them by an aimless rhetoric, and distract +the attention of his hearers from the real point at issue by eloquent +digressions, and skilled appeals to religious prejudice." + +The letter above quoted continues: + +"The excitement was now at its height; a lady fainted and had to be +carried out, and it was some time before the discussion was resumed. +Some voices called for Hooker, and his name having been handed up, the +President invited him to give his view of the theory from the Botanical +side. This he did, demonstrating that the Bishop, by his own showing, +had never grasped the principles of the 'Origin' (With regard to the +Bishop's 'Quarterly Review,' my father wrote: "These very clever men +think they can write a review with a very slight knowledge of the book +reviewed or subject in question."), and that he was absolutely ignorant +of the elements of botanical science. The Bishop made no reply, and the +meeting broke up. + +"There was a crowded conversazione in the evening at the rooms of the +hospitable and genial Professor of Botany, Dr. Daubeny, where the almost +sole topic was the battle of the 'Origin,' and I was much struck with +the fair and unprejudiced way in which the black coats and white cravats +of Oxford discussed the question, and the frankness with which they +offered their congratulations to the winners in the combat.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Sudbrook Park, Monday night [July 2nd, +1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have just received your letter. I have been very poorly, with almost +continuous bad headache for forty-eight hours, and I was low enough, +and thinking what a useless burthen I was to myself and all others, when +your letter came, and it has so cheered me; your kindness and affection +brought tears into my eyes. Talk of fame, honour, pleasure, wealth, all +are dirt compared with affection; and this is a doctrine with which, I +know, from your letter, that you will agree with from the bottom of your +heart... How I should have liked to have wandered about Oxford with you, +if I had been well enough; and how still more I should have liked to +have heard you triumphing over the Bishop. I am astonished at your +success and audacity. It is something unintelligible to me how any one +can argue in public like orators do. I had no idea you had this power. +I have read lately so many hostile views, that I was beginning to think +that perhaps I was wholly in the wrong, and that -- was right when he +said the whole subject would be forgotten in ten years; but now that I +hear that you and Huxley will fight publicly (which I am sure I never +could do), I fully believe that our cause will, in the long-run, +prevail. I am glad I was not in Oxford, for I should have been +overwhelmed, with my [health] in its present state. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Sudbrook Park, Richmond, July 3rd [1860]. + +... I had a letter from Oxford, written by Hooker late on Sunday night, +giving me some account of the awful battles which have raged about +species at Oxford. He tells me you fought nobly with Owen (but I have +heard no particulars), and that you answered the B. of O. capitally. I +often think that my friends (and you far beyond others) have good cause +to hate me, for having stirred up so much mud, and led them into so much +odious trouble. If I had been a friend of myself, I should have hated +me. (How to make that sentence good English, I know not.) But remember, +if I had not stirred up the mud, some one else certainly soon would. +I honour your pluck; I would as soon have died as tried to answer the +Bishop in such an assembly... + + +[On July 20th, my father wrote to Mr. Huxley: + +"From all that I hear from several quarters, it seems that Oxford did +the subject great good. It is of enormous importance, the showing the +world that a few first-rate men are not afraid of expressing their +opinion."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. [July 1860]. + +... I have just read the 'Quarterly.' ('Quarterly Review,' July 1860. +The article in question was by Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, and +was afterwards published in his "Essays Contributed to the 'Quarterly +Review,' 1874." The passage from the 'Anti-Jacobin' gives the history of +the evolution of space from the "primaeval point or punctum saliens of +the universe," which is conceived to have moved "forward in a right line +ad infinitum, till it grew tired; after which the right line, which +it had generated, would begin to put itself in motion in a lateral +direction, describing an area of infinite extent. This area, as soon +as it became conscious of its own existence, would begin to ascend or +descend according as its specific gravity would determine it, forming +an immense solid space filled with vacuum, and capable of containing the +present universe." + +The following (page 263) may serve as an example of the passages in +which the reviewer refers to Sir Charles Lyell:--"That Mr. Darwin should +have wandered from this broad highway of nature's works into the jungle +of fanciful assumption is no small evil. We trust that he is mistaken +in believing that he may count Sir C. Lyell as one of his converts. We +know, indeed, that the strength of the temptations which he can bring to +bear upon his geological brother... Yet no man has been more distinct and +more logical in the denial of the transmutation of species than Sir C. +Lyell, and that not in the infancy of his scientific life, but in its +full vigour and maturity." The Bishop goes on to appeal to Lyell, in +order that with his help "this flimsy speculation may be as completely +put down as was what in spite of all denials we must venture to call its +twin though less instructed brother, the 'Vestiges of Creation.'" + +With reference to this article, Mr. Brodie Innes, my father's old friend +and neighbour, writes:--"Most men would have been annoyed by an article +written with the Bishop's accustomed vigour, a mixture of argument +and ridicule. Mr. Darwin was writing on some parish matter, and put a +postscript--'If you have not seen the last 'Quarterly,' do get it; the +Bishop of Oxford has made such capital fun of me and my grandfather.' By +a curious coincidence, when I received the letter, I was staying in the +same house with the Bishop, and showed it to him. He said, 'I am very +glad he takes it in that way, he is such a capital fellow.'") It is +uncommonly clever; it picks out with skill all the most conjectural +parts, and brings forward well all the difficulties. It quizzes me quite +splendidly by quoting the 'Anti-Jacobin' versus my Grandfather. You are +not alluded to, nor, strange to say, Huxley; and I can plainly see, here +and there, --'s hand. The concluding pages will make Lyell shake in his +shoes. By Jove, if he sticks to us, he will be a real hero. Good-night. +Your wel-quizzed, but not sorrowful, and affectionate friend. + +C.D. + +I can see there has been some queer tampering with the Review, for a +page has been cut out and reprinted. + + +[Writing on July 22 to Dr. Asa Gray my father thus refers to Lyell's +position:-- + +"Considering his age, his former views and position in society, I think +his conduct has been heroic on this subject."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. [Hartfield, Sussex] July 22nd [1860]. + +My dear Gray, + +Owing to absence from home at water-cure and then having to move my sick +girl to whence I am now writing, I have only lately read the discussion +in Proc. American Acad. (April 10, 1860. Dr. Gray criticised in detail +"several of the positions taken at the preceding meeting by Mr. +[J.A.] Lowell, Prof. Bowen and Prof. Agassiz." It was reprinted in the +"Athenaeum", August 4, 1860.), and now I cannot resist expressing my +sincere admiration of your most clear powers of reasoning. As Hooker +lately said in a note to me, you are more than ANY ONE else the thorough +master of the subject. I declare that you know my book as well as I do +myself; and bring to the question new lines of illustration and argument +in a manner which excites my astonishment and almost my envy! I admire +these discussions, I think, almost more than your article in Silliman's +Journal. Every single word seems weighed carefully, and tells like a +32-pound shot. It makes me much wish (but I know that you have not time) +that you could write more in detail, and give, for instance, the facts +on the variability of the American wild fruits. The "Athenaeum" has +the largest circulation, and I have sent my copy to the editor with a +request that he would republish the first discussion; I much fear he +will not, as he reviewed the subject in so hostile a spirit... I shall +be curious [to see] and will order the August number, as soon as I know +that it contains your review of Reviews. My conclusion is that you have +made a mistake in being a botanist, you ought to have been a lawyer. + +... Henslow (Professor Henslow was mentioned in the December number of +'Macmillan's Magazine' as being an adherent of Evolution. In consequence +of this he published, in the February number of the following year, a +letter defining his position. This he did by means of an extract from a +letter addressed to him by the Rev. L. Jenyns (Blomefield) which "very +nearly," as he says, expressed his views. Mr. Blomefield wrote, "I was +not aware that you had become a convert to his (Darwin's) theory, and +can hardly suppose you have accepted it as a whole, though, like myself, +you may go to the length of imagining that many of the smaller groups, +both of animals and plants, may at some remote period have had a common +parentage. I do not with some say that the whole of his theory cannot +be true--but that it is very far from proved; and I doubt its ever being +possible to prove it.") and Daubeny are shaken. I hear from Hooker that +he hears from Hochstetter that my views are making very considerable +progress in Germany, and the good workers are discussing the question. +Bronn at the end of his translation has a chapter of criticism, but it +is such difficult German that I have not yet read it. Hopkins's review +in 'Fraser' is thought the best which has appeared against us. I believe +that Hopkins is so much opposed because his course of study has never +led him to reflect much on such subjects as geographical distribution, +classification, homologies, etc., so that he does not feel it a relief +to have some kind of explanation. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Hartfield [Sussex], July 30th [1860]. + +... I had lots of pleasant letters about the British Association, and our +side seems to have got on very well. There has been as much discussion +on the other side of the Atlantic as on this. No one I think understands +the whole case better than Asa Gray, and he has been fighting nobly. He +is a capital reasoner. I have sent one of his printed discussions to our +"Athenaeum", and the editor says he will print it. The 'Quarterly' has +been out some time. It contains no malice, which is wonderful... It makes +me say many things which I do not say. At the end it quotes all your +conclusions against Lamarck, and makes a solemn appeal to you to keep +firm in the true faith. I fancy it will make you quake a little. -- has +ingeniously primed the Bishop (with Murchison) against you as head of +the uniformitarians. The only other review worth mentioning, which I can +think of, is in the third No. of the 'London Review,' by some geologist, +and favorable for a wonder. It is very ably done, and I should like +much to know who is the author. I shall be very curious to hear on your +return whether Bronn's German translation of the 'Origin' has drawn +any attention to the subject. Huxley is eager about a 'Natural History +Review,' which he and others are going to edit, and he has got so +many first-rate assistants, that I really believe he will make it +a first-rate production. I have been doing nothing, except a little +botanical work as amusement. I shall hereafter be very anxious to hear +how your tour has answered. I expect your book on the geological history +of Man will, with a vengeance, be a bomb-shell. I hope it will not be +very long delayed. Our kindest remembrances to Lady Lyell. This is not +worth sending, but I have nothing better to say. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. WATKINS. (See Volume I.) Down, July 30th, [1860?]. + +My dear Watkins, + +Your note gave me real pleasure. Leading the retired life which I do, +with bad health, I oftener think of old times than most men probably do; +and your face now rises before me, with the pleasant old expression, as +vividly as if I saw you. + +My book has been well abused, praised, and splendidly quizzed by the +Bishop of Oxford; but from what I see of its influence on really good +workers in science, I feel confident that, IN THE MAIN, I am on the +right road. With respect to your question, I think the arguments +are valid, showing that all animals have descended from four or five +primordial forms; and that analogy and weak reasons go to show that all +have descended from some single prototype. + +Farewell, my old friend. I look back to old Cambridge days with +unalloyed pleasure. + +Believe me, yours most sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +T.H. HUXLEY TO CHARLES DARWIN. August 6th, 1860. + +My dear Darwin, + +I have to announce a new and great ally for you... + +Von Baer writes to me thus:--Et outre cela, je trouve que vous ecrivez +encore des redactions. Vous avez ecrit sur l'ouvrage de M. Darwin une +critique dont je n'ai trouve que des debris dans un journal allemand. +J'ai oublie le nom terrible du journal anglais dans lequel se trouve +votre recension. En tout cas aussi je ne peux pas trouver le journal +ici. Comme je m'interesse beaucoup pour les idees de M. Darwin, sur +lesquelles j'ai parle publiquement et sur lesquelles je ferai peut-etre +imprimer quelque chose--vous m'obligeriez infiniment si vous pourriez me +faire parvenir ce que vous avez ecrit sur ces idees. + +"J'ai enonce les memes idees sur la transformation des types ou origine +d'especes que M. Darwin. (See Vol. I.) Mais c'est seulement sur la +geographie zoologique que je m'appuie. Vous trouverez, dans le dernier +chapitre du traite 'Ueber Papuas und Alfuren,' que j'en parle tres +decidement sans savoir que M. Darwin s'occupait de cet objet." + +The treatise to which Von Baer refers he gave me when over here, but I +have not been able to lay hands on it since this letter reached me two +days ago. When I find it I will let you know what there is in it. + +Ever yours faithfully, T.H. HUXLEY. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, August 8 [1860]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Your note contained magnificent news, and thank you heartily for sending +it me. Von Baer weighs down with a vengeance all the virulence of [the +'Edinburgh' reviewer] and weak arguments of Agassiz. If you write to +Von Baer, for heaven's sake tell him that we should think one nod of +approbation on our side, of the greatest value; and if he does write +anything, beg him to send us a copy, for I would try and get it +translated and published in the "Athenaeum" and in 'Silliman' to touch +up Agassiz... Have you seen Agassiz's weak metaphysical and theological +attack on the 'Origin' in the last 'Silliman'? (The 'American Journal +of Science and Arts' (commonly called 'Silliman's Journal'), July 1860. +Printed from advanced sheets of vol. iii. of 'Contributions to the Nat. +Hist. of the U.S.' My father's copy has a pencilled "Truly" opposite the +following passage:--"Unless Darwin and his followers succeed in showing +that the struggle for life tends to something beyond favouring the +existence of certain individuals over that of other individuals, they +will soon find that they are following a shadow.") I would send it you, +but apprehend it would be less trouble for you to look at it in London +than return it to me. R. Wagner has sent me a German pamphlet ('Louis +Agassiz's Prinzipien der Classification, etc., mit Rucksicht auf Darwins +Ansichten. Separat-Abdruck aus den Gottingischen gelehrten Anzeigen,' +1860.), giving an abstract of Agassiz's 'Essay on Classification,' "mit +Rucksicht auf Darwins Ansichten," etc. etc. He won't go very "dangerous +lengths," but thinks the truth lies half-way between Agassiz and +the 'Origin.' As he goes thus far he will, nolens volens, have to go +further. He says he is going to review me in [his] yearly Report. My +good and kind agent for the propagation of the Gospel--i.e. the devil's +gospel. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, August 11th [1860]. + +... I have laughed at Woodward thinking that you were a man who could be +influenced in your judgment by the voice of the public; and yet after +mortally sneering at him, I was obliged to confess to myself, that I had +had fears, what the effect might be of so many heavy guns fired by great +men. As I have (sent by Murray) a spare 'Quarterly Review,' I send it by +this post, as it may amuse you. The Anti-Jacobin part amused me. It is +full of errors, and Hooker is thinking of answering it. There has been +a cancelled page; I should like to know what gigantic blunder it +contained. Hooker says that -- has played on the Bishop, and made him +strike whatever note he liked; he has wished to make the article as +disagreeable to you as possible. I will send the "Athenaeum" in a day or +two. + +As you wish to hear what reviews have appeared, I may mention that +Agassiz has fired off a shot in the last 'Silliman,' not good at all, +denies variations and rests on the perfection of Geological evidence. +Asa Gray tells me that a very clever friend has been almost converted +to our side by this review of Agassiz's... Professor Parsons (Theophilus +Parsons, Professor of Law in Harvard University.) has published in +the same 'Silliman' a speculative paper correcting my notions, worth +nothing. In the 'Highland Agricultural Journal' there is a review by +some Entomologist, not worth much. This is all that I can remember... As +Huxley says, the platoon firing must soon cease. Hooker and Huxley, and +Asa Gray, I see, are determined to stick to the battle and not give in; +I am fully convinced that whenever you publish, it will produce a great +effect on all TRIMMERS, and on many others. By the way I forgot +to mention Daubeny's pamphlet ('Remarks on the final causes of the +sexuality of plants with particular reference to Mr. Darwin's work on +the "Origin of Species."'--British Association Report, 1860.), very +liberal and candid, but scientifically weak. I believe Hooker is going +nowhere this summer; he is excessively busy... He has written me many, +most nice letters. I shall be very curious to hear on your return some +account of your Geological doings. Talking of Geology, you used to +be interested about the "pipes" in the chalk. About three years ago +a perfectly circular hole suddenly appeared in a flat grass field to +everyone's astonishment, and was filled up with many waggon loads of +earth; and now two or three days ago, again it has circularly subsided +about two feet more. How clearly this shows what is still slowly going +on. This morning I recommenced work, and am at dogs; when I have written +my short discussion on them, I will have it copied, and if you like, you +can then see how the argument stands, about their multiple origin. As +you seemed to think this important, it might be worth your reading; +though I do not feel sure that you will come to the same probable +conclusion that I have done. By the way, the Bishop makes a very telling +case against me, by accumulating several instances where I speak very +doubtfully; but this is very unfair, as in such cases as this of the +dog, the evidence is and must be very doubtful... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, August 11 [1860]. + +My dear Gray, + +On my return home from Sussex about a week ago, I found several articles +sent by you. The first article, from the 'Atlantic Monthly,' I am very +glad to possess. By the way, the editor of the "Athenaeum" (August 4, +1860.) has inserted your answer to Agassiz, Bowen, and Co., and when I +therein read them, I admired them even more than at first. They really +seemed to be admirable in their condensation, force, clearness and +novelty. + +I am surprised that Agassiz did not succeed in writing something better. +How absurd that logical quibble--"if species do not exist, how can they +vary?" As if any one doubted their temporary existence. How coolly +he assumes that there is some clearly defined distinction between +individual differences and varieties. It is no wonder that a man who +calls identical forms, when found in two countries, distinct species, +cannot find variation in nature. Again, how unreasonable to suppose that +domestic varieties selected by man for his own fancy should resemble +natural varieties or species. The whole article seems to me poor; it +seems to me hardly worth a detailed answer (even if I could do it, and +I much doubt whether I possess your skill in picking out salient points +and driving a nail into them), and indeed you have already answered +several points. Agassiz's name, no doubt, is a heavy weight against +us... + +If you see Professor Parsons, will you thank him for the extremely +liberal and fair spirit in which his Essay ('Silliman's Journal,' July, +1860.) is written. Please tell him that I reflected much on the chance +of favourable monstrosities (i.e. great and sudden variation) arising. +I have, of course, no objection to this, indeed it would be a great aid, +but I do not allude to the subject, for, after much labour, I could find +nothing which satisfied me of the probability of such occurrences. +There seems to me in almost every case too much, too complex, and too +beautiful adaptation, in every structure, to believe in its sudden +production. I have alluded under the head of beautifully hooked seeds +to such possibility. Monsters are apt to be sterile, or NOT to transmit +monstrous peculiarities. Look at the fineness of gradation in the shells +of successive SUB-STAGES of the same great formation; I could give +many other considerations which made me doubt such view. It holds, to a +certain extent, with domestic productions no doubt, where man preserves +some abrupt change in structure. It amused me to see Sir R. Murchison +quoted as a judge of affinities of animals, and it gave me a cold +shudder to hear of any one speculating about a true crustacean +giving birth to a true fish! (Parson's, loc. cit. page 5, speaking of +Pterichthys and Cephalaspis, says:--"Now is it too much to infer from +these facts that either of these animals, if a crustacean, was so nearly +a fish that some of its ova may have become fish; or, if itself a fish, +was so nearly a crustacean that it may have been born from the ovum of a +crustacean?") + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 1st [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have been much interested by your letter of the 28th, received this +morning. It has DELIGHTED me, because it demonstrates that you have +thought a good deal lately on Natural Selection. Few things have +surprised me more than the entire paucity of objections and difficulties +new to me in the published reviews. Your remarks are of a different +stamp and new to me. I will run through them, and make a few pleadings +such as occur to me. + +I put in the possibility of the Galapagos having been CONTINUOUSLY +joined to America, out of mere subservience to the many who believe in +Forbes's doctrine, and did not see the danger of admission, about small +mammals surviving there in such case. The case of the Galapagos, from +certain facts on littoral sea-shells (viz. Pacific Ocean and South +American littoral species), in fact convinced me more than in any other +case of other islands, that the Galapagos had never been continuously +united with the mainland; it was mere base subservience, and terror of +Hooker and Co. + +With respect to atolls, I think mammals would hardly survive VERY LONG, +even if the main islands (for as I have said in the Coral Book, the +outline of groups of atolls do not look like a former CONTINENT) had +been tenanted by mammals, from the extremely small area, the very +peculiar conditions, and the probability that during subsidence all or +nearly all atolls have been breached and flooded by the sea many times +during their existence as atolls. + +I cannot conceive any existing reptile being converted into a mammal. +From homologies I should look at it as certain that all mammals had +descended from some single progenitor. What its nature was, it is +impossible to speculate. More like, probably, the Ornithorhynchus +or Echidna than any known form; as these animals combine reptilian +characters (and in a less degree bird character) with mammalian. We +must imagine some form as intermediate, as is Lepidosiren now, between +reptiles and fish, between mammals and birds on the one hand (for they +retain longer the same embryological character) and reptiles on the +other hand. With respect to a mammal not being developed on any island, +besides want of time for so prodigious a development, there must have +arrived on the island the necessary and peculiar progenitor, having +a character like the embryo of a mammal; and not an ALREADY DEVELOPED +reptile, bird or fish. + +We might give to a bird the habits of a mammal, but inheritance would +retain almost for eternity some of the bird-like structure, and prevent +a new creature ranking as a true mammal. + +I have often speculated on antiquity of islands, but not with your +precision, or at all under the point of view of Natural Selection NOT +having done what might have been anticipated. The argument of littoral +Miocene shells at the Canary Islands is new to me. I was deeply +impressed (from the amount of the denudation) [with the] antiquity of +St. Helena, and its age agrees with the peculiarity of the flora. With +respect to bats at New Zealand (N.B. There are two or three European +bats in Madeira, and I think in the Canary Islands) not having given +rise to a group of non-volant bats, it is, now you put the case, +surprising; more especially as the genus of bats in New Zealand is very +peculiar, and therefore has probably been long introduced, and they now +speak of Cretacean fossils there. But the first necessary step has to +be shown, namely, of a bat taking to feed on the ground, or anyhow, and +anywhere, except in the air. I am bound to confess I do know one single +such fact, viz. of an Indian species killing frogs. Observe, that in my +wretched Polar Bear case, I do show the first step by which conversion +into a whale "would be easy," "would offer no difficulty"!! So with +seals, I know of no fact showing any the least incipient variation of +seals feeding on the shore. Moreover, seals wander much; I searched in +vain, and could not find ONE case of any species of seal confined to +any islands. And hence wanderers would be apt to cross with individuals +undergoing any change on an island, as in the case of land birds of +Madeira and Bermuda. The same remark applies even to bats, as they +frequently come to Bermuda from the mainland, though about 600 miles +distant. With respect to the Amblyrhynchus of the Galapagos, one may +infer as probable, from marine habits being so rare with Saurians, and +from the terrestrial species being confined to a few central islets, +that its progenitor first arrived at the Galapagos; from what country it +is impossible to say, as its affinity I believe is not very clear to +any known species. The offspring of the terrestrial species was probably +rendered marine. Now in this case I do not pretend I can show variation +in habits; but we have in the terrestrial species a vegetable feeder (in +itself a rather unusual circumstance), largely on LICHENS, and it would +not be a great change for its offspring to feed first on littoral algae +and then on submarine algae. I have said what I can in defence, but +yours is a good line of attack. We should, however, always remember +that no change will ever be effected till a variation in the habits or +structure or of both CHANCE to occur in the right direction, so as +to give the organism in question an advantage over other already +established occupants of land or water, and this may be in any +particular case indefinitely long. I am very glad you will read my dogs +MS., for it will be important to me to see what you think of the balance +of evidence. After long pondering on a subject it is often hard to +judge. With hearty thanks for your most interesting letter. Farewell. + +My dear old master, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, September 2nd [1860]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am astounded at your news received this morning. I am become such an +old fogy that I am amazed at your spirit. For God's sake do not go and +get your throat cut. Bless my soul, I think you must be a little insane. +I must confess it will be a most interesting tour; and, if you get +to the top of Lebanon, I suppose extremely interesting--you ought to +collect any beetles under stones there; but the Entomologists are such +slow coaches. I dare say no result could be made out of them. [They] +have never worked the Alpines of Britain. + +If you come across any Brine lakes, do attend to their minute flora and +fauna; I have often been surprised how little this has been attended to. + +I have had a long letter from Lyell, who starts ingenious difficulties +opposed to Natural Selection, because it has not done more than it +has. This is very good, as it shows that he has thoroughly mastered the +subject; and shows he is in earnest. Very striking letter altogether and +it rejoices the cockles of my heart. + +... How I shall miss you, my best and kindest of friends. God bless you. + +Yours ever affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, September 10 [1860]. + +... You will be weary of my praise, but it (Dr. Gray in the 'Atlantic +Monthly' for July, 1860.) does strike me as quite admirably argued, and +so well and pleasantly written. Your many metaphors are inimitably good. +I said in a former letter that you were a lawyer, but I made a gross +mistake, I am sure that you are a poet. No, by Jove, I will tell you +what you are, a hybrid, a complex cross of lawyer, poet, naturalist and +theologian! Was there ever such a monster seen before? + +I have just looked through the passages which I have marked as appearing +to me extra good, but I see that they are too numerous to specify, and +this is no exaggeration. My eye just alights on the happy comparison +of the colours of the prism and our artificial groups. I see one little +error of fossil CATTLE in South America. + +It is curious how each one, I suppose, weighs arguments in a different +balance: embryology is to me by far the strongest single class of facts +in favour of change of forms, and not one, I think, of my reviewers has +alluded to this. Variation not coming on at a very early age, and being +inherited at not a very early corresponding period, explains, as it +seems to me, the grandest of all facts in natural history, or rather in +zoology, viz. the resemblance of embryos. + + +[Dr. Gray wrote three articles in the 'Atlantic Monthly' for July, +August, and October, which were reprinted as a pamphlet in 1861, and +now form chapter iii. in 'Darwiniana' (1876), with the heading 'Natural +Selection not inconsistent with Natural Theology.'] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL Down, September 12th [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I never thought of showing your letter to any one. I mentioned in a +letter to Hooker that I had been much interested by a letter of yours +with original objections, founded chiefly on Natural Selection not +having done so much as might have been expected... In your letter just +received, you have improved your case versus Natural Selection; and it +would tell with the public (do not be tempted by its novelty to make +it too strong); yet is seems to me, not REALLY very killing, though I +cannot answer your case, especially, why Rodents have not become +highly developed in Australia. You must assume that they have inhabited +Australia for a very long period, and this may or may not be the case. +But I feel that our ignorance is so profound, why one form is preserved +with nearly the same structure, or advances in organisation or even +retrogrades, or becomes extinct, that I cannot put very great weight on +the difficulty. Then, as you say often in your letter, we know not how +many geological ages it may have taken to make any great advance in +organisation. Remember monkeys in the Eocene formations: but I admit +that you have made out an excellent objection and difficulty, and I +can give only unsatisfactory and quite vague answers, such as you have +yourself put; however, you hardly put weight enough on the absolute +necessity of variations first arising in the right direction, videlicet, +of seals beginning to feed on the shore. + +I entirely agree with what you say about only one species of many +becoming modified. I remember this struck me much when tabulating the +varieties of plants, and I have a discussion somewhere on this point. It +is absolutely implied in my ideas of classification and divergence +that only one or two species, of even large genera, give birth to new +species; and many whole genera become WHOLLY extinct... Please see page +341 of the 'Origin.' But I cannot remember that I have stated in the +'Origin' the fact of only very few species in each genus varying. You +have put the view much better in your letter. Instead of saying, as I +often have, that very few species vary at the same time, I ought to +have said, that very few species of a genus EVER vary so as to become +modified; for this is the fundamental explanation of classification, and +is shown in my engraved diagram... + +I quite agree with you on the strange and inexplicable fact of +Ornithorhynchus having been preserved, and Australian Trigonia, or the +Silurian Lingula. I always repeat to myself that we hardly know why any +one single species is rare or common in the best-known countries. I have +got a set of notes somewhere on the inhabitants of fresh water; and it +is singular how many of these are ancient, or intermediate forms; which +I think is explained by the competition having been less severe, and +the rate of change of organic forms having been slower in small confined +areas, such as all the fresh waters make compared with sea or land. + +I see that you do allude in the last page, as a difficulty, to +Marsupials not having become Placentals in Australia; but this I think +you have no right at all to expect; for we ought to look at Marsupials +and Placentals as having descended from some intermediate and lower +form. The argument of Rodents not having become highly developed +in Australia (supposing that they have long existed there) is much +stronger. I grieve to see you hint at the creation "of distinct +successive types, as well as of a certain number of distinct aboriginal +types." Remember, if you admit this, you give up the embryological +argument (THE WEIGHTIEST OF ALL TO ME), and the morphological or +homological argument. You cut my throat, and your own throat; and I +believe will live to be sorry for it. So much for species. + +The striking extract which E. copied was your own writing!! in a note to +me, many long years ago--which she copied and sent to Mme. Sismondi; and +lately my aunt, in sorting her letters, found E.'s and returned them +to her... I have been of late shamefully idle, i.e. observing (Drosera) +instead of writing, and how much better fun observing is than writing. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. 15 Marine Parade, Eastbourne, Sunday +[September 23rd, 1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I got your letter of the 18th just before starting here. You speak of +saving me trouble in answering. Never think of this, for I look at every +letter of yours as an honour and pleasure, which is a pretty deal more +than I can say of some of the letters which I receive. I have now one of +13 CLOSELY WRITTEN FOLIO PAGES to answer on species!... + +I have a very decided opinion that all mammals must have descended from +a SINGLE parent. Reflect on the multitude of details, very many of them +of extremely little importance to their habits (as the number of +bones of the head, etc., covering of hair, identical embryological +development, etc. etc.). Now this large amount of similarity I must look +at as certainly due to inheritance from a common stock. I am aware that +some cases occur in which a similar or nearly similar organ has been +acquired by independent acts of natural selection. But in most of such +cases of these apparently so closely similar organs, some important +homological difference may be detected. Please read page 193, beginning, +"The electric organs," and trust me that the sentence, "In all these +cases of two very distinct species," etc. etc., was not put in rashly, +for I went carefully into every case. Apply this argument to the whole +frame, internal and external, of mammifers, and you will see why I think +so strongly that all have descended from one progenitor. I have just +re-read your letter, and I am not perfectly sure that I understand your +point. + +I enclose two diagrams showing the sort of manner I CONJECTURE that +mammals have been developed. I thought a little on this when writing +page 429, beginning, "Mr. Waterhouse." (Please read the paragraph.) I +have not knowledge enough to choose between these two diagrams. If the +brain of Marsupials in embryo closely resembles that of Placentals, +I should strongly prefer No.2, and this agrees with the antiquity of +Microlestes. As a general rule I should prefer No.1 diagram; whether or +not Marsupials have gone on being developed, or rising in rank, from a +very early period would depend on circumstances too complex for even +a conjecture. Lingula has not risen since the Silurian epoch, whereas +other molluscs may have risen. + +Here appear two diagrams. + +Diagram I. + +A - Mammals, not true Marsupials nor true Placentals. - 2 branches - +Branch I, True Placental, from which branch off Rodents, Insectivora, a +branch terminating in Ruminants and Pachyderms, Canidae and terminates +in Quadrumana. - Branch II, True Marsupial, from which branches off +Kangaroo family an unnamed branch terminating in 2 unnamed branches and +terminates in Didelphys Family. + +Diagram II. + +A - True Marsupials, lowly developed. - True Marsupials, highly +developed. - 2 branches - Branch I, Placentals, from which branch off +Rodents, Insectivora, a branch terminating in Ruminants and Pachyderms, +Canidae and terminates in Quadrumana. - Branch II, Present Marsupials, +splitting into two branches terminating in Kangaroo family (with 2 +unnamed branches) and Didelphys family. + +A, in the two diagrams, represents an unknown form, probably +intermediate between Mammals, Reptiles, and Birds, as intermediate as +Lepidosiren now is between Fish and Batrachians. This unknown form is +probably more closely related to Ornithorhynchus than to any other known +form. + +I do not think that the multiple origin of dogs goes against the single +origin of man... All the races of man are so infinitely closer together +than to any ape, that (as in the case of descent of all mammals from +one progenitor), I should look at all races of men as having certainly +descended from one parent. I should look at it as probable that the +races of men were less numerous and less divergent formerly than +now, unless, indeed, some lower and more aberrant race even than the +Hottentot has become extinct. Supposing, as I do for one believe, that +our dogs have descended from two or three wolves, jackals, etc., +yet these have, on OUR VIEW, descended from a single remote unknown +progenitor. With domestic dogs the question is simply whether the whole +amount of difference has been produced since man domesticated a single +species; or whether part of the difference arises in the state of +nature. Agassiz and Co. think the negro and Caucasian are now distinct +species, and it is a mere vain discussion whether, when they were rather +less distinct, they would, on this standard of specific value, deserve +to be called species. + +I agree with your answer which you give to yourself on this point; and +the simile of man now keeping down any new man which might be developed, +strikes me as good and new. The white man is "improving off the face +of the earth" even races nearly his equals. With respect to islands, I +think I would trust to want of time alone, and not to bats and Rodents. + +N.B.--I know of no rodents on oceanic islands (except my Galapagos +mouse, which MAY have been introduced by man) keeping down the +development of other classes. Still MUCH more weight I should attribute +to there being now, neither in islands nor elsewhere, [any] known +animals of a grade of organisation intermediate between mammals, +fish, reptiles, etc., whence a new mammal could be developed. If +every vertebrate were destroyed throughout the world, except our NOW +WELL-ESTABLISHED reptiles, millions of ages might elapse before reptiles +could become highly developed on a scale equal to mammals; and, on the +principle of inheritance, they would make some quite NEW CLASS, and not +mammals; though POSSIBLY more intellectual! I have not an idea that you +will care for this letter, so speculative. + +Most truly yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, September 26 [1860]. + +... I have had a letter of fourteen folio pages from Harvey against my +book, with some ingenious and new remarks; but it is an extraordinary +fact that he does not understand at all what I mean by Natural +Selection. I have begged him to read the Dialogue in next 'Silliman,' as +you never touch the subject without making it clearer. I look at it +as even more extraordinary that you never say a word or use an epithet +which does not express fully my meaning. Now Lyell, Hooker, and others, +who perfectly understand my book, yet sometimes use expressions to which +I demur. Well, your extraordinary labour is over; if there is any fair +amount of truth in my view, I am well assured that your great labour has +not been thrown away... + +I yet hope and almost believe, that the time will come when you will go +further, in believing a very large amount of modification of species, +than you did at first or do now. Can you tell me whether you believe +further or more firmly than you did at first? I should really like to +know this. I can perceive in my immense correspondence with Lyell, who +objected to much at first, that he has, perhaps unconsciousnessly to +himself, converted himself very much during the last six months, and +I think this is the case even with Hooker. This fact gives me far more +confidence than any other fact. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. 15 Marine Parade, Eastbourne, Friday evening +[September 28th, 1860]. + +... I am very glad to hear about the Germans reading my book. No one will +be converted who has not independently begun to doubt about species. Is +not Krohn (There are two papers by Aug. Krohn, one on the Cement Glands, +and the other on the development of Cirripedes, 'Wiegmann's Archiv,' +xxv. and xxvi. My father has remarked that he "blundered dreadfully +about the cement glands," 'Autobiography.') a good fellow? I have +long meant to write to him. He has been working at Cirripedes, and has +detected two or three gigantic blunders,... about which, I thank Heaven, +I spoke rather doubtfully. Such difficult dissection that even Huxley +failed. It is chiefly the interpretation which I put on parts that is +so wrong, and not the parts which I describe. But they were gigantic +blunders, and why I say all this is because Krohn, instead of crowing at +all, pointed out my errors with the utmost gentleness and pleasantness. +I have always meant to write to him and thank him. I suppose Dr. Krohn, +Bonn, would reach him. + +I cannot see yet how the multiple origin of dog can be properly brought +as argument for the multiple origin of man. Is not your feeling a +remnant of the deeply impressed one on all our minds, that a species is +an entity, something quite distinct from a variety? Is it not that the +dog case injures the argument from fertility, so that one main argument +that the races of man are varieties and not species--i.e., because they +are fertile inter se, is much weakened? + +I quite agree with what Hooker says, that whatever variation is possible +under culture, is POSSIBLE under nature; not that the same form would +ever be accumulated and arrived at by selection for man's pleasure, and +by natural selection for the organism's own good. + +Talking of "natural selection;" if I had to commence de novo, I would +have used "natural preservation." For I find men like Harvey of Dublin +cannot understand me, though he has read the book twice. Dr. Gray of the +British Museum remarked to me that, "SELECTION was obviously impossible +with plants! No one could tell him how it could be possible!" And he may +now add that the author did not attempt it to him! + +Yours ever affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. 15 Marine Parade, Eastbourne, October 8th +[1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I send the [English] translation of Bronn (A MS. translation of Bronn's +chapter of objections at the end of his German translation of the +'Origin of Species.'), the first part of the chapter with generalities +and praise is not translated. There are some good hits. He makes an +apparently, and in part truly, telling case against me, says that I +cannot explain why one rat has a longer tail and another longer ears, +etc. But he seems to muddle in assuming that these parts did not all +vary together, or one part so insensibly before the other, as to be +in fact contemporaneous. I might ask the creationist whether he thinks +these differences in the two rats of any use, or as standing in some +relation from laws of growth; and if he admits this, selection might +come into play. He who thinks that God created animals unlike for mere +sport or variety, as man fashions his clothes, will not admit any force +in my argumentum ad hominem. + +Bronn blunders about my supposing several Glacial periods, whether or no +such ever did occur. + +He blunders about my supposing that development goes on at the same rate +in all parts of the world. I presume that he has misunderstood this from +the supposed migration into all regions of the more dominant forms. + +I have ordered Dr. Bree ('Species not Transmutable,' by C.R. Bree, +1860.), and will lend it to you, if you like, and if it turns out good. + +... I am very glad that I misunderstood you about species not having the +capacity to vary, though in fact few do give birth to new species. It +seems that I am very apt to misunderstand you; I suppose I am always +fancying objections. Your case of the Red Indian shows me that we agree +entirely... + +I had a letter yesterday from Thwaites of Ceylon, who was much opposed +to me. He now says, "I find that the more familiar I become with your +views in connection with the various phenomena of nature, the more they +commend themselves to my mind." + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.M. RODWELL. (Rev. J.M. Rodwell, who was at Cambridge +with my father, remembers him saying:--"It strikes me that all our +knowledge about the structure of our earth is very much like what an +old hen would know of a hundred acre field, in a corner of which she is +scratching.") 15 Marine Parade, Eastbourne. November 5th [1860]. + +My dear Sir, + +I am extremely much obliged for your letter, which I can compare only to +a plum-pudding, so full it is of good things. I have been rash about the +cats ("Cats with blue eyes are invariably deaf," 'Origin of Species,' +edition i. page 12.): yet I spoke on what seemed to me, good authority. +The Rev. W.D. Fox gave me a list of cases of various foreign breeds +in which he had observed the correlation, and for years he had vainly +sought an exception. A French paper also gives numerous cases, and one +very curious case of a kitten which GRADUALLY lost the blue colour in +its eyes and as gradually acquired its power of hearing. I had not +heard of your uncle, Mr. Kirby's case (William Kirby, joint author with +Spence, of the well-known 'Introduction to Entomology,' 1818.) (whom I, +for as long as I can remember, have venerated) of care in breeding cats. +I do not know whether Mr. Kirby was your uncle by marriage, but your +letters show me that you ought to have Kirby blood in your veins, and +that if you had not taken to languages you would have been a first-rate +naturalist. + +I sincerely hope that you will be able to carry out your intention of +writing on the "Birth, Life, and Death of Words." Anyhow, you have a +capital title, and some think this the most difficult part of a book. I +remember years ago at the Cape of Good Hope, Sir J. Herschel saying to +me, I wish some one would treat language as Lyell has treated geology. +What a linguist you must be to translate the Koran! Having a vilely bad +head for languages, I feel an awful respect for linguists. + +I do not know whether my brother-in-law, Hensleigh Wedgwood's +'Etymological Dictionary' would be at all in your line; but he +treats briefly on the genesis of words; and, as it seems to me, very +ingeniously. You kindly say that you would communicate any facts which +might occur to you, and I am sure that I should be most grateful. Of +the multitude of letters which I receive, not one in a thousand is like +yours in value. + +With my cordial thanks, and apologies for this untidy letter written in +haste, pray believe me, my dear Sir, + +Yours sincerely obliged, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. November 20th [1860]. + +... I have not had heart to read Phillips ('Life on the Earth.') yet, or +a tremendous long hostile review by Professor Bowen in the 4to Mem. of +the American Academy of Sciences. ("Remarks on the latest form of the +Development Theory." By Francis Bowen, Professor of Natural Religion and +Moral Philosophy, at Harvard University. 'American Academy of Arts and +Sciences,' vol. viii.) (By the way, I hear Agassiz is going to thunder +against me in the next part of the 'Contributions.') Thank you for +telling me of the sale of the 'Origin,' of which I had not heard. There +will be some time, I presume, a new edition, and I especially want your +advice on one point, and you know I think you the wisest of men, and I +shall be ABSOLUTELY GUIDED BY YOUR ADVICE. It has occurred to me, that +it would PERHAPS be a good plan to put a set of notes (some twenty to +forty or fifty) to the 'Origin,' which now has none, exclusively devoted +to errors of my reviewers. It has occurred to me that where a reviewer +has erred, a common reader might err. Secondly, it will show the reader +that he must not trust implicitly to reviewers. Thirdly, when any +special fact has been attacked, I should like to defend it. I would show +no sort of anger. I enclose a mere rough specimen, done without any care +or accuracy--done from memory alone--to be torn up, just to show the +sort of thing that has occurred to me. WILL YOU DO ME THE GREAT KINDNESS +TO CONSIDER THIS WELL? + +It seems to me it would have a good effect, and give some confidence to +the reader. It would [be] a horrid bore going through all the reviews. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +[Here follow samples of foot-notes, the references to volume and page +being left blank. It will be seen that in some cases he seems to have +forgotten that he was writing foot-notes, and to have continued as if +writing to Lyell:-- + +*Dr. Bree asserts that I explain the structure of the cells of the Hive +Bee by "the exploded doctrine of pressure." But I do not say one word +which directly or indirectly can be interpreted into any reference to +pressure. + +*The 'Edinburgh' Reviewer quotes my work as saying that the "dorsal +vertebrae of pigeons vary in number, and disputes the fact." I nowhere +even allude to the dorsal vertebrae, only to the sacral and caudal +vertebrae. + +*The 'Edinburgh' Reviewer throws a doubt on these organs being the +Branchiae of Cirripedes. But Professor Owen in 1854 admits, without +hesitation, that they are Branchiae, as did John Hunter long ago. + +*The confounded Wealden Calculation to be struck out, and a note to +be inserted to the effect that I am convinced of its inaccuracy from +a review in the "Saturday Review", and from Phillips, as I see in his +Table of Contents that he alludes to it. + +*Mr. Hopkins ('Fraser') states--I am quoting only from vague +memory--that, "I argue in favour of my views from the extreme +imperfection of the Geological Record," and says this is the first time +in the history of Science he has ever heard of ignorance being adduced +as an argument. But I repeatedly admit, in the most emphatic language +which I can use, that the imperfect evidence which Geology offers in +regard to transitorial forms is most strongly opposed to my views. +Surely there is a wide difference in fully admitting an objection, and +then in endeavouring to show that it is not so strong as it at first +appears, and in Mr. Hopkins's assertion that I found my argument on the +Objection. + +*I would also put a note to "Natural Selection," and show how variously +it has been misunderstood. + +*A writer in the 'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal' denies my statement +that the Woodpecker of La Plata never frequents trees. I observed its +habits during two years, but, what is more to the purpose, Azara, whose +accuracy all admit, is more emphatic than I am in regard to its never +frequenting trees. Mr. A. Murray denies that it ought to be called +a woodpecker; it has two toes in front and two behind, pointed tail +feathers, a long pointed tongue, and the same general form of body, +the same manner of flight, colouring and voice. It was classed, until +recently, in the same genus--Picus--with all other woodpeckers, but now +has been ranked as a distinct genus amongst the Picidae. It differs from +the typical Picus only in the beak, not being quite so strong, and in +the upper mandible being slightly arched. I think these facts fully +justify my statement that it is "in all essential parts of its +organisation" a Woodpecker.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, November 22 [1860]. + +My dear Huxley, + +For heaven's sake don't write an anti-Darwinian article; you would do it +so confoundedly well. I have sometimes amused myself with thinking how +I could best pitch into myself, and I believe I could give two or three +good digs; but I will see you -- first before I will try. I shall be +very impatient to see the Review. (The first number of the new series of +the 'Nat. Hist. Review' appeared in 1861.) If it succeeds it may really +do much, very much good... + +I heard to-day from Murray that I must set to work at once on a new +edition (The 3rd edition.) of the 'Origin.' [Murray] says the Reviews +have not improved the sale. I shall always think those early reviews, +almost entirely yours, did the subject an ENORMOUS service. If you +have any important suggestions or criticisms to make on any part of the +'Origin,' I should, of course, be very grateful for [them]. For I mean +to correct as far as I can, but not enlarge. How you must be wearied +with and hate the subject, and it is God's blessing if you do not get to +hate me. Adios. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, November 24th [1860]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I thank you much for your letter. I had got to take pleasure in thinking +how I could best snub my reviewers; but I was determined, in any case, +to follow your advice, and, before I had got to the end of your letter, +I was convinced of the wisdom of your advice. ("I get on slowly with +my new edition. I find that your advice was EXCELLENT. I can answer all +reviews, without any direct notice of them, by a little enlargement +here and there, with here and there a new paragraph. Bronn alone I shall +treat with the respect of giving his objections with his name. I think +I shall improve my book a good deal, and add only some twenty +pages."--From a letter to Lyell, December 4th, 1860.) What an advantage +it is to me to have such friends as you. I shall follow every hint in +your letter exactly. + +I have just heard from Murray; he says he sold 700 copies at his sale, +and that he has not half the number to supply; so that I must begin +at once (On the third edition of the 'Origin of Species,' published in +April 1861.)... + +P.S.--I must tell you one little fact which has pleased me. You may +remember that I adduce electrical organs of fish as one of the greatest +difficulties which have occurred to me, and -- notices the passage in a +singularly disingenuous spirit. Well, McDonnell, of Dublin (a first-rate +man), writes to me that he felt the difficulty of the whole case as +overwhelming against me. Not only are the fishes which have electric +organs very remote in scale, but the organ is near the head in some, +and near the tail in others, and supplied by wholly different nerves. It +seems impossible that there could be any transition. Some friend, who +is much opposed to me, seems to have crowed over McDonnell, who +reports that he said to himself, that if Darwin is right, there must +be homologous organs both near the head and tail in other non-electric +fish. He set to work, and, by Jove, he has found them! ('On an organ in +the Skate, which appears to be the homologue of the electrical organ of +the Torpedo,' by R. McDonnell, 'Nat. Hist. Review,' 1861, page 57.) so +that some of the difficulty is removed; and is it not satisfactory that +my hypothetical notions should have led to pretty discoveries? McDonnell +seems very cautious; he says, years must pass before he will venture to +call himself a believer in my doctrine, but that on the subjects which +he knows well, viz., Morphology and Embryology, my views accord well, +and throw light on the whole subject. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, November 26th, 1860. + +My dear Gray, + +I have to thank you for two letters. The latter with corrections, +written before you received my letter asking for an American reprint, +and saying that it was hopeless to print your reviews as a pamphlet, +owing to the impossibility of getting pamphlets known. I am very glad to +say that the August or second 'Atlantic' article has been reprinted in +the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History'; but I have not seen it +there. Yesterday I read over with care the third article; and it seems +to me, as before, ADMIRABLE. But I grieve to say that I cannot honestly +go as far as you do about Design. I am conscious that I am in an utterly +hopeless muddle. I cannot think that the world, as we see it, is the +result of chance; and yet I cannot look at each separate thing as the +result of Design. To take a crucial example, you lead me to infer +(page 414) that you believe "that variation has been led along certain +beneficial lines." I cannot believe this; and I think you would have to +believe, that the tail of the Fantail was led to vary in the number and +direction of its feathers in order to gratify the caprice of a few men. +Yet if the Fantail had been a wild bird, and had used its abnormal tail +for some special end, as to sail before the wind, unlike other birds, +every one would have said, "What a beautiful and designed adaptation." +Again, I say I am, and shall ever remain, in a hopeless muddle. + +Thank you much for Bowen's 4to. review. ('Memoirs of the American +Academy of Arts and Sciences,' vol. viii.) The coolness with which he +makes all animals to be destitute of reason is simply absurd. It is +monstrous at page 103, that he should argue against the possibility of +accumulative variation, and actually leave out, entirely, selection! The +chance that an improved Short-horn, or improved Pouter-pigeon, should be +produced by accumulative variation without man's selection is as almost +infinity to nothing; so with natural species without natural selection. +How capitally in the 'Atlantic' you show that Geology and Astronomy +are, according to Bowen, Metaphysics; but he leaves out this in the 4to. +Memoir. + +I have not much to tell you about my Book. I have just heard that Du +Boi-Reymond agrees with me. The sale of my book goes on well, and the +multitude of reviews has not stopped the sale...; so I must begin at +once on a new corrected edition. I will send you a copy for the chance +of your ever re-reading; but, good Heavens, how sick you must be of it! + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, December 2nd [1860]. + +... I have got fairly sick of hostile reviews. Nevertheless, they have +been of use in showing me when to expatiate a little and to introduce +a few new discussions. OF COURSE I will send you a copy of the new +edition. + +I entirely agree with you, that the difficulties on my notions are +terrific, yet having seen what all the Reviews have said against me, +I have far more confidence in the GENERAL truth of the doctrine than I +formerly had. Another thing gives me confidence, viz. that some who went +half an inch with me now go further, and some who were bitterly +opposed are now less bitterly opposed. And this makes me feel a little +disappointed that you are not inclined to think the general view in +some slight degree more probable than you did at first. This I consider +rather ominous. Otherwise I should be more contented with your degree +of belief. I can pretty plainly see that, if my view is ever to be +generally adopted, it will be by young men growing up and replacing the +old workers, and then young ones finding that they can group facts and +search out new lines of investigation better on the notion of +descent, than on that of creation. But forgive me for running on so +egotistically. Living so solitary as I do, one gets to think in a silly +manner of one's own work. + +Ever yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, December 11th [1860]. + +... I heard from A. Gray this morning; at my suggestion he is going to +reprint the three 'Atlantic' articles as a pamphlet, and send 250 +copies to England, for which I intend to pay half the cost of the +whole edition, and shall give away, and try to sell by getting a few +advertisements put in, and if possible notices in Periodicals. + +... David Forbes has been carefully working the Geology of Chile, and as +I value praise for accurate observation far higher than for any other +quality, forgive (if you can) the INSUFFERABLE vanity of my copying the +last sentence in his note: "I regard your Monograph on Chile as, without +exception, one of the finest specimens of Geological enquiry." I feel +inclined to strut like a Turkey-cock! + + + + +CHAPTER 2.III. -- SPREAD OF EVOLUTION. + +1861-1862. + +[The beginning of the year 1861 saw my father with the third chapter of +'The Variation of Animals and Plants' still on his hands. It had been +begun in the previous August, and was not finished until March 1861. He +was, however, for part of this time (I believe during December 1860 and +January 1861) engaged in a new edition (2000 copies) of the 'Origin,' +which was largely corrected and added to, and was published in April +1861. + +With regard to this, the third edition, he wrote to Mr. Murray in +December 1860:-- + +"I shall be glad to hear when you have decided how many copies you will +print off--the more the better for me in all ways, as far as compatible +with safety; for I hope never again to make so many corrections, or +rather additions, which I have made in hopes of making my many rather +stupid reviewers at least understand what is meant. I hope and think I +shall improve the book considerably." + +An interesting feature in the new edition was the "Historical Sketch of +the Recent Progress of Opinion on the Origin of Species" (The Historical +Sketch had already appeared in the first German edition (1860) and the +American edition. Bronn states in the German edition (footnote, page +1) that it was his critique in the 'N. Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie' that +suggested the idea of such a sketch to my father.) which now appeared +for the first time, and was continued in the later editions of the work. +It bears a strong impress of the author's personal character in the +obvious wish to do full justice to all his predecessors,--though even in +this respect it has not escaped some adverse criticism. + +Towards the end of the present year (1861), the final arrangements +for the first French edition of the 'Origin' were completed, and in +September a copy of the third English edition was despatched to Mdlle. +Clemence Royer, who undertook the work of translation. The book was now +spreading on the Continent, a Dutch edition had appeared, and, as we +have seen, a German translation had been published in 1860. In a letter +to Mr. Murray (September 10, 1861), he wrote, "My book seems exciting +much attention in Germany, judging from the number of discussions sent +me." The silence had been broken, and in a few years the voice of +German science was to become one of the strongest of the advocates of +evolution. + +During all the early part of the year (1861) he was working at the +mass of details which are marshalled in order in the early chapter of +'Animals and Plants.' Thus in his Diary occur the laconic entries, "May +16, Finished Fowls (eight weeks); May 31, Ducks." + +On July 1, he started, with his family, for Torquay, where he remained +until August 27--a holiday which he characteristically enters in his +diary as "eight weeks and a day." The house he occupied was in Hesketh +Crescent, a pleasantly placed row of houses close above the sea, +somewhat removed from what was then the main body of the town, and +not far from the beautiful cliffed coast-line in the neighbourhood of +Anstey's Cove. + +During the Torquay holiday, and for the remainder of the year, he worked +at the fertilisation of orchids. This part of the year 1861 is not dealt +with in the present chapter, because (as explained in the preface) the +record of his life, as told in his letters, seems to become clearer +when the whole of his botanical work is placed together and treated +separately. The present series of chapters will, therefore, include only +the progress of his works in the direction of a general amplification of +the 'Origin of Species'--e.g., the publication of 'Animals and Plants,' +'Descent of Man,' etc.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, January 15 [1861]. + +My dear Hooker, + +The sight of your handwriting always rejoices the very cockles of my +heart... + +I most fully agree to what you say about Huxley's Article ('Natural +History Review,' 1861, page 67, "On the Zoological Relations of Man with +the Lower Animals." This memoir had its origin in a discussion at the +previous meeting of the British Association, when Professor Huxley +felt himself "compelled to give a diametrical contradiction to certain +assertions respecting the differences which obtain between the brains +of the higher apes and of man, which fell from Professor Owen." But in +order that his criticisms might refer to deliberately recorded words, he +bases them on Professor Owen's paper, "On the Characters, etc., of the +Class Mammalia," read before the Linnean Society in February and April, +1857, in which he proposed to place man not only in a distinct order, +but in "a distinct su-class of the Mammalia"--the Archencephala.), +and the power of writing... The whole review seems to me excellent. How +capitally Oliver has done the resume of botanical books. Good Heavens, +how he must have read!... + +I quite agree that Phillips ('Life on the Earth' (1860), by Prof. +Phillips, containing the substance of the Rede Lecture (May 1860).) +is unreadably dull. You need not attempt Bree. (The following sentence +(page 16) from 'Species not Transmutable,' by Dr. Bree, illustrates the +degree in which he understood the 'Origin of Species': "The only real +difference between Mr. Darwin and his two predecessors" [Lamarck and the +'Vestiges'] "is this:--that while the latter have each given a mode by +which they conceive the great changes they believe in have been brought +about, Mr. Darwin does no such thing." After this we need not be +surprised at a passage in the preface: "No one has derived greater +pleasure than I have in past days from the study of Mr. Darwin's other +works, and no one has felt a greater degree of regret that he should +have imperilled his fame by the publication of his treatise upon the +'Origin of Species.'")... + +If you come across Dr. Freke on 'Origin of Species by means of Organic +Affinity,' read a page here and there... He tells the reader to observe +[that his result] has been arrived at by "induction," whereas all my +results are arrived at only by "analogy." I see a Mr. Neale has read +a paper before the Zoological Society on 'Typical Selection;' what it +means I know not. I have not read H. Spencer, for I find that I must +more and more husband the very little strength which I have. I sometimes +suspect I shall soon entirely fail... As soon as this dreadful weather +gets a little milder, I must try a little water cure. Have you read the +'Woman in White'? the plot is wonderfully interesting. I can recommend +a book which has interested me greatly, viz. Olmsted's 'Journey in the +Back Country.' It is an admirably lively picture of man and slavery in +the Southern States... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. February 2, 1861. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have thought you would like to read the enclosed passage in a letter +from A. Gray (who is printing his reviews as a pamphlet ("Natural +Selection not inconsistent with Natural Theology," from the 'Atlantic +Monthly' for July, August, and October, 1860; published by Trubner.), +and will send copies to England), as I think his account is really +favourable in high degree to us:-- + +"I wish I had time to write you an account of the lengths to which Bowen +and Agassiz, each in their own way, are going. The first denying all +heredity (all transmission except specific) whatever. The second +coming near to deny that we are genetically descended from our +great-grea-grandfathers; and insisting that evidently affiliated +languages, e.g. Latin, Greek, Sanscrit, owe none of their similarities +to a community of origin, are all autochthonal; Agassiz admits that the +derivation of languages, and that of species or forms, stand on the same +foundation, and that he must allow the latter if he allows the former, +which I tell him is perfectly logical." + +Is not this marvellous? + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 4 [1861]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I was delighted to get your long chatty letter, and to hear that you are +thawing towards science. I almost wish you had remained frozen rather +longer; but do not thaw too quickly and strongly. No one can work long +as you used to do. Be idle; but I am a pretty man to preach, for I +cannot be idle, much as I wish it, and am never comfortable except when +at work. The word holiday is written in a dead language for me, and much +I grieve at it. We thank you sincerely for your kind sympathy about +poor H. [his daughter]... She has now come up to her old point, and can +sometimes get up for an hour or two twice a day... Never to look to the +future or as little as possible is becoming our rule of life. What +a different thing life was in youth with no dread in the future; all +golden, if baseless, hopes. + +... With respect to the 'Natural History Review' I can hardly think +that ladies would be so very sensitive about "lizards' guts;" but the +publication is at present certainly a sort of hybrid, and original +illustrated papers ought hardly to appear in a review. I doubt its ever +paying; but I shall much regret if it dies. All that you say seems very +sensible, but could a review in the strict sense of the word be filled +with readable matter? + +I have been doing little, except finishing the new edition of the +'Origin,' and crawling on most slowly with my volume of 'Variation under +Domestication'... + + +[The following letter refers to Mr. Bates's paper, "Contributions to +an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley," in the 'Transactions of the +Entomological Society,' vol.5, N.S. (The paper was read November 24, +1860.) Mr. Bates points out that with the return, after the glacial +period, of a warmer climate in the equatorial regions, the "species then +living near the equator would retreat north and south to their +former homes, leaving some of their congeners, slowly modified +subsequently... to re-people the zone they had forsaken." In this case +the species now living at the equator ought to show clear relationship +to the species inhabiting the regions about the 25th parallel, whose +distant relatives they would of course be. But this is not the case, +and this is the difficulty my father refers to. Mr. Belt has offered +an explanation in his 'Naturalist in Nicaragua' (1874), page 266. "I +believe the answer is that there was much extermination during the +glacial period, that many species (and some genera, etc., as, for +instance, the American horse), did not survive it... but that a refuge +was found for many species on lands now below the ocean, that were +uncovered by the lowering of the sea, caused by the immense quantity of +water that was locked up in frozen masses on the land."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, 27th [March 1861]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I had intended to have sent you Bates's article this very day. I am so +glad you like it. I have been extremely much struck with it. How well +he argues, and with what crushing force against the glacial doctrine. I +cannot wriggle out of it: I am dumbfounded; yet I do believe that +some explanation some day will appear, and I cannot give up equatorial +cooling. It explains so much and harmonises with so much. When you +write (and much interested I shall be in your letter) please say how far +floras are generally uniform in generic character from 0 to 25 degrees +N. and S. + +Before reading Bates, I had become thoroughly dissatisfied with what I +wrote to you. I hope you may get Bates to write in the 'Linnean.' + +Here is a good joke: H.C. Watson (who, I fancy and hope, is going to +review the new edition (third edition of 2000 copies, published in +April, 1861.) of the 'Origin') says that in the first four paragraphs of +the introduction, the words "I," "me," "my," occur forty-three times! +I was dimly conscious of the accursed fact. He says it can be explained +phrenologically, which I suppose civilly means, that I am the most +egotistically self-sufficient man alive; perhaps so. I wonder whether +he will print this pleasing fact; it beats hollow the parentheses in +Wollaston's writing. + +_I_ am, MY dear Hooker, ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Do not spread this pleasing joke; it is rather too biting. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, [April] 23? [1861]. + +... I quite agree with what you say on Lieutenant Hutton's Review (In the +'Geologist,' 1861, page 132, by Lieutenant Frederick Wollaston Hutton, +now Professor of Biology and Geology at Canterbury College, New +Zealand.) (who he is I know not); it struck me as very original. He +is one of the very few who see that the change of species cannot be +directly proved, and that the doctrine must sink or swim according as it +groups and explains phenomena. It is really curious how few judge it in +this way, which is clearly the right way. I have been much interested by +Bentham's paper ("On the Species and Genera of Plants, etc.," 'Natural +History Review,' 1861, page 133.) in the N.H.R., but it would not, of +course, from familiarity strike you as it did me. I liked the whole; all +the facts on the nature of close and varying species. Good Heavens! to +think of the British botanists turning up their noses, and saying that +he knows nothing of British plants! I was also pleased at his remarks on +classification, because it showed me that I wrote truly on this subject +in the 'Origin.' I saw Bentham at the Linnean Society, and had some +talk with him and Lubbock, and Edgeworth, Wallich, and several others. I +asked Bentham to give us his ideas of species; whether partially with us +or dead against us, he would write EXCELLENT matter. He made no answer, +but his manner made me think he might do so if urged; so do you attack +him. Every one was speaking with affection and anxiety of Henslow. +(Prof. Henslow was in his last illness.) I dined with Bell at the +Linnean Club, and liked my dinner... Dining out is such a novelty to +me that I enjoyed it. Bell has a real good heart. I liked Rolleston's +paper, but I never read anything so obscure and not sel-evident as his +'Canons.' (George Rolleston, M.D., F.R.S., 1829-1881. Linacre Professor +of Anatomy and Physiology at Oxford. A man of much learning, who left +but few published works, among which may be mentioned his handbook +'Forms of Animal Life.' For the 'Canons,' see 'Nat. Hist. Review,' 1861, +page 206.)... I called on R. Chambers, at his very nice house in St. +John's Wood, and had a very pleasant half-hour's talk; he is really a +capital fellow. He made one good remark and chuckled over it, that +the laymen universally had treated the controversy on the 'Essays and +Reviews' as a merely professional subject, and had not joined in it, but +had left it to the clergy. I shall be anxious for your next letter about +Henslow. (Sir Joseph Hooker was Prof. Henslow's son-in-law.) Farewell, +with sincere sympathy, my old friend, + +C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--We are very much obliged for the 'London Review.' We like +reading much of it, and the science is incomparably better than in the +"Athenaeum". You shall not go on very long sending it, as you will be +ruined by pennies and trouble, but I am under a horrid spell to the +"Athenaeum" and the "Gardener's Chronicle", but I have taken them in for +so many years, that I CANNOT give them up. + + +[The next letter refers to Lyell's visit to the Biddenham gravel-pits +near Bedford in April 1861. The visit was made at the invitation of Mr. +James Wyatt, who had recently discovered two stone implements "at +the depth of thirteen feet from the surface of the soil," resting +"immediately on solid beds of oolitic-limestone." ('Antiquity of Man,' +fourth edition, page 214.) Here, says Sir C. Lyell, "I... for the first +time, saw evidence which satisfied me of the chronological relations of +those three phenomena--the antique tools, the extinct mammalia, and the +glacial formation."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, April 12 [1861]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have been most deeply interested by your letter. You seem to have done +the grandest work, and made the greatest step, of any one with respect +to man. + +It is an especial relief to hear that you think the French superficial +deposits are deltoid and semi-marine; but two days ago I was saying to +a friend, that the unknown manner of the accumulation of these deposits, +seemed the great blot in all the work done. I could not stomach debacles +or lacustrine beds. It is grand. I remember Falconer told me that he +thought some of the remains in the Devonshire caverns were pre-glacial, +and this, I presume, is now your conclusion for the older celts with +hyena and hippopotamus. It is grand. What a fine long pedigree you have +given the human race! + +I am sure I never thought of parallel roads having been accumulated +during subsidence. I think I see some difficulties on this view, though, +at first reading your note, I jumped at the idea. But I will think over +all I saw there. I am (stomacho volente) coming up to London on Tuesday +to work on cocks and hens, and on Wednesday morning, about a quarter +before ten, I will call on you (unless I hear to the contrary), for I +long to see you. I congratulate you on your grand work. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Tell Lady Lyell that I was unable to digest the funereal +ceremonies of the ants, notwithstanding that Erasmus has often told me +that I should find some day that they have their bishops. After a battle +I have always seen the ants carry away the dead for food. Ants display +the utmost economy, and always carry away a dead fellow-creature as +food. But I have just forwarded two most extraordinary letters to Busk, +from a backwoodsman in Texas, who has evidently watched ants carefully, +and declares most positively that they plant and cultivate a kind of +grass for store food, and plant other bushes for shelter! I do not +know what to think, except that the old gentleman is not fibbing +intentionally. I have left the responsibility with Busk whether or no to +read the letters. (I.e. to read them before the Linnean Society.) + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THOMAS DAVIDSON. (Thomas Davidson, F.R.S., born +in Edinburgh, May 17, 1817; died 1885. His researches were chiefly +connected with the sciences of geology and palaeontology, and +were directed especially to the elucidation of the characters, +classification, history, geological and geographical distribution +of recent and fossil Brachiopoda. On this subject he brought out an +important work, 'British Fossil Brachiopoda,' 5 vols. 4to. (Cooper, 'Men +of the Time,' 1884.)) Down, April 26, 1861. + +My dear Sir, + +I hope that you will excuse me for venturing to make a suggestion to +you which I am perfectly well aware it is a very remote chance that you +would adopt. I do not know whether you have read my 'Origin of +Species'; in that book I have made the remark, which I apprehend will +be universally admitted, that AS A WHOLE, the fauna of any formation +is intermediate in character between that of the formations above and +below. But several really good judges have remarked to me how desirable +it would be that this should be exemplified and worked out in some +detail and with some single group of beings. Now every one will admit +that no one in the world could do this better than you with Brachiopods. +The result might turn out very unfavourable to the views which I +hold; if so, so much the better for those who are opposed to me. ("Mr. +Davidson is not at all a full believer in great changes of species, +which will make his work all the more valuable.--C. Darwin to R. +Chambers (April 30, 1861).) But I am inclined to suspect that on the +whole it would be favourable to the notion of descent with modification; +for about a year ago, Mr. Salter (John William Salter; 1820- 1869. He +entered the service of the Geological Survey in 1846, and ultimately +became its Palaeontologist, on the retirement of Edward Forbes, and +gave up the office in 1863. He was associated with several well-known +naturalists in their work--with Sedgwick, Murchison, Lyell, Ramsay, +and Huxley. There are sixty entries under his name in the Royal Society +Catalogue. The above facts are taken from an obituary notice of Mr. +Salter in the 'Geological Magazine,' 1869.) in the Museum in Jermyn +Street, glued on a board some Spirifers, etc., from three palaeozoic +stages, and arranged them in single and branching lines, with horizontal +lines marking the formations (like the diagram in my book, if you +know it), and the result seemed to me very striking, though I was too +ignorant fully to appreciate the lines of affinities. I longed to have +had these shells engraved, as arranged by Mr. Salter, and connected by +dotted lines, and would have gladly paid the expense: but I could not +persuade Mr. Salter to publish a little paper on the subject. I can +hardly doubt that many curious points would occur to any one thoroughly +instructed in the subject, who would consider a group of beings under +this point of view of descent with modification. All those forms which +have come down from an ancient period very slightly modified ought, +I think, to be omitted, and those forms alone considered which have +undergone considerable change at each successive epoch. My fear +is whether brachiopods have changed enough. The absolute amount of +difference of the forms in such groups at the opposite extremes of time +ought to be considered, and how far the early forms are intermediate in +character between those which appeared much later in time. The antiquity +of a group is not really diminished, as some seem vaguely to think, +because it has transmitted to the present day closely allied forms. +Another point is how far the succession of each genus is unbroken, from +the first time it appeared to its extinction, with due allowance made +for formations poor in fossils. I cannot but think that an important +essay (far more important than a hundred literary reviews) might be +written by one like yourself, and without very great labour. I know it +is highly probable that you may not have leisure, or not care for, or +dislike the subject, but I trust to your kindness to forgive me for +making this suggestion. If by any extraordinary good fortune you were +inclined to take up this notion, I would ask you to read my Chapter X. +on Geological Succession. And I should like in this case to be permitted +to send you a copy of the new edition, just published, in which I have +added and corrected somewhat in Chapters IX. and X. + +Pray excuse this long letter, and believe me, My dear Sir, yours very +faithfully, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I write so bad a hand that I have had this note copied. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THOMAS DAVIDSON. Down, April 30, 1861. + +My dear Sir, + +I thank you warmly for your letter; I did not in the least know that you +had attended to my work. I assure you that the attention which you have +paid to it, considering your knowledge and the philosophical tone of +your mind (for I well remember one remarkable letter you wrote to me, +and have looked through your various publications), I consider one +of the highest, perhaps the very highest, compliments which I have +received. I live so solitary a life that I do not often hear what goes +on, and I should much like to know in what work you have published some +remarks on my book. I take a deep interest in the subject, and I hope +not simply an egotistical interest; therefore you may believe how much +your letter has gratified me; I am perfectly contented if any one +will fairly consider the subject, whether or not he fully or only +very slightly agrees with me. Pray do not think that I feel the least +surprise at your demurring to a ready acceptance; in fact, I should +not much respect anyone's judgment who did so: that is, if I may judge +others from the long time which it has taken me to go round. Each stage +of belief cost me years. The difficulties are, as you say, many and very +great; but the more I reflect, the more they seem to me to be due to our +underestimating our ignorance. I belong so much to old times that I find +that I weigh the difficulties from the imperfection of the geological +record, heavier than some of the younger men. I find, to my astonishment +and joy, that such good men as Ramsay, Jukes, Geikie, and one old +worker, Lyell, do not think that I have in the least exaggerated the +imperfection of the record. (Professor Sedgwick treated this part of the +'Origin of Species' very differently, as might have been expected from +his vehement objection to Evolution in general. In the article in the +"Spectator" of March 24, 1860, already noticed, Sedgwick wrote: "We know +the complicated organic phenomena of the Mesozoic (or Oolitic) period. +It defies the transmutationist at every step. Oh! but the document, says +Darwin, is a fragment; I will interpolate long periods to account for +all the changes. I say, in reply, if you deny my conclusion, grounded +on positive evidence, I toss back your conclusion, derived from negative +evidence,--the inflated cushion on which you try to bolster up the +defects of your hypothesis." [The punctuation of the imaginary dialogue +is slightly altered from the original, which is obscure in one place.]) +If my views ever are proved true, our current geological views will have +to be considerably modified. My greatest trouble is, not being able +to weigh the direct effects of the long-continued action of changed +conditions of life without any selection, with the action of selection +on mere accidental (so to speak) variability. I oscillate much on this +head, but generally return to my belief that the direct action of the +conditions of life has not been great. At least this direct action can +have played an extremely small part in producing all the numberless +and beautiful adaptations in every living creature. With respect to +a person's belief, what does rather surprise me is that any one (like +Carpenter) should be willing TO GO SO VERY FAR as to believe that all +birds may have descended from one parent, and not go a little farther +and include all the members of the same great division; for on such a +scale of belief, all the facts in Morphology and in Embryology (the +most important in my opinion of all subjects) become mere Divine +mockeries... I cannot express how profoundly glad I am that some day you +will publish your theoretical view on the modification and endurance of +Brachiopodous species; I am sure it will be a most valuable contribution +to knowledge. + +Pray forgive this very egotistical letter, but you yourself are partly +to blame for having pleased me so much. I have told Murray to send a +copy of my new edition to you, and have written your name. + +With cordial thanks, pray believe me, my dear Sir, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In Mr. Davidson's Monograph on British Brachiopoda, published shortly +afterwards by the Palaeontographical Society, results such as my father +anticipated were to some extent obtained. "No less than fifteen commonly +received species are demonstrated by Mr. Davidson by the aid of a +long series of transitional forms to appertain to... one type." "Lyell, +'Antiquity of Man,' first edition, page 428.) + +In the autumn of 1860, and the early part of 1861, my father had a good +deal of correspondence with Professor Asa Gray on a subject to which +reference has already been made--the publication in the form of a +pamphlet, of Professor Gray's three articles in the July, August, +and October numbers of the 'Atlantic Monthly,' 1860. The pamphlet was +published by Messrs. Trubner, with reference to whom my father wrote, +"Messrs. Trubner have been most liberal and kind, and say they shall +make no charge for all their trouble. I have settled about a few +advertisements, and they will gratuitously insert one in their own +periodicals." + +The reader will find these articles republished in Dr. Gray's +'Darwiniana,' page 87, under the title "Natural Selection not +inconsistent with Natural Theology." The pamphlet found many admirers +among those most capable of judging of its merits, and my father +believed that it was of much value in lessening opposition, and making +converts to Evolution. His high opinion of it is shown not only in his +letters, but by the fact that he inserted a special notice of it in a +most prominent place in the third edition of the 'Origin.' Lyell, among +others, recognised its value as an antidote to the kind of criticism +from which the cause of Evolution suffered. Thus my father wrote to Dr. +Gray:--"Just to exemplify the use of your pamphlet, the Bishop of London +was asking Lyell what he thought of the review in the 'Quarterly,' and +Lyell answered, 'Read Asa Gray in the 'Atlantic.'". It comes out very +clearly that in the case of such publications as Dr. Gray's, my father +did not rejoice over the success of his special view of Evolution, viz. +that modification is mainly due to Natural Selection; on the contrary, +he felt strongly that the really important point was that the doctrine +of Descent should be accepted. Thus he wrote to Professor Gray (May 11, +1863), with reference to Lyell's 'Antiquity of Man':-- + +"You speak of Lyell as a judge; now what I complain of is that he +declines to be a judge... I have sometimes almost wished that Lyell had +pronounced against me. When I say 'me,' I only mean CHANGE OF SPECIES +BY DESCENT. That seems to me the turning-point. Personally, of course, +I care much about Natural Selection; but that seems to me utterly +unimportant, compared to the question of Creation OR Modification."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, April 11 [1861]. + +My dear Gray, + +I was very glad to get your photograph: I am expecting mine, which I +will send off as soon as it comes. It is an ugly affair, and I fear the +fault does not lie with the photographer... Since writing last, I have +had several letters full of the highest commendation of your Essay; all +agree that it is by far the best thing written, and I do not doubt it +has done the 'Origin' much good. I have not yet heard how it has sold. +You will have seen a review in the "Gardeners' Chronicle". Poor dear +Henslow, to whom I owe much, is dying, and Hooker is with him. Many +thanks for two sets of sheets of your Proceedings. I cannot understand +what Agassiz is driving at. You once spoke, I think, of Professor Bowen +as a very clever man. I should have thought him a singularly unobservant +man from his writings. He never can have seen much of animals, or he +would have seen the difference of old and wise dogs and young ones. +His paper about hereditariness beats everything. Tell a breeder that +he might pick out his worst INDIVIDUAL animals and breed from them, and +hope to win a prize, and he would think you... insane. + + +[Professor Henslow died on May 16, 1861, from a complication of +bronchitis, congestion of the lungs, and enlargement of the heart. His +strong constitution was slow in giving way, and he lingered for weeks +in a painful condition of weakness, knowing that his end was near, +and looking at death with fearless eyes. In Mr. Blomefield's (Jenyns) +'Memoir of Henslow' (1862) is a dignified and touching description +of Prof. Sedgwick's farewell visit to his old friend. Sedgwick said +afterwards that he had never seen "a human being whose soul was nearer +heaven." + +My father wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker on hearing of Henslow's death, "I +fully believe a better man never walked this earth." + +He gave his impressions of Henslow's character in Mr. Blomefield's +'Memoir.' In reference to these recollections he wrote to Sir J.D. +Hooker (May 30, 1861):-- + +"This morning I wrote my recollections and impressions of character +of poor dear Henslow about the year 1830. I liked the job, and so have +written four or five pages, now being copied. I do not suppose you will +use all, of course you can chop and change as much as you like. If more +than a sentence is used, I should like to see a proof-page, as I never +can write decently till I see it in print. Very likely some of my +remarks may appear too trifling, but I thought it best to give my +thoughts as they arose, for you or Jenyns to use as you think fit. + +"You will see that I have exceeded your request, but, as I said when +I began, I took pleasure in writing my impression of his admirable +character."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 5 [1861]. + +My dear Gray, + +I have been rather extra busy, so have been slack in answering your note +of May 6th. I hope you have received long ago the third edition of the +'Origin.'... I have heard nothing from Trubner of the sale of your Essay, +hence fear it has not been great; I wrote to say you could supply +more. I send a copy to Sir J. Herschel, and in his new edition of his +'Physical Geography' he has a note on the 'Origin of Species,' +and agrees, to a certain limited extent, but puts in a caution on +design--much like yours... I have been led to think more on this subject +of late, and grieve to say that I come to differ more from you. It is +not that designed variation makes, as it seems to me, my deity "Natural +Selection" superfluous, but rather from studying, lately, domestic +variation, and seeing what an enormous field of undesigned variability +there is ready for natural selection to appropriate for any purpose +useful to each creature. + +I thank you much for sending me your review of Phillips. ('Life on the +Earth,' 1860.) I remember once telling you a lot of trades which you +ought to have followed, but now I am convinced that you are a born +reviewer. By Jove, how well and often you hit the nail on the head! You +rank Phillips's book higher than I do, or than Lyell does, who thinks it +fearfully retrograde. I amused myself by parodying Phillips's argument +as applied to domestic variation; and you might thus prove that the +duck or pigeon has not varied because the goose has not, though more +anciently domesticated, and no good reason can be assigned why it has +not produced many varieties ... + +I never knew the newspapers so profoundly interesting. North America +does not do England justice; I have not seen or heard of a soul who is +not with the North. Some few, and I am one of them, even wish to God, +though at the loss of millions of lives, that the North would proclaim a +crusade against slavery. In the long-run, a million horrid deaths would +be amply repaid in the cause of humanity. What wonderful times we live +in! Massachusetts seems to show noble enthusiasm. Great God! How I +should like to see the greatest curse on earth--slavery--abolished! + +Farewell. Hooker has been absorbed with poor dear revered Henslow's +affairs. Farewell. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +HUGH FALCONER TO CHARLES DARWIN. 31 Sackville St., W., June 23, 1861. + +My dear Darwin, + +I have been to Adelsberg cave and brought back with me a live Proteus +anguinus, designed for you from the moment I got it; i.e. if you have +got an aquarium and would care to have it. I only returned last night +from the continent, and hearing from your brother that you are about +to go to Torquay, I lose no time in making you the offer. The poor +dear animal is still alive--although it has had no appreciable means +of sustenance for a month--and I am most anxious to get rid of the +responsibility of starving it longer. In your hands it will thrive and +have a fair chance of being developed without delay into some type of +the Columbidae--say a Pouter or a Tumbler. + +My dear Darwin, I have been rambling through the north of Italy, and +Germany lately. Everywhere have I heard your views and your admirable +essay canvassed--the views of course often dissented from, according to +the special bias of the speaker--but the work, its honesty of purpose, +grandeur of conception, felicity of illustration, and courageous +exposition, always referred to in terms of the highest admiration. And +among your warmest friends no one rejoiced more heartily in the just +appreciation of Charles Darwin than did + +Yours very truly, H. FALCONER. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HUGH FALCONER. Down [June 24, 1861]. + +My dear Falconer, + +I have just received your note, and by good luck a day earlier than +properly, and I lose not a moment in answering you, and thanking you +heartily for your offer of the valuable specimen; but I have no aquarium +and shall soon start for Torquay, so that it would be a thousand pities +that I should have it. Yet I should certainly much like to see it, but +I fear it is impossible. Would not the Zoological Society be the best +place? and then the interest which many would take in this extraordinary +animal would repay you for your trouble. + +Kind as you have been in taking this trouble and offering me this +specimen, to tell the truth I value your note more than the specimen. I +shall keep your note amongst a very few precious letters. Your kindness +has quite touched me. + +Yours affectionately and gratefully, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. 2 Hesketh Crescent, Torquay, July 13 +[1861]. + +... I hope Harvey is better; I got his review (The 'Dublin Hospital +Gazette,' May 15, 1861. The passage referred to is at page 150.) of me +a day or two ago, from which I infer he must be convalescent; it's very +good and fair; but it is funny to see a man argue on the succession +of animals from Noah's Deluge; as God did not then wholly destroy man, +probably he did not wholly destroy the races of other animals at each +geological period! I never expected to have a helping hand from the Old +Testament... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. 2, Hesketh Crescent, Torquay, July 20 +[1861]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I sent you two or three days ago a duplicate of a good review of the +'Origin' by a Mr. Maw (Mr. George Maw, of Benthall Hall. The review was +published in the 'Zoologist,' July, 1861. On the back of my father's +copy is written, "Must be consulted before new edit. of 'Origin'"--words +which are wanting on many more pretentious notices, on which frequently +occur my father's brief o/-, or "nothing new."), evidently a thoughtful +man, as I thought you might like to have it, as you have so many... + +This is quite a charming place, and I have actually walked, I believe, +good two miles out and back, which is a grand feat. + +I saw Mr. Pengelly (William Pengelly, the geologist, and well-known +explorer of the Devonshire caves.) the other day, and was pleased at his +enthusiasm. I do not in the least know whether you are in London. Your +illness must have lost you much time, but I hope you have nearly got +your great job of the new edition finished. You must be very busy, if +in London, so I will be generous, and on honour bright do not expect any +answer to this dull little note... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, September 17 [1861?]. + +My dear Gray, + +I thank you sincerely for your very long and interesting letter, +political and scientific, of August 27th and 29th, and September 2nd +received this morning. I agree with much of what you say, and I hope +to God we English are utterly wrong in doubting (1) whether the N. can +conquer the S.; (2) whether the N. has many friends in the South, and +(3) whether you noble men of Massachusetts are right in transferring +your own good feelings to the men of Washington. Again I say I hope to +God we are wrong in doubting on these points. It is number (3) which +alone causes England not to be enthusiastic with you. What it may be in +Lancashire I know not, but in S. England cotton has nothing whatever +to do with our doubts. If abolition does follow with your victory, the +whole world will look brighter in my eyes, and in many eyes. It would be +a great gain even to stop the spread of slavery into the Territories; +if that be possible without abolition, which I should have doubted. You +ought not to wonder so much at England's coldness, when you recollect +at the commencement of the war how many propositions were made to get +things back to the old state with the old line of latitude, but enough +of this, all I can say is that Massachusetts and the adjoining States +have the full sympathy of every good man whom I see; and this sympathy +would be extended to the whole Federal States, if we could be persuaded +that your feelings were at all common to them. But enough of this. It +is out of my line, though I read every word of news, and formerly well +studied Olmsted... + +Your question what would convince me of Design is a poser. If I saw an +angel come down to teach us good, and I was convinced from others +seeing him that I was not mad, I should believe in design. If I could be +convinced thoroughly that life and mind was in an unknown way a function +of other imponderable force, I should be convinced. If man was made of +brass or iron and no way connected with any other organism which had +ever lived, I should perhaps be convinced. But this is childish writing. + +I have lately been corresponding with Lyell, who, I think, adopts your +idea of the stream of variation having been led or designed. I have +asked him (and he says he will hereafter reflect and answer me) whether +he believes that the shape of my nose was designed. If he does I have +nothing more to say. If not, seeing what Fanciers have done by selecting +individual differences in the nasal bones of pigeons, I must think that +it is illogical to suppose that the variations, which natural selection +preserves for the good of any being have been designed. But I know that +I am in the same sort of muddle (as I have said before) as all the world +seems to be in with respect to free will, yet with everything supposed +to have been foreseen or pre-ordained. + +Farewell, my dear Gray, with many thanks for your interesting letter. + +Your unmerciful correspondent. C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.W. BATES. Down, December 3 [1861]. + +My dear Sir, + +I thank you for your extremely interesting letter, and valuable +references, though God knows when I shall come again to this part of +my subject. One cannot of course judge of style when one merely hears +a paper (On Mimetic Butterflies, read before the Linnean Soc., November +21, 1861. For my father's opinion of it when published, see below.), but +yours seemed to me very clear and good. Believe me that I estimate its +value most highly. Under a general point of view, I am quite convinced +(Hooker and Huxley took the same view some months ago) that a +philosophic view of nature can solely be driven into naturalists by +treating special subjects as you have done. Under a special point of +view, I think you have solved one of the most perplexing problems which +could be given to solve. I am glad to hear from Hooker that the Linnean +Society will give plates if you can get drawings... + +Do not complain of want of advice during your travels; I dare say +part of your great originality of views may be due to the necessity of +sel-exertion of thought. I can understand that your reception at the +British Museum would damp you; they are a very good set of men, but not +the sort to appreciate your work. In fact I have long thought that TOO +MUCH systematic work [and] description somehow blunts the faculties. The +general public appreciates a good dose of reasoning, or generalisation, +with new and curious remarks on habits, final causes, etc. etc., far +more than do the regular naturalists. + +I am extremely glad to hear that you have begun your travels... I am very +busy, but I shall be TRULY glad to render any aid which I can by reading +your first chapter or two. I do not think I shall be able to correct +style, for this reason, that after repeated trials I find I cannot +correct my own style till I see the MS. in type. Some are born with a +power of good writing, like Wallace; others like myself and Lyell have +to labour very hard and slowly at every sentence. I find it a very good +plan, when I cannot get a difficult discussion to please me, to fancy +that some one comes into the room and asks me what I am doing; and then +try at once and explain to the imaginary person what it is all about. I +have done this for one paragraph to myself several times, and sometimes +to Mrs. Darwin, till I see how the subject ought to go. It is, I think, +good to read one's MS. aloud. But style to me is a great difficulty; +yet some good judges think I have succeeded, and I say this to encourage +you. + +What I THINK I can do will be to tell you whether parts had better be +shortened. It is good, I think, to dash "in media res," and work in +later any descriptions of country or any historical details which may +be necessary. Murray likes lots of wood-cuts--give some by all means +of ants. The public appreciate monkeys--our poor cousins. What sexual +differences are there in monkeys? Have you kept them tame? if so, about +their expression. I fear that you will hardly read my vile hand-writing, +but I cannot without killing trouble write better. + +You shall have my candid opinion on your MS., but remember it is hard to +judge from MS., one reads slowly, and heavy parts seem much heavier. A +first-rate judge thought my Journal very poor; now that it is in print, +I happen to know, he likes it. I am sure you will understand why I am so +egotistical. + +I was a LITTLE disappointed in Wallace's book ('Travels on the Amazon +and Rio Negro,' 1853.) on the Amazon; hardly facts enough. On the other +hand, in Gosse's book (Probably the 'Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica,' +1851.) there is not reasoning enough to my taste. Heaven knows whether +you will care to read all this scribbling... + +I am glad you had a pleasant day with Hooker (In a letter to Sir J.D. +Hooker (December 1861), my father wrote: "I am very glad to hear that +you like Bates. I have seldom in my life been more struck with a man's +power of mind."), he is an admirably good man in every sense. + + +[The following extract from a letter to Mr. Bates on the same subject +is interesting as giving an idea of the plan followed by my father in +writing his 'Naturalist's Voyage:' + +"As an old hackneyed author, let me give you a bit of advice, viz. +to strike out every word which is not quite necessary to the current +subject, and which could not interest a stranger. I constantly asked +myself, would a stranger care for this? and struck out or left in +accordingly. I think too much pains cannot be taken in making the style +transparently clear and throwing eloquence to the dogs." + +Mr. Bates's book, 'The Naturalist on the Amazons,' was published in +1865, but the following letter may be given here rather than in its due +chronological position:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.W. BATES. Down, April 18, 1863. + +Dear Bates, + +I have finished volume i. My criticisms may be condensed into a single +sentence, namely, that it is the best work of Natural History Travels +ever published in England. Your style seems to me admirable. Nothing can +be better than the discussion on the struggle for existence, and nothing +better than the description of the Forest scenery. (In a letter to Lyell +my father wrote: "He [i.e. Mr. Bates] is second only to Humboldt in +describing a tropical forest.") It is a grand book, and whether or not +it sells quickly, it will last. You have spoken out boldly on +Species; and boldness on the subject seems to get rarer and rarer. How +beautifully illustrated it is. The cut on the back is most tasteful. I +heartily congratulate you on its publication. + +The "Athenaeum" ("I have read the first volume of Bates's Book; it is +capital, and I think the best Natural History Travels ever published in +England. He is bold about Species, etc., and the "Athenaeum" coolly +says 'he bends his facts' for this purpose."--(From a letter to Sir J.D. +Hooker.)) was rather cold, as it always is, and insolent in the highest +degree about your leading facts. Have you seen the "Reader"? I can send +it to you if you have not seen it... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, December 11 [1861]. + +My dear Gray, + +Many and cordial thanks for your two last most valuable notes. What a +thing it is that when you receive this we may be at war, and we two be +bound, as good patriots, to hate each other, though I shall find this +hating you very hard work. How curious it is to see two countries, just +like two angry and silly men, taking so opposite a view of the same +transaction! I fear there is no shadow of doubt we shall fight if the +two Southern rogues are not given up. (The Confederate Commissioners +Slidell and Mason were forcibly removed from the "Trent", a West India +mail steamer on November 8, 1861. The news that the U.S. agreed to +release them reached England on January 8, 1862.) And what a wretched +thing it will be if we fight on the side of slavery. No doubt it will be +said that we fight to get cotton; but I fully believe that this has not +entered into the motive in the least. Well, thank Heaven, we private +individuals have nothing to do with so awful a responsibility. Again, +how curious it is that you seem to think that you can conquer the South; +and I never meet a soul, even those who would most wish it, who thinks +it possible--that is, to conquer and retain it. I do not suppose the +mass of people in your country will believe it, but I feel sure if we +do go to war it will be with the utmost reluctance by all classes, +Ministers of Government and all. Time will show, and it is no use +writing or thinking about it. I called the other day on Dr. Boott, and +was pleased to find him pretty well and cheerful. I see, by the way, he +takes quite an English opinion of American affairs, though an American +in heart. (Dr. Boott was born in the U.S.) Buckle might write a chapter +on opinion being entirely dependent on longitude! + +... With respect to Design, I feel more inclined to show a white flag +than to fire my usual long-range shot. I like to try and ask you a +puzzling question, but when you return the compliment I have great +doubts whether it is a fair way of arguing. If anything is designed, +certainly man must be: one's "inner consciousness" (though a false +guide) tells one so; yet I cannot admit that man's rudimentary +mammae... were designed. If I was to say I believed this, I should +believe it in the same incredible manner as the orthodox believe the +Trinity in Unity. You say that you are in a haze; I am in thick mud; the +orthodox would say in fetid, abominable mud; yet I cannot keep out of +the question. My dear Gray, I have written a deal of nonsense. + +Yours most cordially, C. DARWIN. + + +1862. + +[Owing to the illness from scarlet fever of one of his boys, he took +a house at Bournemouth in the autumn. He wrote to Dr. Gray from +Southampton (August 21, 1862):-- + +"We are a wretched family, and ought to be exterminated. We slept here +to rest our poor boy on his journey to Bournemouth, and my poor dear +wife sickened with scarlet fever, and has had it pretty sharply, but is +recovering well. There is no end of trouble in this weary world. I shall +not feel safe till we are all at home together, and when that will be I +know not. But it is foolish complaining." + + +Dr. Gray used to send postage stamps to the scarlet fever patient; with +regard to this good-natured deed my father wrote-- + +"I must just recur to stamps; my little man has calculated that he +will now have 6 stamps which no other boy in the school has. Here is a +triumph. Your last letter was plaistered with many coloured stamps, and +he long surveyed the envelope in bed with much quiet satisfaction." + + +The greater number of the letters of 1862 deal with the Orchid work, but +the wave of conversion to Evolution was still spreading, and reviews and +letters bearing on the subject still came in numbers. As an example +of the odd letters he received may be mentioned one which arrived in +January of this year "from a German homoeopathic doctor, an ardent +admirer of the 'Origin.' Had himself published nearly the same sort of +book, but goes much deeper. Explains the origin of plants and animals on +the principles of homoeopathy or by the law of spirality. Book fell dead +in Germany. Therefore would I translate it and publish it in England."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, [January?] 14 [1862]. + +My dear Huxley, + +I am heartily glad of your success in the North (This refers to two of +Mr. Huxley's lectures, given before the Philosophical Institution of +Edinburgh in 1862. The substance of them is given in 'Man's Place +in Nature.'), and thank you for your note and slip. By Jove you have +attacked Bigotry in its stronghold. I thought you would have been +mobbed. I am so glad that you will publish your Lectures. You seem +to have kept a due medium between extreme boldness and caution. I am +heartily glad that all went off so well. I hope Mrs. Huxley is pretty +well... I must say one word on the Hybrid question. No doubt you are +right that here is a great hiatus in the argument; yet I think you +overrate it--you never allude to the excellent evidence of VARIETIES of +Verbascum and Nicotiana being partially sterile together. It is curious +to me to read (as I have to-day) the greatest crossing GARDENER utterly +pooh-poohing the distinction which BOTANISTS make on this head, and +insisting how frequently crossed VARIETIES produce sterile offspring. Do +oblige me by reading the latter half of my Primula paper in the 'Linn. +Journal,' for it leads me to suspect that sterility will hereafter have +to be largely viewed as an acquired or SELECTED character--a view which +I wish I had had facts to maintain in the 'Origin.' (The view here given +will be discussed in the chapter on hetero-styled plants.) + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, January 25 [1862]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Many thanks for your last Sunday's letter, which was one of the +pleasantest I ever received in my life. We are all pretty well +redivivus, and I am at work again. I thought it best to make a clean +breast to Asa Gray; and told him that the Boston dinner, etc. etc., had +quite turned my stomach, and that I almost thought it would be good for +the peace of the world if the United States were split up; on the +other hand, I said that I groaned to think of the slave-holders being +triumphant, and that the difficulties of making a line of separation +were fearful. I wonder what he will say... Your notion of the Aristocrat +being kenspeckle, and the best men of a good lot being thus easily +selected is new to me, and striking. The 'Origin' having made you in +fact a jolly old Tory, made us all laugh heartily. I have sometimes +speculated on this subject; primogeniture (My father had a strong +feeling as to the injustice of primogeniture, and in a similar spirit +was often indignant over the unfair wills that appear from time to time. +He would declare energetically that if he were law-giver no will should +be valid that was not published in the testator's lifetime; and this he +maintained would prevent much of the monstrous injustice and meanness +apparent in so many wills.) is dreadfully opposed to selection; suppose +the first-born bull was necessarily made by each farmer the begetter +of his stock! On the other hand, as you say, ablest men are continually +raised to the peerage, and get crossed with the older Lord-breeds, and +the Lords continually select the most beautiful and charming women out +of the lower ranks; so that a good deal of indirect selection improves +the Lords. Certainly I agree with you the present American row has +a very Torifying influence on us all. I am very glad to hear you are +beginning to print the 'Genera;' it is a wonderful satisfaction to be +thus brought to bed, indeed it is one's chief satisfaction, I think, +though one knows that another bantling will soon be developing... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MAXWELL MASTERS. (Dr. Masters is a well-known +vegetable teratologist, and has been for many years the editor of the +"Gardeners' Chronicle".) Down, February 26 [1862]. + +My dear Sir, + +I am much obliged to you for sending me your article (Refers to a paper +on "Vegetable Morphology," by Dr. Masters, in the 'British and Foreign +Medic-Chirurgical Review' for 1862), which I have just read with much +interest. The history, and a good deal besides, was quite new to me. It +seems to me capitally done, and so clearly written. You really ought to +write your larger work. You speak too generously of my book; but I must +confess that you have pleased me not a little; for no one, as far as I +know, has ever remarked on what I say on classification--a part, which +when I wrote it, pleased me. With many thanks to you for sending me your +article, pray believe me, + +My dear Sir, yours sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +[In the spring of this year (1862) my father read the second volume of +Buckle's 'History of Civilisation." The following strongly expressed +opinion about it may be worth quoting:-- + +"Have you read Buckle's second volume? It has interested me greatly; +I do not care whether his views are right or wrong, but I should think +they contained much truth. There is a noble love of advancement and +truth throughout; and to my taste he is the very best writer of the +English language that ever lived, let the other be who he may."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, March 15 [1862]. + +My dear Gray, + +Thanks for the newspapers (though they did contain digs at England), +and for your note of February 18th. It is really almost a pleasure to +receive stabs from so smooth, polished, and sharp a dagger as your +pen. I heartily wish I could sympathise more fully with you, instead of +merely hating the South. We cannot enter into your feelings; if Scotland +were to rebel, I presume we should be very wrath, but I do not think we +should care a penny what other nations thought. The millennium must come +before nations love each other; but try and do not hate me. Think of me, +if you will as a poor blinded fool. I fear the dreadful state of affairs +must dull your interest in Science... + +I believe that your pamphlet has done my book GREAT good; and I thank +you from my heart for myself; and believing that the views are in large +part true, I must think that you have done natural science a good turn. +Natural Selection seems to be making a little progress in England and +on the Continent; a new German edition is called for, and a French (In +June, 1862, my father wrote to Dr. Gray: "I received, 2 or 3 days ago, a +French translation of the 'Origin,' by a Madlle. Royer, who must be one +of the cleverest and oddest women in Europe: is an ardent Deist, and +hates Christianity, and declares that natural selection and the struggle +for life will explain all morality, nature of man, politics, etc. etc.! +She makes some very curious and good hits, and says she shall publish +a book on these subjects." Madlle. Royer added foot-notes to her +translation, and in many places where the author expresses great doubt, +she explains the difficulty, or points out that no real difficulty +exists.) one has just appeared. One of the best men, though at present +unknown, who has taken up these views, is Mr. Bates; pray read his +'Travels in Amazonia,' when they appear; they will be very good, judging +from MS. of the first two chapters. + +... Again I say, do not hate me. + +Ever yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. 1 Carlton Terrace, Southampton (The house of +his son William.), August 22, [1862]. + +... I heartily hope that you (I.e. 'The Antiquity of Man.') will be out +in October... you say that the Bishop and Owen will be down on you; the +latter hardly can, for I was assured that Owen in his Lectures this +spring advanced as a new idea that wingless birds had lost their wings +by disuse, also that magpies stole spoons, etc., from a REMNANT of +some instinct like that of the Bower-Bird, which ornaments its +playing-passage with pretty feathers. Indeed, I am told that he hinted +plainly that all birds are descended from one... + +Your P.S. touches on, as it seems to me, very difficult points. I am +glad to see [that] in the 'Origin,' I only say that the naturalists +generally consider that low organisms vary more than high; and this I +think certainly is the general opinion. I put the statement this way to +show that I considered it only an opinion probably true. I must own that +I do not at all trust even Hooker's contrary opinion, as I feel pretty +sure that he has not tabulated any result. I have some materials at +home, I think I attempted to make this point out, but cannot remember +the result. + +Mere variability, though the necessary foundation of all modifications, +I believe to be almost always present, enough to allow of any amount of +selected change; so that it does not seem to me at all incompatible +that a group which at any one period (or during all successive periods) +varies less, should in the long course of time have undergone more +modification than a group which is generally more variable. + +Placental animals, e.g. might be at each period less variable than +Marsupials, and nevertheless have undergone more DIFFERENTIATION and +development than marsupials, owing to some advantage, probably brain +development. + +I am surprised, but do not pretend to form an opinion at Hooker's +statement that higher species, genera, etc., are best limited. It seems +to me a bold statement. + +Looking to the 'Origin,' I see that I state that the productions of the +land seem to change quicker than those of the sea (Chapter X., page 339, +3d edition), and I add there is some reason to believe that organisms +considered high in the scale change quicker than those that are low. I +remember writing these sentences after much deliberation... I remember +well feeling much hesitation about putting in even the guarded sentences +which I did. My doubts, I remember, related to the rate of change of +the Radiata in the Secondary formation, and of the Foraminifera in the +oldest Tertiary beds... + +Good night, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, October 1 [1862]. + +... I found here (On his return from Bournemouth.) a short and very kind +note of Falconer, with some pages of his 'Elephant Memoir,' which will +be published, in which he treats admirably on long persistence of type. +I thought he was going to make a good and crushing attack on me, but +to my great satisfaction, he ends by pointing out a loophole, and +adds (Falconer, "On the American Fossil Elephant," in the 'Nat. Hist. +Review,' 1863, page 81. The words preceding those cited by my father +make the meaning of his quotation clearer. The passage begins as +follows: "The inferences which I draw from these facts are not opposed +to one of the leading propositions of Darwin's theory. With him," etc. +etc.) "with him I have no faith that the mammoth and other extinct +elephants made their appearance suddenly... The most rational view seems +to be that they are the modified descendants of earlier progenitors, +etc." This is capital. There will not be soon one good palaeontologist +who believes in immutability. Falconer does not allow for the +Proboscidean group being a failing one, and therefore not likely to be +giving off new races. + +He adds that he does not think Natural Selection suffices. I do not +quite see the force of his argument, and he apparently overlooks that +I say over and over again that Natural Selection can do nothing without +variability, and that variability is subject to the most complex fixed +laws... + + +[In his letters to Sir J.D. Hooker, about the end of this year, are +occasional notes on the progress of the 'Variation of Animals and +Plants.' Thus on November 24th he wrote: "I hardly know why I am a +little sorry, but my present work is leading me to believe rather more +in the direct action of physical conditions. I presume I regret +it, because it lessens the glory of natural selection, and is so +confoundedly doubtful. Perhaps I shall change again when I get all my +facts under one point of view, and a pretty hard job this will be." + +Again, on December 22nd, "To-day I have begun to think of arranging +my concluding chapters on Inheritance, Reversion, Selection, and such +things, and am fairly paralyzed how to begin and how to end, and what to +do, with my huge piles of materials."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, November 6 [1862]. + +My dear Gray, + +When your note of October 4th and 13th (chiefly about Max Muller) +arrived, I was nearly at the end of the same book ('Lectures on the +Science of Language,' 1st edition 1861.), and had intended recommending +you to read it. I quite agree that it is extremely interesting, but +the latter part about the FIRST origin of language much the least +satisfactory. It is a marvellous problem...[There are] covert sneers at +me, which he seems to get the better of towards the close of the book. +I cannot quite see how it will forward "my cause," as you call it; but I +can see how any one with literary talent (I do not feel up to it) could +make great use of the subject in illustration. (Language was treated +in the manner here indicated by Sir C. Lyell in the 'Antiquity of +Man.' Also by Prof. Schleicher, whose pamphlet was fully noticed in the +"Reader", February 27, 1864 (as I learn from one of Prof. Huxley's 'Lay +Sermons').) What pretty metaphors you would make from it! I wish some +one would keep a lot of the most noisy monkeys, half free, and study +their means of communication! + +A book has just appeared here which will, I suppose, make a noise, by +Bishop Colenso ('The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua critically examined,' +six parts, 1862-71.), who, judging from extracts, smashes most of the +Old testament. Talking of books, I am in the middle of one which pleases +me, though it is very innocent food, viz., Miss Coopers 'Journal of +a Naturalist.' Who is she? She seems a very clever woman, and gives a +capital account of the battle between OUR and YOUR weeds. Does it not +hurt your Yankee pride that we thrash you so confoundedly? I am sure +Mrs. Gray will stick up for your own weeds. Ask her whether they are not +more honest, downright good sort of weeds. The book gives an extremely +pretty picture of one of your villages; but I see your autumn, though +so much more gorgeous than ours, comes on sooner, and that is one +comfort... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.W. BATES. Down, November 20 [1862]. + +Dear Bates, + +I have just finished, after several reads, your paper. (This refers +to Mr. Bates's paper, "Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazons +Valley" ('Linn. Soc. Trans.' xxiii., 1862), in which the now familiar +subject of mimicry was founded. My father wrote a short review of it in +the 'Natural History Review,' 1863, page 219, parts of which occur in +this review almost verbatim in the later editions of the 'Origin of +Species.' A striking passage occurs showing the difficulties of the case +from a creationist's point of view:-- + +"By what means, it may be asked, have so many butterflies of the +Amazonian region acquired their deceptive dress? Most naturalists will +answer that they were thus clothed from the hour of their creation--an +answer which will generally be so far triumphant that it can be met only +by long-drawn arguments; but it is made at the expense of putting an +effectual bar to all further enquiry. In this particular case, moreover, +the creationist will meet with special difficulties; for many of the +mimicking forms of Leptalis can be shown by a graduated series to +be merely varieties of one species; other mimickers are undoubtedly +distinct species, or even distinct genera. So again, some of the +mimicked forms can be shown to be merely varieties; but the greater +number must be ranked as distinct species. Hence the creationist will +have to admit that some of these forms have become imitators, by means +of the laws of variation, whilst others he must look at as separately +created under their present guise; he will further have to admit that +some have been created in imitation of forms not themselves created +as we now see them, but due to the laws of variation? Prof. Agassiz, +indeed, would think nothing of this difficulty; for he believes that +not only each species and each variety, but that groups of individuals, +though identically the same, when inhabiting distinct countries, have +been all separately created in due proportional numbers to the wants +of each land. Not many naturalists will be content thus to believe that +varieties and individuals have been turned out all ready made, almost as +a manufacturer turns out toys according to the temporary demand of the +market.") In my opinion it is one of the most remarkable and admirable +papers I ever read in my life. The mimetic cases are truly marvellous, +and you connect excellently a host of analogous facts. The illustrations +are beautiful, and seem very well chosen; but it would have saved the +reader not a little trouble, if the name of each had been engraved below +each separate figure. No doubt this would have put the engraver into +fits, as it would have destroyed the beauty of the plate. I am not at +all surprised at such a paper having consumed much time. I am rejoiced +that I passed over the whole subject in the 'Origin,' for I should have +made a precious mess of it. You have most clearly stated and solved a +wonderful problem. No doubt with most people this will be the cream +of the paper; but I am not sure that all your facts and reasonings on +variation, and on the segregation of complete and semi-complete species, +is not really more, or at least as valuable, a part. I never conceived +the process nearly so clearly before; one feels present at the creation +of new forms. I wish, however, you had enlarged a little more on the +pairing of similar varieties; a rather more numerous body of facts +seems here wanted. Then, again, what a host of curious miscellaneous +observations there are--as on related sexual and individual variability: +these will some day, if I live, be a treasure to me. + +With respect to mimetic resemblance being so common with insects, do you +not think it may be connected with their small size; they cannot +defend themselves; they cannot escape by flight, at least, from birds, +therefore they escape by trickery and deception? + +I have one serious criticism to make, and that is about the title of +the paper; I cannot but think that you ought to have called prominent +attention in it to the mimetic resemblances. Your paper is too good to +be largely appreciated by the mob of naturalists without souls; +but, rely on it, that it will have LASTING value, and I cordially +congratulate you on your first great work. You will find, I should +think, that Wallace will fully appreciate it. How gets on your book? +Keep your spirits up. A book is no light labour. I have been better +lately, and working hard, but my health is very indifferent. How is your +health? Believe me, dear Bates, + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.IV. -- THE SPREAD OF EVOLUTION. + +'VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS' + +1863-1866. + +[His book on animals and plants under domestication was my father's +chief employment in the year 1863. His diary records the length of time +spent over the composition of its chapters, and shows the rate at which +he arranged and wrote out for printing the observations and deductions +of several years. + +The three chapters in volume ii. on inheritance, which occupy 84 pages +of print, were begun in January and finished on April 1st; the five on +crossing, making 106 pages, were written in eight weeks, while the two +chapters on selection, covering 57 pages, were begun on June 16th and +finished on July 20th. + +The work was more than once interrupted by ill health, and in September, +what proved to be the beginning of a six month's illness, forced him +to leave home for the water-cure at Malvern. He returned in October and +remained ill and depressed, in spite of the hopeful opinion of one of +the most cheery and skilful physicians of the day. Thus he wrote to Sir +J.D. Hooker in November:-- + +"Dr. Brinton has been here (recommended by Busk); he does not believe my +brain or heart are primarily affected, but I have been so steadily going +down hill, I cannot help doubting whether I can ever crawl a little +uphill again. Unless I can, enough to work a little, I hope my life +may be very short, for to lie on a sofa all day and do nothing but +give trouble to the best and kindest of wives and good dear children is +dreadful." + +The minor works in this year were a short paper in the 'Natural +History Review' (N.S. vol. iii. page 115), entitled "On the so-called +'Auditor-Sac' of Cirripedes," and one in the 'Geological Society's +Journal' (vol. xix), on the "Thickness of the Pampaean Formation +near Buenos Ayres." The paper on Cirripedes was called forth by +the criticisms of a German naturalist Krohn (Krohn stated that the +structures described by my father as ovaries were in reality salivary +glands, also that the oviduct runs down to the orifice described in the +'Monograph of the Cirripedia' as the auditory meatus.), and is of some +interest in illustration of my father's readiness to admit an error. + +With regard to the spread of a belief in Evolution, it could not yet be +said that the battle was won, but the growth of belief was undoubtedly +rapid. So that, for instance, Charles Kingsley could write to F.D. +Maurice (Kingsley's 'Life,' ii, page 171.): + +"The state of the scientific mind is most curious; Darwin is conquering +everywhere, and rushing in like a flood, by the mere force of truth and +fact." + +Mr. Huxley was as usual active in guiding and stimulating the growing +tendency to tolerate or accept the views set forth in the 'Origin of +Species.' He gave a series of lectures to working men at the School of +Mines in November, 1862. These were printed in 1863 from the shorthand +notes of Mr. May, as six little blue books, price 4 pence each, under +the title, 'Our Knowledge of the Causes of Organic Nature.' When +published they were read with interest by my father, who thus refers to +them in a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"I am very glad you like Huxley's lectures. I have been very much +struck with them, especially with the 'Philosophy of Induction.' I have +quarrelled with him for overdoing sterility and ignoring cases from +Gartner and Kolreuter about sterile varieties. His Geology is obscure; +and I rather doubt about man's mind and language. But it seems to +me ADMIRABLY done, and, as you say, "Oh my," about the praise of the +'Origin.' I can't help liking it, which makes me rather ashamed of +myself." + +My father admired the clearness of exposition shown in the lectures, and +in the following letter urges their author to make use of his powers for +the advantage of students:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. November 5 [1864]. + +I want to make a suggestion to you, but which may probably have occurred +to you. -- was reading your Lectures and ended by saying, "I wish he +would write a book." I answered, "he has just written a great book on +the skull." "I don't call that a book," she replied, and added, "I want +something that people can read; he does write so well." Now, with your +ease in writing, and with knowledge at your fingers' ends, do you not +think you could write a popular Treatise on Zoology? Of course it would +be some waste of time, but I have been asked more than a dozen times to +recommend something for a beginner and could only think of Carpenter's +Zoology. I am sure that a striking Treatise would do real service to +science by educating naturalists. If you were to keep a portfolio open +for a couple of years, and throw in slips of paper as subjects crossed +your mind, you would soon have a skeleton (and that seems to me the +difficulty) on which to put the flesh and colours in your inimitable +manner. I believe such a book might have a brilliant success, but I did +not intend to scribble so much about it. + +Give my kindest remembrance to Mrs. Huxley, and tell her I was looking +at 'Enoch Arden,' and as I know how she admires Tennyson, I must call +her attention to two sweetly pretty lines (page 105)... + +... and he meant, he said he meant, Perhaps he meant, or partly meant, +you well. + +Such a gem as this is enough to make me young again, and like poetry +with pristine fervour. + +My dear Huxley, Yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In another letter (January 1865) he returns to the above suggestion, +though he was in general strongly opposed to men of science giving up to +the writing of text-books, or to teaching, the time that might otherwise +have been given to original research. + +"I knew there was very little chance of your having time to write a +popular Treatise on Zoology, but you are about the one man who could do +it. At the time I felt it would be almost a sin for you to do it, as +it would of course destroy some original work. On the other hand +I sometimes think that general and popular treatises are almost as +important for the progress of science as original work." + + +The series of letters will continue the history of the year 1863.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, January 3 [1863]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am burning with indignation and must exhale... I could not get to sleep +till past 3 last night for indignation (It would serve no useful purpose +if I were to go into the matter which so strongly roused my father's +anger. It was a question of literary dishonesty, in which a friend was +the sufferer, but which in no way affected himself.)... + +Now for pleasanter subjects; we were all amused at your defence of stamp +collecting and collecting generally... But, by Jove, I can hardly stomach +a grown man collecting stamps. Who would ever have thought of your +collecting Wedgwoodware! but that is wholly different, like engravings +or pictures. We are degenerate descendants of old Josiah W., for we have +not a bit of pretty ware in the house. + +... Notwithstanding the very pleasant reason you give for our not +enjoying a holiday, namely, that we have no vices, it is a horrid bore. +I have been trying for health's sake to be idle, with no success. What I +shall now have to do, will be to erect a tablet in Down Church, "Sacred +to the Memory, etc.," and officially die, and then publish books, "by +the late Charles Darwin," for I cannot think what has come over me of +late; I always suffered from the excitement of talking, but now it has +become ludicrous. I talked lately 1 1/2 hours (broken by tea by myself) +with my nephew, and I was [ill] half the night. It is a fearful evil for +self and family. + +Good-night. Ever yours. C. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter to Sir Julius von Haast (Sir Julius von Haast was +a German by birth, but had long been resident in New Zealand. He was, +in 1862, Government Geologist to the Province of Canterbury.), is an +example of the sympathy which he felt with the spread and growth of +science in the colonies. It was a feeling not expressed once only, but +was frequently present in his mind, and often found utterance. When we, +at Cambridge, had the satisfaction of receiving Sir J. von Haast into +our body as a Doctor of Science (July 1886), I had the opportunity of +hearing from him of the vivid pleasure which this, and other letters +from my father, gave him. It was pleasant to see how strong had been +the impression made by my father's warm-hearted sympathy--an impression +which seemed, after more than twenty years, to be as fresh as when it +was first received:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JULIUS VON HAAST. Down, January 22 [1863]. + +Dear Sir, + +I thank you most sincerely for sending me your Address and the +Geological Report. (Address to the 'Philosophical Institute of +Canterbury (N.Z.).' The "Report" is given in "The New Zealand Government +Gazette, Province of Canterbury", October 1862.) I have seldom in my +life read anything more spirited and interesting than your address. The +progress of your colony makes one proud, and it is really admirable to +see a scientific institution founded in so young a nation. I thank +you for the very honourable notice of my 'Origin of Species.' You will +easily believe how much I have been interested by your striking facts +on the old glacial period, and I suppose the world might be searched in +vain for so grand a display of terraces. You have, indeed, a noble +field for scientific research and discovery. I have been extremely +much interested by what you say about the tracks of supposed [living] +mammalia. Might I ask, if you succeed in discovering what the creatures +are, you would have the great kindness to inform me? Perhaps they may +turn out something like the Solenhofen bird creature, with its long +tail and fingers, with claws to its wings! I may mention that in South +America, in completely uninhabited regions, I found spring rat-traps, +baited with CHEESE, were very successful in catching the smaller +mammals. I would venture to suggest to you to urge on some of the +capable members of your institution to observe annually the rate and +manner of spreading of European weeds and insects, and especially to +observe WHAT NATIVE PLANTS MOST FAIL; this latter point has never been +attended to. Do the introduced hive-bees replace any other insect? etc. +All such points are, in my opinion, great desiderata in science. What an +interesting discovery that of the remains of prehistoric man! + +Believe me, dear Sir, With the most cordial respect and thanks, Yours +very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO CAMILLE DARESTE. (Professor Dareste is a well-known +worker in Animal Teratology. He was in 1863 living at Lille, but has +since then been called to Paris. My father took a special interest in +Dareste's work on the production of monsters, as bearing on the causes +of variation.) Down, February 16 [1863]. + +Dear and respected Sir, + +I thank you sincerely for your letter and your pamphlet. I had heard +(I think in one of M. Quatrefages' books) of your work, and was most +anxious to read it, but did not know where to find it. You could not +have made me a more valuable present. I have only just returned +home, and have not yet read your work; when I do if I wish to ask any +questions I will venture to trouble you. Your approbation of my book +on Species has gratified me extremely. Several naturalists in England, +North America, and Germany, have declared that their opinions on the +subject have in some degree been modified, but as far as I know, my book +has produced no effect whatever in France, and this makes me the more +gratified by your very kind expression of approbation. Pray believe me, +dear Sir, with much respect, + +Yours faithfully and obliged, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 24 [1863]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am astonished at your note, I have not seen the "Athenaeum" (In the +'Antiquity of Man,' first edition, page 480, Lyell criticised somewhat +severely Owen's account of the difference between the Human and Simian +brains. The number of the "Athenaeum" here referred to (1863, page 262) +contains a reply by Professor Owen to Lyell's strictures. The surprise +expressed by my father was at the revival of a controversy which every +one believed to be closed. Prof. Huxley ("Medical Times", October 25, +1862, quoted in 'Man's Place in Nature,' page 117) spoke of the "two +years during which this preposterous controversy has dragged its weary +length." And this no doubt expressed a very general feeling.) but I have +sent for it, and may get it to-morrow; and will then say what I think. + +I have read Lyell's book. ['The Antiquity of Man.'] the whole certainty +struck me as a compilation, but of the highest class, for when possible +the facts have been verified on the spot, making it almost an original +work. The Glacial chapters seem to me best, and in parts magnificent. I +could hardly judge about Man, as all the gloss of novelty was completely +worn off. But certainly the aggregation of the evidence produced a very +striking effect on my mind. The chapter comparing language and changes +of species, seems most ingenious and interesting. He has shown great +skill in picking out salient points in the argument for change of +species; but I am deeply disappointed (I do not mean personally) to +find that his timidity prevents him giving any judgment... From all my +communications with him I must ever think that he has really entirely +lost faith in the immutability of species; and yet one of his strongest +sentences is nearly as follows: "If it should EVER (The italics are not +Lyell's.) be rendered highly probable that species change by variation +and natural selection," etc., etc. I had hoped he would have guided the +public as far as his own belief went... One thing does please me on this +subject, that he seems to appreciate your work. No doubt the public or a +part may be induced to think that as he gives to us a larger space than +to Lamarck, he must think there is something in our views. When reading +the brain chapter, it struck me forcibly that if he had said openly +that he believed in change of species, and as a consequence that man was +derived from some Quadrumanous animal, it would have been very proper +to have discussed by compilation the differences in the most important +organ, viz. the brain. As it is, the chapter seems to me to come in +rather by the head and shoulders. I do not think (but then I am as +prejudiced as Falconer and Huxley, or more so) that it is too severe; +it struck me as given with judicial force. It might perhaps be said with +truth that he had no business to judge on a subject on which he knows +nothing; but compilers must do this to a certain extent. (You know I +value and rank high compilers, being one myself!) I have taken you +at your word, and scribbled at great length. If I get the "Athenaeum" +to-morrow, I will add my impression of Owen's letter. + +... The Lyells are coming here on Sunday evening to stay till Wednesday. +I dread it, but I must say how much disappointed I am that he has not +spoken out on species, still less on man. And the best of the joke is +that he thinks he has acted with the courage of a martyr of old. I +hope I may have taken an exaggerated view of his timidity, and shall +PARTICULARLY be glad of your opinion on this head. (On this subject +my father wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker: "Cordial thanks for your deeply +interesting letters about Lyell, Owen, and Co. I cannot say how glad +I am to hear that I have not been unjust about the species-question +towards Lyell. I feared I had been unreasonable.") When I got his book I +turned over the pages, and saw he had discussed the subject of species, +and said that I thought he would do more to convert the public than all +of us, and now (which makes the case worse for me) I must, in common +honesty, retract. I wish to Heaven he had said not a word on the +subject. + +WEDNESDAY MORNING: + +I have read the "Athenaeum". I do not think Lyell will be nearly so +much annoyed as you expect. The concluding sentence is no doubt very +stinging. No one but a good anatomist could unravel Owen's letter; at +least it is quite beyond me. + +... Lyell's memory plays him false when he says all anatomists were +astonished at Owen's paper ("On the Characters, etc., of the Class +Mammalia." 'Linn. Soc. Journal,' ii, 1858.); it was often quoted +with approbation. I WELL remember Lyell's admiration at this new +classification! (Do not repeat this.) I remember it, because, though +I knew nothing whatever about the brain, I felt a conviction that a +classification thus founded on a single character would break down, +and it seemed to me a great error not to separate more completely the +Marsupialia... + +What an accursed evil it is that there should be all this quarrelling +within, what ought to be, the peaceful realms of science. I will go +to my own present subject of inheritance and forget it all for a time. +Farewell, my dear old friend, + +C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, February 23 [1863]. + +... If you have time to read you will be interested by parts of Lyell's +book on man; but I fear that the best part, about the Glacial period, +may be too geological for any one except a regular geologist. He quotes +you at the end with gusto. By the way, he told me the other day how +pleased some had been by hearing that they could purchase your pamphlet. +The "Parthenon" also speaks of it as the ablest contribution to +the literature of the subject. It delights me when I see your work +appreciated. + +The Lyells come here this day week, and I shall grumble at his excessive +caution... The public may well say, if such a man dare not or will not +speak out his mind, how can we who are ignorant form even a guess on the +subject? Lyell was pleased when I told him lately that you thought that +language might be used as an excellent illustration of derivation of +species; you will see that he has an ADMIRABLE chapter on this... + +I read Cairns's excellent Lecture (Prof. J.E. Cairns, 'The Slave Power, +etc.: an attempt to explain the real issues involved in the American +contest.' 1862.), which shows so well how your quarrel arose from +Slavery. It made me for a time wish honestly for the North; but I could +never help, though I tried, all the time thinking how we should be +bullied and forced into a war by you, when you were triumphant. But I do +most truly think it dreadful that the South, with its accursed slavery, +should triumph, and spread the evil. I think if I had power, which thank +God, I have not, I would let you conquer the border States, and all west +of the Mississippi, and then force you to acknowledge the cotton States. +For do you not now begin to doubt whether you can conquer and hold them? +I have inflicted a long tirade on you. + +"The Times" is getting more detestable (but that is too weak a word) +than ever. My good wife wishes to give it up, but I tell her that is a +pitch of heroism to which only a woman is equal. To give up the "Bloody +Old 'Times'," as Cobbett used to call it, would be to give up meat, +drink and air. Farewell, my dear Gray, + +Yours most truly, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, March 6, [1863]. + +... I have been of course deeply interested by your book. ('Antiquity +of Man.') I have hardly any remarks worth sending, but will scribble a +little on what most interested me. But I will first get out what I hate +saying, viz., that I have been greatly disappointed that you have not +given judgment and spoken fairly out what you think about the derivation +of species. I should have been contented if you had boldly said that +species have not been separately created, and had thrown as much doubt +as you like on how far variation and natural selection suffices. I hope +to Heaven I am wrong (and from what you say about Whewell it seems +so), but I cannot see how your chapters can do more good than an +extraordinary able review. I think the "Parthenon" is right, that you +will leave the public in a fog. No doubt they may infer that as you give +more space to myself, Wallace, and Hooker, than to Lamarck, you think +more of us. But I had always thought that your judgment would have been +an epoch in the subject. All that is over with me, and I will only think +on the admirable skill with which you have selected the striking points, +and explained them. No praise can be too strong, in my opinion, for the +inimitable chapter on language in comparison with species. + +(After speculating on the sudden appearance of individuals far above the +average of the human race, Lyell asks if such leaps upwards in the +scale of intellect may not "have cleared at one bound the space which +separated the higher stage of the unprogressive intelligence of the +inferior animals from the first and lowest form of improvable reason +manifested by man.") page 505--A sentence at the top of the page makes +me groan... + +I know you will forgive me for writing with perfect freedom, for you +must know how deeply I respect you as my old honoured guide and master. +I heartily hope and expect that your book will have gigantic circulation +and may do in many ways as much good as it ought to do. I am tired, +so no more. I have written so briefly that you will have to guess my +meaning. I fear my remarks are hardly worth sending. Farewell, with +kindest remembrance to Lady Lyell. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +[Mr. Huxley has quoted (vol. i. page 546) some passages from Lyell's +letters which show his state of mind at this time. The following +passage, from a letter of March 11th to my father, is also of much +interest:-- + +"My feelings, however, more than any thought about policy or expediency, +prevent me from dogmatising as to the descent of man from the brutes, +which, though I am prepared to accept it, takes away much of the charm +from my speculations on the past relating to such matters... But you +ought to be satisfied, as I shall bring hundreds towards you who, if I +treated the matter more dogmatically, would have rebelled."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, 12 [March, 1863]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I thank you for your very interesting and kind, I may say, charming +letter. I feared you might be huffed for a little time with me. I know +some men would have been so. I have hardly any more criticisms, anyhow, +worth writing. But I may mention that I felt a little surprise that +old B. de Perthes (1788-1868. See footnote below.) was not rather more +honourably mentioned. I would suggest whether you could not leave out +some references to the 'Principles;' one for the real student is as +good as a hundred, and it is rather irritating, and gives a feeling +of incompleteness to the general reader to be often referred to other +books. As you say that you have gone as far as you believe on the +species question, I have not a word to say; but I must feel convinced +that at times, judging from conversation, expressions, letters, etc., +you have as completely given up belief in immutability of specific forms +as I have done. I must still think a clear expression from you, IF YOU +COULD HAVE GIVEN IT, would have been potent with the public, and all +the more so, as you formerly held opposite opinions. The more I work the +more satisfied I become with variation and natural selection, but that +part of the case I look at as less important, though more interesting +to me personally. As you ask for criticisms on this head (and believe +me that I should not have made them unasked), I may specify (pages 412, +413) that such words as "Mr. D. labours to show," "is believed by the +author to throw light," would lead a common reader to think that you +yourself do NOT at all agree, but merely think it fair to give my +opinion. Lastly, you refer repeatedly to my view as a modification +of Lamarck's doctrine of development and progression. If this is your +deliberate opinion there is nothing to be said, but it does not seem +so to me. Plato, Buffon, my grandfather before Lamarck, and others, +propounded the OBVIOUS views that if species were not created separately +they must have descended from other species, and I can see nothing +else in common between the 'Origin' and Lamarck. I believe this way +of putting the case is very injurious to its acceptance, as it implies +necessary progression, and closely connects Wallace's and my views with +what I consider, after two deliberate readings, as a wretched book, and +one from which (I well remember my surprise) I gained nothing. But I +know you rank it higher, which is curious, as it did not in the least +shake your belief. But enough, and more than enough. Please remember you +have brought it all down on yourself!!! + +I am very sorry to hear about Falconer's "reclamation." ("Falconer, whom +I referred to oftener than to any other author, says I have not done +justice to the part he took in resuscitating the cave question, and says +he shall come out with a separate paper to prove it. I offered to alter +anything in the new edition, but this he declined.--C. Lyell to C. +Darwin, March 11, 1863; Lyell's 'Life,' vol. ii. page 364.) I hate the +very word, and have a sincere affection for him. + +Did you ever read anything so wretched as the "Athenaeum" reviews of +you, and of Huxley ('Man's Place in Nature,' 1863.) especially. Your +OBJECT to make man old, and Huxley's OBJECT to degrade him. The wretched +writer has not a glimpse what the discovery of scientific truth means. +How splendid some pages are in Huxley, but I fear the book will not be +popular... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [March 13, 1863]. + +I should have thanked you sooner for the "Athenaeum" and very pleasant +previous note, but I have been busy, and not a little uncomfortable from +frequent uneasy feeling of fullness, slight pain and tickling about +the heart. But as I have no other symptoms of heart complaint I do not +suppose it is affected... I have had a most kind and delightfully candid +letter from Lyell, who says he spoke out as far as he believes. I have +no doubt his belief failed him as he wrote, for I feel sure that at +times he no more believed in Creation than you or I. I have grumbled a +bit in my answer to him at his ALWAYS classing my work as a modification +of Lamarck's, which it is no more than any author who did not believe in +immutability of species, and did believe in descent. I am very sorry to +hear from Lyell that Falconer is going to publish a formal reclamation +of his own claims... + +It is cruel to think of it, but we must go to Malvern in the middle of +April; it is ruin to me. (He went to Hartfield in Sussex, on April 27, +and to Malvern in the autumn.)... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, March 17 [1863]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have been much interested by your letters and enclosure, and thank you +sincerely for giving me so much time when you must be so busy. What a +curious letter from B. de P. [Boucher de Perthes]. He seems perfectly +satisfied, and must be a very amiable man. I know something about his +errors, and looked at his book many years ago, and am ashamed to +think that I concluded the whole was rubbish! Yet he has done for +man something like what Agassiz did for glaciers. (In his 'Antiquites +Celtiques' (1847), Boucher de Perthes described the flint tools found +at Abbeville with bones of rhinoceros, hyaena, etc. "But the scientific +world had no faith in the statement that works of art, however rude, +had been met with in undisturbed beds of such antiquity." ('Antiquity of +Man,' first edition, page 95).) + +I cannot say that I agree with Hooker about the public not liking to +be told what to conclude, IF COMING FROM ONE IN YOUR POSITION. But I am +heartily sorry that I was led to make complaints, or something very like +complaints, on the manner in which you have treated the subject, and +still more so anything about myself. I steadily ENDEAVOUR never to +forget my firm belief that no one can at all judge about his own work. +As for Lamarck, as you have such a man as Grove with you, you are +triumphant; not that I can alter my opinion that to me it was an +absolutely useless book. Perhaps this was owing to my always searching +books for facts, perhaps from knowing my grandfather's earlier and +identically the same speculation. I will only further say that if I can +analyse my own feelings (a very doubtful process), it is nearly as much +for your sake as for my own, that I so much wish that your state of +belief could have permitted you to say boldly and distinctly out that +species were not separately created. I have generally told you the +progress of opinion, as I have heard it, on the species question. A +first-rate German naturalist (No doubt Haeckel, whose monograph on the +Radiolaria was published in 1862. In the same year Professor W. Preyer +of Jena published a dissertation on Alca impennis, which was one of +the earliest pieces of special work on the basis of the 'Origin of +Species.') (I now forget the name!), who has lately published a grand +folio, has spoken out to the utmost extent on the 'Origin.' De Candolle, +in a very good paper on "Oaks," goes, in Asa Gray's opinion, as far as +he himself does; but De Candolle, in writing to me, says WE, "we think +this and that;" so that I infer he really goes to the full extent +with me, and tells me of a French good botanical palaeontologist (name +forgotten) (The Marquis de Saporta.), who writes to De Candolle that he +is sure that my views will ultimately prevail. But I did not intend to +have written all this. It satisfies me with the final results, but +this result, I begin to see, will take two or three lifetimes. The +entomologists are enough to keep the subject back for half a century. I +really pity your having to balance the claims of so many eager aspirants +for notice; it is clearly impossible to satisfy all... Certainly I was +struck with the full and due honour you conferred on Falconer. I have +just had a note from Hooker... I am heartily glad that you have made him +so conspicuous; he is so honest, so candid, and so modest... + +I have read --. I could find nothing to lay hold of, which in one sense +I am very glad of, as I should hate a controversy; but in another +sense I am very sorry for, as I long to be in the same boat with all my +friends... I am heartily glad the book is going off so well. + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [March 29, 1863]. + +... Many thanks for "Athenaeum", received this morning, and to be +returned to-morrow morning. Who would have ever thought of the old +stupid "Athenaeum" taking to Oken-like transcendental philosophy +written in Owenian style! (This refers to a review of Dr. Carpenter's +'Introduction to the study of Foraminifera,' that appeared in the +"Athenaeum" of March 28, 1863 (page 417). The reviewer attacks Dr. +Carpenter's views in as much as they support the doctrine of Descent; +and he upholds spontaneous generation (Heterogeny) in place of what Dr. +Carpenter, naturally enough, believed in, viz. the genetic connection of +living and extinct Foraminifera. In the next number is a letter by Dr. +Carpenter, which chiefly consists of a protest against the reviewer's +somewhat contemptuous classification of Dr. Carpenter and my father +as disciple and master. In the course of the letter Dr. Carpenter +says--page 461:-- + +"Under the influence of his foregone conclusion that I have accepted +Mr. Darwin as my master, and his hypothesis as my guide, your reviewer +represents me as blind to the significance of the general fact stated by +me, that 'there has been no advance in the foraminiferous type from +the palaeozoic period to the present time.' But for such a foregone +conclusion he would have recognised in this statement the expression of +my conviction that the present state of scientific evidence, instead of +sanctioning the idea that the descendants of the primitive type or +types of Foraminifera can ever rise to any higher grade, justifies the +ANTI-DARWINIAN influence, that however widely they diverge from each +other and from their originals, THEY STILL REMAIN FORAMINIFERA.")... It +will be some time before we see "slime, protoplasm, etc.," generating a +new animal. (On the same subject my father wrote in 1871: "It is often +said that all the conditions for the first production of a living +organism are now present, which could ever have been present. But if +(and oh! what a big if!) we could conceive in some warm little +pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, +electricity, etc., present, that a proteine compound was chemically +formed ready to undergo still more complex changes, at the present day +such matter would be instantly devoured or absorbed, which would not +have been the case before living creatures were formed.") But I +have long regretted that I truckled to public opinion, and used the +Pentateuchal term of creation (This refers to a passage in which the +reviewer of Dr. Carpenter's books speaks of "an operation of force," or +"a concurrence of forces which have now no place in nature," as +being, "a creative force, in fact, which Darwin could only express in +Pentateuchal terms as the primordial form 'into which life was +first breathed.'" The conception of expressing a creative force as a +primordial form is the Reviewer's.), by which I really meant "appeared" +by some wholly unknown process. It is mere rubbish, thinking at present +of the origin of life; one might as well think of the origin of matter. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Friday night [April 17, 1863]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have heard from Oliver that you will be now at Kew, and so I am going +to amuse myself by scribbling a bit. I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed +your tour. I never in my life saw anything like the spring flowers this +year. What a lot of interesting things have been lately published. +I liked extremely your review of De Candolle. What an awfully severe +article that by Falconer on Lyell ("Athenaeum", April 4, 1863, page 459. +The writer asserts that justice has not been done either to himself +or Mr. Prestwich--that Lyell has not made it clear that it was their +original work which supplied certain material for the 'Antiquity +of Man.' Falconer attempts to draw an unjust distinction between a +"philosopher" (here used as a polite word for compiler) like Sir Charles +Lyell, and original observers, presumably such as himself, and Mr. +Prestwich. Lyell's reply was published in the "Athenaeum", April +18, 1863. It ought to be mentioned that a letter from Mr. Prestwich +("Athenaeum", page 555), which formed part of the controversy, though of +the nature of a reclamation, was written in a very different spirit and +tone from Dr. Falconer's.); I am very sorry for it; I think Falconer on +his side does not do justice to old Perthes and Schmerling... I shall +be very curious to see how he [Lyell] answers it t-morrow. (I have been +compelled to take in the "Athenaeum" for a while.) I am very sorry that +Falconer should have written so spitefully, even if there is some truth +in his accusations; I was rather disappointed in Carpenter's letter, no +one could have given a better answer, but the chief object of his letter +seems to me to be to show that though he has touched pitch he is not +defiled. No one would suppose he went so far as to believe all birds +came from one progenitor. I have written a letter to the "Athenaeum" +("Athenaeum", 1863, page 554: "The view given by me on the origin or +derivation of species, whatever its weaknesses may be, connects (as has +been candidly admitted by some of its opponents, such as Pictet, Bronn, +etc.), by an intelligible thread of reasoning, a multitude of facts: +such as the formation of domestic races by man's selection,--the +classification and affinities of all organic beings,--the innumerable +gradations in structure and instincts,--the similarity of pattern in the +hand, wing, or paddle of animals of the same great class,--the existence +of organs become rudimentary by disuse,--the similarity of an embryonic +reptile, bird, and mammal, with the retention of traces of an apparatus +fitted for aquatic respiration; the retention in the young calf of +incisor teeth in the upper jaw, etc.--the distribution of animals and +plants, and their mutual affinities within the same region,--their +general geological succession, and the close relationship of the fossils +in closely consecutive formations and within the same country; +extinct marsupials having preceded living marsupials in Australia, and +armadillo-like animals having preceded and generated armadilloes in +South America,--and many other phenomena, such as the gradual extinction +of old forms and their gradual replacement by new forms better fitted +for their new conditions in the struggle for life. When the advocate of +Heterogeny can thus connect large classes of facts, and not until then, +he will have respectful and patient listeners.") (the first and last +time I shall take such a step) to say, under the cloak of attacking +Heterogeny, a word in my own defence. My letter is to appear next week, +so the Editor says; and I mean to quote Lyell's sentence (See the next +letter.) in his second edition, on the principle if one puffs oneself, +one had better puff handsomely... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, April 18 [1863]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I was really quite sorry that you had sent me a second copy (The second +edition of the 'Antiquity of Man' was published a few months after the +first had appeared.) of your valuable book. But after a few hours +my sorrow vanished for this reason: I have written a letter to the +"Athenaeum", in order, under the cloak of attacking the monstrous +article on Heterogeny, to say a word for myself in answer to Carpenter, +and now I have inserted a few sentences in allusion to your analogous +objection (Lyell objected that the mammalia (e.g. bats and seals) which +alone have been able to reach oceanic islands ought to have become +modified into various terrestrial forms fitted to fill various places +in their new home. My father pointed out in the "Athenaeum" that Sir +Charles has in some measure answered his own objection, and went on to +quote the "amended sentence" ('Antiquity of Man,' 2nd Edition page +469) as showing how far Lyell agreed with the general doctrines of +the "Origin of Species': "Yet we ought by no means to undervalue the +importance of the step which will have been made, should it hereafter +become the generally received opinion of men of science (as I fully +expect it will) that the past changes of the organic world have been +brought about by the subordinate agency of such causes as Variation and +Natural Selection." In the first edition the words (as I fully expect +it will," do not occur.) about bats on islands, and then with infinite +slyness have quoted your amended sentence, with your parenthesis ("as +I fully believe") (My father here quotes Lyell incorrectly; see the +previous foot-note.); I do not think you can be annoyed at my doing +this, and you see, that I am determined as far as I can, that the public +shall see how far you go. This is the first time I have ever said a word +for myself in any journal, and it shall, I think, be the last. My +letter is short, and no great things. I was extremely concerned to see +Falconer's disrespectful and virulent letter. I like extremely your +answer just read; you take a lofty and dignified position, to which you +are so well entitled. (In a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker he wrote: "I +much like Lyell's letter. But all this squabbling will greatly sink +scientific men. I have seen sneers already in the 'Times'.") + +I suspect that if you had inserted a few more superlatives in speaking +of the several authors there would have been none of this horrid noise. +No one, I am sure, who knows you could doubt about your hearty sympathy +with every one who makes any little advance in science. I still well +remember my surprise at the manner in which you listened to me in Hart +Street on my return from the "Beagle's" voyage. You did me a world of +good. It is horridly vexatious that so frank and apparently amiable a +man as Falconer should have behaved so. (It is to this affair that the +extract from a letter to Falconer, given in volume i., refers.) Well it +will all soon be forgotten... + + +[In reply to the above-mentioned letter of my father's to the +"Athenaeum", an article appeared in that Journal (May 2nd, 1863, page +586), accusing my father of claiming for his views the exclusive merit +of "connecting by an intelligible thread of reasoning" a number of +facts in morphology, etc. The writer remarks that, "The different +generalizations cited by Mr. Darwin as being connected by an +intelligible thread of reasoning exclusively through his attempt to +explain specific transmutation are in fact related to it in this wise, +that they have prepared the minds of naturalists for a better reception +of such attempts to explain the way of the origin of species from +species." + +To this my father replied in the "Athenaeum" of May 9th, 1863:] + +Down, May 5 [1863]. + +I hope that you will grant me space to own that your reviewer is quite +correct when he states that any theory of descent will connect, "by an +intelligible thread of reasoning," the several generalizations before +specified. I ought to have made this admission expressly; with the +reservation, however, that, as far as I can judge, no theory so well +explains or connects these several generalizations (more especially +the formation of domestic races in comparison with natural species, +the principles of classification, embryonic resemblance, etc.) as the +theory, or hypothesis, or guess, if the reviewer so likes to call it, of +Natural Selection. Nor has any other satisfactory explanation been ever +offered of the almost perfect adaptation of all organic beings to each +other, and to their physical conditions of life. Whether the naturalist +believes in the views given by Lamarck, by Geoffrey St. Hilaire, by the +author of the 'Vestiges,' by Mr. Wallace and myself, or in any other +such view, signifies extremely little in comparison with the admission +that species have descended from other species, and have not been +created immutable; for he who admits this as a great truth has a wide +field opened to him for further inquiry. I believe, however, from what +I see of the progress of opinion on the Continent, and in this country, +that the theory of Natural Selection will ultimately be adopted, with, +no doubt, many subordinate modifications and improvements. + +CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[In the following, he refers to the above letter to the "Athenaeum:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Leith Hill Place, Saturday [May 11, +1863]. + +My dear Hooker, + +You give good advice about not writing in newspapers; I have been +gnashing my teeth at my own folly; and this not caused by --'s sneers, +which were so good that I almost enjoyed them. I have written once again +to own to a certain extent of truth in what he says, and then if I am +ever such a fool again, have no mercy on me. I have read the squib in +"Public Opinion" ("Public Opinion", April 23, 1863. A lively account of +a police case, in which the quarrels of scientific men are satirised. +Mr. John Bull gives evidence that-- + +"The whole neighbourhood was unsettled by their disputes; Huxley +quarrelled with Owen, Owen with Darwin, Lyell with Owen, Falconer and +Prestwich with Lyell, and Gray the menagerie man with everybody. He had +pleasure, however, in stating that Darwin was the quietest of the set. +They were always picking bones with each other and fighting over their +gains. If either of the gravel sifters or stone breakers found anything, +he was obliged to conceal it immediately, or one of the old bone +collectors would be sure to appropriate it first and deny the theft +afterwards, and the consequent wrangling and disputes were as endless as +they were wearisome. + +"Lord Mayor.--Probably the clergyman of the parish might exert some +influence over them? + +"The gentleman smiled, shook his head, and stated that he regretted to +say that no class of men paid so little attention to the opinions of the +clergy as that to which these unhappy men belonged."); it is capital; +if there is more, and you have a copy, do lend it. It shows well that a +scientific man had better be trampled in dirt than squabble. I have +been drawing diagrams, dissecting shoots, and muddling my brains to +a hopeless degree about the divergence of leaves, and have of course +utterly failed. But I can see that the subject is most curious, and +indeed astonishing... + + +[The next letter refers to Mr. Bentham's presidential address to the +Linnean Society (May 25, 1863). Mr. Bentham does not yield to the new +theory of Evolution, "cannot surrender at discretion as long as many +important outworks remain contestable." But he shows that the great body +of scientific opinion is flowing in the direction of belief. + +The mention of Pasteur by Mr. Bentham is in reference to the +promulgation "as it were ex cathedra," of a theory of spontaneous +generation by the reviewer of Dr. Carpenter in the "Athenaeum" (March +28, 1863). Mr. Bentham points out that in ignoring Pasteur's refutation +of the supposed facts of spontaneous generation, the writer fails to act +with "that impartiality which every reviewer is supposed to possess."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G. BENTHAM. Down, May 22 [1863]. + +My dear Bentham, + +I am much obliged for your kind and interesting letter. I have no fear +of anything that a man like you will say annoying me in the very least +degree. On the other hand, any approval from one whose judgment and +knowledge I have for many years so sincerely respected, will gratify +me much. The objection which you well put, of certain forms remaining +unaltered through long time and space, is no doubt formidable in +appearance, and to a certain extent in reality according to my judgment. +But does not the difficulty rest much on our silently assuming that we +know more than we do? I have literally found nothing so difficult as to +try and always remember our ignorance. I am never weary, when walking +in any new adjoining district or country, of reflecting how absolutely +ignorant we are why certain old plants are not there present, and other +new ones are, and others in different proportions. If we once fully feel +this, then in judging the theory of Natural Selection, which implies +that a form will remain unaltered unless some alteration be to its +benefit, is it so very wonderful that some forms should change much +slower and much less, and some few should have changed not at all under +conditions which to us (who really know nothing what are the important +conditions) seem very different. Certainly a priori we might have +anticipated that all the plants anciently introduced into Australia +would have undergone some modification; but the fact that they have not +been modified does not seem to me a difficulty of weight enough to shake +a belief grounded on other arguments. I have expressed myself miserably, +but I am far from well to-day. + +I am very glad that you are going to allude to Pasteur; I was struck +with infinite admiration at his work. With cordial thanks, believe me, +dear Bentham, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--In fact, the belief in Natural Selection must at present be +grounded entirely on general considerations. (1) On its being a vera +causa, from the struggle for existence; and the certain geological fact +that species do somehow change. (2) From the analogy of change under +domestication by man's selection. (3) And chiefly from this view +connecting under an intelligible point of view a host of facts. When we +descend to details, we can prove that no one species has changed [i.e. +we cannot prove that a single species has changed]; nor can we prove +that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the +theory. Nor can we explain why some species have changed and others have +not. The latter case seems to me hardly more difficult to understand +precisely and in detail than the former case of supposed change. Bronn +may ask in vain, the old creationist school and the new school, why one +mouse has longer ears than another mouse, and one plant more pointed +leaves than another plant. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G. BENTHAM. Down, June 19 [1863]. + +My dear Bentham, + +I have been extremely much pleased and interested by your address, +which you kindly sent me. It seems to be excellently done, with as much +judicial calmness and impartiality as the Lord Chancellor could have +shown. But whether the "immutable" gentlemen would agree with the +impartiality may be doubted, there is too much kindness shown towards +me, Hooker, and others, they might say. Moreover I verily believe that +your address, written as it is, will do more to shake the unshaken and +bring on those leaning to our side, than anything written directly in +favour of transmutation. I can hardly tell why it is, but your address +has pleased me as much as Lyell's book disappointed me, that is, the +part on species, though so cleverly written. I agree with all your +remarks on the reviewers. By the way, Lecoq (Author of 'Geographie +Botanique.' 9 vols. 1854-58.) is a believer in the change of species. I, +for one, can conscientiously declare that I never feel surprised at +any one sticking to the belief of immutability; though I am often not a +little surprised at the arguments advanced on this side. I remember too +well my endless oscillations of doubt and difficulty. It is to me really +laughable when I think of the years which elapsed before I saw what I +believe to be the explanation of some parts of the case; I believe it +was fifteen years after I began before I saw the meaning and cause of +the divergence of the descendants of any one pair. You pay me some most +elegant and pleasing compliments. There is much in your address which +has pleased me much, especially your remarks on various naturalists. I +am so glad that you have alluded so honourably to Pasteur. I have just +read over this note; it does not express strongly enough the interest +which I have felt in reading your address. You have done, I believe, a +real good turn to the RIGHT SIDE. Believe me, dear Bentham, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +1864. + +[In my father's diary for 1864 is the entry, "Ill all January, February, +March." About the middle of April (seven months after the beginning +of the illness in the previous autumn) his health took a turn for the +better. As soon as he was able to do any work, he began to write his +papers on Lythrum, and on Climbing Plants, so that the work which now +concerns us did not begin until September, when he again set to work on +'Animals and Plants.' A letter to Sir J.D. Hooker gives some account of +the r-commencement of the work: "I have begun looking over my old MS., +and it is as fresh as if I had never written it; parts are astonishingly +dull, but yet worth printing, I think; and other parts strike me as very +good. I am a complete millionaire in odd and curious little facts, and I +have been really astounded at my own industry whilst reading my chapters +on Inheritance and Selection. God knows when the book will ever be +completed, for I find that I am very weak and on my best days cannot do +more than one or one and a half hours' work. It is a good deal harder +than writing about my dear climbing plants." + +In this year he received the greatest honour which a scientific man can +receive in this country--the Copley Medal of the Royal Society. It is +presented at the Anniversary Meeting on St. Andrew's Day (November 30), +the medalist being usually present to receive it, but this the state of +my father's health prevented. He wrote to Mr. Fox on this subject:-- + +"I was glad to see your hand-writing. The Copley, being open to all +sciences and all the world, is reckoned a great honour; but excepting +from several kind letters, such things make little difference to me. It +shows, however, that Natural Selection is making some progress in this +country, and that pleases me. The subject, however, is safe in foreign +lands." + +To Sir J.D. Hooker, also, he wrote:-- + +"How kind you have been about this medal; indeed, I am blessed with many +good friends, and I have received four or five notes which have warmed +my heart. I often wonder that so old a worn-out dog as I am is not quite +forgotten. Talking of medals, has Falconer had the Royal? he surely +ought to have it, as ought John Lubbock. By the way, the latter tells +me that some old members of the Royal are quite shocked at my having the +Copley. Do you know who?" + +He wrote to Mr. Huxley:-- + +"I must and will answer you, for it is a real pleasure for me to thank +you cordially for your note. Such notes as this of yours, and a few +others, are the real medal to me, and not the round bit of gold. These +have given me a pleasure which will long endure; so believe in my +cordial thanks for your note." + +Sir Charles Lyell, writing to my father in November 1864 ('Life,' vol. +ii. page 384), speaks of the supposed malcontents as being afraid to +crown anything so unorthodox as the 'Origin.' But he adds that if such +were their feelings "they had the good sense to draw in their horns." +It appears, however, from the same letter, that the proposal to give the +Copley Medal to my father in the previous year failed owing to a similar +want of courage--to Lyell's great indignation. + +In the "Reader", December 3, 1864, General Sabine's presidential address +at the Anniversary Meeting is reported at some length. Special weight +was laid on my father's work in Geology, Zoology, and Botany, but +the 'Origin of Species' is praised chiefly as containing "a mass of +observations," etc. It is curious that as in the case of his election +to the French Institution, so in this case, he was honoured not for +the great work of his life, but for his less important work in special +lines. The paragraph in General Sabine's address which refers to the +'Origin of Species,' is as follows:-- + +"In his most recent work 'On the Origin of Species,' although opinions +may be divided or undecided with respect to its merits in some respects, +all will allow that it contains a mass of observations bearing upon +the habits, structure, affinities, and distribution of animals, perhaps +unrivalled for interest, minuteness, and patience of observation. Some +amongst us may perhaps incline to accept the theory indicated by the +title of this work, while others may perhaps incline to refuse, or +at least to remit it to a future time, when increased knowledge shall +afford stronger grounds for its ultimate acceptance or rejection. +Speaking generally and collectively, we have expressly omitted it from +the grounds of our award." + +I believe I am right in saying that no little dissatisfaction at the +President's manner of allusion to the 'Origin' was felt by some Fellows +of the Society. + +The presentation of the Copley Medal is of interest in another way, +inasmuch as it led to Sir C. Lyell making, in his after-dinner speech, a +"confession of faith as to the 'Origin.'" He wrote to my father ('Life,' +vol. ii. page 384), "I said I had been forced to give up my old faith +without thoroughly seeing my way to a new one. But I think you would +have been satisfied with the length I went."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, October 3 [1864]. + +My dear Huxley, + +If I do not pour out my admiration of your article ("Criticisms on +the Origin of Species," 'Nat. Hist. Review,' 1864. Republished in 'Lay +Sermons,' 1870, page 328. The work of Professor Kolliker referred to +is 'Ueber die Darwin'sche Schopfungstheorie' (Leipzig, 1864). Toward +Professor Kolliker my father felt not only the respect due to so +distinguished a naturalist (a sentiment well expressed in Professor +Huxley's review), but he had also a personal regard for him, and often +alluded with satisfaction to the visit which Professor Kolliker paid at +Down.) on Kolliker, I shall explode. I never read anything better done. +I had much wished his article answered, and indeed thought of doing so +myself, so that I considered several points. You have hit on all, and on +some in addition, and oh! by Jove, how well you have done it. As I read +on and came to point after point on which I had thought, I could not +help jeering and scoffing at myself, to see how infinitely better you +had done it than I could have done. Well, if any one, who does not +understand Natural Selection, will read this, he will be a blockhead +if it is not as clear as daylight. Old Flourens ('Examen du livre de M. +Darwin sur l'origine des especes.' Par P. Flourens. 8vo. Paris, 1864.) +was hardly worth the powder and shot; but how capitally you bring in +about the Academician, and your metaphor of the sea-sand is INIMITABLE. + +It is a marvel to me how you can resist becoming a regular reviewer. +Well, I have exploded now, and it has done me a deal of good... + + +[In the same article in the 'Natural History Review,' Mr. Huxley speaks +of the book above alluded to by Flourens, the Secretaire Perpetuel of +the Academie des Sciences, as one of the two "most elaborate criticisms" +of the 'Origin of Species' of the year. He quotes the following +passage:-- + +"M. Darwin continue: 'Aucune distinction absolue n'a ete et ne peut etre +entre les especes et les varietes!' Je vous ai deja dit que vous +vous trompiez; une distinction absolue separe les varietes d'avec les +especes." Mr. Huxley remarks on this, "Being devoid of the blessings of +an Academy in England, we are unaccustomed to see our ablest men treated +in this way even by a Perpetual Secretary." After demonstrating M. +Flourens' misapprehension of Natural Selection, Mr. Huxley says, "How +one knows it all by heart, and with what relief one reads at page 65 'Je +laisse M. Darwin.'" + +On the same subject my father wrote to Mr. Wallace:-- + +"A great gun, Flourens, has written a little dull book against me which +pleases me much, for it is plain that our good work is spreading in +France. He speaks of the "engouement" about this book [the 'Origin'] "so +full of empty and presumptuous thoughts." The passage here alluded to is +as follows:-- + +"Enfin l'ouvrage de M. Darwin a paru. On ne peut qu'etre frappe du +talent de l'auteur. Mais que d'idees obscures, que d'idees fausses! Quel +jargon metaphysique jete mal a propos dans l'histoire naturelle, qui +tombe dans le galimatias des qu'elle sort des idees claires, des idees +justes. Quel langage pretentieux et vide! Quelles personifications +pueriles et surannees! O lucidite! O solidite de l'esprit francais, que +devene-vous?"] + + +1865. + +[This was again a time of much ill-health, but towards the close of the +year he began to recover under the care of the late Dr. Bence-Jones, +who dieted him severely, and as he expressed it, "half-starved him to +death." He was able to work at 'Animals and Plants' until nearly the end +of April, and from that time until December he did practically no work, +with the exception of looking over the 'Origin of Species' for a second +French edition. He wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:--"I am, as it were, reading +the 'Origin' for the first time, for I am correcting for a second French +edition: and upon my life, my dear fellow, it is a very good book, but +oh! my gracious, it is tough reading, and I wish it were done." (Towards +the end of the year my father received the news of a new convert to +his views, in the person of the distinguished American naturalist +Lesquereux. He wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker: "I have had an enormous letter +from Leo Lesquereux (after doubts, I did not think it worth sending you) +on Coal Flora. He wrote some excellent articles in 'Silliman' against +'Origin' views; but he says now, after repeated reading of the book, he +is a convert!") + + +The following letter refers to the Duke of Argyll's address to the Royal +Society of Edinburgh, December 5th, 1864, in which he criticises the +'Origin of Species.' My father seems to have read the Duke's address +as reported in the "Scotsman" of December 6th, 1865. In a letter to my +father (January 16, 1865, 'Life,' vol. ii. page 385), Lyell wrote, "The +address is a great step towards your views--far greater, I believe, than +it seems when read merely with reference to criticisms and objections."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, January 22, [1865]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I thank you for your very interesting letter. I have the true English +instinctive reverence for rank, and therefore liked to hear about the +Princess Royal. ("I had... an animated conversation on Darwinism with the +Princess Royal, who is a worthy daughter of her father, in the reading +of good books, and thinking of what she reads. She was very much au fait +at the 'Origin,' and Huxley's book, the 'Antiquity,' etc."--(Lyell's +'Life,' vol. ii. page 385.) You ask what I think of the Duke's address, +and I shall be glad to tell you. It seems to me EXTREMELY clever, like +everything I have read of his; but I am not shaken--perhaps you will +say that neither gods nor men could shake me. I demur to the Duke +reiterating his objection that the brilliant plumage of the male +humming-bird could not have been acquired through selection, at the same +time entirely ignoring my discussion (page 93, 3rd edition) on beautiful +plumage being acquired through SEXUAL selection. The duke may think this +insufficient, but that is another question. All analogy makes me quite +disagree with the Duke that the difference in the beak, wing and tail, +are not of importance to the several species. In the only two species +which I have watched, the difference in flight and in the use of the +tail was conspicuously great. + +The Duke, who knows my Orchid book so well, might have learnt a lesson +of caution from it, with respect to his doctrine of differences for mere +variety or beauty. It may be confidently said that no tribe of plants +presents such grotesque and beautiful differences, which no one until +lately, conjectured were of any use; but now in almost every case I have +been able to show their important service. It should be remembered that +with humming birds or orchids, a modification in one part will cause +correlated changes in other parts. I agree with what you say about +beauty. I formerly thought a good deal on the subject, and was led quite +to repudiate the doctrine of beauty being created for beauty's sake. I +demur also to the Duke's expression of "new births." That may be a very +good theory, but it is not mine, unless indeed he calls a bird born with +a beak 1/100th of an inch longer than usual "a new birth;" but this is +not the sense in which the term would usually be understood. The more +I work the more I feel convinced that it is by the accumulation of +such extremely slight variations that new species arise. I do not plead +guilty to the Duke's charge that I forget that natural selection +means only the preservation of variations which independently arise. +("Strictly speaking, therefore, Mr. Darwin's theory is not a theory on +the Origin of Species at all, but only a theory on the causes which lead +to the relative success and failure of such new forms as may be born +into the world."--"Scotsman", December 6, 1864.) I have expressed this +in as strong language as I could use, but it would have been infinitely +tedious had I on every occasion thus guarded myself. I will cry +"peccavi" when I hear of the Duke or you attacking breeders for saying +that man has made his improved shorthorns, or pouter pigeons, +or bantams. And I could quote still stronger expressions used by +agriculturists. Man does make his artificial breeds, for his selective +power is of such importance relatively to that of the slight spontaneous +variations. But no one will attack breeders for using such expressions, +and the rising generation will not blame me. + +Many thanks for your offer of sending me the 'Elements.' (Sixth edition +in one volume.) I hope to read it all, but unfortunately reading makes +my head whiz more than anything else. I am able most days to work for +two or three hours, and this makes all the difference in my happiness. +I have resolved not to be tempted astray, and to publish nothing till my +volume on Variation is completed. You gave me excellent advice about +the footnotes in my Dog chapter, but their alteration gave me infinite +trouble, and I often wished all the dogs, and I fear sometimes you +yourself, in the nether regions. + +We (dictator and writer) send our best love to Lady Lyell. + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--If ever you should speak with the Duke on the subject, please say +how much interested I was with his address. + + +[In his autobiographical sketch my father has remarked that owing to +certain early memories he felt the honour of being elected to the Royal +and Royal Medical Societies of Edinburgh "more than any similar honour." +The following extract from a letter to Sir Joseph Hooker refers to +his election to the former of these societies. The latter part of the +extract refers to the Berlin Academy, to which he was elected in 1878:-- + +"Here is a really curious thing, considering that Brewster is President +and Balfour Secretary. I have been elected Honorary Member of the Royal +Society of Edinburgh. And this leads me to a third question. Does the +Berlin Academy of Sciences send their Proceedings to Honorary Members? +I want to know, to ascertain whether I am a member; I suppose not, for +I think it would have made some impression on me; yet I distinctly +remember receiving some diploma signed by Ehrenberg. I have been so +careless; I have lost several diplomas, and now I want to know what +Societies I belong to, as I observe every [one] tacks their titles to +their names in the catalogue of the Royal Soc."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, February 21 [1865]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have taken a long time to thank you very much for your present of the +'Elements.' + +I am going through it all, reading what is new, and what I have +forgotten, and this is a good deal. + +I am simply astonished at the amount of labour, knowledge, and clear +thought condensed in this work. The whole strikes me as something quite +grand. I have been particularly interested by your account of Heer's +work and your discussion on the Atlantic Continent. I am particularly +delighted at the view which you take on this subject; for I have long +thought Forbes did an ill service in so freely making continents. + +I have also been very glad to read your argument on the denudation of +the Weald, and your excellent resume on the Purbeck Beds; and this is +the point at which I have at present arrived in your book. I cannot +say that I am quite convinced that there is no connection beyond that +pointed out by you, between glacial action and the formation of lake +basins; but you will not much value my opinion on this head, as I have +already changed my mind some half-dozen times. + +I want to make a suggestion to you. I found the weight of your volume +intolerable, especially when lying down, so with great boldness cut +it into two pieces, and took it out of its cover; now could not Murray +without any other change add to his advertisement a line saying, "if +bound in two volumes, one shilling or one shilling and sixpence extra." +You thus might originate a change which would be a blessing to all +weak-handed readers. + +Believe me, my dear Lyell, Yours most sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + +Originate a second REAL BLESSING and have the edges of the sheets cut +like a bound book. (This was a favourite reform of my father's. He wrote +to the "Athenaeum" on the subject, February 5, 1867, pointing out how +that a book cut, even carefully, with a paper knife collects dust on its +edges far more than a machine-cut book. He goes on to quote the case of +a lady of his acquaintance who was in the habit of cutting books with +her thumb, and finally appeals to the "Athenaeum" to earn the gratitude +of children "who have to cut through dry and pictureless books for the +benefit of their elders." He tried to introduce the reform in the case +of his own books, but found the conservatism of booksellers too strong +for him. The presentation copies, however, of all his later books were +sent out with the edges cut.) + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. Down, June 11 [1865]. + +My dear Lubbock, + +The latter half of your book ('Prehistoric Times,' 1865.) has been +read aloud to me, and the style is so clear and easy (we both think it +perfection) that I am now beginning at the beginning. I cannot resist +telling you how excellently well, in my opinion, you have done the very +interesting chapter on savage life. Though you have necessarily only +compiled the materials the general result is most original. But I ought +to keep the term original for your last chapter, which has struck me as +an admirable and profound discussion. It has quite delighted me, for now +the public will see what kind of man you are, which I am proud to think +I discovered a dozen years ago. + +I do sincerely wish you all success in your election and in politics; +but after reading this last chapter, you must let me say: oh, dear! oh, +dear! oh dear! + +Yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--You pay me a superb compliment ('Prehistoric Times,' page 487, +where the words, "the discoveries of a Newton or a Darwin," occur.), +but I fear you will be quizzed for it by some of your friends as too +exaggerated. + + +[The following letter refers to Fritz Muller's book, 'Fur Darwin,' which +was afterwards translated, at my father's suggestion, by Mr. Dallas. It +is of interest as being the first of the long series of letters which my +father wrote to this distinguished naturalist. They never met, but the +correspondence with Muller, which continued to the close of my father's +life, was a source of very great pleasure to him. My impression is that +of all his unseen friends Fritz Muller was the one for whom he had the +strongest regard. Fritz Muller is the brother of another distinguished +man, the late Hermann Muller, the author of 'Die Befruchtung der +Blumen,' and of much other valuable work:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, August 10 [1865]. + +My dear Sir, + +I have been for a long time so ill that I have only just finished +hearing read aloud your work on species. And now you must permit me to +thank you cordially for the great interest with which I have read it. +You have done admirable service in the cause in which we both believe. +Many of your arguments seem to me excellent, and many of your facts +wonderful. Of the latter, nothing has surprised me so much as the +two forms of males. I have lately investigated the cases of dimorphic +plants, and I should much like to send you one or two of my papers if +I knew how. I did send lately by post a paper on climbing plants, as an +experiment to see whether it would reach you. One of the points which +has struck me most in your paper is that on the differences in the +air-breathing apparatus of the several forms. This subject appeared to +me very important when I formerly considered the electric apparatus of +fishes. Your observations on Classification and Embryology seem to me +very good and original. They show what a wonderful field there is for +enquiry on the development of crustacea, and nothing has convinced me so +plainly what admirable results we shall arrive at in Natural History +in the course of a few years. What a marvellous range of structure the +crustacea present, and how well adapted they are for your enquiry! Until +reading your book I knew nothing of the Rhizocephala; pray look at my +account and figures of Anelasma, for it seems to me that this latter +cirripede is a beautiful connecting link with the Rhizocephala. + +If ever you have any opportunity, as you are so skilful a dissector, I +much wish that you would look to the orifice at the base of the first +pair of cirrhi in cirripedes, and at the curious organ in it, and +discover what its nature is; I suppose I was quite in error, yet I +cannot feel fully satisfied at Krohn's (See vol. ii., pages 138, 187.) +observations. Also if you ever find any species of Scalpellum, pray +look for complemental males; a German author has recently doubted my +observations for no reason except that the facts appeared to him so +strange. + +Permit me again to thank you cordially for the pleasure which I have +derived from your work and to express my sincere admiration for your +valuable researches. + +Believe me, dear Sir, with sincere respect, Yours very faithfully, CH. +DARWIN. + +P.S.--I do not know whether you care at all about plants, but if so, +I should much like to send you my little work on the 'Fertilization of +Orchids,' and I think I have a German copy. + +Could you spare me a photograph of yourself? I should much like to +possess one. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Thursday, 27th [September, 1865]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I had intended writing this morning to thank Mrs. Hooker most sincerely +for her last and several notes about you, and now your own note in your +hand has rejoiced me. To walk between five and six miles is splendid, +with a little patience you must soon be well. I knew you had been very +ill, but I hardly knew how ill, until yesterday, when Bentham (from +the Cranworths (Robert Rolfe, Lord Cranworth, and Lord Chancellor of +England, lived at Holwood, near Down.)) called here, and I was able to +see him for ten minutes. He told me also a little about the last days of +your father (Sir William Hooker; 1785-1865. He took charge of the Royal +Gardens at Kew, in 1840, when they ceased to be the private gardens +of the Royal Family. In doing so, he gave up his professorship at +Glasgow--and with it half of his income. He founded the herbarium and +library, and within ten years he succeeded in making the gardens the +first in the world. It is, thus, not too much to say that the creation +of the establishment at Kew is due to the abilities and self-devotion of +Sir William Hooker. While, for the subsequent development of the gardens +up to their present magnificent condition, the nation must thank Sir +Joseph Hooker, in whom the same qualities are so conspicuous.); I wish +I had known your father better, my impression is confined to his +remarkably cordial, courteous, and frank bearing. I fully concur and +understand what you say about the difference of feeling in the loss of +a father and child. I do not think any one could love a father much +more than I did mine, and I do not believe three or four days ever pass +without my still thinking of him, but his death at eight-four caused me +nothing of that insufferable grief (I may quote here a passage from a +letter of November, 1863. It was written to a friend who had lost his +child: "How well I remember your feeling, when we lost Annie. It was my +greatest comfort that I had never spoken a harsh word to her. Your grief +has made me shed a few tears over our poor darling; but believe me that +these tears have lost that unutterable bitterness of former days.") +which the loss of our poor dear Annie caused. And this seems to me +perfectly natural, for one knows for years previously that one's +father's death is drawing slowly nearer and nearer, while the death of +one's child is a sudden and dreadful wrench. What a wonderful deal you +read; it is a horrid evil for me that I can read hardly anything, for +it makes my head almost immediately begin to sing violently. My good +womenkind read to me a great deal, but I dare not ask for much science, +and am not sure that I could stand it. I enjoyed Tylor ('Researches into +the Early History of Mankind,' by E.B. Tylor. 1865.) EXTREMELY, and +the first part of Lecky 'The Rise of Rationalism in Europe,' by W.E.H. +Lecky. 1865.); but I think the latter is often vague, and gives a false +appearance of throwing light on his subject by such phrases as "spirit +of the age," "spread of civilization," etc. I confine my reading to a +quarter or half hour per day in skimming through the back volumes of the +Annals and Magazine of Natural History, and find much that interests me. +I miss my climbing plants very much, as I could observe them when very +poorly. + +I did not enjoy the 'Mill on the Floss' so much as you, but from what +you say we will read it again. Do you know 'Silas Marner'? it is a +charming little story; if you run short, and like to have it, we could +send it by post... We have almost finished the first volume of Palgrave +(William Gifford Palgrave's 'Travels in Arabia,' published in 1865.), +and I like it much; but did you ever see a book so badly arranged? The +frequency of the allusions to what will be told in the future are quite +laughable... By the way, I was very much pleased with the foot-note (The +passage which seems to be referred to occurs in the text (page 479) of +'Prehistoric Times.' It expresses admiration of Mr. Wallace's paper in +the 'Anthropological Review' (May, 1864), and speaks of the author's +"characteristic unselfishness" in ascribing the theory of Natural +Selection "unreservedly to Mr. Darwin." about Wallace in Lubbock's +last chapter. I had not heard that Huxley had backed up Lubbock about +Parliament... Did you see a sneer some time ago in the "Times" about how +incomparably more interesting politics were compared with science even +to scientific men? Remember what Trollope says, in 'Can you Forgive +her,' about getting into Parliament, as the highest earthly ambition. +Jeffrey, in one of his letters, I remember, says that making an +effective speech in Parliament is a far grander thing than writing the +grandest history. All this seems to me a poor short-sighted view. +I cannot tell you how it has rejoiced me once again seeing your +handwriting-- my best of old friends. + +Yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In October he wrote Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"Talking of the 'Origin,' a Yankee has called my attention to a paper +attached to Dr. Wells's famous 'Essay on Dew,' which was read in 1813 +to the Royal Society, but not [then] printed, in which he applies most +distinctly the principle of Natural Selection to the Races of Man. So +poor old Patrick Matthew is not the first, and he cannot, or ought not, +any longer to put on his title-pages, 'Discoverer of the principle of +Natural Selection'!"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F.W. FARRAR. (Canon of Westminster.) Down, November 2 +[1865?]. + +Dear Sir, + +As I have never studied the science of language, it may perhaps seem +presumptuous, but I cannot resist the pleasure of telling you what +interest and pleasure I have derived from hearing read aloud your volume +('Chapters on Language,' 1865.) + +I formerly read Max Muller, and thought his theory (if it deserves to be +called so) both obscure and weak; and now, after hearing what you say, +I feel sure that this is the case, and that your cause will ultimately +triumph. My indirect interest in your book has been increased from Mr. +Hensleigh Wedgwood, whom you often quote, being my brother-in-law. + +No one could dissent from my views on the modification of species with +more courtesy than you do. But from the tenor of your mind I feel +an entire and comfortable conviction (and which cannot possibly be +disturbed) that if your studies led you to attend much to general +questions in natural history you would come to the same conclusion that +I have done. + +Have you ever read Huxley's little book of Lectures? I would gladly send +a copy if you think you would read it. + +Considering what Geology teaches us, the argument from the supposed +immutability of specific types seems to me much the same as if, in a +nation which had no old writings, some wise old savage was to say that +his language had never changed; but my metaphor is too long to fill up. + +Pray believe me, dear Sir, yours very sincerely obliged, C. DARWIN. + + +1866. + +[The year 1866 is given in my father's Diary in the following words:-- + +"Continued correcting chapters of 'Domestic Animals.' + +March 1st.--Began on 4th edition of 'Origin' of 1250 copies (received +for it 238 pounds), making 7500 copies altogether. + +May 10th.--Finished 'Origin,' except revises, and began going over +Chapter XIII. of 'Domestic Animals.' + +November 21st.--Finished 'Pangenesis.' + +December 21st.--Finished re-going over all chapters, and sent them to +printers. + +December 22nd.--Began concluding chapter of book." + +He was in London on two occasions for a week at a time, staying with his +brother, and for a few days (May 29th-June 2nd) in Surrey; for the rest +of the year he was at Down. + +There seems to have been a gradual mending in his health; thus he wrote +to Mr. Wallace (January 1866):--"My health is so far improved that I am +able to work one or two hours a day." + +With respect to the 4th edition he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"The new edition of the 'Origin' has caused me two great vexations. I +forgot Bates's paper on variation (This appears to refer to "Notes on +South American Butterflies," Trans. Entomolog. Soc., vol. v. (N.S.).), +but I remembered in time his mimetic work, and now, strange to say, I +find I have forgotten your Arctic paper! I know how it arose; I indexed +for my bigger work, and never expected that a new edition of the +'Origin' would be wanted. + +"I cannot say how all this has vexed me. Everything which I have read +during the last four years I find is quite washy in my mind." As far as +I know, Mr. Bates's paper was not mentioned in the later editions of the +'Origin,' for what reason I cannot say. + +In connection with his work on 'The Variation of Animals and Plants,' I +give here extracts from three letters addressed to Mr. Huxley, which +are of interest as giving some idea of the development of the theory of +'Pangenesis,' ultimately published in 1868 in the book in question:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, May 27, [1865?]. + +... I write now to ask a favour of you, a very great favour from one so +hard worked as you are. It is to read thirty pages of MS., excellently +copied out and give me, not lengthened criticism, but your opinion +whether I may venture to publish it. You may keep the MS. for a month +or two. I would not ask this favour, but I REALLY know no one else whose +judgment on the subject would be final with me. + +The case stands thus: in my next book I shall publish long chapters on +bud- and seminal-variation, on inheritance, reversion, effects of use +and disuse, etc. I have also for many years speculated on the different +forms of reproduction. Hence it has come to be a passion with me to try +to connect all such facts by some sort of hypothesis. The MS. which I +wish to send you gives such a hypothesis; it is a very rash and crude +hypothesis, yet it has been a considerable relief to my mind, and I +can hang on it a good many groups of facts. I well know that a mere +hypothesis, and this is nothing more, is of little value; but it is very +useful to me as serving as a kind of summary for certain chapters. Now +I earnestly wish for your verdict given briefly as, "Burn it"--or, which +is the most favourable verdict I can hope for, "It does rudely connect +together certain facts, and I do not think it will immediately pass +out of my mind." If you can say this much, and you do not think it +absolutely ridiculous, I shall publish it in my concluding chapter. +Now will you grant me this favour? You must refuse if you are too much +overworked. + +I must say for myself that I am a hero to expose my hypothesis to the +fiery ordeal of your criticism. + + +July 12, [1865?]. + +My dear Huxley, + +I thank you most sincerely for having so carefully considered my MS. It +has been a real act of kindness. It would have annoyed me extremely to +have re-published Buffon's views, which I did not know of, but I will +get the book; and if I have strength I will also read Bonnet. I do not +doubt your judgment is perfectly just, and I will try to persuade myself +not to publish. The whole affair is much too speculative; yet I think +some such view will have to be adopted, when I call to mind such facts +as the inherited effects of use and disuse, etc. But I will try to be +cautious... + + +[1865?]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Forgive my writing in pencil, as I can do so lying down. I have read +Buffon: whole pages are laughably like mine. It is surprising how candid +it makes one to see one's views in another man's words. I am rather +ashamed of the whole affair, but not converted to a no-belief. What a +kindness you have done me with your "vulpine sharpness." Nevertheless, +there is a fundamental distinction between Buffon's views and mine. He +does not suppose that each cell or atom of tissue throws off a little +bud; but he supposes that the sap or blood includes his "organic +molecules," WHICH ARE READY FORMED, fit to nourish each organ, and when +this is fully formed, they collect to form buds and the sexual elements. +It is all rubbish to speculate as I have done; yet, if I ever +have strength to publish my next book, I fear I shall not resist +"Pangenesis," but I assure you I will put it humbly enough. The ordinary +course of development of beings, such as the Echinodermata, in which +new organs are formed at quite remote spots from the analogous previous +parts, seem to me extremely difficult to reconcile on any view except +the free diffusion in the parent of the germs or gemmules of each +separate new organ; and so in cases of alternate generation. But I will +not scribble any more. Hearty thanks to you, you best of critics and +most learned man... + + +[The letters now take up the history of the year 1866.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, July 5 [1866]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I have been much interested by your letter, which is as clear as +daylight. I fully agree with all that you say on the advantages of +H. Spencer's excellent expression of "the survival of the fittest." +(Extract from a letter of Mr. Wallace's, July 2, 1866: "The term +'survival of the fittest' is the plain expression of the fact; 'natural +selection' is a metaphorical expression of it, and to a certain degree +indirect and incorrect, since... Nature... does not so much select special +varieties as exterminate the most unfavourable ones.") This, however, +had not occurred to me till reading your letter. It is, however, a great +objection to this term that it cannot be used as a substantive governing +a verb; and that this is a real objection I infer from H. Spencer +continually using the words, natural selection. I formerly thought, +probably in an exaggerated degree, that it was a great advantage to +bring into connection natural and artificial selection; this indeed led +me to use a term in common, and I still think it some advantage. I wish +I had received your letter two months ago, for I would have worked in +"the survival, etc.," often in the new edition of the 'Origin,' which is +now almost printed off, and of which I will of course send you a copy. I +will use the term in my next book on Domestic Animals, etc., from which, +by the way, I plainly see that you expect MUCH, too much. The term +Natural Selection has now been so largely used abroad and at home, that +I doubt whether it could be given up, and with all its faults I should +be sorry to see the attempt made. Whether it will be rejected must now +depend "on the survival of the fittest." As in time the term must grow +intelligible the objections to its use will grow weaker and weaker. +I doubt whether the use of any term would have made the subject +intelligible to some minds, clear as it is to others; for do we not see +even to the present day Malthus on Population absurdly misunderstood? +This reflection about Malthus has often comforted me when I have been +vexed at the misstatement of my views. As for M. Janet (This no doubt +refers to Janet's 'Materialisme Contemporain.'), he is a metaphysician, +and such gentlemen are so acute that I think they often misunderstand +common folk. Your criticism on the double sense ("I find you use +'Natural Selection' in two senses. 1st, for the simple preservation of +favourable and rejection of unfavourable variations, in which case it is +equivalent to the 'survival of the fittest,'--and 2ndly, for the effect +or CHANGE produced by this preservation." Extract from Mr. Wallace's +letter above quoted.) in which I have used Natural Selection is new +to me and unanswerable; but my blunder has done no harm, for I do not +believe that any one, excepting you, has ever observed it. Again, I +agree that I have said too much about "favourable variations;" but I am +inclined to think that you put the opposite side too strongly; if every +part of every being varied, I do not think we should see the same end, +or object, gained by such wonderfully diversified means. + +I hope you are enjoying the country, and are in good health, and are +working hard at your Malay Archipelago book, for I will always put this +wish in every note I write to you, like some good people always put in +a text. My health keeps much the same, or rather improves, and I am able +to work some hours daily. With many thanks for your interesting letter. + +Believe me, my dear Wallace, yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, August 30 [1866]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I was very glad to get your note and the Notts. Newspaper. I have seldom +been more pleased in my life than at hearing how successfully your +lecture (At the Nottingham meeting of the British Association, +August 27, 1866. The subject of the lecture was 'Insular Floras.' See +"Gardeners' Chronicle", 1866.) went off. Mrs. H. Wedgwood sent us an +account, saying that you read capitally, and were listened to with +profound attention and great applause. She says, when your final +allegory (Sir Joseph Hooker allegorized the Oxford meeting of the +British Association as the gathering of a tribe of savages who believed +that the new moon was created afresh each month. The anger of the +priests and medicine man at a certain heresy, according to which the new +moon is but the offspring of the old one, is excellently given.) began, +"for a minute or two we were all mystified, and then came such bursts +of applause from the audience. It was thoroughly enjoyed amid roars of +laughter and noise, making a most brilliant conclusion." + +I am rejoiced that you will publish your lecture, and felt sure that +sooner or later it would come to this, indeed it would have been a +sin if you had not done so. I am especially rejoiced as you give the +arguments for occasional transport, with such perfect fairness; these +will now receive a fair share of attention, as coming from you a +professed botanist. Thanks also for Grove's address; as a whole it +strikes me as very good and original, but I was disappointed in the part +about Species; it dealt in such generalities that it would apply to any +view or no view in particular... + +And now farewell. I do most heartily rejoice at your success, and for +Grove's sake at the brilliant success of the whole meeting. + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The next letter is of interest, as giving the beginning of the +connection which arose between my father and Professor Victor Carus. The +translation referred to is the third German edition made from the +fourth English one. From this time forward Professor Carus continued +to translate my father's books into German. The conscientious care with +which this work was done was of material service, and I well +remember the admiration (mingled with a tinge of vexation at his +own short-comings) with which my father used to receive the lists of +oversights, etc., which Professor Carus discovered in the course +of translation. The connection was not a mere business one, but was +cemented by warm feelings of regard on both sides.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO VICTOR CARUS. Down, November 10, 1866. + +My dear Sir, + +I thank you for your extremely kind letter. I cannot express too +strongly my satisfaction that you have undertaken the revision of the +new edition, and I feel the honour which you have conferred on me. I +fear that you will find the labour considerable, not only on account of +the additions, but I suspect that Bronn's translation is very defective, +at least I have heard complaints on this head from quite a large number +of persons. It would be a great gratification to me to know that the +translation was a really good one, such as I have no doubt you will +produce. According to our English practice, you will be fully justified +in entirely omitting Bronn's Appendix, and I shall be very glad of its +omission. A new edition may be looked at as a new work... You could +add anything of your own that you liked, and I should be much pleased. +Should you make any additions or append notes, it appears to me that +Nageli "Entstehung und Begriff," etc. ('Entstehung und Begriff der +Naturhistorischen Art.' An address given at a public meeting of the +'R. Academy of Sciences' at Munich, March 28, 1865.), would be worth +noticing, as one of the most able pamphlets on the subject. I am, +however, far from agreeing with him that the acquisition of certain +characters which appear to be of no service to plants, offers any great +difficulty, or affords a proof of some innate tendency in plants towards +perfection. If you intend to notice this pamphlet, I should like to +write hereafter a little more in detail on the subject. + +... I wish I had known when writing my Historical Sketch that you had +in 1853 published your views on the genealogical connection of past and +present forms. + +I suppose you have the sheets of the last English edition on which I +marked with pencil all the chief additions, but many little corrections +of style were not marked. + +Pray believe that I feel sincerely grateful for the great service and +honour which you do me by the present translation. + +I remain, my dear Sir, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--I should be VERY MUCH pleased to possess your photograph, and I +send mine in case you should like to have a copy. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. NAGELI. (Professor of Botany at Munich.) Down, June +12 [1866]. + +Dear Sir, + +I hope you will excuse the liberty which I take in writing to you. I +have just read, though imperfectly, your 'Entstehung und Begriff,' +and have been so greatly interested by it, that I have sent it to be +translated, as I am a poor German scholar. I have just finished a new +[4th] edition of my 'Origin,' which will be translated into German, +and my object in writing to you is to say that if you should see +this edition you would think that I had borrowed from you, without +acknowledgment, two discussions on the beauty of flowers and fruit; +but I assure you every word was printed off before I had opened your +pamphlet. Should you like to possess a copy of either the German or +English new edition, I should be proud to send one. I may add, with +respect to the beauty of flowers, that I have already hinted the same +views as you hold in my paper on Lythrum. + +Many of your criticisms on my views are the best which I have met with, +but I could answer some, at least to my own satisfaction; and I regret +extremely that I had not read your pamphlet before printing my new +edition. On one or two points, I think, you have a little misunderstood +me, though I dare say I have not been cautious in expressing myself. The +remark which has struck me most, is that on the position of the leaves +not having been acquired through natural selection, from not being of +any special importance to the plant. I well remember being formerly +troubled by an analogous difficulty, namely, the position of the ovules, +their anatropous condition, etc. It was owing to forgetfulness that +I did not notice this difficulty in the 'Origin.' (Nageli's Essay is +noticed in the 5th edition.) Although I can offer no explanation of such +facts, and only hope to see that they may be explained, yet I hardly see +how they support the doctrine of some law of necessary development, +for it is not clear to me that a plant, with its leaves placed at some +particular angle, or with its ovules in some particular position, thus +stands higher than another plant. But I must apologise for troubling you +with these remarks. + +As I much wish to possess your photograph, I take the liberty of +enclosing my own, and with sincere respect I remain, dear Sir, + +Yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[I give a few extracts from letters of various dates showing my +father's interest, alluded to in the last letter, in the problem of the +arrangement of the leaves on the stems of plants. It may be added that +Professor Schwendener of Berlin has successfully attacked the question +in his 'Mechanische Theorie der Blattstellungen,' 1878. + + +TO DR. FALCONER. August 26 [1863]. + +"Do you remember telling me that I ought to study Phyllotaxy? Well I +have often wished you at the bottom of the sea; for I could not resist, +and I muddled my brains with diagrams, etc., and specimens, and made +out, as might have been expected, nothing. Those angles are a most +wonderful problem and I wish I could see some one give a rational +explanation of them." + + +TO DR. ASA GRAY. May 11 [1861]. + +"If you wish to save me from a miserable death, do tell me why the +angles 1/2, 1/3, 2/5, 3/8, etc, series occur, and no other angles. It +is enough to drive the quietest man mad. Did you and some mathematician +(Probably my father was thinking of Chauncey Wright's work on +Phyllotaxy, in Gould's 'Astronomical Journal,' No.99, 1856, and in the +'Mathematical Monthly,' 1859. These papers are mentioned in the "Letters +of Chauncey Wright.' Mr. Wright corresponded with my father on the +subject.) publish some paper on the subject? Hooker says you did; where +is it? + + +TO DR. ASA GRAY. [May 31, 1863?]. + +"I have been looking at Nageli's work on this subject, and am astonished +to see that the angle is not always the same in young shoots when the +lea-buds are first distinguishable, as in full-grown branches. This +shows, I think, that there must be some potent cause for those angles +which do occur: I dare say there is some explanation as simple as that +for the angles of the Bees-cells." + +My father also corresponded with Dr. Hubert Airy and was interested in +his views on the subject, published in the Royal Soc. Proceedings, 1873, +page 176. + + +We now return to the year 1866. + +In November, when the prosecution of Governor Eyre was dividing England +into two bitterly opposed parties, he wrote to Sir J. Hooker:-- + +"You will shriek at me when you hear that I have just subscribed to the +Jamaica Committee." (He subscribed 10 pounds.) + +On this subject I quote from a letter of my brother's:-- + +"With respect to Governor Eyre's conduct in Jamaica, he felt strongly +that J.S. Mill was right in prosecuting him. I remember one evening, at +my Uncle's, we were talking on the subject, and as I happened to think +it was too strong a measure to prosecute Governor Eyre for murder, I +made some foolish remark about the prosecutors spending the surplus of +the fund in a dinner. My father turned on me almost with fury, and told +me, if those were my feelings, I had better go back to Southampton; the +inhabitants having given a dinner to Governor Eyre on his landing, but +with which I had had nothing to do." The end of the incident, as told +by my brother, is so characteristic of my father that I cannot resist +giving it, though it has no bearing on the point at issue. "Next morning +at 7 o'clock, or so, he came into my bedroom and sat on my bed, and said +that he had not been able to sleep from the thought that he had been so +angry with me, and after a few more kind words he left me." + +The same restless desire to correct a disagreeable or incorrect +impression is well illustrated in an extract which I quote from some +notes by Rev. J. Brodie Innes:-- + +"Allied to the extreme carefulness of observation was his most +remarkable truthfulness in all matters. On one occasion, when a parish +meeting had been held on some disputed point of no great importance, I +was surprised by a visit from Mr. Darwin at night. He came to say that, +thinking over the debate, though what he had said was quite accurate, +he thought I might have drawn an erroneous conclusion, and he would +not sleep till he had explained it. I believe that if on any day some +certain fact had come to his knowledge which contradicted his most +cherished theories, he would have placed the fact on record for +publication before he slept." + +This tallies with my father's habits, as described by himself. When a +difficulty or an objection occurred to him, he thought it of paramount +importance to make a note of it instantly because he found hostile facts +to be especially evanescent. + +The same point is illustrated by the following incident, for which I am +indebted to Mr. Romanes:-- + +"I have always remembered the following little incident as a good +example of Mr. Darwin's extreme solicitude on the score of accuracy. One +evening at Down there was a general conversation upon the difficulty of +explaining the evolution of some of the distinctively human emotions, +especially those appertaining to the recognition of beauty in natural +scenery. I suggested a view of my own upon the subject, which, depending +upon the principle of association, required the supposition that a long +line of ancestors should have inhabited regions, the scenery of which is +now regarded as beautiful. Just as I was about to observe that the chief +difficulty attaching to my hypothesis arose from feelings of the sublime +(seeing that these are associated with awe, and might therefore be +expected not to be agreeable), Mr. Darwin anticipated the remark, by +asking how the hypothesis was to meet the case of these feelings. In the +conversation which followed, he said the occasion in his own life, when +he was most affected by the emotions of the sublime was when he stood +upon one of the summits of the Cordillera, and surveyed the magnificent +prospect all around. It seemed, as he quaintly observed, as if +his nerves had become fiddle strings, and had all taken to rapidly +vibrating. This remark was only made incidentally, and the conversation +passed into some other branch. About an hour afterwards Mr. Darwin +retired to rest, while I sat up in the smoking-room with one of his +sons. We continued smoking and talking for several hours, when at +about one o'clock in the morning the door gently opened and Mr. +Darwin appeared, in his slippers and dressing-gown. As nearly as I can +remember, the following are the words he used:-- + +"'Since I went to bed I have been thinking over our conversation in the +drawing-room, and it has just occurred to me that I was wrong in telling +you I felt most of the sublime when on the top of the Cordillera; I am +quite sure that I felt it even more when in the forests of Brazil. I +thought it best to come and tell you this at once in case I should +be putting you wrong. I am sure now that I felt most sublime in the +forests.' + +"This was all he had come to say, and it was evident that he had come to +do so, because he thought that the fact of his feeling 'most sublime in +forests' was more in accordance with the hypothesis which we had been +discussing, than the fact which he had previously stated. Now, as no one +knew better than Mr. Darwin the difference between a speculation and a +fact, I thought this little exhibition of scientific conscientiousness +very noteworthy, where the only question concerned was of so highly +speculative a character. I should not have been so much impressed if he +had thought that by his temporary failure of memory he had put me on a +wrong scent in any matter of fact, although even in such a case he is +the only man I ever knew who would care to get out of bed at such a time +at night in order to make the correction immediately, instead of waiting +till next morning. But as the correction only had reference to a flimsy +hypothesis, I certainly was very much impressed by this display of +character."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, December 10 [1866]. + +... I have now read the last No. of H. Spencer. ('Principles of +Biology.') I do not know whether to think it better than the previous +number, but it is wonderfully clever, and I dare say mostly true. I feel +rather mean when I read him: I could bear, and rather enjoy feeling that +he was twice as ingenious and clever as myself, but when I feel that he +is about a dozen times my superior, even in the master art of wriggling, +I feel aggrieved. If he had trained himself to observe more, even if at +the expense, by the law of balancement, of some loss of thinking power, +he would have been a wonderful man. + +... I am HEARTILY glad you are taking up the Distribution of Plants in +New Zealand, and suppose it will make part of your new book. Your view, +as I understand it, that New Zealand subsided and formed two or +more small islands, and then rose again, seems to me extremely +probable... When I puzzled my brains about New Zealand, I remember I came +to the conclusion, as indeed I state in the 'Origin,' that its flora, as +well as that of other southern lands, had been tinctured by an Antarctic +flora, which must have existed before the Glacial period. I concluded +that New Zealand never could have been closely connected with Australia, +though I supposed it had received some few Australian forms by +occasional means of transport. Is there any reason to suppose that New +Zealand could have been more closely connected with South Australia +during the glacial period, when the Eucalypti, etc., might have been +driven further North? Apparently there remains only the line, which +I think you suggested, of sunken islands from New Caledonia. Please +remember that the Edwardsia was certainly drifted there by the sea. + +I remember in old days speculating on the amount of life, i.e. of +organic chemical change, at different periods. There seems to me one +very difficult element in the problem, namely, the state of development +of the organic beings at each period, for I presume that a Flora and +Fauna of cellular cryptogamic plants, of Protozoa and Radiata would lead +to much less chemical change than is now going on. But I have scribbled +enough. + +Yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter is in acknowledgment of Mr. Rivers' reply to +an earlier letter in which my father had asked for information on +bu-variation: + +It may find a place here in illustration of the manner of my father's +intercourse with those "whose avocations in life had to do with the +rearing or use of living things" ("Mr. Dyer in 'Charles Darwin,'" +"Nature Series", 1882, page 39.)--an intercourse which bore such good +fruit in the 'Variation of Animals and Plants.' Mr. Dyer has some +excellent remarks on the unexpected value thus placed on apparently +trivial facts disinterred from weekly journals, or amassed by +correspondence. He adds: "Horticulturists who had... moulded plants +almost at their will at the impulse of taste or profit were at once +amazed and charmed to find that they had been doing scientific work and +helping to establish a great theory."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T. RIVERS. (The late Mr. Rivers was an eminent +horticulturist and writer on horticulture.) Down, December 28 [1866?]. + +My dear Sir, + +Permit me to thank you cordially for your most kind letter. For years +I have read with interest every scrap which you have written in +periodicals, and abstracted in MS. your book on Roses, and several times +I thought I would write to you, but did not know whether you would think +me too intrusive. I shall, indeed, be truly obliged for any information +you can supply me on bud-variation or sports. When any extra +difficult points occur to me in my present subject (which is a mass of +difficulties), I will apply to you, but I will not be unreasonable. It +is most true what you say that any one to study well the physiology of +the life of plants, ought to have under his eye a multitude of plants. +I have endeavoured to do what I can by comparing statements by many +writers and observing what I could myself. Unfortunately few have +observed like you have done. As you are so kind, I will mention one +other point on which I am collecting facts; namely, the effect produced +on the stock by the graft; thus, it is SAID, that the purple-leaved +filbert affects the leaves of the common hazel on which it is grafted (I +have just procured a plant to try), so variegated jessamine is SAID +to affect its stock. I want these facts partly to throw light on the +marvellous laburnum Adami, trifacial oranges, etc. That laburnum case +seems one of the strangest in physiology. I have now growing splendid, +FERTILE, yellow laburnums (with a long raceme like the so-called +Waterer's laburnum) from seed of yellow flowers on the C. Adami. To a +man like myself, who is compelled to live a solitary life, and sees few +persons, it is no slight satisfaction to hear that I have been able at +all [to] interest by my books observers like yourself. + +As I shall publish on my present subject, I presume, within a year, it +will be of no use your sending me the shoots of peaches and nectarines +which you so kindly offer; I have recorded your facts. + +Permit me again to thank you cordially; I have not often in my life +received a kinder letter. + +My dear Sir, yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.V. -- THE PUBLICATION OF THE 'VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION.' + +JANUARY 1867, TO JUNE 1868. + +[At the beginning of the year 1867 he was at work on the final +chapter--"Concluding Remarks" of the 'Variation of Animals and Plants +under Domestication,' which was begun after the rest of the MS. had +been sent to the printers in the preceding December. With regard to the +publication of the book he wrote to Mr. Murray, on January 3:-- + +"I cannot tell you how sorry I am to hear of the enormous size of my +book. (On January 9 he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker: "I have been these last +few days vexed and annoyed to a foolish degree by hearing that my MS. +on Dom. An. and Cult. Plants will make 2 volumes, both bigger than +the 'Origin.' The volumes will have to be full-sized octavo, so I have +written to Murray to suggest details to be printed in small type. But I +feel that the size is quite ludicrous in relation to the subject. I am +ready to swear at myself and at every fool who writes a book.") I fear +it can never pay. But I cannot shorten it now; nor, indeed, if I had +foreseen its length, do I see which parts ought to have been omitted. + +"If you are afraid to publish it, say so at once, I beg you, and I will +consider your note as cancelled. If you think fit, get any one whose +judgment you rely on, to look over some of the more legible chapters, +namely, the Introduction, and on dogs and plants, the latter chapters +being in my opinion, the dullest in the book... The list of chapters, and +the inspection of a few here and there, would give a good judge a fair +idea of the whole book. Pray do not publish blindly, as it would vex me +all my life if I led you to heavy loss." + +Mr. Murray referred the MS. to a literary friend, and, in spite of +a somewhat adverse opinion, willingly agreed to publish the book. My +father wrote:-- + +"Your note has been a great relief to me. I am rather alarmed about the +verdict of your friend, as he is not a man of science. I think if you +had sent the 'Origin' to an unscientific man, he would have utterly +condemned it. I am, however, VERY GLAD that you have consulted any one +on whom you can rely. + +"I must add, that my 'Journal of Researches' was seen in MS. by an +eminent semi-scientific man, and was pronounced unfit for publication." + +The proofs were begun in March, and the last revise was finished on +November 15th, and during this period the only intervals of rest were +two visits of a week each at his brother Erasmus's house in Queen Anne +Street. He notes in his Diary:-- + +"I began this book [in the] beginning of 1860 (and then had some MS.), +but owing to interruptions from my illness, and illness of children; +from various editions of the 'Origin,' and Papers, especially Orchis +book and Tendrils, I have spent four years and two months over it." + +The edition of 'Animals and Plants' was of 1500 copies, and of these +1260 were sold at Mr. Murray's autumnal sale, but it was not published +until January 30, 1868. A new edition of 1250 copies was printed in +February of the same year. + +In 1867 he received the distinction of being made a knight of the +Prussian Order "Pour le Merite." (The Order "Pour le Merite" was +founded in 1740 by Frederick II. by the re-christening of an "Order +of Generosity," founded in 1665. It was at one time strictly military, +having been previously both civil and military, and in 1840 the Order +was again opened to civilians. The order consists of thirty members of +German extraction, but distinguished foreigners are admitted to a kind +of extraordinary membership. Faraday, Herschel, and Thomas Moore, have +belonged to it in this way. From the thirty members a chancellor is +elected by the king (the first officer of this kind was Alexander v. +Humboldt); and it is the duty of the chancellor to notify a vacancy in +the Order to the remainder of the thirty, who then elect by vote the new +member--but the king has technically the appointment in his own hands.) +He seems not to have known how great the distinction was, for in June +1868 he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"What a man you are for sympathy. I was made "Eques" some months ago, +but did not think much about it. Now, by Jove, we all do; but you, in +fact, have knighted me." + +The letters may now take up the story.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 8 [1867]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am heartily glad that you have been offered the Presidentship of the +British Association, for it is a great honour, and as you have so +much work to do, I am equally glad that you have declined it. I feel, +however, convinced that you would have succeeded very well; but if I +fancy myself in such a position, it actually makes my blood run cold. I +look back with amazement at the skill and taste with which the Duke of +Argyll made a multitude of little speeches at Glasgow. By the way, +I have not seen the Duke's book ('The Reign of Law,' 1867.), but I +formerly thought that some of the articles which appeared in periodicals +were very clever, but not very profound. One of these was reviewed +in the "Saturday Review" ("Saturday Review", November 15, 1862, 'The +"Edinburgh Review" on the Supernatural.' Written by my cousin, Mr. +Henry Parker.) some years ago, and the fallacy of some main argument +was admirably exposed, and I sent the article to you, and you agreed +strongly with it... There was the other day a rather good review of the +Duke's book in the "Spectator", and with a new explanation, either by +the Duke or the reviewer (I could not make out which), of rudimentary +organs, namely, that economy of labour and material was a great guiding +principle with God (ignoring waste of seed and of young monsters, etc.), +and that making a new plan for the structure of animals was thought, and +thought was labour, and therefore God kept to a uniform plan, and left +rudiments. This is no exaggeration. In short, God is a man, rather +cleverer than us... I am very much obliged for the "Nation" (returned by +this post); it is ADMIRABLY good. You say I always guess wrong, but I do +not believe any one, except Asa Gray, could have done the thing so well. +I would bet even, or three to two, that it is Asa Gray, though one or +two passages staggered me. + +I finish my book on 'Domestic Animals,' etc., by a single paragraph, +answering, or rather throwing doubt, in so far as so little space +permits, on Asa Gray's doctrine that each variation has been specially +ordered or led along a beneficial line. It is foolish to touch such +subjects, but there have been so many allusions to what I think about +the part which God has played in the formation of organic beings (Prof. +Judd allows me to quote from some notes which he has kindly given +me:--"Lyell once told me that he had frequently been asked if Darwin was +not one of the most unhappy of men, it being suggested that his outrage +upon public opinion should have filled him with remorse." Sir Charles +Lyell must have been able, I think, to give a satisfactory answer on +this point. Professor Judd continues:-- + +"I made a note of this and other conversations of Lyell's at the time. +At the present time such statements must appear strange to any one +who does not recollect the revolution in opinion which has taken place +during the last 23 years [1882]."), that I thought it shabby to evade +the question... I have even received several letters on the subject... I +overlooked your sentence about Providence, and suppose I treated it as +Buckland did his own theology, when his Bridgewater Treatise was read +aloud to him for correction... + + +[The following letter, from Mrs. Boole, is one of those referred to in +the last letter to Sir J.D. Hooker:] + +Dear Sir, + +Will you excuse my venturing to ask you a question, to which no one's +answer but your own would be quite satisfactory? + +Do you consider the holding of your theory of Natural Selection, in its +fullest and most unreserved sense, to be inconsistent--I do not say with +any particular scheme of theological doctrine--but with the following +belief, namely:-- + +That knowledge is given to man by the direct inspiration of the Spirit +of God. + +That God is a personal and Infinitely good Being. + +That the effect of the action of the Spirit of God on the brain of man +is especially a moral effect. + +And that each individual man has within certain limits a power of choice +as to how far he will yield to his hereditary animal impulses, and how +far he will rather follow the guidance of the Spirit, who is educating +him into a power of resisting those impulses in obedience to moral +motives? + +The reason why I ask you is this: my own impression has always been, not +only that your theory was perfectly COMPATIBLE with the faith to which +I have just tried to give expression, but that your books afforded me +a clue which would guide me in applying that faith to the solution of +certain complicated psychological problems which it was of practical +importance to me as a mother to solve. I felt that you had supplied one +of the missing links--not to say THE missing link--between the facts of +science and the promises of religion. Every year's experience tends to +deepen in me that impression. + +But I have lately read remarks on the probable bearing of your theory on +religious and moral questions which have perplexed and pained me sorely. +I know that the persons who make such remarks must be cleverer and wiser +than myself. I cannot feel sure that they are mistaken, unless you will +tell me so. And I think--I cannot know for certain--but I THINK--that if +I were an author, I would rather that the humblest student of my works +should apply to me directly in a difficulty, than that she should puzzle +too long over adverse and probably mistaken or thoughtless criticisms. + +At the same time I feel that you have a perfect right to refuse to +answer such questions as I have asked you. Science must take her +path, and Theology hers, and they will meet when and where and how God +pleases, and you are in no sense responsible for it if the meeting-point +should still be very far off. If I receive no answer to this letter I +shall infer nothing from your silence, except that you felt I had no +right to make such enquiries of a stranger. + +[My father replied as follows:] + +Down, December 14, [1866]. + +Dear Madam, + +It would have gratified me much if I could have sent satisfactory +answers to your questions, or, indeed, answers of any kind. But I cannot +see how the belief that all organic beings, including man, have been +genetically derived from some simple being, instead of having been +separately created, bears on your difficulties. These, as it seems to +me, can be answered only by widely different evidence from science, or +by the so-called "inner consciousness." My opinion is not worth more +than that of any other man who has thought on such subjects, and it +would be folly in me to give it. I may, however, remark that it has +always appeared to me more satisfactory to look at the immense amount of +pain and suffering in this world as the inevitable result of the natural +sequence of events, i.e. general laws, rather than from the direct +intervention of God, though I am aware this is not logical with +reference to an omniscient Deity. Your last question seems to resolve +itself into the problem of free will and necessity, which has been found +by most persons insoluble. I sincerely wish that this note had not been +as utterly valueless as it is. I would have sent full answers, though I +have little time or strength to spare, had it been in my power. I have +the honour to remain, dear Madam, + +Yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--I am grieved that my views should incidentally have caused trouble +to your mind, but I thank you for your judgment, and honour you for it, +that theology and science should each run its own course, and that in +the present case I am not responsible if their meeting-point should +still be far off. + + +[The next letter discusses the 'Reign of Law,' referred to a few pages +back:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, June 1 [1867]. + +... I am at present reading the Duke, and am VERY MUCH interested by him; +yet I cannot but think, clever as the whole is, that parts are weak, as +when he doubts whether each curvature of the beak of humming-birds is of +service to each species. He admits, perhaps too fully, that I have shown +the use of each little ridge and shape of each petal in orchids, and how +strange he does not extend the view to humming-birds. Still odder, it +seems to me, all that he says on beauty, which I should have thought a +nonentity, except in the mind of some sentient being. He might have as +well said that love existed during the secondary or Palaeozoic periods. +I hope you are getting on with your book better than I am with mine, +which kills me with the labour of correcting, and is intolerably dull, +though I did not think so when I was writing it. A naturalist's life +would be a happy one if he had only to observe, and never to write. + +We shall be in London for a week in about a fortnight's time, and I +shall enjoy having a breakfast talk with you. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter refers to the new and improved translation of the +'Origin,' undertaken by Professor Carus:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. VICTOR CARUS. Down, February 17 [1867]. + +My dear Sir, + +I have read your preface with care. It seems to me that you have treated +Bronn with complete respect and great delicacy, and that you have +alluded to your own labour with much modesty. I do not think that any of +Bronn's friends can complain of what you say and what you have done. For +my own sake, I grieve that you have not added notes, as I am sure that +I should have profited much by them; but as you have omitted Bronn's +objections, I believe that you have acted with excellent judgment and +fairness in leaving the text without comment to the independent verdict +of the reader. I heartily congratulate you that the main part of your +labour is over; it would have been to most men a very troublesome task, +but you seem to have indomitable powers of work, judging from those two +wonderful and most useful volumes on zoological literature ('Bibliotheca +Zoologica,' 1861.) edited by you, and which I never open without +surprise at their accuracy, and gratitude for their usefulness. I cannot +sufficiently tell you how much I rejoice that you were persuaded to +superintend the translation of the present edition of my book, for I +have now the great satisfaction of knowing that the German public can +judge fairly of its merits and demerits... + +With my cordial and sincere thanks, believe me, + +My dear Sir, yours very faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The earliest letter which I have seen from my father to Professor +Haeckel, was written in 1865, and from that time forward they +corresponded (though not, I think, with any regularity) up to the end of +my father's life. His friendship with Haeckel was not nearly growth of +correspondence, as was the case with some others, for instance, Fritz +Muller. Haeckel paid more than one visit to Down, and these were +thoroughly enjoyed by my father. The following letter will serve to +show the strong feeling of regard which he entertained for his +correspondent--a feeling which I have often heard him emphatically +express, and which was warmly returned. The book referred to is +Haeckel's 'Generelle Morphologie,' published in 1866, a copy of which my +father received from the author in January 1867. + +Dr. E. Krause ('Charles Darwin und sein Verhaltniss zu Deutschland,' +1885.) has given a good account of Professor Haeckel's services to the +cause of Evolution. After speaking of the lukewarm reception which the +'Origin' met with in Germany on its first publication, he goes on to +describe the first adherents of the new faith as more or less popular +writers, not especially likely to advance its acceptance with the +professorial or purely scientific world. And he claims for Haeckel that +it was his advocacy of Evolution in his 'Radiolaria' (1862), and at +the "Versammlung" of Naturalists at Stettin in 1863, that placed the +Darwinian question for the first time publicly before the forum +of German science, and his enthusiastic propagandism that chiefly +contributed to its success. + +Mr. Huxley, writing in 1869, paid a high tribute to Professor Haeckel as +the Coryphaeus of the Darwinian movement in Germany. Of his 'Generelle +Morphologie,' "an attempt to work out the practical application" of the +doctrine of Evolution to their final results, he says that it has the +"force and suggestiveness, and... systematising power of Oken without his +extravagance." Professor Huxley also testifies to the value of Haeckel's +'Schopfungs-Geschichte' as an exposition of the 'Generelle Morphologie' +"for an educated public." + +Again, in his 'Evolution in Biology' (An article in the 'Encyclopaedia +Britannica,' 9th edition, reprinted in 'Science and Culture,' 1881, page +298.), Mr. Huxley wrote: "Whatever hesitation may, not unfrequently, +be felt by less daring minds, in following Haeckel in many of his +speculations, his attempt to systematise the doctrine of Evolution, +and to exhibit its influence as the central thought of modern biology, +cannot fail to have a far-reaching influence on the progress of +science." + +In the following letter my father alludes to the somewhat fierce manner +in which Professor Haeckel fought the battle of 'Darwinismus,' and +on this subject Dr. Krause has some good remarks (page 162). He asks +whether much that happened in the heat of the conflict might not well +have been otherwise, and adds that Haeckel himself is the last man to +deny this. Nevertheless he thinks that even these things may have worked +well for the cause of Evolution, inasmuch as Haeckel "concentrated +on himself by his 'Ursprung des Menschen-Geschlechts,' his 'Generelle +Morphologie,' and 'Schopfungs-Geschichte,' all the hatred and +bitterness which Evolution excited in certain quarters," so that, "in +a surprisingly short time it became the fashion in Germany that Haeckel +alone should be abused, while Darwin was held up as the ideal of +forethought and moderation."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E. HAECKEL. Down, May 21, 1867. + +Dear Haeckel, + +Your letter of the 18th has given me great pleasure, for you have +received what I said in the most kind and cordial manner. You have +in part taken what I said much stronger than I had intended. It never +occurred to me for a moment to doubt that your work, with the whole +subject so admirably and clearly arranged, as well as fortified by so +many new facts and arguments, would not advance our common object in the +highest degree. All that I think is that you will excite anger, and that +anger so completely blinds every one, that your arguments would have +no chance of influencing those who are already opposed to our views. +Moreover, I do not at all like that you, towards whom I feel so much +friendship, should unnecessarily make enemies, and there is pain and +vexation enough in the world without more being caused. But I repeat +that I can feel no doubt that your work will greatly advance our +subject, and I heartily wish it could be translated into English, for +my own sake and that of others. With respect to what you say about +my advancing too strongly objections against my own views, some of +my English friends think that I have erred on this side; but truth +compelled me to write what I did, and I am inclined to think it was good +policy. The belief in the descent theory is slowly spreading in England +(In October 1867 he wrote to Mr. Wallace:--"Mr. Warrington has lately +read an excellent and spirited abstract of the 'Origin' before the +Victoria Institute, and as this is a most orthodox body, he has gained +the name of the Devil's Advocate. The discussion which followed during +three consecutive meetings is very rich from the nonsense talked. If you +would care to see the number I could send it you."), even amongst those +who can give no reason for their belief. No body of men were at first +so much opposed to my views as the members of the London Entomological +Society, but now I am assured that, with the exception of two or three +old men, all the members concur with me to a certain extent. It has been +a great disappointment to me that I have never received your long letter +written to me from the Canary Islands. I am rejoiced to hear that your +tour, which seems to have been a most interesting one, has done your +health much good. I am working away at my new book, but make very slow +progress, and the work tries my health, which is much the same as when +you were here. + +Victor Carus is going to translate it, but whether it is worth +translation, I am rather doubtful. I am very glad to hear that there is +some chance of your visiting England this autumn, and all in this house +will be delighted to see you here. + +Believe me, my dear Haeckel, Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, July 31 [1867]. + +My dear Sir, + +I received a week ago your letter of June 2, full as usual of valuable +matter and specimens. It arrived at exactly the right time, for I was +enabled to give a pretty full abstract of your observations on the +plant's own pollen being poisonous. I have inserted this abstract in the +proo-sheets in my chapter on sterility, and it forms the most striking +part of my whole chapter. (In 'The Variation of Animals and Plants.') I +thank you very sincerely for the most interesting observations, which, +however, I regret that you did not publish independently. I have been +forced to abbreviate one or two parts more than I wished... Your letters +always surprise me, from the number of points to which you attend. I +wish I could make my letters of any interest to you, for I hardly ever +see a naturalist, and live as retired a life as you in Brazil. With +respect to mimetic plants, I remember Hooker many years ago saying he +believed that there were many, but I agree with you that it would +be most difficult to distinguish between mimetic resemblance and the +effects of peculiar conditions. Who can say to which of these causes to +attribute the several plants with heath-like foliage at the Cape of Good +Hope? Is it not also a difficulty that quadrupeds appear to recognise +plants more by their [scent] than their appearance? What I have just +said reminds me to ask you a question. Sir J. Lubbock brought me the +other day what appears to be a terrestrial Planaria (the first ever +found in the northern hemisphere) and which was coloured exactly like +our dark-coloured slugs. Now slugs are not devoured by birds, like +the shell-bearing species, and this made me remember that I found the +Brazilian Planariae actually together with striped Vaginuli which I +believe were similarly coloured. Can you throw any light on this? I wish +to know, because I was puzzled some months ago how it would be possible +to account for the bright colours of the Planariae in reference to +sexual selection. By the way, I suppose they are hermaphrodites. + +Do not forget to aid me, if in your power, with answers to ANY of my +questions on expression, for the subject interests me greatly. With +cordial thanks for your never-failing kindness, believe me, + +Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, July 18 [1867]. + +My dear Lyell, + +Many thanks for your long letter. I am sorry to hear that you are in +despair about your book (The 2nd volume of the 10th Edition of the +'Principles.'); I well know that feeling, but am now getting out of the +lower depths. I shall be very much pleased, if you can make the least +use of my present book, and do not care at all whether it is published +before yours. Mine will appear towards the end of November of this year; +you speak of yours as not coming out till November, 1868, which I +hope may be an error. There is nothing about Man in my book which can +interfere with you, so I will order all the completed clean sheets to be +sent (and others as soon as ready) to you, but please observe you will +not care for the first volume, which is a mere record of the amount +of variation; but I hope the second will be somewhat more interesting. +Though I fear the whole must be dull. + +I rejoice from my heart that you are going to speak out plainly about +species. My book about Man, if published, will be short, and a large +portion will be devoted to sexual selection, to which subject I alluded +in the 'Origin' as bearing on Man... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, August 22 [1867]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I thank you cordially for your last two letters. The former one did me +REAL good, for I had got so wearied with the subject that I could hardly +bear to correct the proofs (The proofs of 'Animals and Plants,' which +Lyell was then reading.), and you gave me fresh heart. I remember +thinking that when you came to the Pigeon chapter you would pass it over +as quite unreadable. Your last letter has interested me in very many +ways, and I have been glad to hear about those horrid unbelieving +Frenchmen. I have been particularly pleased that you have noticed +Pangenesis. I do not know whether you ever had the feeling of having +thought so much over a subject that you had lost all power of judging +it. This is my case with Pangenesis (which is 26 or 27 years old), but I +am inclined to think that if it be admitted as a probable hypothesis it +will be a somewhat important step in Biology. + +I cannot help still regretting that you have ever looked at the slips, +for I hope to improve the whole a good deal. It is surprising to me, +and delightful, that you should care in the least about the plants. +Altogether you have given me one of the best cordials I ever had in my +life, and I heartily thank you. I despatched this morning the French +edition. (Of the 'Origin.' It appears that my father was sending a copy +of the French edition to Sir Charles. The introduction was by Mdlle. +Royer, who translated the book.) The introduction was a complete +surprise to me, and I dare say has injured the book in France; +nevertheless... it shows, I think, that the woman is uncommonly clever. +Once again many thanks for the renewed courage with which I shall attack +the horrid proof-sheets. + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--A Russian who is translating my new book into Russian has been +here, and says you are immensely read in Russia, and many editions--how +many I forget. Six editions of Buckle and four editions of the 'Origin.' + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, October 16 [1867]. + +My dear Gray, + +I send by this post clean sheets of Volume I. up to page 336, and there +are only 411 pages in this volume. I am VERY glad to hear that you are +going to review my book; but if the "Nation" (The book was reviewed by +Dr. Gray in the "Nation", March 19, 1868.) is a newspaper I wish it +were at the bottom of the sea, for I fear that you will thus be stopped +reviewing me in a scientific journal. The first volume is all details, +and you will not be able to read it; and you must remember that the +chapters on plants are written for naturalists who are not botanists. +The last chapter in Volume I. is, however, I think, a curious +compilation of facts; it is on bu-variation. In Volume II. some of the +chapters are more interesting; and I shall be very curious to hear your +verdict on the chapter on close inte-breeding. The chapter on what I +call Pangenesis will be called a mad dream, and I shall be pretty well +satisfied if you think it a dream worth publishing; but at the bottom of +my own mind I think it contains a great truth. I finish my book with a +semi-theological paragraph, in which I quote and differ from you; what +you will think of it, I know not... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, November 17 [1867]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Congratulate me, for I have finished the last revise of the last sheet +of my book. It has been an awful job: seven and a half months correcting +the press: the book, from much small type, does not look big, but is +really very big. I have had hard work to keep up to the mark, but during +the last week only few revises came, so that I have rested and feel more +myself. Hence, after our long mutual silence, I enjoy myself by writing +a note to you, for the sake of exhaling, and hearing from you. On +account of the index (The index was made by Mr. W.S. Dallas; I have +often heard my father express his admiration of this excellent piece of +work.), I do not suppose that you will receive your copy till the middle +of next month. I shall be intensely anxious to hear what you think +about Pangenesis; though I can see how fearfully imperfect, even in mere +conjectural conclusions, it is; yet it has been an infinite satisfaction +to me somehow to connect the various large groups of facts, which I +have long considered, by an intelligible thread. I shall not be at all +surprised if you attack it and me with unparalleled ferocity. It will +be my endeavour to do as little as possible for some time, but [I] shall +soon prepare a paper or two for the Linnean Society. In a short time we +shall go to London for ten days, but the time is not yet fixed. Now I +have told you a deal about myself, and do let me hear a good deal +about your own past and future doings. Can you pay us a visit, early in +December?... I have seen no one for an age, and heard no news. + +... About my book I will give you a bit of advice. Skip the WHOLE of +Volume I., except the last chapter (and that need only be skimmed) and +skip largely in the 2nd volume; and then you will say it is a very good +book. + + +1868. + +['The Variation of Animals and Plants' was, as already mentioned, +published on January 30, 1868, and on that day he sent a copy to Fritz +Muller, and wrote to him:-- + +"I send by this post, by French packet, my new book, the publication of +which has been much delayed. The greater part, as you will see, is not +meant to be read; but I should very much like to hear what you think +of 'Pangenesis,' though I fear it will appear to EVERY ONE far too +speculative."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. February 3 [1868]. + +... I am very much pleased at what you say about my Introduction; after +it was in type I was as near as possible cancelling the whole. I have +been for some time in despair about my book, and if I try to read a few +pages I feel fairly nauseated, but do not let this make you praise it; +for I have made up my mind that it is not worth a fifth part of the +enormous labour it has cost me. I assure you that all that is worth your +doing (if you have time for so much) is glancing at Chapter VI., and +reading parts of the later chapters. The facts on self-impotent plants +seem to me curious, and I have worked out to my own satisfaction the +good from crossing and evil from interbreeding. I did read Pangenesis +the other evening, but even this, my beloved child, as I had fancied, +quite disgusted me. The devil take the whole book; and yet now I am at +work again as hard as I am able. It is really a great evil that from +habit I have pleasure in hardly anything except Natural History, for +nothing else makes me forget my eve-recurrent uncomfortable sensations. +But I must not howl any more, and the critics may say what they like; +I did my best, and man can do no more. What a splendid pursuit Natural +History would be if it was all observing and no writing!... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 10 [1868]. + +My dear Hooker, + +What is the good of having a friend, if one may not boast to him? I +heard yesterday that Murray has sold in a week the whole edition of +1500 copies of my book, and the sale so pressing that he has agreed with +Clowes to get another edition in fourteen days! This has done me a world +of good, for I had got into a sort of dogged hatred of my book. And +now there has appeared a review in the "Pall Mall" which has pleased me +excessively, more perhaps than is reasonable. I am quite content, and +do not care how much I may be pitched into. If by any chance you should +hear who wrote the article in the "Pall Mall", do please tell me; it +is some one who writes capitally, and who knows the subject. I went to +luncheon on Sunday, to Lubbock's, partly in hopes of seeing you, and, be +hanged to you, you were not there. + +Your cock-a-hoop friend, C.D. + + +[Independently of the favourable tone of the able series of notices in +the "Pall Mall Gazette" (February 10, 15, 17, 1868), my father may well +have been gratified by the following passages:-- + +"We must call attention to the rare and noble calmness with which he +expounds his own views, undisturbed by the heats of polemical agitation +which those views have excited, and persistently refusing to retort on +his antagonists by ridicule, by indignation, or by contempt. Considering +the amount of vituperation and insinuation which has come from the other +side, this forbearance is supremely dignified." + +And again in the third notice, February 17:-- + +"Nowhere has the author a word that could wound the most sensitive +sel-love of an antagonist; nowhere does he, in text or note, expose the +fallacies and mistakes of brother investigators... but while abstaining +from impertinent censure, he is lavish in acknowledging the smallest +debts he may owe; and his book will make many men happy." + +I am indebted to Messrs. Smith & Elder for the information that these +articles were written by Mr. G.H. Lewes.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 23 [1868]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have had almost as many letters to write of late as you can have, viz. +from 8 to 10 per diem, chiefly getting up facts on sexual selection, +therefore I have felt no inclination to write to you, and now I mean to +write solely about my book for my own satisfaction, and not at all for +yours. The first edition was 1500 copies, and now the second is +printed off; sharp work. Did you look at the review in the "Athenaeum" +("Athenaeum", February 15, 1868. My father quoted Pouchet's assertion +that "variation under domestication throws no light on the natural +modification of species." The reviewer quotes the end of a passage +in which my father declares that he can see no force in Pouchet's +arguments, or rather assertions, and then goes on: "We are sadly +mistaken if there are not clear proofs in the pages of the book before +us that, on the contrary, Mr. Darwin has perceived, felt, and yielded to +the force of the arguments or assertions of his French antagonist." The +following may serve as samples of the rest of the review:-- + +"Henceforth the rhetoricians will have a better illustration of +anti-climax than the mountain which brought forth a mouse,... in the +discoverer of the origin of species, who tried to explain the variation +of pigeons! + +"A few summary words. On the 'Origin of Species' Mr. Darwin has +nothing, and is never likely to have anything, to say; but on the vastly +important subject of inheritance, the transmission of peculiarities +once acquired through successive generations, this work is a valuable +store-house of facts for curious students and practical breeders."), +showing profound contempt of me?... It is a shame that he should have +said that I have taken much from Pouchet, without acknowledgment; for I +took literally nothing, there being nothing to take. There is a capital +review in the "Gardeners' Chronicle" which will sell the book if +anything will. I don't quite see whether I or the writer is in a +muddle about man CAUSING variability. If a man drops a bit of iron into +sulphuric acid he does not cause the affinities to come into play, yet +he may be said to make sulphate of iron. I do not know how to avoid +ambiguity. + +After what the "Pall Mall Gazette" and the "Chronicle" have said I do +not care a d--. + +I fear Pangenesis is stillborn; Bates says he has read it twice, and +is not sure that he understands it. H. Spencer says the view is quite +different from his (and this is a great relief to me, as I feared to be +accused of plagiarism, but utterly failed to be sure what he meant, so +thought it safest to give my view as almost the same as his), and he +says he is not sure he understands it... Am I not a poor devil? yet I +took such pains, I must think that I expressed myself clearly. Old Sir +H. Holland says he has read it twice, and thinks it very tough; but +believes that sooner or later "some view akin to it" will be accepted. + +You will think me very self-sufficient, when I declare that I feel SURE +if Pangenesis is now stillborn it will, thank God, at some future time +reappear, begotten by some other father, and christened by some other +name. + +Have you ever met with any tangible and clear view of what takes place +in generation, whether by seeds or buds, or how a long-lost character +can possibly reappear; or how the male element can possibly affect +the mother plant, or the mother animal, so that her future progeny are +affected? Now all these points and many others are connected together, +whether truly or falsely is another question, by Pangenesis. You see I +die hard, and stick up for my poor child. + +This letter is written for my own satisfaction, and not for yours. So +bear it. + +Yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. NEWTON. (Prof. of Zoology at Cambridge.) Down, +February 9 [1870]. + +Dear Newton, + +I suppose it would be universally held extremely wrong for a defendant +to write to a Judge to express his satisfaction at a judgment in his +favour; and yet I am going thus to act. I have just read what you +have said in the 'Record' ('Zoological Record.' The volume for 1868, +published December 1869.) about my pigeon chapters, and it has gratified +me beyond measure. I have sometimes felt a little disappointed that the +labour of so many years seemed to be almost thrown away, for you are the +first man capable of forming a judgment (excepting partly Quatrefages), +who seems to have thought anything of this part of my work. The amount +of labour, correspondence, and care, which the subject cost me, is more +than you could well suppose. I thought the article in the "Athenaeum" +was very unjust; but now I feel amply repaid, and I cordially thank you +for your sympathy and too warm praise. What labour you have bestowed on +your part of the 'Record'! I ought to be ashamed to speak of my amount +of work. I thoroughly enjoyed the Sunday, which you and the others spent +here, and + +I remain, dear Newton, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, February 27 [1868]. + +My dear Wallace, + +You cannot well imagine how much I have been pleased by what you say +about 'Pangenesis.' None of my friends will speak out... Hooker, as far +as I understand him, which I hardly do at present, seems to think that +the hypothesis is little more than saying that organisms have such +and such potentialities. What you say exactly and fully expresses my +feeling, viz. that it is a relief to have some feasible explanation +of the various facts, which can be given up as soon as any better +hypothesis is found. It has certainly been an immense relief to my mind; +for I have been stumbling over the subject for years, dimly seeing that +some relation existed between the various classes of facts. I now hear +from H. Spencer that his views quoted in my foot-note refer to something +quite distinct, as you seem to have perceived. + +I shall be very glad to hear at some future day your criticisms on +the "causes of variability." Indeed I feel sure that I am right about +sterility and natural selection... I do not quite understand your case, +and we think that a word or two is misplaced. I wish sometime you would +consider the case under the following point of view:--If sterility is +caused or accumulated through natural selection, than as every degree +exists up to absolute barrenness, natural selection must have the power +of increasing it. Now take two species, A and B, and assume that they +are (by any means) half-sterile, i.e. produce half the full number of +offspring. Now try and make (by natural selection) A and B absolutely +sterile when crossed, and you will find how difficult it is. I grant +indeed, it is certain, that the degree of sterility of the individuals A +and B will vary, but any such extra-sterile individuals of, we will +say A, if they should hereafter breed with other individuals of A, will +bequeath no advantage to their progeny, by which these families will +tend to increase in number over other families of A, which are not more +sterile when crossed with B. But I do not know that I have made this any +clearer than in the chapter in my book. It is a most difficult bit of +reasoning, which I have gone over and over again on paper with diagrams. + +... Hearty thanks for your letter. You have indeed pleased me, for I had +given up the great god Pan as a stillborn deity. I wish you could be +induced to make it clear with your admirable powers of elucidation in +one of the scientific journals... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 28 [1868]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have been deeply interested by your letter, and we had a good laugh +over Huxley's remark, which was so deuced clever that you could not +recollect it. I cannot quite follow your train of thought, for in the +last page you admit all that I wish, having apparently denied all, or +thought all mere words in the previous pages of your note; but it may be +my muddle. I see clearly that any satisfaction which Pan may give will +depend on the constitution of each man's mind. If you have arrived +already at any similar conclusion, the whole will of course appear stale +to you. I heard yesterday from Wallace, who says (excuse horrid vanity), +"I can hardly tell you how much I admire the chapter on 'Pangenesis.' +It is a POSITIVE COMFORT to me to have any feasible explanation of a +difficulty that has always been haunting me, and I shall never be able +to give it up till a better one supplies its place, and that I think +hardly possible, etc." Now his foregoing [italicised] words express my +sentiments exactly and fully: though perhaps I feel the relief extra +strongly from having during many years vainly attempted to form some +hypothesis. When you or Huxley say that a single cell of a plant, or the +stump of an amputated limb, have the "potentiality" of reproducing +the whole--or "diffuse an influence," these words give me no positive +idea;--but when it is said that the cells of a plant, or stump, include +atoms derived from every other cell of the whole organism and capable of +development, I gain a distinct idea. But this idea would not be worth +a rush, if it applied to one case alone; but it seems to me to apply +to all the forms of reproduction--inheritance--metamorphosis--to the +abnormal transposition of organs--to the direct action of the male +element on the mother plant, etc. Therefore I fully believe that each +cell does ACTUALLY throw off an atom or gemmule of its contents;--but +whether or not, this hypothesis serves as a useful connecting link for +various grand classes of physiological facts, which at present stand +absolutely isolated. + +I have touched on the doubtful point (alluded to by Huxley) how far +atoms derived from the same cell may become developed into different +structure accordingly as they are differently nourished; I advanced as +illustrations galls and polypoid excrescences... + +It is a real pleasure to me to write to you on this subject, and I +should be delighted if we can understand each other; but you must not +let your good nature lead you on. Remember, we always fight tooth and +nail. We go to London on Tuesday, first for a week to Queen Anne Street, +and afterwards to Miss Wedgwood's, in Regent's Park, and stay the whole +month, which, as my gardener truly says, is a "terrible thing" for my +experiments. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. OGLE. (Dr. William Ogle, now the Superintendent of +Statistics to the Registrar-General.) Down, March 6 [1868]. + +Dear Sir, + +I thank you most sincerely for your letter, which is very interesting +to me. I wish I had known of these views of Hippocrates before I had +published, for they seem almost identical with mine--merely a change +of terms--and an application of them to classes of facts necessarily +unknown to the old philosopher. The whole case is a good illustration of +how rarely anything is new. + +Hippocrates has taken the wind out of my sails, but I care very little +about being forestalled. I advance the views merely as a provisional +hypothesis, but with the secret expectation that sooner or later some +such view will have to be admitted. + +... I do not expect the reviewers will be so learned as you: otherwise, +no doubt, I shall be accused of wilfully stealing Pangenesis from +Hippocrates,--for this is the spirit some reviewers delight to show. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO VICTOR CARUS. Down, March 21 [1868]. + +... I am very much obliged to you for sending me so frankly your opinion +on Pangenesis, and I am sorry it is unfavourable, but I cannot quite +understand your remark on pangenesis, selection, and the struggle +for life not being more methodical. I am not at all surprised at your +unfavourable verdict; I know many, probably most, will come to the same +conclusion. One English Review says it is much too complicated... Some +of my friends are enthusiastic on the hypothesis... Sir C. Lyell says +to every one, "you may not believe in 'Pangenesis,' but if you once +understand it, you will never get it out of your mind." And with this +criticism I am perfectly content. All cases of inheritance and reversion +and development now appear to me under a new light... + +[An extract from a letter to Fritz Muller, though of later date (June), +may be given here:-- + +"Your letter of April 22 has much interested me. I am delighted that you +approve of my book, for I value your opinion more than that of almost +any one. I have yet hopes that you will think well of Pangenesis. I feel +sure that our minds are somewhat alike, and I find it a great relief +to have some definite, though hypothetical view, when I reflect on the +wonderful transformations of animals,--the re-growth of parts,--and +especially the direct action of pollen on the mother-form, etc. It often +appears to me almost certain that the characters of the parents are +"photographed" on the child, only by means of material atoms derived +from each cell in both parents, and developed in the child."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, May 8 [1868]. + +My dear Gray, + +I have been a most ungrateful and ungracious man not to have written to +you an immense time ago to thank you heartily for the "Nation", and for +all your most kind aid in regard to the American edition [of 'Animals +and Plants']. But I have been of late overwhelmed with letters, which +I was forced to answer, and so put off writing to you. This morning +I received the American edition (which looks capital), with your nice +preface, for which hearty thanks. I hope to heaven that the book will +succeed well enough to prevent you repenting of your aid. This arrival +has put the finishing stroke to my conscience, which will endure its +wrongs no longer. + +... Your article in the "Nation" [March 19] seems to me very good, and +you give an excellent idea of Pangenesis--an infant cherished by few as +yet, except his tender parent, but which will live a long life. There +is parental presumption for you! You give a good slap at my concluding +metaphor (A short abstract of the precipice metaphor is given in +Volume I. Dr. Gray's criticism on this point is as follows: "But in Mr. +Darwin's parallel, to meet the case of nature according to his own view +of it, not only the fragments of rock (answering to variation) should +fall, but the edifice (answering to natural selection) should rise, +irrespective of will or choice!" But my father's parallel demands that +natural selection shall be the architect, not the edifice--the question +of design only comes in with regard to the form of the building +materials.): undoubtedly I ought to have brought in and contrasted +natural and artificial selection; but it seems so obvious to me that +natural selection depended on contingencies even more complex than those +which must have determined the shape of each fragment at the base of my +precipice. What I wanted to show was that in reference to pre-ordainment +whatever holds good in the formation of a pouter pigeon holds good in +the formation of a natural species of pigeon. I cannot see that this +is false. If the right variations occurred, and no others, natural +selection would be superfluous. A reviewer in an Edinburgh paper, who +treats me with profound contempt, says on this subject that Professor +Asa Gray could with the greatest ease smash me into little pieces. (The +"Daily Review", April 27, 1868. My father has given rather a highly +coloured version of the reviewer's remarks: "We doubt not that Professor +Asa Gray... could show that natural selection... is simply an instrument +in the hands of an omnipotent and omniscient creator." The reviewer goes +on to say that the passage in question is a "very melancholy one," and +that the theory is the "apotheosis of materialism.") + +Believe me, my dear Gray, Your ungrateful but sincere friend, CHARLES +DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G. BENTHAM. Down, June 23, 1868. + +My dear Mr. Bentham, + +As your address (Presidential Address to the Linnean Society.) is +somewhat of the nature of a verdict from a judge, I do not know whether +it is proper for me to do so, but I must and will thank you for the +pleasure which you have given me. I am delighted at what you say about +my book. I got so tired of it, that for months together I thought +myself a perfect fool for having given up so much time in collecting +and observing little facts, but now I do not care if a score of common +critics speak as contemptuously of the book as did the "Athenaeum". +I feel justified in this, for I have so complete a reliance on your +judgment that I feel certain that I should have bowed to your judgment +had it been as unfavourable as it is the contrary. What you say about +Pangenesis quite satisfies me, and is as much perhaps as any one is +justified in saying. I have read your whole Address with the greatest +interest. It must have cost you a vast amount of trouble. With cordial +thanks, pray believe me, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I fear that it is not likely that you have a superfluous copy +of your Address; if you have, I should much like to send one to Fritz +Muller in the interior of Brazil. By the way let me add that I discussed +bud-variation chiefly from a belief which is common to several persons, +that all variability is related to sexual generation; I wished to show +clearly that this was an error. + +[The above series of letters may serve to show to some extent the +reception which the new book received. Before passing on (in the next +chapter) to the 'Descent of Man,' I give a letter referring to the +translation of Fritz Muller's book, 'Fur Darwin,' it was originally +published in 1864, but the English translation, by Mr. Dallas, which +bore the title suggested by Sir C. Lyell, of 'Facts and Arguments for +Darwin,' did not appear until 1869:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, March 16 [1868]. + +My dear Sir, + +Your brother, as you will have heard from him, felt so convinced that +you would not object to a translation of 'Fur Darwin' (In a letter to +Fritz Muller, my father wrote:--"I am vexed to see that on the title my +name is more conspicuous than yours, which I especially objected to, and +I cautioned the printers after seeing one proof."), that I have ventured +to arrange for a translation. Engelmann has very liberally offered me +cliches of the woodcuts for 22 thalers; Mr. Murray has agreed to bring +out a translation (and he is our best publisher) on commission, for he +would not undertake the work on his own risk; and I have agreed with Mr. +W.S. Dallas (who has translated Von Siebold on Parthenogenesis, and many +German works, and who writes very good English) to translate the book. +He thinks (and he is a good judge) that it is important to have some +few corrections or additions, in order to account for a translation +appearing so lately [i.e. at such a long interval of time] after the +original; so that I hope you will be able to send some... + + +[Two letters may be placed here as bearing on the spread of Evolutionary +ideas in France and Germany:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. GAUDRY. Down, January 21 [1868]. + +Dear Sir, + +I thank you for your interesting essay on the influence of the +Geological features of the country on the mind and habits of the Ancient +Athenians (This appears to refer to M. Gaudry's paper translated in the +'Geol. Mag.,' 1868, page 372.), and for your very obliging letter. I am +delighted to hear that you intend to consider the relations of fossil +animals in connection with their genealogy; it will afford you a +fine field for the exercise of your extensive knowledge and powers of +reasoning. Your belief will I suppose, at present, lower you in the +estimation of your countrymen; but judging from the rapid spread in all +parts of Europe, excepting France, of the belief in the common descent +of allied species, I must think that this belief will before long +become universal. How strange it is that the country which gave birth to +Buffon, the elder Geoffroy, and especially to Lamarck, should now cling +so pertinaciously to the belief that species are immutable creations. + +My work on Variation, etc., under domestication, will appear in a French +translation in a few months' time, and I will do myself the pleasure +and honour of directing the publisher to send a copy to you to the same +address as this letter. + +With sincere respect, I remain, dear sir, Yours very faithfully, CHARLES +DARWIN. + + +[The next letter is of especial interest, as showing how high a value my +father placed on the support of the younger German naturalists:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. PREYER. (Now Professor of Physiology at Jena.) +March 31, 1868. + +... I am delighted to hear that you uphold the doctrine of the +Modification of Species, and defend my views. The support which I +receive from Germany is my chief ground for hoping that our views +will ultimately prevail. To the present day I am continually abused +or treated with contempt by writers of my own country; but the younger +naturalists are almost all on my side, and sooner or later the public +must follow those who make the subject their special study. The abuse +and contempt of ignorant writers hurts me very little... + + + + +CHAPTER 2.VI. -- WORK ON 'MAN.' + +1864-1870. + +[In the autobiographical chapter in Volume I., my father gives the +circumstances which led to his writing the 'Descent of Man.' He states +that his collection of facts, begun in 1837 or 1838, was continued for +many years without any definite idea of publishing on the subject. The +following letter to Mr. Wallace shows that in the period of ill-health +and depression about 1864 he despaired of ever being able to do so:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, [May?] 28 [1864]. + +Dear Wallace, + +I am so much better that I have just finished a paper for Linnean +Society (On the three forms, etc., of Lythrum.); but I am not yet at +all strong, I felt much disinclination to write, and therefore you must +forgive me for not having sooner thanked you for your paper on 'Man' +('Anthropological Review,' March 1864.), received on the 11th. But first +let me say that I have hardly ever in my life been more struck by any +paper than that on 'Variation,' etc. etc., in the "Reader". ('"Reader", +April 16, 1864. "On the Phenomena of Variation," etc. Abstract of a +paper read before the Linnean Society, March 17, 1864.) I feel sure +that such papers will do more for the spreading of our views on the +modification of species than any separate Treatises on the simple +subject itself. It is really admirable; but you ought not in the Man +paper to speak of the theory as mine; it is just as much yours as mine. +One correspondent has already noticed to me your "high-minded" conduct +on this head. But now for your Man paper, about which I should like to +write more than I can. The great leading idea is quite new to me, viz. +that during late ages, the mind will have been modified more than the +body; yet I had got as far as to see with you that the struggle between +the races of man depended entirely on intellectual and MORAL qualities. +The latter part of the paper I can designate only as grand and most +eloquently done. I have shown your paper to two or three persons who +have been here, and they have been equally struck with it. I am not +sure that I go with you on all minor points: when reading Sir G. Grey's +account of the constant battles of Australian savages, I remember +thinking that natural selection would come in, and likewise with the +Esquimaux, with whom the art of fishing and managing canoes is said to +be hereditary. I rather differ on the rank, under a classificatory point +of view, which you assign to man; I do not think any character simply in +excess ought ever to be used for the higher divisions. Ants would not be +separated from other hymenopterous insects, however high the instinct of +the one, and however low the instincts of the other. With respect to the +differences of race, a conjecture has occurred to me that much may +be due to the correlation of complexion (and consequently hair) with +constitution. Assume that a dusky individual best escaped miasma, and +you will readily see what I mean. I persuaded the Director-General of +the Medical Department of the Army to send printed forms to the surgeons +of all regiments in tropical countries to ascertain this point, but I +dare say I shall never get any returns. Secondly, I suspect that a sort +of sexual selection has been the most powerful means of changing +the races of man. I can show that the different races have a widely +different standard of beauty. Among savages the most powerful men will +have the pick of the women, and they will generally leave the most +descendants. I have collected a few notes on man, but I do not suppose +that I shall ever use them. Do you intend to follow out your views, and +if so, would you like at some future time to have my few references and +notes? I am sure I hardly know whether they are of any value, and they +are at present in a state of chaos. + +There is much more that I should like to write, but I have not strength. + +Believe me, dear Wallace, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--Our aristocracy is handsomer (more hideous according to a Chinese +or Negro) than the middle classes, from (having the) pick of the women; +but oh, what a scheme is primogeniture for destroying natural selection! +I fear my letter will be barely intelligible to you. + + +[In February 1867, when the manuscript of 'Animals and Plants' had been +sent to Messrs. Clowes to be printed, and before the proofs began to +come in, he had an interval of spare time, and began a "chapter on Man," +but he soon found it growing under his hands, and determined to publish +it separately as a "very small volume." + +The work was interrupted by the necessity of correcting the proofs of +'Animals and Plants,' and by some botanical work, but was resumed in the +following year, 1868, the moment he could give himself up to it. + +He recognized with regret the gradual change in his mind that rendered +continuous work more and more necessary to him as he grew older. This is +expressed in a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker, June 17, 1868, which repeats +to some extent what is expressed in the Autobiography:-- + +"I am glad you were at the 'Messiah,' it is the one thing that I should +like to hear again, but I dare say I should find my soul too dried up to +appreciate it as in old days; and then I should feel very flat, for it +is a horrid bore to feel as I constantly do, that I am a withered leaf +for every subject except Science. It sometimes makes me hate Science, +though God knows I ought to be thankful for such a perennial interest, +which makes me forget for some hours every day my accursed stomach." + +The work on Man was interrupted by illness in the early summer of 1868, +and he left home on July 16th for Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, +where he remained with his family until August 21st. Here he made +the acquaintance of Mrs. Cameron. She received the whole family with +open-hearted kindness and hospitality, and my father always retained a +warm feeling of friendship for her. She made an excellent photograph of +him, which was published with the inscription written by him: "I like +this photograph very much better than any other which has been taken of +me." Further interruption occurred in the autumn so that continuous work +on the 'Descent of Man' did not begin until 1869. The following letters +give some idea of the earlier work in 1867:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, February 22, [1867?]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I am hard at work on sexual selection, and am driven half mad by the +number of collateral points which require investigation, such as the +relative number of the two sexes, and especially on polygamy. Can you +aid me with respect to birds which have strongly marked secondary sexual +characters, such as birds of paradise, humming-birds, the Rupicola, or +any other such cases? Many gallinaceous birds certainly are polygamous. +I suppose that birds may be known not to be polygamous if they are seen +during the whole breeding season to associate in pairs, or if the male +incubates or aids in feeding the young. Will you have the kindness to +turn this in your mind? But it is a shame to trouble you now that, as I +am HEARTILY glad to hear, you are at work on your Malayan travels. I am +fearfully puzzled how far to extend your protective views with respect +to the females in various classes. The more I work the more important +sexual selection apparently comes out. + +Can butterflies be polygamous! i.e. will one male impregnate more than +one female? Forgive me troubling you, and I dare say I shall have to ask +forgiveness again... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, February 23 [1867]. + +Dear Wallace, + +I much regretted that I was unable to call on you, but after Monday I +was unable even to leave the house. On Monday evening I called on Bates, +and put a difficulty before him, which he could not answer, and, as on +some former similar occasion, his first suggestion was, "You had better +ask Wallace." My difficulty is, why are caterpillars sometimes so +beautifully and artistically coloured? Seeing that many are coloured to +escape danger, I can hardly attribute their bright colour in other cases +to mere physical conditions. Bates says the most gaudy caterpillar he +ever saw in Amazonia (of a sphinx) was conspicuous at the distance of +yards, from its black and red colours, whilst feeding on large green +leaves. If any one objected to male butterflies having been made +beautiful by sexual selection, and asked why should they not have been +made beautiful as well as their caterpillars, what would you answer? +I could not answer, but should maintain my ground. Will you think over +this, and some time, either by letter or when we meet, tell me what you +think? Also I want to know whether your FEMALE mimetic butterfly is more +beautiful and brighter than the male. When next in London I must get you +to show me your kingfishers. My health is a dreadful evil; I failed in +half my engagements during this last visit to London. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, February 26 [1867]. + +My dear Wallace, + +Bates was quite right; you are the man to apply to in a difficulty. I +never heard anything more ingenious than your suggestion (The +suggestion that conspicuous caterpillars or perfect insects (e.g. white +butterflies), which are distasteful to birds, are protected by being +easily recognised and avoided. See Mr. Wallace's 'Natural Selection,' +2nd edition, page 117.), and I hope you may be able to prove it true. +That is a splendid fact about the white moths; it warms one's very +blood to see a theory thus almost proved to be true. (Mr. Jenner Weir's +observations published in the Transactions of the Entomolog. Soc. (1869 +and 1870) give strong support to the theory in question.) With respect +to the beauty of male butterflies, I must as yet think it is due to +sexual selection. There is some evidence that dragon-flies are attracted +by bright colours; but what leads me to the above belief is, so many +male Orthoptera and Cicadas having musical instruments. This being the +case, the analogy of birds makes me believe in sexual selection with +respect to colour in insects. I wish I had strength and time to make +some of the experiments suggested by you, but I thought butterflies +would not pair in confinement. I am sure I have heard of some such +difficulty. Many years ago I had a dragon-fly painted with gorgeous +colours, but I never had an opportunity of fairly trying it. + +The reason of my being so much interested just at present about sexual +selection is, that I have almost resolved to publish a little essay on +the origin of Mankind, and I still strongly think (though I failed +to convince you, and this, to me, is the heaviest blow possible) that +sexual selection has been the main agent in forming the races of man. + +By the way, there is another subject which I shall introduce in my +essay, namely, expression of countenance. Now, do you happen to know +by any odd chance a very good-natured and acute observer in the Malay +Archipelago, who you think would make a few easy observations for me on +the expression of the Malays when excited by various emotions? For in +this case I would send to such person a list of queries. I thank you for +your most interesting letter, and remain, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, March [1867]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I thank you much for your two notes. The case of Julia Pastrana (A +bearded woman having an irregular double set of teeth. 'Animals and +Plants,' volume ii. page 328.) is a splendid addition to my other cases +of correlated teeth and hair, and I will add it in correcting the press +of my present volume. Pray let me hear in the course of the summer if +you get any evidence about the gaudy caterpillars. I should much like +to give (or quote if published) this idea of yours, if in any way +supported, as suggested by you. It will, however, be a long time hence, +for I can see that sexual selection is growing into quite a large +subject, which I shall introduce into my essay on Man, supposing that +I ever publish it. I had intended giving a chapter on man, inasmuch as +many call him (not QUITE truly) an eminently domesticated animal, but +I found the subject too large for a chapter. Nor shall I be capable of +treating the subject well, and my sole reason for taking it up is, that +I am pretty well convinced that sexual selection has played an important +part in the formation of races, and sexual selection has always been a +subject which has interested me much. I have been very glad to see your +impression from memory on the expression of Malays. I fully agree with +you that the subject is in no way an important one; it is simply a +"hobby-horse" with me, about twenty-seven years old; and AFTER thinking +that I would write an essay on man, it flashed on me that I could work +in some "supplemental remarks on expression." After the horrid, +tedious, dull work of my present huge, and I fear unreadable, book ['The +Variation of Animals and Plants'], I thought I would amuse myself with +my hobby-horse. The subject is, I think, more curious and more amenable +to scientific treatment than you seem willing to allow. I want, anyhow, +to upset Sir C. Bell's view, given in his most interesting work, 'The +Anatomy of Expression,' that certain muscles have been given to man +solely that he may reveal to other men his feelings. I want to try +and show how expressions have arisen. That is a good suggestion about +newspapers, but my experience tells me that private applications are +generally most fruitful. I will, however, see if I can get the queries +inserted in some Indian paper. I do not know the names or addresses of +any other papers. + +... My two female amanuenses are busy with friends, and I fear this +scrawl will give you much trouble to read. With many thanks, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter may be worth giving, as an example of his sources +of information, and as showing what were the thoughts at this time +occupying him:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, February 22 [1867]. + +... Many thanks for all the curious facts about the unequal number of the +sexes in Crustacea, but the more I investigate this subject the deeper +I sink in doubt and difficulty. Thanks also for the confirmation of +the rivalry of Cicadae. I have often reflected with surprise on the +diversity of the means for producing music with insects, and still more +with birds. We thus get a high idea of the importance of song in the +animal kingdom. Please to tell me where I can find any account of the +auditory organs in the Orthoptera. Your facts are quite new to me. +Scudder has described an insect in the Devonian strata, furnished with +a stridulating apparatus. I believe he is to be trusted, and, if so, the +apparatus is of astonishing antiquity. After reading Landois's paper I +have been working at the stridulating organ in the Lamellicorn beetles, +in expectation of finding it sexual; but I have only found it as yet in +two cases, and in these it was equally developed in both sexes. I wish +you would look at any of your common lamellicorns, and take hold of +both males and females, and observe whether they make the squeaking or +grating noise equally. If they do not, you could, perhaps, send me a +male and female in a light little box. How curious it is that there +should be a special organ for an object apparently so unimportant as +squeaking. Here is another point; have you any toucans? if so, ask any +trustworthy hunter whether the beaks of the males, or of both sexes, are +more brightly coloured during the breeding season than at other times +of the year... Heaven knows whether I shall ever live to make use of +half the valuable facts which you have communicated to me! Your paper +on Balanus armatus, translated by Mr. Dallas, has just appeared in our +'Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' and I have read it with the +greatest interest. I never thought that I should live to hear of a +hybrid Balanus! I am very glad that you have seen the cement tubes; they +appear to me extremely curious, and, as far as I know, you are the first +man who has verified my observations on this point. + +With most cordial thanks for all your kindness, my dear Sir, + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. DE CANDOLLE. Down, July 6, 1868. + +My dear Sir, + +I return you my SINCERE thanks for your long letter, which I consider a +great compliment, and which is quite full of most interesting facts and +views. Your references and remarks will be of great use should a new +edition of my book ('Variation of Animals and Plants.') be demanded, but +this is hardly probable, for the whole edition was sold within the first +week, and another large edition immediately reprinted, which I should +think would supply the demand for ever. You ask me when I shall publish +on the 'Variation of Species in a State of Nature.' I have had the MS. +for another volume almost ready during several years, but I was so much +fatigued by my last book that I determined to amuse myself by publishing +a short essay on the 'Descent of Man.' I was partly led to do this by +having been taunted that I concealed my views, but chiefly from the +interest which I had long taken in the subject. Now this essay has +branched out into some collateral subjects, and I suppose will take me +more than a year to complete. I shall then begin on 'Species,' but my +health makes me a very slow workman. I hope that you will excuse these +details, which I have given to show that you will have plenty of time to +publish your views first, which will be a great advantage to me. Of all +the curious facts which you mention in your letter, I think that of +the strong inheritance of the scalp-muscles has interested me most. I +presume that you would not object to my giving this very curious case on +your authority. As I believe all anatomists look at the scalp-muscles +as a remnant of the Panniculus carnosus which is common to all the lower +quadrupeds, I should look at the unusual development and inheritance of +these muscles as probably a case of reversion. Your observation on +so many remarkable men in noble families having been illegitimate is +extremely curious; and should I ever meet any one capable of writing an +essay on this subject, I will mention your remarks as a good suggestion. +Dr. Hooker has several times remarked to me that morals and politics +would be very interesting if discussed like any branch of natural +history, and this is nearly to the same effect with your remarks... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO L. AGASSIZ. Down, August 19, 1868. + +Dear Sir, + +I thank you cordially for your very kind letter. I certainly thought +that you had formed so low an opinion of my scientific work that it +might have appeared indelicate in me to have asked for information from +you, but it never occurred to me that my letter would have been shown to +you. I have never for a moment doubted your kindness and generosity, and +I hope you will not think it presumption in me to say, that when we met, +many years ago, at the British Association at Southampton, I felt for +you the warmest admiration. + +Your information on the Amazonian fishes has interested me EXTREMELY, +and tells me exactly what I wanted to know. I was aware, through notes +given me by Dr. Gunther, that many fishes differed sexually in colour +and other characters, but I was particularly anxious to learn how far +this was the case with those fishes in which the male, differently from +what occurs with most birds, takes the largest share in the care of +the ova and young. Your letter has not only interested me much, but +has greatly gratified me in other respects, and I return you my sincere +thanks for your kindness. Pray believe me, my dear Sir, + +Yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, Sunday, August 23 [1868]. + +My dear old Friend, + +I have received your note. I can hardly say how pleased I have been +at the success of your address (Sir Joseph Hooker was President of the +British Association at the Norwich Meeting in 1868.), and of the +whole meeting. I have seen the "Times", "Telegraph", "Spectator", and +"Athenaeum", and have heard of other favourable newspapers, and have +ordered a bundle. There is a "chorus of praise." The "Times" reported +miserably, i.e. as far as errata was concerned; but I was very glad +at the leader, for I thought the way you brought in the megalithic +monuments most happy. (The British Association was desirous of +interesting the Government in certain modern cromlech builders, the +Khasia race of East Bengal, in order that their megalithic monuments +might be efficiently described.) I particularly admired Tyndall's little +speech (Professor Tyndall was President of Section A.)... The "Spectator" +pitches a little into you about Theology, in accordance with its usual +spirit... + +Your great success has rejoiced my heart. I have just carefully read the +whole address in the "Athenaeum"; and though, as you know, I liked it +very much when you read it to me, yet, as I was trying all the time to +find fault, I missed to a certain extent the effect as a whole; and this +now appears to me most striking and excellent. How you must rejoice at +all your bothering labour and anxiety having had so grand an end. I must +say a word about myself; never has such a eulogium been passed on me, +and it makes me very proud. I cannot get over my AMAZEMENT at what you +say about my botanical work. By Jove, as far as my memory goes, you have +strengthened instead of weakened some of the expressions. What is far +more important than anything personal, is the conviction which I feel +that you will have immensely advanced the belief in the evolution of +species. This will follow from the publicity of the occasion, your +position, so responsible, as President, and your own high reputation. +It will make a great step in public opinion, I feel sure, and I had not +thought of this before. The "Athenaeum" takes your snubbing (Sir Joseph +Hooker made some reference to the review of 'Animals and Plants' in the +"Athenaeum" of February 15, 1868.) with the utmost mildness. I certainly +do rejoice over the snubbing, and hope [the reviewer] will feel it a +little. Whenever you have SPARE time to write again, tell me whether +any astronomers (In discussing the astronomer's objection to Evolution, +namely that our globe has not existed for a long enough period to give +time for the assumed transmutation of living beings, Hooker challenged +Whewell's dictum that, astronomy is the queen of sciences--the only +perfect science.) took your remarks in ill part; as they now stand they +do not seem at all too harsh and presumptuous. Many of your sentences +strike me as extremely felicitous and eloquent. That of Lyell's +"under-pinning" (After a eulogium on Sir Charles Lyell's heroic +renunciation of his old views in accepting Evolution, Sir J.D. Hooker +continued, "Well may he be proud of a superstructure, raised on the +foundations of an insecure doctrine, when he finds that he can underpin +it and substitute a new foundation; and after all is finished, survey +his edifice, not only more secure but more harmonious in its proportion +than it was before."), is capital. Tell me, was Lyell pleased? I am so +glad that you remembered my old dedication. (The 'Naturalist's Voyage' +was dedicated to Lyell.) Was Wallace pleased? + +How about photographs? Can you spare time for a line to our dear +Mrs. Cameron? She came to see us off, and loaded us with presents of +photographs, and Erasmus called after her, "Mrs. Cameron, there are six +people in this house all in love with you." When I paid her, she cried +out, "Oh what a lot of money!" and ran to boast to her husband. + +I must not write any more, though I am in tremendous spirits at your +brilliant success. + +Yours ever affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +[In the "Athenaeum" of November 29, 1868, appeared an article which was +in fact a reply to Sir Joseph Hooker's remarks at Norwich. He seems to +have consulted my father as to the wisdom of answering the article. My +father wrote on September 1: + +"In my opinion Dr. Joseph Dalton Hooker need take no notice of the +attack in the "Athenaeum" in reference to Mr. Charles Darwin. What +an ass the man is to think he cuts one to the quick by giving one's +Christian name in full. How transparently false is the statement that my +sole groundwork is from pigeons, because I state I have worked them +out more fully than other beings! He muddles together two books of +Flourens." + + +The following letter refers to a paper ('Transactions of the Ottawa +Academy of Natural Sciences,' 1868, by John D. Caton, late Chief Justice +of Illinois.) by Judge Caton, of which my father often spoke with +admiration:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN D. CATON. Down, September 18, 1868. + +Dear Sir, + +I beg leave to thank you very sincerely for your kindness in sending me, +through Mr. Walsh, your admirable paper on American Deer. + +It is quite full of most interesting observations, stated with the +greatest clearness. I have seldom read a paper with more interest, for +it abounds with facts of direct use for my work. Many of them consist +of little points which hardly any one besides yourself has observed, or +perceived the importance of recording. I would instance the age at which +the horns are developed (a point on which I have lately been in vain +searching for information), the rudiment of horns in the female elk, and +especially the different nature of the plants devoured by the deer and +elk, and several other points. With cordial thanks for the pleasure and +instruction which you have afforded me, and with high respect for your +power of observation, I beg leave to remain, dear Sir, + +Yours faithfully and obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The following extract from a letter (September 24, 1868) to the +Marquis de Saporta, the eminent palaeo-botanist, refers to the growth of +evolutionary views in France (In 1868 he was pleased at being asked to +authorise a French translation of his 'Naturalist's Voyage.':-- + +"As I have formerly read with great interest many of your papers on +fossil plants, you may believe with what high satisfaction I hear that +you are a believer in the gradual evolution of species. I had supposed +that my book on the 'Origin of Species' had made very little impression +in France, and therefore it delights me to hear a different statement +from you. All the great authorities of the Institute seem firmly +resolved to believe in the immutability of species, and this has always +astonished me... almost the one exception, as far as I know, is M. +Gaudry, and I think he will be soon one of the chief leaders in +Zoological Palaeontology in Europe; and now I am delighted to hear that +in the sister department of Botany you take nearly the same view."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E. HAECKEL. Down, November 19 [1868]. + +My dear Haeckel, + +I must write to you again, for two reasons. Firstly, to thank you for +your letter about your baby, which has quite charmed both me and +my wife; I heartily congratulate you on its birth. I remember being +surprised in my own case how soon the paternal instincts became +developed, and in you they seem to be unusually strong,... I hope the +large blue eyes and the principles of inheritance will make your child +as good a naturalist as you are; but, judging from my own experience, +you will be astonished to find how the whole mental disposition of your +children changes with advancing years. A young child, and the same when +nearly grown, sometimes differ almost as much as do a caterpillar and +butterfly. + +The second point is to congratulate you on the projected translation of +your great work ('Generelle Morphologie,' 1866. No English translation +of this book has appeared.), about which I heard from Huxley last +Sunday. I am heartily glad of it, but how it has been brought about, +I know not, for a friend who supported the supposed translation at +Norwich, told me he thought there would be no chance of it. Huxley tells +me that you consent to omit and shorten some parts, and I am confident +that this is very wise. As I know your object is to instruct the public, +you will assuredly thus get many more readers in England. Indeed, I +believe that almost every book would be improved by condensation. I +have been reading a good deal of your last book ('Die Naturliche +Schopfungs-Geschichte,' 1868. It was translated and published in +1876, under the title, 'The History of Creation.'), and the style is +beautifully clear and easy to me; but why it should differ so much in +this respect from your great work I cannot imagine. I have not yet read +the first part, but began with the chapter on Lyell and myself, which +you will easily believe pleased me VERY MUCH. I think Lyell, who +was apparently much pleased by your sending him a copy, is also much +gratified by this chapter. (See Lyell's interesting letter to Haeckel. +'Life of Sir C. Lyell,' ii. page 435.) Your chapters on the affinities +and genealogy of the animal kingdom strike me as admirable and full of +original thought. Your boldness, however, sometimes makes me tremble, +but as Huxley remarked, some one must be bold enough to make a +beginning in drawing up tables of descent. Although you fully admit +the imperfection of the geological record, yet Huxley agreed with me in +thinking that you are sometimes rather rash in venturing to say at what +periods the several groups first appeared. I have this advantage over +you, that I remember how wonderfully different any statement on this +subject made 20 years ago, would have been to what would now be +the case, and I expect the next 20 years will make quite as great a +difference. Reflect on the monocotyledonous plant just discovered in the +PRIMORDIAL formation in Sweden. + +I repeat how glad I am at the prospect of the translation, for I fully +believe that this work and all your works will have a great influence in +the advancement of Science. + +Believe me, my dear Haeckel, your sincere friend, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[It was in November of this year that he sat for the bust by Mr. +Woolner: he wrote:-- + +"I should have written long ago, but I have been pestered with stupid +letters, and am undergoing the purgatory of sitting for hours to +Woolner, who, however, is wonderfully pleasant, and lightens as much as +man can, the penance; as far as I can judge, it will make a fine bust." + +If I may criticise the work of so eminent a sculptor as Mr. Woolner, +I should say that the point in which the bust fails somewhat as a +portrait, is that it has a certain air, almost of pomposity, which seems +to me foreign to my father's expression.] + + +1869. + +[At the beginning of the year he was at work in preparing the fifth +edition of the 'Origin.' This work was begun on the day after Christmas, +1868, and was continued for "forty-six days," as he notes in his diary, +i.e. until February 10th, 1869. He then, February 11th, returned to +Sexual Selection, and continued at this subject (excepting for ten days +given up to Orchids, and a week in London), until June 10th, when he +went with his family to North Wales, where he remained about seven +weeks, returning to Down on July 31st. + +Caerdeon, the house where he stayed, is built on the north shore of the +beautiful Barmouth estuary, and is pleasantly placed, in being close +to wild hill country behind, as well as to the picturesque wooded +"hummocks," between the steeper hills and the river. My father was ill +and somewhat depressed throughout this visit, and I think felt saddened +at being imprisoned by his want of strength, and unable even to reach +the hills over which he had once wandered for days together. + +He wrote from Caerdeon to Sir J.D. Hooker (June 22nd):-- + +"We have been here for ten days, how I wish it was possible for you to +pay us a visit here; we have a beautiful house with a terraced garden, +and a really magnificent view of Cader, right opposite. Old Cader is a +grand fellow, and shows himself off superbly with every changing light. +We remain here till the end of July, when the H. Wedgwoods have the +house. I have been as yet in a very poor way; it seems as soon as the +stimulus of mental work stops, my whole strength gives way. As yet +I have hardly crawled half a mile from the house, and then have been +fearfully fatigued. It is enough to make one wish oneself quiet in a +comfortable tomb." + +With regard to the fifth edition of the 'Origin,' he wrote to Mr. +Wallace (January 22, 1869):-- + +"I have been interrupted in my regular work in preparing a new edition +of the 'Origin,' which has cost me much labour, and which I hope I have +considerably improved in two or three important points. I always thought +individual differences more important than single variations, but now I +have come to the conclusion that they are of paramount importance, and +in this I believe I agree with you. Fleeming Jenkin's arguments have +convinced me." + +This somewhat obscure sentence was explained, February 2, in another +letter to Mr. Wallace:-- + +"I must have expressed myself atrociously; I meant to say exactly the +reverse of what you have understood. F. Jenkin argued in the 'North +British Review' against single variations ever being perpetuated, and +has convinced me, though not in quite so broad a manner as here put. I +always thought individual differences more important; but I was blind +and thought that single variations might be preserved much oftener than +I now see is possible or probable. I mentioned this in my former note +merely because I believed that you had come to a similar conclusion, and +I like much to be in accord with you. I believe I was mainly deceived +by single variations offering such simple illustrations, as when man +selects." + +The late Mr. Fleeming Jenkin's review, on the 'Origin of Species,' +was published in the 'North British Review' for June 1867. It is not a +little remarkable that the criticisms, which my father, as I believe, +felt to be the most valuable ever made on his views should have come, +not from a professed naturalist but from a Professor of Engineering. + +It is impossible to give in a short compass an account of Fleeming +Jenkin's argument. My father's copy of the paper (ripped out of the +volume as usual, and tied with a bit of string) is annotated in pencil +in many places. I may quote one passage opposite which my father has +written "good sneers"--but it should be remembered that he used the word +"sneer" in rather a special sense, not as necessarily implying a feeling +of bitterness in the critic, but rather in the sense of "banter." +Speaking of the 'true believer,' Fleeming Jenkin says, page 293:-- + +"He can invent trains of ancestors of whose existence there is no +evidence; he can marshal hosts of equally imaginary foes; he can call +up continents, floods, and peculiar atmospheres; he can dry up oceans, +split islands, and parcel out eternity at will; surely with these +advantages he must be a dull fellow if he cannot scheme some series +of animals and circumstances explaining our assumed difficulty quite +naturally. Feeling the difficulty of dealing with adversaries who +command so huge a domain of fancy, we will abandon these arguments, +and trust to those which at least cannot be assailed by mere efforts of +imagination." + +In the fifth edition of the 'Origin,' my father altered a passage in the +Historical Sketch (fourth edition page xviii.). He thus practically gave +up the difficult task of understanding whether or no Sir R. Owen claims +to have discovered the principle of Natural Selection. Adding, "As +far as the mere enunciation of the principle of Natural Selection is +concerned, it is quite immaterial whether or not Professor Owen preceded +me, for both of us... were long ago preceded by Dr. Wells and Mr. +Matthew." + +A somewhat severe critique on the fifth edition, by Mr. John Robertson, +appeared in the "Athenaeum", August 14, 1869. The writer comments with +some little bitterness on the success of the 'Origin:' "Attention is not +acceptance. Many editions do not mean real success. The book has sold; +the guess has been talked over; and the circulation and discussion sum +up the significance of the editions." Mr. Robertson makes the true, but +misleading statement: "Mr. Darwin prefaces his fifth English edition +with an Essay, which he calls 'An Historical Sketch,' etc." As a matter +of fact the Sketch appeared in the third edition in 1861. + +Mr. Robertson goes on to say that the Sketch ought to be called a +collection of extracts anticipatory or corroborative of the hypothesis +of Natural Selection. "For no account is given of any hostile opinions. +The fact is very significant. This historical sketch thus resembles the +histories of the reign of Louis XVIII., published after the Restoration, +from which the Republic and the Empire, Robespierre and Buonaparte were +omitted." + +The following letter to Prof. Victor Carus gives an idea of the +character of the new edition of the 'Origin:'] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO VICTOR CARUS. Down, May 4, 1869. + +... I have gone very carefully through the whole, trying to make +some parts clearer, and adding a few discussions and facts of some +importance. The new edition is only two pages at the end longer than +the old; though in one part nine pages in advance, for I have condensed +several parts and omitted some passages. The translation I fear will +cause you a great deal of trouble; the alterations took me six weeks, +besides correcting the press; you ought to make a special agreement with +M. Koch [the publisher]. Many of the corrections are only a few words, +but they have been made from the evidence on various points appearing to +have become a little stronger or weaker. + +Thus I have been led to place somewhat more value on the definite and +direct action of external conditions; to think the lapse of time, as +measured by years, not quite so great as most geologists have thought; +and to infer that single variations are of even less importance, in +comparison with individual differences, than I formerly thought. I +mention these points because I have been thus led to alter in many +places A FEW WORDS; and unless you go through the whole new edition, one +part will not agree with another, which would be a great blemish... + +[The desire that his views might spread in France was always strong with +my father, and he was therefore justly annoyed to find that in 1869 +the Editor of the first French edition had brought out a third edition +without consulting the author. He was accordingly glad to enter into +an arrangement for a French translation of the fifth edition; this +was undertaken by M. Reinwald, with whom he continued to have pleasant +relations as the publisher of many of his books into French. + +He wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"I must enjoy myself and tell you about Mdlle. C. Royer, who translated +the 'Origin' into French, and for whose second edition I took infinite +trouble. She has now just brought out a third edition without informing +me, so that all the corrections, etc., in the fourth and fifth English +editions are lost. Besides her enormously long preface to the first +edition, she has added a second preface abusing me like a pick-pocket +for Pangenesis, which of course has no relation to the 'Origin.' So +I wrote to Paris; and Reinwald agrees to bring out at once a new +translation from the fifth English edition, in competition with her +third edition... This fact shows that "evolution of species" must at last +be spreading in France." + +With reference to the spread of Evolution among the orthodox, the +following letter is of some interest. In March he received, from the +author, a copy of a lecture by Rev. T.R.R. Stebbing, given before the +Torquay Natural History Society, February 1, 1869, bearing the title +"Darwinism." My father wrote to Mr. Stebbing:] + + +Dear Sir, + +I am very much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me your +spirited and interesting lecture; if a layman had delivered the same +address, he would have done good service in spreading what, as I +hope and believe, is to a large extent the truth; but a clergyman in +delivering such an address does, as it appears to me, much more good +by his power to shake ignorant prejudices, and by setting, if I may be +permitted to say so, an admirable example of liberality. + +With sincere respect, I beg leave to remain, Dear Sir, yours faithfully +and obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The references to the subject of expression in the following letter are +explained by the fact that my father's original intention was to give +his essay on this subject as a chapter in the 'Descent of Man,' which +in its turn grew, as we have seen, out of a proposed chapter in 'Animals +and Plants:'] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, February 22 [1869?]. + +... Although you have aided me to so great an extent in many ways, I am +going to beg for any information on two other subjects. I am preparing +a discussion on "Sexual Selection," and I want much to know how low down +in the animal scale sexual selection of a particular kind extends. +Do you know of any lowly organised animals, in which the sexes are +separated, and in which the male differs from the female in arms of +offence, like the horns and tusks of male mammals, or in gaudy plumage +and ornaments, as with birds and butterflies? I do not refer to +secondary sexual characters, by which the male is able to discover +the female, like the plumed antennae of moths, or by which the male is +enabled to seize the female, like the curious pincers described by you +in some of the lower Crustaceans. But what I want to know is, how low +in the scale sexual differences occur which require some degree of +self-consciousness in the males, as weapons by which they fight for the +female, or ornaments which attract the opposite sex. Any differences +between males and females which follow different habits of life would +have to be excluded. I think you will easily see what I wish to learn. +A priori, it would never have been anticipated that insects would have +been attracted by the beautiful colouring of the opposite sex, or by +the sounds emitted by the various musical instruments of the male +Orthoptera. I know no one so likely to answer this question as yourself, +and should be grateful for any information, however small. + +My second subject refers to expression of countenance, to which I +have long attended, and on which I feel a keen interest; but to which, +unfortunately, I did not attend when I had the opportunity of observing +various races of man. It has occurred to me that you might, without much +trouble, make a FEW observations for me, in the course of some months, +on Negroes, or possibly on native South Americans, though I care most +about Negroes; accordingly I enclose some questions as a guide, and if +you could answer me even one or two I should feel truly obliged. I am +thinking of writing a little essay on the Origin of Mankind, as I +have been taunted with concealing my opinions, and I should do this +immediately after the completion of my present book. In this case I +should add a chapter on the cause or meaning of expression... + + +[The remaining letters of this year deal chiefly with the books, +reviews, etc., which interested him.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H. THIEL. Down, February 25, 1869. + +Dear Sir, + +On my return home after a short absence, I found your very courteous +note, and the pamphlet ('Ueber einige Formen der Landwirthschaftlichen +Genossenschaften.' by Dr. H. Thiel, then of the Agricultural Station +at Poppelsdorf.), and I hasten to thank you for both, and for the very +honourable mention which you make of my name. You will readily believe +how much interested I am in observing that you apply to moral and social +questions analogous views to those which I have used in regard to the +modification of species. It did not occur to me formerly that my +views could be extended to such widely different, and most important, +subjects. With much respect, I beg leave to remain, dear Sir, + +Yours faithfully and obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, March 19 [1869]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Thanks for your 'Address.' (In his 'Anniversary Address' to the +Geological Society, 1869, Mr. Huxley criticised Sir William Thomson's +paper ('Trans. Geol. Soc., Glasgow,' volume iii.) "On Geological Time.") +People complain of the unequal distribution of wealth, but it is a much +greater shame and injustice that any one man should have the power to +write so many brilliant essays as you have lately done. There is no one +who writes like you... If I were in your shoes, I should tremble for my +life. I agree with all you say, except that I must think that you +draw too great a distinction between the evolutionists and the +uniformitarians. + +I find that the few sentences which I have sent to press in the 'Origin' +about the age of the world will do fairly well... + +Ever yours, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, March 22 [1869]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I have finished your book ('The Malay Archipelago,' etc., 1869.); it +seems to me excellent, and at the same time most pleasant to read. That +you ever returned alive is wonderful after all your risks from illness +and sea voyages, especially that most interesting one to Waigiou and +back. Of all the impressions which I have received from your book, the +strongest is that your perseverance in the cause of science was heroic. +Your descriptions of catching the splendid butterflies have made me +quite envious, and at the same time have made me feel almost young +again, so vividly have they brought before my mind old days when +I collected, though I never made such captures as yours. Certainly +collecting is the best sport in the world. I shall be astonished if +your book has not a great success; and your splendid generalizations on +Geographical Distribution, with which I am familiar from your papers, +will be new to most of your readers. I think I enjoyed most the Timor +case, as it is best demonstrated; but perhaps Celebes is really the +most valuable. I should prefer looking at the whole Asiatic continent +as having formerly been more African in its fauna, than admitting the +former existence of a continent across the Indian Ocean... + + +[The following letter refers to Mr. Wallace's article in the April +number of the 'Quarterly Review' (My father wrote to Mr. Murray: "The +article by Wallace is inimitably good, and it is a great triumph that +such an article should appear in the 'Quarterly,' and will make the +Bishop of Oxford and --gnash their teeth."), 1869, which to a large +extent deals with the tenth edition of Sir Charles Lyell's 'Principles,' +published in 1867 and 1868. The review contains a striking passage +on Sir Charles Lyell's confession of evolutionary faith in the tenth +edition of his 'Principles,' which is worth quoting: "The history of +science hardly presents so striking an instance of youthfulness of mind +in advanced life as is shown by this abandonment of opinions so long +held and so powerfully advocated; and if we bear in mind the extreme +caution, combined with the ardent love of truth which characterise every +work which our author has produced, we shall be convinced that so great +a change was not decided on without long and anxious deliberation, and +that the views now adopted must indeed be supported by arguments of +overwhelming force. If for no other reason than that Sir Charles Lyell +in his tenth edition has adopted it, the theory of Mr. Darwin deserves +an attentive and respectful consideration from every earnest seeker +after truth."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, April 14, 1869. + +My dear Wallace, + +I have been wonderfully interested by your article, and I should think +Lyell will be much gratified by it. I declare if I had been editor, and +had the power of directing you, I should have selected for discussion +the very points which you have chosen. I have often said to younger +geologists (for I began in the year 1830) that they did not know what a +revolution Lyell had effected; nevertheless, your extracts from Cuvier +have quite astonished me. Though not able really to judge, I am inclined +to put more confidence in Croll than you seem to do; but I have been +much struck by many of your remarks on degradation. Thomson's views of +the recent age of the world have been for some time one of my sorest +troubles, and so I have been glad to read what you say. Your exposition +of Natural Selection seems to me inimitably good; there never lived a +better expounder than you. I was also much pleased at your discussing +the difference between our views and Lamarck's. One sometimes sees the +odious expression, "Justice to myself compels me to say," etc., but +you are the only man I ever heard of who persistently does himself an +injustice, and never demands justice. Indeed, you ought in the review to +have alluded to your paper in the 'Linnean Journal,' and I feel sure all +our friends will agree in this. But you cannot "Burke" yourself, however +much you may try, as may be seen in half the articles which appear. I +was asked but the other day by a German professor for your paper, +which I sent him. Altogether I look at your article as appearing in the +'Quarterly' as an immense triumph for our cause. I presume that your +remarks on Man are those to which you alluded in your note. If you had +not told me I should have thought that they had been added by some one +else. As you expected, I differ grievously from you, and I am very +sorry for it. I can see no necessity for calling in an additional and +proximate cause in regard to man. (Mr. Wallace points out that any +one acquainted merely with the "unaided productions of nature," might +reasonably doubt whether a dray-horse, for example, could have been +developed by the power of man directing the "action of the laws of +variation, multiplication, and survival, for his own purpose. We know, +however, that this has been done, and we must therefore admit the +possibility that in the development of the human race, a higher +intelligence has guided the same laws for nobler ends.") But the subject +is too long for a letter. I have been particularly glad to read your +discussion because I am now writing and thinking much about man. + +I hope that your Malay book sells well; I was extremely pleased with +the article in the 'Quarterly Journal of Science,' inasmuch as it is +thoroughly appreciative of your work: alas! you will probably agree with +what the writer says about the uses of the bamboo. + +I hear that there is also a good article in the "Saturday Review", but +have heard nothing more about it. Believe me my dear Wallace, + +Yours ever sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, May 4 [1869]. + +My dear Lyell, + +I have been applied to for some photographs (carte de visite) to be +copied to ornament the diplomas of honorary members of a new Society +in Servia! Will you give me one for this purpose? I possess only a +full-length one of you in my own album, and the face is too small, I +think, to be copied. + +I hope that you get on well with your work, and have satisfied yourself +on the difficult point of glacier lakes. Thank heaven, I have finished +correcting the new edition of the 'Origin,' and am at my old work of +Sexual Selection. + +Wallace's article struck me as ADMIRABLE; how well he brought out the +revolution which you effected some 30 years ago. I thought I had fully +appreciated the revolution, but I was astounded at the extracts from +Cuvier. What a good sketch of natural selection! but I was dreadfully +disappointed about Man, it seems to me incredibly strange...; and had I +not known to the contrary, would have sworn it had been inserted by some +other hand. But I believe that you will not agree quite in all this. + +My dear Lyell, ever yours sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.L.A. DE QUATREFAGES. Down, May 28 [1869 or 1870]. + +Dear Sir, + +I have received and read your volume (Essays reprinted from the 'Revue +des Deux Mondes,' under the title 'Histoire Naturelle Generale,' etc., +1869.), and am much obliged for your present. The whole strikes me as a +wonderfully clear and able discussion, and I was much interested by it +to the last page. It is impossible that any account of my views could be +fairer, or, as far as space permitted, fuller, than that which you +have given. The way in which you repeatedly mention my name is most +gratifying to me. When I had finished the second part, I thought that +you had stated the case so favourably that you would make more converts +on my side than on your own side. On reading the subsequent parts I +had to change my sanguine view. In these latter parts many of your +strictures are severe enough, but all are given with perfect courtesy +and fairness. I can truly say I would rather be criticised by you in +this manner than praised by many others. I agree with some of your +criticisms, but differ entirely from the remainder; but I will not +trouble you with any remarks. I may, however, say, that you must have +been deceived by the French translation, as you infer that I believe +that the Parus and the Nuthatch (or Sitta) are related by direct +filiation. I wished only to show by an imaginary illustration, how +either instincts or structures might first change. If you had seen Canis +Magellanicus alive you would have perceived how foxlike its appearance +is, or if you had heard its voice, I think that you would never have +hazarded the idea that it was a domestic dog run wild; but this does +not much concern me. It is curious how nationality influences opinion; a +week hardly passes without my hearing of some naturalist in Germany +who supports my views, and often puts an exaggerated value on my works; +whilst in France I have not heard of a single zoologist, except M. +Gaudry (and he only partially), who supports my views. But I must have +a good many readers as my books are translated, and I must hope, +notwithstanding your strictures, that I may influence some embryo +naturalists in France. + +You frequently speak of my good faith, and no compliment can be more +delightful to me, but I may return you the compliment with interest, for +every word which you write bears the stamp of your cordial love for the +truth. Believe me, dear Sir, with sincere respect, + +Yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, October 14 [1869]. + +My dear Huxley, + +I have been delighted to see your review of Haeckel (A review of +Haeckel's 'Schopfungs-Geschichte.' The "Academy", 1869. Reprinted in +'Critiques and Addresses,' page 303.), and as usual you pile honours +high on my head. But I write now (REQUIRING NO ANSWER) to groan a +little over what you have said about rudimentary organs. (In discussing +Teleology and Haeckel's "Dysteleology," Prof. Huxley says:--"Such cases +as the existence of lateral rudiments of toes, in the foot of a horse, +place us in a dilemma. For either these rudiments are of no use to the +animals, in which case... they surely ought to have disappeared; or +they are of some use to the animal, in which case they are of no use as +arguments against Teleology."--('Critiques and Addresses,' page 308.) +Many heretics will take advantage of what you have said. I cannot but +think that the explanation given at page 541 of the last edition of +the 'Origin' of the long retention of rudimentary organs and of their +greater relative size during early life, is satisfactory. Their final +and complete abortion seems to me a much greater difficulty. Do look +in my 'Variations under Domestication,' volume ii. page 397, at what +Pangenesis suggests on this head, though I did not dare to put in the +'Origin.' The passage bears also a little on the struggle between the +molecules or gemmules. ("It is a probable hypothesis, that what the +world is to organisms in general, each organism is to the molecules of +which it is composed. Multitudes of these having diverse tendencies, are +competing with one another for opportunity to exist and multiply; and +the organism, as a whole, is as much the product of the molecules which +are victorious as the Fauna, or Flora, of a country is the product of +the victorious organic beings in it."--('Critiques and Addresses,' page +309.) There is likewise a word or two indirectly bearing on this subject +at pages 394-395. It won't take you five minutes, so do look at these +passages. I am very glad that you have been bold enough to give your +idea about Natural Selection amongst the molecules, though I can not +quite follow you. + + +1870 AND BEGINNING OF 1871. + +[My father wrote in his Diary:--"The whole of this year [1870] at work +on the 'Descent of Man.'... Went to Press August 30, 1870." + +The letters are again of miscellaneous interest, dealing, not only with +his work, but also serving to indicate the course of his reading.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E. RAY LANKESTER. Down, March 15 [1870]. + +My dear Sir, + +I do not know whether you will consider me a very troublesome man, but +I have just finished your book ('Comparative Longevity.'), and can not +resist telling you how the whole has much interested me. No doubt, as +you say, there must be much speculation on such a subject, and certain +results can not be reached; but all your views are highly suggestive, +and to my mind that is high praise. I have been all the more interested +as I am now writing on closely allied though not quite identical points. +I was pleased to see you refer to my much despised child, 'Pangenesis,' +who I think will some day, under some better nurse, turn out a fine +stripling. It has also pleased me to see how thoroughly you appreciate +(and I do not think that this is general with the men of science) H. +Spencer; I suspect that hereafter he will be looked at as by far the +greatest living philosopher in England; perhaps equal to any that have +lived. But I have no business to trouble you with my notions. With +sincere thanks for the interest which your work has given me, + +I remain, yours very faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The next letter refers to Mr. Wallace's 'Natural Selection' (1870), a +collection of essays reprinted with certain alterations of which a list +is given in the volume:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, April 20 [1870]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I have just received your book, and read the preface. There never has +been passed on me, or indeed on any one, a higher eulogium than yours. +I wish that I fully deserved it. Your modesty and candour are very far +from new to me. I hope it is a satisfaction to you to reflect--and very +few things in my life have been more satisfactory to me--that we have +never felt any jealousy towards each other, though in one sense rivals. +I believe that I can say this of myself with truth, and I am absolutely +sure that it is true of you. + +You have been a good Christian to give a list of your additions, for +I want much to read them, and I should hardly have had time just at +present to have gone through all your articles. Of course I shall +immediately read those that are new or greatly altered, and I will +endeavour to be as honest as can reasonably be expected. Your book looks +remarkably well got up. + +Believe me, my dear Wallace, to remain, Yours very cordially, CH. +DARWIN. + + +[Here follow one or two letters indicating the progress of the 'Descent +of Man;' the woodcuts referred to were being prepared for that work:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. GUNTHER. (Dr. Gunther, Keeper of Zoology in the +British Museum.) March 23, [1870?]. + +Dear Gunther, + +As I do not know Mr. Ford's address, will you hand him this note, which +is written solely to express my unbounded admiration of the woodcuts. +I fairly gloat over them. The only evil is that they will make all +the other woodcuts look very poor! They are all excellent, and for the +feathers I declare I think it the most wonderful woodcut I ever saw; I +can not help touching it to make sure that it is smooth. How I wish to +see the two other, and even more important, ones of the feathers, and +the four [of] reptiles, etc. Once again accept my very sincere thanks +for all your kindness. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Ford. Engravings +have always hitherto been my greatest misery, and now they are a real +pleasure to me. + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I thought I should have been in press by this time, but my subject +has branched off into sub-branches, which have cost me infinite time, +and heaven knows when I shall have all my MS. ready, but I am never +idle. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. GUNTHER. May 15 [1870]. + +My dear Dr. Gunther, + +Sincere thanks. Your answers are wonderfully clear and complete. I have +some analogous questions on reptiles, etc., which I will send in a few +days, and then I think I shall cause no more trouble. I will get the +books you refer me to. The case of the Solenostoma (In most of the +Lophobranchii the male has a marsupial sack in which the eggs are +hatched, and in these species the male is slightly brighter coloured +than the female. But in Solenostoma the female is the hatcher, and +is also the more brightly coloured.--'Descent of Man,' ii. 21.) is +magnificent, so exactly analogous to that of those birds in which the +female is the more gay, but ten times better for me, as she is the +incubator. As I crawl on with the successive classes I am astonished to +find how similar the rules are about the nuptial or "wedding dress" of +all animals. The subject has begun to interest me in an extraordinary +degree; but I must try not to fall into my common error of being too +speculative. But a drunkard might as well say he would drink a little +and not too much! My essay, as far as fishes, batrachians and reptiles +are concerned, will be in fact yours, only written by me. With hearty +thanks. + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter is of interest, as showing the excessive care and +pains which my father took in forming his opinion on a difficult point:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, September 23 [undated]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I am very much obliged for all your trouble in writing me your long +letter, which I will keep by me and ponder over. To answer it would +require at least 200 folio pages! If you could see how often I have +re-written some pages you would know how anxious I am to arrive as near +as I can to the truth. I lay great stress on what I know takes place +under domestication; I think we start with different fundamental notions +on inheritance. I find it is most difficult, but not I think impossible, +to see how, for instance, a few red feathers appearing on the head of a +male bird, and which ARE AT FIRST TRANSMITTED TO BOTH SEXES, could come +to be transmitted to males alone. It is not enough that females should +be produced from the males with red feathers, which should be destitute +of red feathers; but these females must have a LATENT TENDENCY to +produce such feathers, otherwise they would cause deterioration in the +red head-feathers of their male offspring. Such latent tendency would be +shown by their producing the red feathers when old, or diseased in their +ovaria. But I have no difficulty in making the whole head red if the +few red feathers in the male from the first tended to be sexually +transmitted. I am quite willing to admit that the female may have been +modified, either at the same time or subsequently, for protection by the +accumulation of variations limited in their transmission to the female +sex. I owe to your writings the consideration of this latter point. But +I cannot yet persuade myself that females ALONE have often been modified +for protection. Should you grudge the trouble briefly to tell me whether +you believe that the plainer head and less bright colours of a female +chaffinch, the less red on the head and less clean colours of the female +goldfinch, the much less red on the breast of the female bull-finch, the +paler crest of golden-crested wren, etc., have been acquired by them for +protection. I cannot think so any more than I can that the considerable +differences between female and male house sparrow, or much greater +brightness of the male Parus coeruleus (both of which build under cover) +than of the female Parus, are related to protection. I even mis-doubt +much whether the less blackness of the female blackbird is for +protection. + +Again, can you give me reasons for believing that the moderate +differences between the female pheasant, the female Gallus bankiva, +the female black grouse, the pea-hen, the female partridge, [and their +respective males,] have all special references to protection under +slightly different conditions? I, of course, admit that they are all +protected by dull colours, derived, as I think, from some dull-ground +progenitor; and I account partly for their difference by partial +transference of colour from the male and by other means too long to +specify; but I earnestly wish to see reason to believe that each is +specially adapted for concealment to its environment. + +I grieve to differ from you, and it actually terrifies me and makes me +constantly distrust myself. I fear we shall never quite understand each +other. I value the cases of bright-coloured, incubating male fishes, and +brilliant female butterflies, solely as showing that one sex may be made +brilliant without any necessary transference of beauty to the other sex; +for in these cases I cannot suppose that beauty in the other sex was +checked by selection. + +I fear this letter will trouble you to read it. A very short answer +about your belief in regard to the female finches and gallinaceae would +suffice. + +Believe me, my dear Wallace, Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 25 [1870]. + +... Last Friday we all went to the Bull Hotel at Cambridge to see the +boys, and for a little rest and enjoyment. The backs of the Colleges are +simply paradisaical. On Monday I saw Sedgwick, who was most cordial and +kind; in the morning I thought his brain was enfeebled; in the evening +he was brilliant and quite himself. His affection and kindness charmed +us all. My visit to him was in one way unfortunate; for after a long +sit he proposed to take me to the museum, and I could not refuse, and +in consequence he utterly prostrated me; so that we left Cambridge +next morning, and I have not recovered the exhaustion yet. Is it not +humiliating to be thus killed by a man of eighty-six, who evidently +never dreamed that he was killing me? As he said to me, "Oh, I consider +you as a mere baby to me!" I saw Newton several times, and several nice +friends of F.'s. But Cambridge without dear Henslow was not itself; I +tried to get to the two old houses, but it was too far for me... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO B.J. SULIVAN. (Admiral Sir James Sulivan was a +lieutenant on board the "Beagle".) Down, June 30 [1870]. + +My dear Sulivan, + +It was very good of you to write to me so long a letter, telling me much +about yourself and your children, which I was extremely glad to hear. +Think what a benighted wretch I am, seeing no one and reading but little +in the newspapers, for I did not know (until seeing the paper of your +Natural History Society) that you were a K.C.B. Most heartily glad I am +that the Government have at last appreciated your most just claim for +this high distinction. On the other hand, I am sorry to hear so poor an +account of your health; but you were surely very rash to do all that you +did and then pass through so exciting a scene as a ball at the Palace. +It was enough to have tired a man in robust health. Complete rest will, +however, I hope, quite set you up again. As for myself, I have been +rather better of late, and if nothing disturbs me I can do some hours' +work every day. I shall this autumn publish another book partly on man, +which I dare say many will decry as very wicked. I could have travelled +to Oxford, but could no more have withstood the excitement of a +commemoration (This refers to an invitation to receive the honorary +degree of D.C.L. He was one of those nominated for the degree by Lord +Salisbury on assuming the office of Chancellor of the University of +Oxford. The fact that the honour was declined on the score of ill-health +was published in the "Oxford University Gazette", June 17, 1870.) than +I could a ball at Buckingham Palace. Many thanks for your kind remarks +about my boys. Thank God, all give me complete satisfaction; my fourth +stands second at Woolwich, and will be an Engineer Officer at Christmas. +My wife desires to be very kindly remembered to Lady Sulivan, in which +I very sincerely join, and in congratulation about your daughter's +marriage. We are at present solitary, for all our younger children are +gone a tour in Switzerland. I had never heard a word about the success +of the T. del Fuego mission. It is most wonderful, and shames me, as +I always prophesied utter failure. It is a grand success. I shall feel +proud if your Committee think fit to elect me an honorary member of your +society. With all good wishes and affectionate remembrances of ancient +days, + +Believe me, my dear Sulivan, Your sincere friend, CH. DARWIN. + + +[My father's connection with the South American Mission, which is +referred to in the above letter, has given rise to some public comment, +and has been to some extent misunderstood. The Archbishop of Canterbury, +speaking at the annual meeting of the South American Missionary Society, +April 21st, 1885 (I quote a 'Leaflet,' published by the Society.), said +that the Society "drew the attention of Charles Darwin, and made him, in +his pursuit of the wonders of the kingdom of nature, realise that there +was another kingdom just as wonderful and more lasting." Some discussion +on the subject appeared in the "Daily News" of April 23rd, 24th, 29th, +1885, and finally Admiral Sir James Sulivan, on April 24th, wrote to the +same journal, giving a clear account of my father's connection with the +Society:-- + +"Your article in the "Daily News" of yesterday induces me to give you +a correct statement of the connection between the South American +Missionary Society and Mr. Charles Darwin, my old friend and shipmate +for five years. I have been closely connected with the Society from +the time of Captain Allen Gardiner's death, and Mr. Darwin has often +expressed to me his conviction that it was utterly useless to send +Missionaries to such a set of savages as the Fuegians, probably the very +lowest of the human race. I had always replied that I did not believe +any human beings existed too low to comprehend the simple message of the +Gospel of Christ. After many years, I think about 1869 (It seems to have +been in 1867.), but I cannot find the letter, he wrote to me that the +recent accounts of the Mission proved to him that he had been wrong and +I right in our estimates of the native character, and the possibility of +doing them good through Missionaries; and he requested me to forward +to the Society an enclosed cheque for 5 pounds, as a testimony of the +interest he took in their good work. On June 6th, 1874, he wrote: 'I +am very glad to hear so good an account of the Fuegians, and it is +wonderful.' On June 10th, 1879: 'The progress of the Fuegians is +wonderful, and had it not occurred would have been to me quite +incredible.' On January 3rd, 1880: 'Your extracts' [from a journal] +'about the Fuegians are extremely curious, and have interested me much. +I have often said that the progress of Japan was the greatest wonder in +the world, but I declare that the progress of Fuegia is almost equally +wonderful. On March 20th, 1881: 'The account of the Fuegians interested +not only me, but all my family. It is truly wonderful what you have +heard from Mr. Bridges about their honesty and their language. I +certainly should have predicted that not all the Missionaries in the +world could have done what has been done.' On December 1st, 1881, +sending me his annual subscription to the Orphanage at the Mission +Station, he wrote: 'Judging from the "Missionary Journal", the Mission +in Tierra del Fuego seems going on quite wonderfully well.'"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. Down, July 17, 1870. + +My dear Lubbock, + +As I hear that the Census will be brought before the House to-morrow, I +write to say how much I hope that you will express your opinion on the +desirability of queries in relation to consanguineous marriages being +inserted. As you are aware, I have made experiments on the subject +during several years; AND IT IS MY CLEAR CONVICTION THAT THERE IS NOW +AMPLE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A GREAT PHYSIOLOGICAL LAW, RENDERING +AN ENQUIRY WITH REFERENCE TO MANKIND OF MUCH IMPORTANCE. IN ENGLAND AND +MANY PARTS OF EUROPE THE MARRIAGES OF COUSINS ARE OBJECTED TO FROM THEIR +SUPPOSED INJURIOUS CONSEQUENCES; BUT THIS BELIEF RESTS ON NO DIRECT +EVIDENCE. IT IS THEREFORE MANIFESTLY DESIRABLE THAT THE BELIEF SHOULD +EITHER BE PROVED FALSE, OR SHOULD BE CONFIRMED, so that in this latter +case the marriages of cousins might be discouraged. If the proper +queries are inserted, the returns would show whether married cousins +have in their households on the night of the census as many children as +have parents of who are not related; and should the number prove fewer, +we might safely infer either lessened fertility in the parents, or which +is more probable, lessened vitality in the offspring. + +It is, moreover, much to be wished that the truth of the often repeated +assertion that consanguineous marriages lead to deafness, and dumbness, +blindness, etc., should be ascertained; and all such assertions could be +easily tested by the returns from a single census. + +Believe me, Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[When the Census Act was passing through the House of Commons, Sir John +Lubbock and Dr. Playfair attempted to carry out this suggestion. The +question came to a division, which was lost, but not by many votes. + +The subject of cousin marriages was afterwards investigated by my +brother. ("Marriages between First Cousins in England, and their +Effects.' By George Darwin. 'Journal of the Statistical Society,' June, +1875.) The results of this laborious piece of work were negative; the +author sums up in the sentence:-- + +"My paper is far from giving any thing like a satisfactory solution of +the question as to the effects of consanguineous marriages, but it does, +I think, show that the assertion that this question has already been set +at rest, cannot be substantiated."] + + + + +CHAPTER 2.VII. -- PUBLICATION OF THE 'DESCENT OF MAN.' + +WORK ON 'EXPRESSION.' + +1871-1873. + +[The last revise of the 'Descent of Man' was corrected on January 15th, +1871, so that the book occupied him for about three years. He wrote to +Sir J. Hooker: "I finished the last proofs of my book a few days ago, +the work half-killed me, and I have not the most remote idea whether the +book is worth publishing." + +He also wrote to Dr. Gray:-- + +"I have finished my book on the 'Descent of Man,' etc., and its +publication is delayed only by the Index: when published, I will send +you a copy, but I do not know that you will care about it. Parts, as +on the moral sense, will, I dare say, aggravate you, and if I hear from +you, I shall probably receive a few stabs from your polished stiletto of +a pen." + +The book was published on February 24, 1871. 2500 copies were printed at +first, and 5000 more before the end of the year. My father notes that he +received for this edition 1470 pounds. The letters given in the present +chapter deal with its reception, and also with the progress of the work +on Expression. The letters are given, approximately, in chronological +order, an arrangement which necessarily separates letters of kindred +subjec-matter, but gives perhaps a truer picture of the mingled +interests and labours of my father's life. + +Nothing can give a better idea (in small compass) of the growth of +Evolutionism and its position at this time, than a quotation from Mr. +Huxley ('Contemporary Review,' 1871.):-- + +"The gradual lapse of time has now separated us by more than a decade +from the date of the publication of the 'Origin of Species;' and +whatever may be thought or said about Mr. Darwin's doctrines, or the +manner in which he has propounded them, this much is certain, that in a +dozen years the 'Origin of Species' has worked as complete a revolution +in Biological Science as the 'Principia' did in Astronomy;" and it +has done so, "because, in the words of Helmholtz, it contains 'an +essentially new creative thought.' And, as time has slipped by, a happy +change has come over Mr. Darwin's critics. The mixture of ignorance and +insolence which at first characterised a large proportion of the +attacks with which he was assailed, is no longer the sad distinction of +anti-Darwinian criticism." + +A passage in the Introduction to the 'Descent of Man' shows that the +author recognised clearly this improvement in the position of Evolution. +"When a naturalist like Carl Vogt ventures to say in his address, as +President of the National Institution of Geneva (1869), 'personne en +Europe au moins, n'ose plus soutenir la creation independante et de +toutes pieces, des especes,' it is manifest that at least a large number +of naturalists must admit that species are the modified descendants +of other species; and this especially holds good with the younger +and rising naturalists... Of the older and honoured chiefs in natural +science, many, unfortunately, are still opposed to Evolution in every +form." + +In Mr. James Hague's pleasantly written article, "A Reminiscence of Mr. +Darwin" ('Harper's Magazine,' October 1884), he describes a visit to my +father "early in 1871" (it must have been at the end of February, +within a week after the publication of the book.), shortly after the +publication of the 'Descent of Man.' Mr. Hague represents my father +as "much impressed by the general assent with which his views had been +received," and as remarking that "everybody is talking about it without +being shocked." + +Later in the year the reception of the book is described in different +language in the 'Edinburgh Review' (July 1871. An adverse criticism. +The reviewer sums up by saying that: "Never perhaps in the history of +philosophy have such wide generalisations been derived from such a small +basis of fact."): "On every side it is raising a storm of mingled wrath, +wonder, and admiration." + +With regard to the subsequent reception of the 'Descent of Man,' my +father wrote to Dr. Dohrn, February 3, 1872:-- + +"I did not know until reading your article (In 'Das Ausland.'), that my +'Descent of Man' had excited so much furore in Germany. It has had an +immense circulation in this country and in America, but has met the +approval of hardly any naturalists as far as I know. Therefore I suppose +it was a mistake on my part to publish it; but, anyhow, it will pave the +way for some better work." + +The book on the 'Expression of the Emotions' was begun on January 17th, +1871, the last proof of the 'Descent of Man' having been finished on +January 15th. The rough copy was finished by April 27th, and shortly +after this (in June) the work was interrupted by the preparation of a +sixth edition of the 'Origin.' In November and December the proofs of +the 'Expression' book were taken in hand, and occupied him until the +following year, when the book was published. + +Some references to the work on Expression have occurred in letters +already given, showing that the foundation of the book was, to some +extent, laid down for some years before he began to write it. Thus he +wrote to Dr. Asa Gray, April 15, 1867:-- + +"I have been lately getting up and looking over my old notes on +Expression, and fear that I shall not make so much of my hobby-horse as +I thought I could; nevertheless, it seems to me a curious subject which +has been strangely neglected." + +It should, however, be remembered that the subject had been before his +mind, more or less, from 1837 or 1838, as I judge from entries in +his early note-books. It was in December, 1839, that he began to make +observations on children. + +The work required much correspondence, not only with missionaries and +others living among savages, to whom he sent his printed queries, but +among physiologists and physicians. He obtained much information from +Professor Donders, Sir W. Bowman, Sir James Paget, Dr. W. Ogle, Dr. +Crichton Browne, as well as from other observers. + +The first letter refers to the 'Descent of Man.'] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, January 30 [1871]. + +My dear Wallace, + +(In the note referred to, dated January 27, Mr. Wallace wrote:-- + +"Many thanks for your first volume which I have just finished reading +through with the greatest pleasure and interest; and I have also to +thank you for the great tenderness with which you have treated me and my +heresies." + +The heresy is the limitation of natural selection as applied to man. +My father wrote ('Descent of Man,' i. page 137):--"I cannot therefore +understand how it is that Mr. Wallace maintains that 'natural selection +could only have endowed the savage with a brain a little superior to +that of an ape.'" In the above quoted letter Mr. Wallace wrote:--"Your +chapters on 'Man' are of intense interest, but as touching my special +heresy not as yet altogether convincing, though of course I fully agree +with every word and every argument which goes to prove the evolution or +development of man out of a lower form.") + +Your note has given me very great pleasure, chiefly because I was +so anxious not to treat you with the least disrespect, and it is so +difficult to speak fairly when differing from any one. If I had offended +you, it would have grieved me more than you will readily believe. +Secondly, I am greatly pleased to hear that Volume I. interests you; I +have got so sick of the whole subject that I felt in utter doubt about +the value of any part. I intended, when speaking of females not having +been specially modified for protection, to include the prevention of +characters acquired by the male being transmitted to the female; but I +now see it would have been better to have said "specially acted on," or +some such term. Possibly my intention may be clearer in Volume II. Let +me say that my conclusions are chiefly founded on the consideration of +all animals taken in a body, bearing in mind how common the rules of +sexual differences appear to be in all classes. The first copy of the +chapter on Lepidoptera agreed pretty closely with you. I then worked +on, came back to Lepidoptera, and thought myself compelled to +alter it--finished Sexual Selection and for the last time went over +Lepidoptera, and again I felt forced to alter it. I hope to God there +will be nothing disagreeable to you in Volume II., and that I have +spoken fairly of your views; I am fearful on this head, because I have +just read (but not with sufficient care) Mivart's book ('The Genesis of +Species,' by St. G. Mivart, 1871.), and I feel ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that +he meant to be fair (but he was stimulated by theological fervour); yet +I do not think he has been quite fair... The part which, I think, will +have most influence is where he gives the whole series of cases like +that of the whalebone, in which we cannot explain the gradational steps; +but such cases have no weight on my mind--if a few fish were extinct, +who on earth would have ventured even to conjecture that lungs had +originated in a swi-bladder? In such a case as the Thylacine, I think he +was bound to say that the resemblance of the jaw to that of the dog +is superficial; the number and correspondence and development of teeth +being widely different. I think again when speaking of the necessity of +altering a number of characters together, he ought to have thought +of man having power by selection to modify simultaneously or almost +simultaneously many points, as in making a greyhound or racehorse--as +enlarged upon in my 'Domestic Animals.' Mivart is savage or contemptuous +about my "moral sense," and so probably will you be. I am extremely +pleased that he agrees with my position, AS FAR AS ANIMAL NATURE IS +CONCERNED, of man in the series; or if anything, thinks I have erred in +making him too distinct. + +Forgive me for scribbling at such length. You have put me quite in good +spirits; I did so dread having been unintentionally unfair towards your +views. I hope earnestly the second volume will escape as well. I care +now very little what others say. As for our not quite agreeing, really +in such complex subjects, it is almost impossible for two men who arrive +independently at their conclusions to agree fully, it would be unnatural +for them to do so. + +Yours ever, very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[Professor Haeckel seems to have been one of the first to write to my +father about the 'Descent of Man.' I quote from his reply:-- + +"I must send you a few words to thank you for your interesting, and I +may truly say, charming letter. I am delighted that you approve of my +book, as far as you have read it. I felt very great difficulty and +doubt how often I ought to allude to what you have published; strictly +speaking every idea, although occurring independently to me, if +published by you previously ought to have appeared as if taken from your +works, but this would have made my book very dull reading; and I hoped +that a full acknowledgment at the beginning would suffice. (In the +introduction to the 'Descent of Man' the author wrote:-- + +"This last naturalist [Haeckel]... has recently... published his +'Naturliche Schopfungs-geschichte,' in which he fully discusses the +genealogy of man. If this work had appeared before my essay had been +written, I should probably never have completed it. Almost all +the conclusions at which I have arrived, I find confirmed by this +naturalist, whose knowledge on many points is much fuller than mine.") +I cannot tell you how glad I am to find that I have expressed my high +admiration of your labours with sufficient clearness; I am sure that I +have not expressed it too strongly."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, March 16, 1871. + +My dear Wallace, + +I have just read your grand review. ("Academy", March 15, 1871.) It is +in every way as kindly expressed towards myself as it is excellent in +matter. The Lyells have been here, and Sir C. remarked that no one wrote +such good scientific reviews as you, and as Miss Buckley added, you +delight in picking out all that is good, though very far from blind to +the bad. In all this I most entirely agree. I shall always consider +your review as a great honour; and however much my book may hereafter +be abused, as no doubt it will be, your review will console me, +notwithstanding that we differ so greatly. I will keep your objections +to my views in my mind, but I fear that the latter are almost +stereotyped in my mind. I thought for long weeks about the inheritance +and selection difficulty, and covered quires of paper with notes in +trying to get out of it, but could not, though clearly seeing that it +would be a great relief if I could. I will confine myself to two or +three remarks. I have been much impressed with what you urge against +colour (Mr. Wallace says that the pairing of butterflies is probably +determined by the fact that one male is stronger-winged, or more +pertinacious than the rest, rather than by the choice of the females. +He quotes the case of caterpillars which are brightly coloured and yet +sexless. Mr. Wallace also makes the good criticism that the 'Descent +of Man' consists of two books mixed together.) in the case of insects, +having been acquired through sexual selection. I always saw that the +evidence was very weak; but I still think, if it be admitted that +the musical instruments of insects have been gained through sexual +selection, that there is not the least improbability in colour having +been thus gained. Your argument with respect to the denudation of +mankind and also to insects, that taste on the part of one sex would +have to remain nearly the same during many generations, in order that +sexual selection should produce any effect, I agree to; and I think this +argument would be sound if used by one who denied that, for instance, +the plumes of birds of Paradise had been so gained. I believe you admit +this, and if so I do not see how your argument applies in other cases. I +have recognized for some short time that I have made a great omission in +not having discussed, as far as I could, the acquisition of taste, its +inherited nature, and its permanence within pretty close limits for long +periods. + + +[With regard to the success of the 'Descent of Man,' I quote from a +letter to Professor Ray Lankester (March 22, 1871):-- + +"I think you will be glad to hear, as a proof of the increasing +liberality of England, that my book has sold wonderfully... and as yet +no abuse (though some, no doubt, will come, strong enough), and only +contempt even in the poor old 'Athenaeum'." + +As to reviews that struck him he wrote to Mr. Wallace (March 24, +1871):-- + +"There is a very striking second article on my book in the 'Pall Mall'. +The articles in the "Spectator" ("Spectator", March 11 and 18, 1871. +With regard to the evolution of conscience the reviewer thinks that my +father comes much nearer to the "kernel of the psychological problem" +than many of his predecessors. The second article contains a good +discussion of the bearing of the book on the question of design, and +concludes by finding in it a vindication of Theism more wonderful than +that in Paley's 'Natural Theology.') have also interested me much." + +On March 20 he wrote to Mr. Murray:-- + +"Many thanks for the "Nonconformist" [March 8, 1871]. I like to see all +that is written, and it is of some real use. If you hear of reviewers +in out-of-the-way papers, especially the religious, as "Record", +"Guardian", "Tablet", kindly inform me. It is wonderful that there has +been no abuse ("I feel a full conviction that my chapter on man will +excite attention and plenty of abuse, and I suppose abuse is as good as +praise for selling a book."--(from a letter to Mr. Murray, January +31, 1867.) as yet, but I suppose I shall not escape. On the whole, the +reviews have been highly favourable." + +The following extract from a letter to Mr. Murray (April 13, 1871) +refers to a review in the "Times". ("Times", April 7 and 8, 1871. The +review is not only unfavourable as regards the book under discussion, +but also as regards Evolution in general, as the following citation will +show: "Even had it been rendered highly probable, which we doubt, that +the animal creation has been developed into its numerous and widely +different varieties by mere evolution, it would still require an +independent investigation of overwhelming force and completeness to +justify the presumption that man is but a term in this self-evolving +series.") + +"I have no idea who wrote the "Times" review. He has no knowledge of +science, and seems to me a wind-bag full of metaphysics and classics, so +that I do not much regard his adverse judgment, though I suppose it will +injure the sale." + +A review of the 'Descent of Man,' which my father spoke of as "capital," +appeared in the "Saturday Review" (March 4 and 11, 1871). A passage from +the first notice (March 4) may be quoted in illustration of the broad +basis as regards general acceptance, on which the doctrine of Evolution +now stood: "He claims to have brought man himself, his origin and +constitution, within that unity which he had previously sought to trace +through all lower animal forms. The growth of opinion in the interval, +due in chief measure to his own intermediate works, has placed the +discussion of this problem in a position very much in advance of that +held by it fifteen years ago. The problem of Evolution is hardly any +longer to be treated as one of first principles; nor has Mr. Darwin to +do battle for a first hearing of his central hypothesis, upborne as +it is by a phalanx of names full of distinction and promise, in either +hemisphere." + +The infolded point of the human ear, discovered by Mr. Woolner, and +described in the 'Descent of Man,' seems especially to have struck the +popular imagination; my father wrote to Mr. Woolner:-- + +"The tips to the ears have become quite celebrated. One reviewer +('Nature') says they ought to be called, as I suggested in joke, Angulus +Woolnerianus. ('Nature' April 6, 1871. The term suggested is Angulus +Woolnerii.) A German is very proud to find that he has the tips well +developed, and I believe will send me a photograph of his ears."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN BRODIE INNES. (Rev. J. Brodie Innes, of Milton +Brodie, formerly Vicar of Down.) Down, May 29 [1871]. + +My dear Innes, + +I have been very glad to receive your pleasant letter, for to tell you +the truth, I have sometimes wondered whether you would not think me +an outcast and a reprobate after the publication of my last book +['Descent']. (In a former letter of my father's to Mr. Innes:--"We often +differed, but you are one of those rare mortals from whom one can differ +and yet feel no shade of animosity, and that is a thing which I should +feel very proud of, if any one could say it of me.") I do not wonder at +all at your not agreeing with me, for a good many professed naturalists +do not. Yet when I see in how extraordinary a manner the judgment of +naturalists has changed since I published the 'Origin,' I feel convinced +that there will be in ten years quite as much unanimity about man, as +far as his corporeal frame is concerned... + + +[The following letters addressed to Dr. Ogle deal with the progress of +the work on expression.] + + +Down, March 12 [1871]. + +My dear Dr. Ogle, + +I have received both your letters, and they tell me all that I wanted +to know in the clearest possible way, as, indeed, all your letters have +ever done. I thank you cordially. I will give the case of the murderer +('Expression of the Emotions,' page 294. The arrest of a murderer, +as witnessed by Dr. Ogle in a hospital.) in my hobby-horse essay on +expression. I fear that the Eustachian tube question must have cost +you a deal of labour; it is quite a complete little essay. It is pretty +clear that the mouth is not opened under surprise merely to improve the +hearing. Yet why do deaf men generally keep their mouths open? The other +day a man here was mimicking a deaf friend, leaning his head forward +and sideways to the speaker, with his mouth well open; it was a lifelike +representation of a deaf man. Shakespeare somewhere says: "Hold your +breath, listen" or "hark," I forget which. Surprise hurries the breath, +and it seems to me one can breathe, at least hurriedly, much quieter +through the open mouth than through the nose. I saw the other day +you doubted this. As objection is your province at present, I think +breathing through the nose ought to come within it likewise, so do pray +consider this point, and let me hear your judgment. Consider the nose to +be a flower to be fertilised, and then you will make out all about it. +(Dr. Ogle had corresponded with my father on his own observations on the +fertilisation of flowers.) I have had to allude to your paper on 'Sense +of Smell' (Medico-chirurg. Trans. liii.); is the paging right, namely, +1, 2, 3? If not, I protest by all the gods against the plan followed +by some, of having presentation copies falsely paged; and so does +Rolleston, as he wrote to me the other day. In haste. + +Yours very sincerely, C. DARWIN. + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. OGLE. Down, March 25 [1871]. + +My dear Dr. Ogle, + +You will think me a horrid bore, but I beg you, IN RELATION TO A NEW +POINT FOR OBSERVATION, to imagine as well as you can that you suddenly +come across some dreadful object, and act with a sudden little start, a +SHUDDER OF HORROR; please do this once or twice, and observe yourself as +well as you can, and AFTERWARDS read the rest of this note, which I have +consequently pinned down. I find, to my surprise, whenever I act thus +my platysma contracts. Does yours? (N.B.--See what a man will do for +science; I began this note with a horrid fib, namely, that I want you to +attend to a new point. (The point was doubtless described as a new one, +to avoid the possibility of Dr. Ogle's attention being directed to the +platysma, a muscle which had been the subject of discussion in other +letters.)) I will try and get some persons thus to act who are so lucky +as not to know that they even possess this muscle, so troublesome for +any one making out about expression. Is a shudder akin to the rigor or +shivering before fever? If so, perhaps the platysma could be observed +in such cases. Paget told me that he had attended much to shivering, and +had written in MS. on the subject, and been much perplexed about it. He +mentioned that passing a catheter often causes shivering. Perhaps I will +write to him about the platysma. He is always most kind in aiding me in +all ways, but he is so overworked that it hurts my conscience to trouble +him, for I have a conscience, little as you have reason to think so. +Help me if you can, and forgive me. Your murderer case has come in +splendidly as the acme of prostration from fear. + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO DR. OGLE. Down, April 29 [1871]. + +My dear Dr. Ogle, + +I am truly obliged for all the great trouble which you have so kindly +taken. I am sure you have no cause to say that you are sorry you can +give me no definite information, for you have given me far more than I +ever expected to get. The action of the platysma is not very important +for me, but I believe that you will fully understand (for I have always +fancied that our minds were very similar) the intolerable desire I had +not to be utterly baffled. Now I know that it sometimes contracts from +fear and from shuddering, but not apparently from a prolonged state of +fear such as the insane suffer... + + +[Mr. Mivart's 'Genesis of Species,'--a contribution to the literature of +Evolution, which excited much attention--was published in 1871, before +the appearance of the 'Descent of Man.' To this book the following +letter (June 21, 1871) from the late Chauncey Wright to my father +refers. (Chauncey Wright was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, +September 20, 1830, and came of a family settled in that town since +1654. He became in 1852 a computer in the Nautical Almanac office at +Cambridge, Mass., and lived a quiet uneventful life, supported by the +small stipend of his office, and by what he earned from his occasional +articles, as well as by a little teaching. He thought and read much on +metaphysical subjects, but on the whole with an outcome (as far as the +world was concerned) not commensurate to the power of his mind. He seems +to have been a man of strong individuality, and to have made a lasting +impression on his friends. He died in September, 1875.)]: + +"I send... revised proofs of an article which will be published in the +July number of the 'North American Review,' sending it in the hope that +it will interest or even be of greater value to you. Mr. Mivart's book +['Genesis of Species'] of which this article is substantially a +review, seems to me a very good background from which to present the +considerations which I have endeavoured to set forth in the article, in +defence and illustration of the theory of Natural Selection. My special +purpose has been to contribute to the theory by placing it in its proper +relations to philosophical enquiries in general." ('Letters of Chauncey +Wright,' by J.B. Thayer. Privately printed, 1878, page 230.) + +With regard to the proofs received from Mr. Wright, my father wrote to +Mr. Wallace:] + + +Down, July 9 [1871]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I send by this post a review by Chauncey Wright, as I much want your +opinion of it as soon as you can send it. I consider you an incomparably +better critic than I am. The article, though not very clearly written, +and poor in parts from want of knowledge, seems to me admirable. +Mivart's book is producing a great effect against Natural Selection, +and more especially against me. Therefore if you think the article +even somewhat good I will write and get permission to publish it as a +shilling pamphlet, together with the MS. additions (enclosed), for which +there was not room at the end of the review... + +I am now at work at a new and cheap edition of the 'Origin,' and shall +answer several points in Mivart's book, and introduce a new chapter for +this purpose; but I treat the subject so much more concretely, and I +dare say less philosophically, than Wright, that we shall not interfere +with each other. You will think me a bigot when I say, after studying +Mivart, I was never before in my life so convinced of the GENERAL (i.e. +not in detail) truth of the views in the 'Origin.' I grieve to see the +omission of the words by Mivart, detected by Wright. ('North American +Review,' volume 113, pages 83, 84. Chauncey Wright points out that the +words omitted are "essential to the point on which he [Mr. Mivart] cites +Mr. Darwin's authority." It should be mentioned that the passage from +which words are omitted is not given within inverted commas by Mr. +Mivart.) I complained to Mivart that in two cases he quotes only the +commencement of sentences by me, and thus modifies my meaning; but I +never supposed he would have omitted words. There are other cases of +what I consider unfair treatment. I conclude with sorrow that though he +means to be honourable he is so bigoted that he cannot act fairly... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO CHAUNCEY WRIGHT. Down, July 14, 1871. + +My dear Sir, + +I have hardly ever in my life read an article which has given me so much +satisfaction as the review which you have been so kind as to send me. +I agree to almost everything which you say. Your memory must be +wonderfully accurate, for you know my works as well as I do myself, +and your power of grasping other men's thoughts is something quite +surprising; and this, as far as my experience goes, is a very rare +quality. As I read on I perceived how you have acquired this power, viz. +by thoroughly analyzing each word. + +... Now I am going to beg a favour. Will you provisionally give me +permission to reprint your article as a shilling pamphlet? I ask only +provisionally, as I have not yet had time to reflect on the subject. It +would cost me, I fancy, with advertisements, some 20 or 30 pounds; but +the worst is that, as I hear, pamphlets never will sell. And this makes +me doubtful. Should you think it too much trouble to send me a title FOR +THE CHANCE? The title ought, I think, to have Mr. Mivart's name on it. + +... If you grant permission and send a title, you will kindly understand +that I will first make further enquiries whether there is any chance of +a pamphlet being read. + +Pray believe me yours very sincerely obliged, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The pamphlet was published in the autumn, and on October 23 my father +wrote to Mr. Wright:-- + +"It pleases me much that you are satisfied with the appearance of your +pamphlet. I am sure it will do our cause good service; and this same +opinion Huxley has expressed to me. ('Letters of Chauncey Wright,' page +235."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, July 12 [1871]. + +... I feel very doubtful how far I shall succeed in answering Mivart, it +is so difficult to answer objections to doubtful points, and make the +discussion readable. I shall make only a selection. The worst of it +is, that I cannot possibly hunt through all my references for isolated +points, it would take me three weeks of intolerably hard work. I wish I +had your power of arguing clearly. At present I feel sick of everything, +and if I could occupy my time and forget my daily discomforts, or rather +miseries, I would never publish another word. But I shall cheer up, I +dare say, soon, having only just got over a bad attack. Farewell; +God knows why I bother you about myself. I can say nothing more about +missing-links than what I have said. I should rely much on pre-silurian +times; but then comes Sir W. Thomson like an odious spectre. Farewell. + +... There is a most cutting review of me in the 'Quarterly' (July 1871.); +I have only read a few pages. The skill and style make me think of +Mivart. I shall soon be viewed as the most despicable of men. This +'Quarterly Review' tempts me to republish Ch. Wright, even if not read +by any one, just to show some one will say a word against Mivart, and +that his (i.e. Mivart's) remarks ought not to be swallowed without some +reflection... God knows whether my strength and spirit will last out to +write a chapter versus Mivart and others; I do so hate controversy and +feel I shall do it so badly. + +[The above-mentioned 'Quarterly' review was the subject of an article +by Mr. Huxley in the November number of the 'Contemporary Review.' Here, +also, are discussed Mr. Wallace's 'Contribution to the Theory of Natural +Selection,' and the second edition of Mr. Mivart's 'Genesis of Species.' +What follows is taken from Mr. Huxley's article. The 'Quarterly' +reviewer, though being to some extent an evolutionist, believes that Man +"differs more from an elephant or a gorilla, than do these from the dust +of the earth on which they tread." The reviewer also declares that my +father has "with needless opposition, set at naught the first principles +of both philosophy and religion." Mr. Huxley passes from the 'Quarterly' +reviewer's further statement, that there is no necessary opposition +between evolution and religion, to the more definite position taken by +Mr. Mivart, that the orthodox authorities of the Roman Catholic Church +agree in distinctly asserting derivative creation, so that "their +teachings harmonise with all that modern science can possibly require." +Here Mr. Huxley felt the want of that "study of Christian philosophy" +(at any rate, in its Jesuitic garb), which Mr. Mivart speaks of, and it +was a want he at once set to work to fill up. He was then staying at St. +Andrews, whence he wrote to my father:-- + +"By great good luck there is an excellent library here, with a good copy +of Suarez (The learned Jesuit on whom Mr. Mivart mainly relies.), in a +dozen big folios. Among these I dived, to the great astonishment of the +librarian, and looking into them 'as the careful robin eyes the delver's +toil' (vide 'Idylls'), I carried off the two venerable clasped volumes +which were most promising." Even those who know Mr. Huxley's unrivalled +power of tearing the heart out of a book must marvel at the skill with +which he has made Suarez speak on his side. "So I have come out," he +wrote, "in the new character of a defender of Catholic orthodoxy, and +upset Mivart out of the mouth of his own prophet." + +The remainder of Mr. Huxley's critique is largely occupied with a +dissection of the 'Quarterly' reviewer's psychology, and his ethical +views. He deals, too, with Mr. Wallace's objections to the doctrine of +Evolution by natural causes when applied to the mental faculties of Man. +Finally, he devotes a couple of pages to justifying his description of +the 'Quarterly' reviewer's "treatment of Mr. Darwin as alike unjust and +unbecoming." + +It will be seen that the two following letters were written before the +publication of Mr. Huxley's article.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, September 21 [1871]. + +My dear Huxley, + +Your letter has pleased me in many ways, to a wonderful degree... What +a wonderful man you are to grapple with those old metaphysico-divinity +books. It quite delights me that you are going to some extent to answer +and attack Mivart. His book, as you say, has produced a great effect; +yesterday I perceived the reverberations from it, even from Italy. It +was this that made me ask Chauncey Wright to publish at my expense his +article, which seems to me very clever, though ill-written. He has not +knowledge enough to grapple with Mivart in detail. I think there can +be no shadow of doubt that he is the author of the article in the +'Quarterly Review'... I am preparing a new edition of the 'Origin,' and +shall introduce a new chapter in answer to miscellaneous objections, and +shall give up the greater part to answer Mivart's cases of difficulty of +incipient structures being of no use: and I find it can be done easily. +He never states his case fairly, and makes wonderful blunders... The +pendulum is now swinging against our side, but I feel positive it will +soon swing the other way; and no mortal man will do half as much as you +in giving it a start in the right direction, as you did at the first +commencement. God forgive me for writing so long and egotistical a +letter; but it is your fault, for you have so delighted me; I never +dreamed that you would have time to say a word in defence of the cause +which you have so often defended. It will be a long battle, after we are +dead and gone... Great is the power of misrepresentation... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, September 30 [1871]. + +My dear Huxley, + +It was very good of you to send the proof-sheets, for I was VERY anxious +to read your article. I have been delighted with it. How you do smash +Mivart's theology: it is almost equal to your article versus Comte +('Fortnightly Review,' 1869. With regard to the relations of Positivism +to Science my father wrote to Mr. Spencer in 1875: "How curious and +amusing it is to see to what an extent the Positivists hate all men of +science; I fancy they are dimly conscious what laughable and +gigantic blunders their prophet made in predicting the course +of science."),--that never can be transcended... But I have been +preeminently glad to read your discussion on [the 'Quarterly' +reviewer's] metaphysics, especially about reason and his definition of +it. I felt sure he was wrong, but having only common observation and +sense to trust to, I did not know what to say in my second edition of +my 'Descent.' Now a footnote and reference to you will do the work... For +me, this is one of the most IMPORTANT parts of the review. But for +PLEASURE, I have been particularly glad that my few words ('Descent of +Man,' volume i. page 87. A discussion on the question whether an +act done impulsively or instinctively can be called moral.) on the +distinction, if it can be so called, between Mivart's two forms of +morality, caught your attention. I am so pleased that you take the same +view, and give authorities for it; but I searched Mill in vain on this +head. How well you argue the whole case. I am mounting climax on climax; +for after all there is nothing, I think, better in your whole review +than your arguments v. Wallace on the intellect of savages. I must tell +you what Hooker said to me a few years ago. "When I read Huxley, I feel +quite infantile in intellect." By Jove I have felt the truth of this +throughout your review. What a man you are. There are scores of splendid +passages, and vivid flashes of wit. I have been a good deal more than +merely pleased by the concluding part of your review; and all the more, +as I own I felt mortified by the accusation of bigotry, arrogance, etc., +in the 'Quarterly Review.' But I assure you, he may write his worst, and +he will never mortify me again. + +My dear Huxley, yours gratefully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Haredene, Albury, August 2 [1871]. + +My dear Sir, + +Your last letter has interested me greatly; it is wonderfully rich in +facts and original thoughts. First, let me say that I have been much +pleased by what you say about my book. It has had a VERY LARGE sale; but +I have been much abused for it, especially for the chapter on the moral +sense; and most of my reviewers consider the book as a poor affair. God +knows what its merits may really be; all that I know is that I did my +best. With familiarity I think naturalists will accept sexual selection +to a greater extent than they now seem inclined to do. I should very +much like to publish your letter, but I do not see how it could be +made intelligible, without numerous coloured illustrations, but I will +consult Mr. Wallace on this head. I earnestly hope that you keep notes +of all your letters, and that some day you will publish a book: 'Notes +of a Naturalist in S. Brazil,' or some such title. Wallace will hardly +admit the possibility of sexual selection with Lepidoptera, and no doubt +it is very improbable. Therefore, I am very glad to hear of your cases +(which I will quote in the next edition) of the two sets of Hesperiadae, +which display their wings differently, according to which surface +is coloured. I cannot believe that such display is accidental and +purposeless... + +No fact of your letter has interested me more than that about mimicry. +It is a capital fact about the males pursuing the wrong females. You put +the difficulty of the first steps in imitation in a most striking and +CONVINCING manner. Your idea of sexual selection having aided protective +imitation interests me greatly, for the same idea had occurred to me in +quite different cases, viz. the dulness of all animals in the Galapagos +Islands, Patagonia, etc., and in some other cases; but I was afraid +even to hint at such an idea. Would you object to my giving some such +sentence as follows: "F. Muller suspects that sexual selection may +have come into play, in aid of protective imitation, in a very peculiar +manner, which will appear extremely improbable to those who do not fully +believe in sexual selection. It is that the appreciation of certain +colour is developed in those species which frequently behold other +species thus ornamented." Again let me thank you cordially for your most +interesting letter... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E.B. TYLOR. Down, [September 24, 1871]. + +My dear Sir, + +I hope that you will allow me to have the pleasure of telling you how +greatly I have been interested by your 'Primitive Culture,' now that +I have finished it. It seems to me a most profound work, which will +be certain to have permanent value, and to be referred to for years to +come. It is wonderful how you trace animism from the lower races up +to the religious belief of the highest races. It will make me for the +future look at religion--a belief in the soul, etc.--from a new point +of view. How curious, also, are the survivals or rudiments of old +customs... You will perhaps be surprised at my writing at so late +a period, but I have had the book read aloud to me, and from much +ill-health of late could only stand occasional short reads. The +undertaking must have cost you gigantic labour. Nevertheless, I +earnestly hope that you may be induced to treat morals in the same +enlarged yet careful manner, as you have animism. I fancy from the last +chapter that you have thought of this. No man could do the work so well +as you, and the subject assuredly is a most important and interesting +one. You must now possess references which would guide you to a sound +estimation of the morals of savages; and how writers like Wallace, +Lubbock, etc., etc., do differ on this head. Forgive me for troubling +you, and believe me, with much respect, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +1872. + +[At the beginning of the year the sixth edition of the 'Origin,' which +had been begun in June, 1871, was nearly completed. The last sheet was +revised on January 10, 1872, and the book was published in the course of +the month. This volume differs from the previous ones in appearance and +size--it consists of 458 pages instead of 596 pages and is a few ounces +lighter; it is printed on bad paper, in small type, and with the +lines unpleasantly close together. It had, however, one advantage over +previous editions, namely that it was issued at a lower price. It is +to be regretted that this the final edition of the 'Origin' should have +appeared in so unattractive a form; a form which has doubtless kept off +many readers from the book. + +The discussion suggested by the 'Genesis of Species' was perhaps the +most important addition to the book. The objection that incipient +structures cannot be of use was dealt with in some detail, because it +seemed to the author that this was the point in Mr. Mivart's book which +has struck most readers in England. + +It is a striking proof of how wide and general had become the acceptance +of his views that my father found it necessary to insert (sixth edition, +page 424), the sentence: "As a record of a former state of things, I +have retained in the foregoing paragraphs and also elsewhere, several +sentences which imply that naturalists believe in the separate creation +of each species; and I have been much censured for having thus expressed +myself. But undoubtedly this was the general belief when the first +edition of the present work appeared... Now things are wholly changed, +and almost every naturalist admits the great principle of evolution." + +A small correction introduced into this sixth edition is connected with +one of his minor papers: "Note on the habits of the Pampas Woodpecker." +(Zoolog. Soc. Proc. 1870.) In the fifth edition of the 'Origin,' page +220, he wrote:-- + +"Yet as I can assert not only from my own observation, but from that of +the accurate Azara, it [the ground woodpecker] never climbs a tree." The +paper in question was a reply to Mr. Hudson's remarks on the woodpecker +in a previous number of the same journal. The last sentence of my +father's paper is worth quoting for its temperate tone: "Finally, I +trust that Mr. Hudson is mistaken when he says that any one acquainted +with the habits of this bird might be induced to believe that I 'had +purposely wrested the truth' in order to prove my theory. He exonerates +me from this charge; but I should be loath to think that there are many +naturalists who, without any evidence, would accuse a fellow-worker +of telling a deliberate falsehood to prove his theory." In the sixth +edition, page 142, the passage runs "in certain large districts it does +not climb trees." And he goes on to give Mr. Hudson's statement that in +other regions it does frequent trees. + +One of the additions in the sixth edition (page 149), was a reference +to Mr. A. Hyatt's and Professor Cope's theory of "acceleration." With +regard to this he wrote (October 10, 1872) in characteristic words to +Mr. Hyatt:-- + +"Permit me to take this opportunity to express my sincere regret at +having committed two grave errors in the last edition of my 'Origin +of Species,' in my allusion to yours and Professor Cope's views +on acceleration and retardation of development. I had thought that +Professor Cope had preceded you; but I now well remember having formerly +read with lively interest, and marked, a paper by you somewhere in my +library, on fossil Cephalapods with remarks on the subject. It seems +also that I have quite misrepresented your joint view. This has vexed me +much. I confess that I have never been able to grasp fully what you wish +to show, and I presume that this must be owing to some dulness on my +part." + +Lastly, it may be mentioned that this cheap edition being to some extent +intended as a popular one, was made to include a glossary of technical +terms, "given because several readers have complained... that some of the +terms used were unintelligible to them." The glossary was compiled by +Mr. Dallas, and being an excellent collection of clear and sufficient +definitions, must have proved useful to many readers.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.L.A. DE QUATREFAGES. Down, January 15, 1872. + +My dear Sir, + +I am much obliged for your very kind letter and exertions in my favour. +I had thought that the publication of my last book ['Descent of Man'] +would have destroyed all your sympathy with me, but though I estimated +very highly your great liberality of mind, it seems that I underrated +it. + +I am gratified to hear that M. Lacaze-Duthiers will vote (He was not +elected as a corresponding member of the French Academy until 1878.) for +me, for I have long honoured his name. I cannot help regretting that you +should expend your valuable time in trying to obtain for me the honour +of election, for I fear, judging from the last time, that all your +labour will be in vain. Whatever the result may be, I shall always +retain the most lively recollection of your sympathy and kindness, and +this will quite console me for my rejection. + +With much respect and esteem, I remain, dear Sir, + +Yours truly obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--With respect to the great stress which you lay on man walking on +two legs, whilst the quadrumana go on all fours, permit me to remind you +that no one much values the great difference in the mode of locomotion, +and consequently in structure, between seals and the terrestrial +carnivora, or between the almost biped kangaroos and other marsupials. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO AUGUST WEISMANN. (Professor of Zoology in Freiburg.) +Down, April 5, 1872. + +My dear Sir, + +I have now read your essay ('Ueber den Einfluss der Isolirung auf die +Artbildung.' Leipzig, 1872.) with very great interest. Your view of the +'Origin' of local races through "Amixie," is altogether new to me, +and seems to throw an important light on an obscure problem. There +is, however, something strange about the periods or endurance of +variability. I formerly endeavoured to investigate the subject, not +by looking to past time, but to species of the same genus widely +distributed; and I found in many cases that all the species, with +perhaps one or two exceptions, were variable. It would be a very +interesting subject for a conchologist to investigate, viz., whether +the species of the same genus were variable during many successive +geological formations. I began to make enquiries on this head, but +failed in this, as in so many other things, from the want of time and +strength. In your remarks on crossing, you do not, as it seems to +me, lay nearly stress enough on the increased vigour of the offspring +derived from parents which have been exposed to different conditions. I +have during the last five years been making experiments on this subject +with plants, and have been astonished at the results, which have not yet +been published. + +In the first part of your essay, I thought that you wasted (to use an +English expression) too much powder and shot on M. Wagner (Prof. Wagner +has written two essays on the same subject. 'Die Darwin'sche Theorie +und das Migrationsgesetz, in 1868, and 'Ueber den Einfluss der +Geographischen Isolirung, etc.,' an address to the Bavarian Academy +of Sciences at Munich, 1870.); but I changed my opinion when I saw how +admirably you treated the whole case, and how well you used the +facts about the Planorbis. I wish I had studied this latter case more +carefully. The manner in which, as you show, the different varieties +blend together and make a constant whole, agrees perfectly with my +hypothetical illustrations. + +Many years ago the late E. Forbes described three closely consecutive +beds in a secondary formation, each with representative forms of the +same fres-water shells: the case is evidently analogous with that +of Hilgendorf ("Ueber Planorbis multiformis im Steinheimer +Susswasser-kalk." Monatsbericht of the Berlin Academy, 1866.), but the +interesting connecting varieties or links were here absent. I rejoice +to think that I formerly said as emphatically as I could, that neither +isolation nor time by themselves do anything for the modification +of species. Hardly anything in your essay has pleased me so much +personally, as to find that you believe to a certain extent in sexual +selection. As far as I can judge, very few naturalists believe in this. +I may have erred on many points, and extended the doctrine too far, +but I feel a strong conviction that sexual selection will hereafter be +admitted to be a powerful agency. I cannot agree with what you say about +the taste for beauty in animals not easily varying. It may be suspected +that even the habit of viewing differently coloured surrounding objects +would influence their taste, and Fritz Muller even goes so far as to +believe that the sight of gaudy butterflies might influence the taste +of distinct species. There are many remarks and statements in your essay +which have interested me greatly, and I thank you for the pleasure which +I have received from reading it. + +With sincere respect, I remain, My dear Sir, yours very faithfully, +CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--If you should ever be induced to consider the whole doctrine of +sexual selection, I think that you will be led to the conclusion, that +characters thus gained by one sex are very commonly transferred in a +greater or less degree to the other sex. + + +[With regard to Moritz Wagner's first Essay, my father wrote to that +naturalist, apparently in 1868:] + +Dear and respected Sir, + +I thank you sincerely for sending me your 'Migrationsgesetz, etc.,' and +for the very kind and most honourable notice which you have taken of my +works. That a naturalist who has travelled into so many and such distant +regions, and who has studied animals of so many classes, should, to a +considerable extent, agree with me, is, I can assure you, the highest +gratification of which I am capable... Although I saw the effects of +isolation in the case of islands and mountain-ranges, and knew of a few +instances of rivers, yet the greater number of your facts were quite +unknown to me. I now see that from the want of knowledge I did not make +nearly sufficient use of the views which you advocate; and I almost wish +I could believe in its importance to the same extent with you; for you +well show, in a manner which never occurred to me, that it removes many +difficulties and objections. But I must still believe that in many large +areas all the individuals of the same species have been slowly modified, +in the same manner, for instance, as the English race-horse has +been improved, that is by the continued selection of the fleetest +individuals, without any separation. But I admit that by this process +two or more new species could hardly be found within the same limited +area; some degree of separation, if not indispensable, would be highly +advantageous; and here your facts and views will be of great value... + + +[The following letter bears on the same subject. It refers to Professor +M. Wagner's Essay, published in "Das Ausland", May 31, 1875:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MORITZ WAGNER. Down, October 13, 1876. + +Dear Sir, + +I have now finished reading your essays, which have interested me in a +very high degree, notwithstanding that I differ much from you on various +points. For instance, several considerations make me doubt whether +species are much more variable at one period than at another, except +through the agency of changed conditions. I wish, however, that I +could believe in this doctrine, as it removes many difficulties. But +my strongest objection to your theory is that it does not explain the +manifold adaptations in structure in every organic being--for instance +in a Picus for climbing trees and catching insects--or in a Strix for +catching animals at night, and so on ad infinitum. No theory is in the +least satisfactory to me unless it clearly explains such adaptations. I +think that you misunderstand my views on isolation. I believe that all +the individuals of a species can be slowly modified within the same +district, in nearly the same manner as man effects by what I have called +the process of unconscious selection... I do not believe that one species +will give birth to two or more new species as long as they are mingled +together within the same district. Nevertheless I cannot doubt that many +new species have been simultaneously developed within the same large +continental area; and in my 'Origin of Species' I endeavoured to +explain how two new species might be developed, although they met and +intermingled on the BORDERS of their range. It would have been a strange +fact if I had overlooked the importance of isolation, seeing that it was +such cases as that of the Galapagos Archipelago, which chiefly led me +to study the origin of species. In my opinion the greatest error which +I have committed, has been not allowing sufficient weight to the direct +action of the environment, i.e. food, climate, etc., independently +of natural selection. Modifications thus caused, which are neither of +advantage nor disadvantage to the modified organism, would be especially +favoured, as I can now see chiefly through your observations, by +isolation in a small area, where only a few individuals lived under +nearly uniform conditions. + +When I wrote the 'Origin,' and for some years afterwards, I could find +little good evidence of the direct action of the environment; now there +is a large body of evidence, and your case of the Saturnia is one of the +most remarkable of which I have heard. Although we differ so greatly, +I hope that you will permit me to express my respect for your +long-continued and successful labours in the good cause of natural +science. + +I remain, dear Sir, yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The two following letters are also of interest as bearing on my +father's views on the action of isolation as regards the origin of new +species:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO K. SEMPER. Down, November 26, 1878. + +My dear Professor Semper, + +When I published the sixth edition of the 'Origin,' I thought a +good deal on the subject to which you refer, and the opinion therein +expressed was my deliberate conviction. I went as far as I could, +perhaps too far in agreement with Wagner; since that time I have seen no +reason to change my mind, but then I must add that my attention has been +absorbed on other subjects. There are two different classes of cases, as +it appears to me, viz. those in which a species becomes slowly modified +in the same country (of which I cannot doubt there are innumerable +instances) and those cases in which a species splits into two or three +or more new species, and in the latter case, I should think nearly +perfect separation would greatly aid in their "specification," to coin a +new word. + +I am very glad that you are taking up this subject, for you will be sure +to throw much light on it. I remember well, long ago, oscillating much; +when I thought of the Fauna and Flora of the Galapagos Islands I was all +for isolation, when I thought of S. America I doubted much. Pray believe +me, + +Yours very sincerely, + +CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I hope that this letter will not be quite illegible, but I have no +amanuensis at present. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO K. SEMPER. Down, November 30, 1878. + +Dear Professor Semper, + +Since writing I have recalled some of the thoughts and conclusions which +have passed through my mind of late years. In North America, in going +from north to south or from east to west, it is clear that the changed +conditions of life have modified the organisms in the different regions, +so that they now form distinct races or even species. It is further +clear that in isolated districts, however small, the inhabitants almost +always get slightly modified, and how far this is due to the nature of +the slightly different conditions to which they are exposed, and how far +to mere interbreeding, in the manner explained by Weismann, I can +form no opinion. The same difficulty occurred to me (as shown in my +'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication') with respect to +the aboriginal breeds of cattle, sheep, etc., in the separated districts +of Great Britain, and indeed throughout Europe. As our knowledge +advances, very slight differences, considered by systematists as of +no importance in structure, are continually found to be functionally +important; and I have been especially struck with this fact in the case +of plants to which my observations have of late years been confined. +Therefore it seems to me rather rash to consider the slight differences +between representative species, for instance those inhabiting the +different islands of the same archipelago, as of no functional +importance, and as not in any way due to natural selection. With respect +to all adapted structures, and these are innumerable, I cannot see +how M. Wagner's view throws any light, nor indeed do I see at all more +clearly than I did before, from the numerous cases which he has brought +forward, how and why it is that a long isolated form should almost +always become slightly modified. I do not know whether you will care +about hearing my further opinion on the point in question, for as before +remarked I have not attended much of late years to such questions, +thinking it prudent, now that I am growing old, to work at easier +subjects. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +I hope and trust that you will throw light on these points. + +P.S.--I will add another remark which I remember occurred to me when I +first read M. Wagner. When a species first arrives on a small island, +it will probably increase rapidly, and unless all the individuals change +instantaneously (which is improbable in the highest degree), the slowly, +more or less, modifying offspring must intercross one with another, and +with their unmodified parents, and any offspring not as yet modified. +The case will then be like that of domesticated animals which have +slowly become modified, either by the action of the external conditions +or by the process which I have called the UNCONSCIOUS SELECTION by +man--i.e., in contrast with methodical selection. + + +[The letters continue the history of the year 1872, which has been +interrupted by a digression on Isolation.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THE MARQUIS DE SAPORTA. Down, April 8, 1872. + +Dear Sir, + +I thank you very sincerely and feel much honoured by the trouble which +you have taken in giving me your reflections on the origin of Man. It +gratifies me extremely that some parts of my work have interested you, +and that we agree on the main conclusion of the derivation of man from +some lower form. + +I will reflect on what you have said, but I cannot at present give up my +belief in the close relationship of Man to the higher Simiae. I do not +put much trust in any single character, even that of dentition; but +I put the greatest faith in resemblances in many parts of the whole +organisation, for I cannot believe that such resemblances can be due to +any cause except close blood relationship. That man is closely allied to +the higher Simiae is shown by the classification of Linnaeus, who was +so good a judge of affinity. The man who in England knows most about the +structure of the Simiae, namely, Mr. Mivart, and who is bitterly opposed +to my doctrines about the derivation of the mental powers, yet has +publicly admitted that I have not put man too close to the higher +Simiae, as far as bodily structure is concerned. I do not think the +absence of reversions of structure in man is of much weight; C. Vogt, +indeed, argues that [the existence of] Micr-cephalous idiots is a case +of reversion. No one who believes in Evolution will doubt that the +Phocae are descended from some terrestrial Carnivore. Yet no one would +expect to meet with any such reversion in them. The lesser divergence of +character in the races of man in comparison with the species of Simiadae +may perhaps be accounted for by man having spread over the world at a +much later period than did the Simiadae. I am fully prepared to +admit the high antiquity of man; but then we have evidence, in the +Dryopithecus, of the high antiquity of the Anthropomorphous Simiae. + +I am glad to hear that you are at work on your fossil plants, which of +late years have afforded so rich a field for discovery. With my best +thanks for your great kindness, and with much respect, I remain, + +Dear Sir, yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[In April, 1872, he was elected to the Royal Society of Holland, and +wrote to Professor Donders:-- + +"Very many thanks for your letter. The honour of being elected a foreign +member of your Royal Society has pleased me much. The sympathy of his +fellow workers has always appeared to me by far the highest reward +to which any scientific man can look. My gratification has been not a +little increased by first hearing of the honour from you."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO CHAUNCEY WRIGHT. Down, June 3, 1872. + +My dear Sir, + +Many thanks for your article (The proof-sheets of an article which +appeared in the July number of the 'North American Review.' It was a +rejoinder to Mr. Mivart's reply ('North American Review,' April 1872) to +Mr. Chauncey Wright's pamphlet. Chauncey Wright says of it ('Letters,' +page 238):--"It is not properly a rejoinder but a new article, repeating +and expounding some of the points of my pamphlet, and answering some +of Mr. Mivart's replies incidentally.") in the 'North American Review,' +which I have read with great interest. Nothing can be clearer than the +way in which you discuss the permanence or fixity of species. It never +occurred to me to suppose that any one looked at the case as it seems +Mr. Mivart does. Had I read his answer to you, perhaps I should have +perceived this; but I have resolved to waste no more time in reading +reviews of my works or on Evolution, excepting when I hear that they +are good and contain new matter... It is pretty clear that Mr. Mivart has +come to the end of his tether on this subject. + +As your mind is so clear, and as you consider so carefully the meaning +of words, I wish you would take some incidental occasion to consider +when a thing may properly be said to be effected by the will of man. +I have been led to the wish by reading an article by your Professor +Whitney versus Schleicher. He argues, because each step of change in +language is made by the will of man, the whole language so changes; +but I do not think that this is so, as man has no intention or wish +to change the language. It is a parallel case with what I have called +"unconscious selection," which depends on men consciously preserving the +best individuals, and thus unconsciously altering the breed. + +My dear Sir, yours sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[Not long afterwards (September) Mr. Chauncey Wright paid a visit to +Down (Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Brace, who had given much of their lives to +philanthropic work in New York, also paid a visit at Down in this +summer. Some of their work is recorded in Mr. Brace's 'The Dangerous +Classes of New York,' and of this book my father wrote to the author:-- + +"Since you were here my wife has read aloud to me more than half of your +work, and it has interested us both in the highest degree, and we shall +read every word of the remainder. The facts seem to me very well told, +and the inferences very striking. But after all this is but a weak part +of the impression left on our minds by what we have read; for we are +both filled with earnest admiration at the heroic labours of yourself +and others."), which he described in a letter ('Letters, page 246-248.) +to Miss S. Sedgwick (now Mrs. William Darwin): "If you can imagine +me enthusiastic--absolutely and unqualifiedly so, without a BUT or +criticism, then think of my last evening's and this morning's talks with +Mr. Darwin... I was never so worked up in my life, and did not sleep many +hours under the hospitable roof... It would be quite impossible to give +by way of report any idea of these talks before and at and after dinner, +at breakfast, and at leav-taking; and yet I dislike the egotism of +'testifying' like other religious enthusiasts, without any verification, +or hint of similar experience."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO HERBERT SPENCER. Bassett, Southampton, June 10, +[1872]. + +Dear Spencer, + +I dare say you will think me a foolish fellow, but I cannot resist the +wish to express my unbounded admiration of your article ('Mr. Martineau +on Evolution,' by Herbert Spencer, 'Contemporary Review,' July 1872.) +in answer to Mr. Martineau. It is, indeed, admirable, and hardly less +so your second article on Sociology (which, however, I have not yet +finished): I never believed in the reigning influence of great men on +the world's progress; but if asked why I did not believe, I should have +been sorely perplexed to have given a good answer. Every one with eyes +to see and ears to hear (the number, I fear, are not many) ought to bow +their knee to you, and I for one do. + +Believe me, yours most sincerely, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, July 12 [1872]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I must exhale and express my joy at the way in which the newspapers have +taken up your case. I have seen the "Times", the "Daily News", and the +"Pall Mall", and hear that others have taken up the case. + +The Memorial has done great good this way, whatever may be the result in +the action of our wretched Government. On my soul, it is enough to make +one turn into an old honest Tory... + +If you answer this, I shall be sorry that I have relieved my feelings by +writing. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +[The memorial here referred to was addressed to Mr. Gladstone, and was +signed by a number of distinguished men, including Sir Charles Lyell, +Mr. Bentham, Mr. Huxley, and Sir James Paget. It gives a complete +account of the arbitrary and unjust treatment received by Sir J.D. +Hooker at the hands of his official chief, the First Commissioner of +Works. The document is published in full in 'Nature' (July 11, 1872), +and is well worth studying as an example of the treatment which it is +possible for science to receive from officialism. As 'Nature' observes, +it is a paper which must be read with the greatest indignation by +scientific men in every part of the world, and with shame by all +Englishmen. The signatories of the memorial conclude by protesting +against the expected consequences of Sir Joseph Hooker's +persecution--namely his resignation, and the loss of "a man honoured for +his integrity, beloved for his courtesy and kindliness of heart; and who +has spent in the public service not only a stainless but an illustrious +life." + +Happily this misfortune was averted, and Sir Joseph was freed from +further molestation.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, August 3 [1872]. + +My dear Wallace, + +I hate controversy, chiefly perhaps because I do it badly; but as +Dr. Bree accuses you (Mr. Wallace had reviewed Dr. Bree's book, 'An +Exposition of Fallacies in the Hypothesis of Mr. Darwin,' in 'Nature,' +July 25, 1872.) of "blundering," I have thought myself bound to send +the enclosed letter (The letter is as follows:--"Bree on Darwinism." +'Nature,' August 8, 1872. Permit me to state--though the statement is +almost superfluous--that Mr. Wallace, in his review of Dr. Bree's work, +gives with perfect correctness what I intended to express, and what I +believe was expressed clearly, with respect to the probable position +of man in the early part of his pedigree. As I have not seen Dr. Bree's +recent work, and as his letter is unintelligible to me, I cannot even +conjecture how he has so completely mistaken my meaning: but, perhaps, +no one who has read Mr. Wallace's article, or who has read a work +formerly published by Dr. Bree on the same subject as his recent +one, will be surprised at any amount of misunderstanding on his +part.--Charles Darwin. August 3.) to 'Nature,' that is if you in the +least desire it. In this case please post it. If you do not AT ALL wish +it, I should rather prefer not sending it, and in this case please to +tear it up. And I beg you to do the same, if you intend answering Dr. +Bree yourself, as you will do it incomparably better than I should. Also +please tear it up if you don't like the letter. + +My dear Wallace, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, August 28, 1872. + +My dear Wallace, + +I have at last finished the gigantic job of reading Dr. Bastian's book +('The Beginnings of Life.' H.C. Bastian, 1872.) and have been deeply +interested by it. You wished to hear my impression, but it is not worth +sending. + +He seems to me an extremely able man, as, indeed, I thought when I read +his first essay. His general argument in favour of Archebiosis (That is +to say, Spontaneous Generation. For the distinction between Archebiosis +and Heterogenesis, see Bastian, chapter vi.) is wonderfully strong, +though I cannot think much of some few of his arguments. The result +is that I am bewildered and astonished by his statements, but am +not convinced, though, on the whole, it seems to me probable that +Archebiosis is true. I am not convinced, partly I think owing to the +deductive cast of much of his reasoning; and I know not why, but I never +feel convinced by deduction, even in the case of H. Spencer's writings. +If Dr. Bastian's book had been turned upside down, and he had begun with +the various cases of Heterogenesis, and then gone on to organic, +and afterwards to saline solutions, and had then given his general +arguments, I should have been, I believe, much more influenced. +I suspect, however, that my chief difficulty is the effect of old +convictions being stereotyped on my brain. I must have more evidence +that germs, or the minutest fragments of the lowest forms, are always +killed by 212 degrees of Fahr. Perhaps the mere reiteration of the +statements given by Dr. Bastian [by] other men, whose judgment I +respect, and who have worked long on the lower organisms, would suffice +to convince me. Here is a fine confession of intellectual weakness; but +what an inexplicable frame of mind is that of belief! + +As for Rotifers and Tardigrades being spontaneously generated, my mind +can no more digest such statements, whether true or false, than my +stomach can digest a lump of lead. Dr. Bastian is always comparing +Archebiosis, as well as growth, to crystallisation; but, on this view, +a Rotifer or Tardigrade is adapted to its humble conditions of life by +a happy accident, and this I cannot believe... He must have worked with +very impure materials in some cases, as plenty of organisms appeared in +a saline solution not containing an atom of nitrogen. + +I wholly disagree with Dr. Bastian about many points in his latter +chapters. Thus the frequency of generalised forms in the older strata +seems to me clearly to indicate the common descent with divergence of +more recent forms. Notwithstanding all his sneers, I do not strike +my colours as yet about Pangenesis. I should like to live to see +Archebiosis proved true, for it would be a discovery of transcendent +importance; or, if false, I should like to see it disproved, and the +facts otherwise explained; but I shall not live to see all this. If ever +proved, Dr. Bastian will have taken a prominent part in the work. How +grand is the onward rush of science; it is enough to console us for the +many errors which we have committed, and for our efforts being overlaid +and forgotten in the mass of new facts and new views which are daily +turning up. + +This is all I have to say about Dr. Bastian's book, and it certainly has +not been worth saying... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. DE CANDOLLE. Down, December 11, 1872. + +My dear Sir, + +I began reading your new book ('Histoire des Sciences et des Savants.' +1873.) sooner than I intended, and when I once began, I could not stop; +and now you must allow me to thank you for the very great pleasure which +it has given me. I have hardly ever read anything more original +and interesting than your treatment of the causes which favour the +development of scientific men. The whole was quite new to me, and most +curious. When I began your essay I was afraid that you were going to +attack the principle of inheritance in relation to mind, but I soon +found myself fully content to follow you and accept your limitations. I +have felt, of course, special interest in the latter part of your work, +but there was here less novelty to me. In many parts you do me much +honour, and everywhere more than justice. Authors generally like to hear +what points most strike different readers, so I will mention that of +your shorter essays, that on the future prevalence of languages, and on +vaccination interested me the most, as, indeed, did that on statistics, +and free will. Great liability to certain diseases, being probably +liable to atavism, is quite a new idea to me. At page 322 you suggest +that a young swallow ought to be separated, and then let loose in +order to test the power of instinct; but nature annually performs this +experiment, as old cuckoos migrate in England some weeks before the +young birds of the same year. By the way, I have just used the forbidden +word "nature," which, after reading your essay, I almost determined +never to use again. There are very few remarks in your book to which I +demur, but when you back up Asa Gray in saying that all instincts are +congenital habits, I must protest. + +Finally, will you permit me to ask you a question: have you yourself, +or some one who can be quite trusted, observed (page 322) that the +butterflies on the Alps are tamer than those on the lowlands? Do they +belong to the same species? Has this fact been observed with more than +one species? Are they brightly coloured kinds? I am especially curious +about their alighting on the brightly coloured parts of ladies' +dresses, more especially because I have been more than once assured +that butterflies like bright colours, for instance, in India the scarlet +leaves of Poinsettia. + +Once again allow me to thank you for having sent me your work, and for +the very unusual amount of pleasure which I have received in reading it. + +With much respect, I remain, my dear Sir, + +Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The last revise of the 'Expression of the Emotions' was finished on +August 22nd, 1872, and he wrote in his Diary:--"Has taken me about +twelve months." As usual he had no belief in the possibility of the book +being generally successful. The following passage in a letter to Haeckel +gives the impression that he had felt the writing of this book as a +somewhat severe strain:-- + +"I have finished my little book on 'Expression,' and when it is +published in November I will of course send you a copy, in case you +would like to read it for amusement. I have resumed some old botanical +work, and perhaps I shall never again attempt to discuss theoretical +views. + +"I am growing old and weak, and no man can tell when his intellectual +powers begin to fail. Long life and happiness to you for your own sake +and for that of science." + +It was published in the autumn. The edition consisted of 7000, and +of these 5267 copies were sold at Mr. Murray's sale in November. +Two thousand were printed at the end of the year, and this proved a +misfortune, as they did not afterwards sell so rapidly, and thus a mass +of notes collected by the author was never employed for a second edition +during his lifetime. + +Among the reviews of the 'Expression of the Emotions' may be mentioned +the unfavourable notices in the "Athenaeum", November 9, 1872, and the +"Times", December 13, 1872. A good review by Mr. Wallace appeared in the +'Quarterly Journal of Science,' January 1873. Mr. Wallace truly remarks +that the book exhibits certain "characteristics of the author's mind +in an eminent degree," namely, "the insatiable longing to discover the +causes of the varied and complex phenomena presented by living things." +He adds that in the case of the author "the restless curiosity of the +child to know the 'what for?' the 'why?' and the 'how?' of everything" +seems "never to have abated its force." + +A writer in one of the theological reviews describes the book as the +most "powerful and insidious" of all the author's works. + +Professor Alexander Bain criticised the book in a postscript to the +'Senses and the Intellect;' to this essay the following letter refers:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ALEXANDER BAIN. Down, October 9, 1873. + +My dear Sir, + +I am particularly obliged to you for having send me your essay. Your +criticisms are all written in a quite fair spirit, and indeed no one who +knows you or your works would expect anything else. What you say about +the vagueness of what I have called the direct action of the nervous +system, is perfectly just. I felt it so at the time, and even more +of late. I confess that I have never been able fully to grasp your +principle of spontaneity, as well as some other of your points, so as to +apply them to special cases. But as we look at everything from +different points of view, it is not likely that we should agree closely. +(Professor Bain expounded his theory of Spontaneity in the essay here +alluded to. It would be impossible to do justice to it within the limits +of a foot-note. The following quotations may give some notion of it:-- + +"By Spontaneity I understand the readiness to pass into movement in the +absence of all stimulation whatever; the essential requisite being +that the nerve-centres and muscles shall be fresh and vigorous... The +gesticulations and the carols of young and active animals are mere +overflow of nervous energy; and although they are very apt to concur +with pleasing emotion, they have an independent source... They are not +properly movements of expression; they express nothing at all except an +abundant stock of physical power.") + +I have been greatly pleased by what you say about the crying expression +and about blushing. Did you read a review in a late 'Edinburgh?' (The +review on the 'Expression of the Emotions' appeared in the April number +of the 'Edinburgh Review,' 1873. The opening sentence is a fair sample +of the general tone of the article: "Mr. Darwin has added another volume +of amusing stories and grotesque illustrations to the remarkable +series of works already devoted to the exposition and defence of the +evolutionary hypothesis." A few other quotations may be worth giving. +"His one-sided devotion to an a priori scheme of interpretation seems +thus steadily tending to impair the author's hitherto unrivalled powers +as an observer. However this may be, most impartial critics will, we +think, admit that there is a marked falling off both in philosophical +tone and scientific interest in the works produced since Mr. Darwin +committed himself to the crude metaphysical conception so largely +associated with his name." The article is directed against Evolution +as a whole, almost as much as against the doctrines of the book under +discussion. We find throughout plenty of that effective style of +criticism which consists in the use of such expressions as "dogmatism," +"intolerance," "presumptuous," "arrogant." Together with accusations of +such various faults a "virtual abandonment of the inductive method," and +the use of slang and vulgarisms. + +The part of the article which seems to have interested my father is +the discussion on the use which he ought to have made of painting and +sculpture.) It was magnificently contemptuous towards myself and many +others. + +I retain a very pleasant recollection of our sojourn together at that +delightful place, Moor Park. + +With my renewed thanks, I remain, my dear Sir, + +Yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MRS. HALIBURTON. (Mrs. Haliburton was a daughter of +my father's old friend, Mr. Owen of Woodhouse. Her husband, Judge +Haliburton, was the well-known author of 'Sam Slick.') Down, November 1 +[1872]. + +My dear Mrs. Haliburton, + +I dare say you will be surprised to hear from me. My object in writing +now is to say that I have just published a book on the 'Expression of +the Emotions in Man and Animals;' and it has occurred to me that you +might possibly like to read some parts of it; and I can hardly think +that this would have been the case with any of the books which I have +already published. So I send by this post my present book. Although I +have had no communication with you or the other members of your family +for so long a time, no scenes in my whole life pass so frequently or so +vividly before my mind as those which relate to happy old days spent at +Woodhouse. I should very much like to hear a little news about yourself +and the other members of your family, if you will take the trouble +to write to me. Formerly I used to glean some news about you from my +sisters. + +I have had many years of bad health and have not been able to visit +anywhere; and now I feel very old. As long as I pass a perfectly uniform +life, I am able to do some daily work in Natural History, which is still +my passion, as it was in old days, when you used to laugh at me for +collecting beetles with such zeal at Woodhouse. Excepting from my +continued il-health, which has excluded me from society, my life has +been a very happy one; the greatest drawback being that several of my +children have inherited from me feeble health. I hope with all my +heart that you retain, at least to a large extent, the famous "Owen +constitution." With sincere feelings of gratitude and affection for all +bearing the name of Owen, I venture to sign myself, + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MRS. HALIBURTON. Down, November 6 [1872]. + +My dear Sarah, + +I have been very much pleased by your letter, which I must call +charming. I hardly ventured to think that you would have retained a +friendly recollection of me for so many years. Yet I ought to have felt +assured that you would remain as warm-hearted and as true-hearted as +you have ever been from my earliest recollection. I know well how many +grievous sorrows you have gone through; but I am very sorry to hear that +your health is not good. In the spring or summer, when the weather is +better, if you can summon up courage to pay us a visit here, both my +wife, as she desires me to say, and myself, would be truly glad to see +you, and I know that you would not care about being rather dull here. It +would be a real pleasure to me to see you.--Thank you much for telling +about your family,--much of which was new to me. How kind you all were +to me as a boy, and you especially, and how much happiness I owe to you. +Believe me your affectionate and obliged friend, + +CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--Perhaps you would like to see a photograph of me now that I am +old. + + +1873. + +[The only work (other than botanical) of this year was the preparation +of a second edition of the 'Descent of Man,' the publication of which +is referred to in the following chapter. This work was undertaken +much against the grain, as he was at the time deeply immersed in the +manuscript of 'Insectivorous Plants.' Thus he wrote to Mr. Wallace +(November 19), "I never in my lifetime regretted an interruption so much +as this new edition of the 'Descent.'" And later (in December) he wrote +to Mr. Huxley: "The new edition of the 'Descent' has turned out an awful +job. It took me ten days merely to glance over letters and reviews with +criticisms and new facts. It is a devil of a job." + +The work was continued until April 1, 1874, when he was able to return +to his much loved Drosera. He wrote to Mr. Murray:-- + +"I have at last finished, after above three months as hard work as I +have ever had in my life, a corrected edition of the 'Descent,' and I +much wish to have it printed off as soon as possible. As it is to be +stereotyped I shall never touch it again." + +The first of the miscellaneous letters of 1873 refers to a pleasant +visit received from Colonel Higginson of Newport, U.S.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THOS. WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. Down, February 27th [1873]. + +My dear Sir, + +My wife has just finished reading aloud your 'Life with a Black +Regiment,' and you must allow me to thank you heartily for the very +great pleasure which it has in many ways given us. I always thought well +of the negroes, from the little which I have seen of them; and I +have been delighted to have my vague impressions confirmed, and their +character and mental powers so ably discussed. When you were here I did +not know of the noble position which you had filled. I had formerly read +about the black regiments, but failed to connect your name with your +admirable undertaking. Although we enjoyed greatly your visit to Down, +my wife and myself have over and over again regretted that we did not +know about the black regiment, as we should have greatly liked to have +heard a little about the South from your own lips. + +Your descriptions have vividly recalled walks taken forty years ago in +Brazil. We have your collected Essays, which were kindly sent us by Mr. +[Moncure] Conway, but have not yet had time to read them. I occasionally +glean a little news of you in the 'Index'; and within the last hour have +read an interesting article of yours on the progress of Free Thought. + +Believe me, my dear sir, with sincere admiration, Yours very faithfully, +CH. DARWIN. + + +[On May 28th he sent the following answers to the questions that Mr. +Galton was at that time addressing to various scientific men, in the +course of the inquiry which is given in his 'English Men of Science, +their Nature and Nurture,' 1874. With regard to the questions my father +wrote, "I have filled up the answers as well as I could, but it is +simply impossible for me to estimate the degrees." For the sake of +convenience, the questions and answers relating to "Nurture" are made to +precede those on "Nature": + + +NURTURE. + +EDUCATION? + +How taught? I consider that all I have learnt of any value has been +sel-taught. + +Conducive to or restrictive of habits of observation? Restrictive of +observation, being almost entirely classical. + +Conducive to health or otherwise? Yes. + +Peculiar merits? None whatever. + +Chief omissions? No mathematics or modern languages, nor any habits of +observation or reasoning. + +RELIGION. + +Has the religious creed taught in your youth had any deterrent effect on +the freedom of your researches? No. + +SCIENTIFIC TASTES. + +Do your scientific tastes appear to have been innate? Certainly innate. + +Were they determined by any and what events? My innate taste for natural +history strongly confirmed and directed by the voyage in the "Beagle". + + +NATURE. + +Specify any interests that have been very actively pursued. Science, and +field sports to a passionate degree during youth. + +(C.D. = CHARLES DARWIN, R.D. = ROBERT DARWIN, his father.) + +RELIGION? + +C.D.--Nominally to Church of England. R.D.--Nominally to Church of +England. + +POLITICS? + +C.D.--Liberal or Radical. R.D.--Liberal. + +HEALTH? + +C.D.--Good when young--bad for last 33 years. R.D.--Good throughout +life, except from gout. + +HEIGHT, ETC? + +C.D.--6ft. Figure, etc.?--Spare, whilst young rather stout. +Measurement round inside of hat?--22 1/4 in. Colour of Hair?--Brown. +Complexion?--Rather sallow. R.D.--6ft. 2 in. Figure, etc?--Very broad +and corpulent. Colour of hair? --Brown. Complexion?--Ruddy. + +TEMPERAMENT? + +C.D.--Somewhat nervous. R.D.--Sanguine. + +ENERGY OF BODY, ETC.? + +C.D.--Energy shown by much activity, and whilst I had health, power of +resisting fatigue. I and one other man were alone able to fetch water +for a large party of officers and sailors utterly prostrated. Some of +my expeditions in S. America were adventurous. An early riser in the +morning. R.D.--Great power of endurance although feeling much +fatigue, as after consultations after long journeys; very active--not +restless--very early riser, no travels. My father said his father +suffered much from sense of fatigue, that he worked very hard. + +ENERGY OF MIND, ETC.? + +C.D.--Shown by rigorous and long-continued work on same subject, as +20 years on the 'Origin of Species,' and 9 years on 'Cirripedia.' +R.D.--Habitually very active mind--shown in conversation with a +succession of people during the whole day. + +MEMORY? + +C.D.--Memory very bad for dates, and for learning by rote; but good in +retaining a general or vague recollection of many facts. R.D.--Wonderful +memory for dates. In old age he told a person, reading aloud to him +a book only read in youth, the passages which were coming--knew the +birthdays and death, etc., of all friends and acquaintances. + +STUDIOUSNESS? + +C.D.--Very studious, but not large acquirements. R.D.--Not very studious +or mentally receptive, except for facts in conversation--great collector +of anecdotes. + +INDEPENDENCE OF JUDGMENT? + +C.D.--I think fairly independent; but I can give no instances. I gave +up common religious belief almost independently from my own reflections. +R.D.--Free thinker in religious matters. Liberal, with rather a tendency +to Toryism. + +ORIGINALITY OR ECCENTRICITY? + +C.D.-- -- Thinks this applies to me; I do not think so--i.e., as far as +eccentricity. I suppose that I have shown originality in science, as +I have made discoveries with regard to common objects. R.D.--Original +character, had great personal influence and power of producing fear of +himself in others. He kept his accounts with great care in a peculiar +way, in a number of separate little books, without any general ledger. + +SPECIAL TALENTS? + +C.D.--None, except for business as evinced by keeping accounts, replies +to correspondence, and investing money very well. Very methodical in all +my habits. R.D.--Practical business--made a large fortune and incurred +no losses. + +STRONGLY MARKED MENTAL PECULIARITIES, BEARING ON SCIENTIFIC SUCCESS, AND +NOT SPECIFIED ABOVE? + +C.D.--Steadiness--great curiosity about facts and their meaning. Some +love of the new and marvellous. R.D.--Strong social affection and great +sympathy in the pleasures of others. Sceptical as to new things. Curious +as to facts. Great foresight. Not much public spirit--great generosity +in giving money and assistance. + +N.B.--I find it quite impossible to estimate my character by your +degrees. + + +The following letter refers inter alia to a letter which appeared in +'Nature' (September 25, 1873), "On the Males and Complemental Males of +certain Cirripedes, and on Rudimentary Organs:"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E. HAECKEL. Down, September 25, 1873. + +My dear Haeckel, + +I thank you for the present of your book ('Schopfungs-geschichte,' 4th +edition. The translation ('The History of Creation') was not published +until 1876.), and I am heartily glad to see its great success. You will +do a wonderful amount of good in spreading the doctrine of Evolution, +supporting it as you do by so many original observations. I have read +the new preface with very great interest. The delay in the appearance +of the English translation vexes and surprises me, for I have never been +able to read it thoroughly in German, and I shall assuredly do so when +it appears in English. Has the problem of the later stages of reduction +of useless structures ever perplexed you? This problem has of late +caused me much perplexity. I have just written a letter to 'Nature' with +a hypothetical explanation of this difficulty, and I will send you the +paper with the passage marked. I will at the same time send a paper +which has interested me; it need not be returned. It contains a singular +statement bearing on so-called Spontaneous Generation. I much wish that +this latter question could be settled, but I see no prospect of it. If +it could be proved true this would be most important to us... + +Wishing you every success in your admirable labours, + +I remain, my dear Haeckel, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.VIII. -- MISCELLANEA + +INCLUDING SECOND EDITIONS OF 'CORAL REEFS,' THE 'DESCENT OF +MAN,' AND THE 'VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS.' + +1874 AND 1875. + +[The year 1874 was given up to 'Insectivorous Plants,' with the +exception of the months devoted to the second edition of the 'Descent +of Man,' and with the further exception of the time given to a second +edition of his 'Coral Reefs' (1874). The Preface to the latter states +that new facts have been added, the whole book revised, and "the latter +chapters almost rewritten." In the Appendix some account is given +of Professor Semper's objections, and this was the occasion of +correspondence between that naturalist and my father. In Professor +Semper's volume, 'Animal Life' (one of the International Series), the +author calls attention to the subject in the following passage which I +give in German, the published English translation being, as it seems to +me, incorrect: "Es scheint mir als ob er in der zweiten Ausgabe seines +allgemein bekannten Werks uber Korallenriffe einem Irrthume uber meine +Beobachtungen zum Opfer gefallen ist, indem er die Angaben, die ich +allerdings bisher immer nur sehr kurz gehalten hatte, vollstandig falsch +wiedergegeben hat." + +The proof-sheets containing this passage were sent by Professor Semper +to my father before 'Animal Life' was published, and this was the +occasion for the following letter, which was afterwards published in +Professor Semper's book.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO K. SEMPER. Down, October 2, 1879. + +My dear Professor Semper, + +I thank you for your extremely kind letter of the 19th, and for the +proo-sheets. I believe that I understand all, excepting one or two +sentences, where my imperfect knowledge of German has interfered. This +is my sole and poor excuse for the mistake which I made in the second +edition of my 'Coral' book. Your account of the Pellew Islands is a fine +addition to our knowledge on coral reefs. I have very little to say +on the subject, even if I had formerly read your account and seen your +maps, but had known nothing of the proofs of recent elevation, and of +your belief that the islands have not since subsided. I have no doubt +that I should have considered them as formed during subsidence. But I +should have been much troubled in my mind by the sea not being so deep +as it usually is round atolls, and by the reef on one side sloping so +gradually beneath the sea; for this latter fact, as far as my memory +serves me, is a very unusual and almost unparalleled case. I always +foresaw that a bank at the proper depth beneath the surface would give +rise to a reef which could not be distinguished from an atoll, formed +during subsidence. I must still adhere to my opinion that the atolls and +barrier reefs in the middle of the Pacific and Indian Oceans indicate +subsidence; but I fully agree with you that such cases as that of the +Pellew Islands, if of at all frequent occurrence, would make my general +conclusions of very little value. Future observers must decide between +us. It will be a strange fact if there has not been subsidence of the +beds of the great oceans, and if this has not affected the forms of the +coral reefs. + +In the last three pages of the last sheet sent I am extremely glad +to see that you are going to treat of the dispersion of animals. Your +preliminary remarks seem to me quite excellent. There is nothing about +M. Wagner, as I expected to find. I suppose that you have seen Moseley's +last book, which contains some good observations on dispersion. + +I am glad that your book will appear in English, for then I can read it +with ease. Pray believe me, + +Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The most recent criticism on the Coral-reef theory is by Mr. Murray, +one of the staff of the "Challenger", who read a paper before the Royal +Society of Edinburgh, April 5, 1880. (An abstract is published in volume +x. of the 'Proceedings,' page 505, and in 'Nature,' August 12, 1880.) +The chief point brought forward is the possibility of the building up of +submarine mountains, which may serve as foundations for coral reefs. Mr. +Murray also seeks to prove that "the chief features of coral reefs and +islands can be accounted for without calling in the aid of great and +general subsidence." The following letter refers to this subject:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. AGASSIZ. Down, May 5, 1881. + +... You will have seen Mr. Murray's views on the formation of atolls and +barrier reefs. Before publishing my book, I thought long over the same +view, but only as far as ordinary marine organisms are concerned, for at +that time little was known of the multitude of minute oceanic organisms. +I rejected this view, as from the few dredgings made in the "Beagle", +in the south temperate regions, I concluded that shells, the smaller +corals, etc., decayed, and were dissolved, when not protected by the +deposition of sediment, and sediment could not accumulate in the open +ocean. Certainly, shells, etc., were in several cases completely rotten, +and crumbled into mud between my fingers; but you will know well whether +this is in any degree common. I have expressly said that a bank at +the proper depth would give rise to an atoll, which could not be +distinguished from one formed during subsidence. I can, however, hardly +believe in the former presence of as many banks (there having been no +subsidence) as there are atolls in the great oceans, within a reasonable +depth, on which minute oceanic organisms could have accumulated to the +thickness of many hundred feet... Pray forgive me for troubling you at +such length, but it has occurred [to me] that you might be disposed +to give, after your wide experience, your judgment. If I am wrong, the +sooner I am knocked on the head and annihilated so much the better. It +still seems to me a marvellous thing that there should not have been +much, and long continued, subsidence in the beds of the great oceans. +I wish that some doubly rich millionaire would take it into his head to +have borings made in some of the Pacific and Indian atolls, and bring +home cores for slicing from a depth of 500 or 600 feet... + + +[The second edition of the 'Descent of Man' was published in the autumn +of 1874. Some severe remarks on the "monistic hypothesis" appeared in +the July (The review necessarily deals with the first edition of the +'Descent of Man.') number of the 'Quarterly Review' (page 45). The +Reviewer expresses his astonishment at the ignorance of certain +elementary distinctions and principles (e.g. with regard to the verbum +mentale) exhibited, among others, by Mr. Darwin, who does not exhibit +the faintest indication of having grasped them, yet a clear perception +of them, and a direct and detailed examination of his facts with regard +to them, "was a sine qua non for attempting, with a chance of success, +the solution of the mystery as to the descent of man." + +Some further criticisms of a later date may be here alluded to. In the +'Academy,' 1876 (pages 562, 587), appeared a review of Mr. Mivart's +'Lessons from Nature,' by Mr. Wallace. When considering the part of +Mr. Mivart's book relating to Natural and Sexual Selection, Mr. Wallace +says: "In his violent attack on Mr. Darwin's theories our author uses +unusually strong language. Not content with mere argument, he expresses +'reprobation of Mr. Darwin's views'; and asserts that though he (Mr. +Darwin) has been obliged, virtually, to give up his theory, it is still +maintained by Darwinians with 'unscrupulous audacity,' and the actual +repudiation of it concealed by the 'conspiracy of silence.'" Mr. Wallace +goes on to show that these charges are without foundation, and points +out that, "if there is one thing more than another for which Mr. Darwin +is pre-eminent among modern literary and scientific men, it is for his +perfect literary honesty, his self-abnegation in confessing himself +wrong, and the eager haste with which he proclaims and even magnifies +small errors in his works, for the most part discovered by himself." + +The following extract from a letter to Mr. Wallace (June 17th) refers to +Mr. Mivart's statement ('Lessons from Nature,' page 144) that Mr. Darwin +at first studiously disguised his views as to the "bestiality of man":-- + +"I have only just heard of and procured your two articles in the +Academy. I thank you most cordially for your generous defence of me +against Mr. Mivart. In the 'Origin' I did not discuss the derivation +of any one species; but that I might not be accused of concealing my +opinion, I went out of my way, and inserted a sentence which seemed to +me (and still so seems) to disclose plainly my belief. This was quoted +in my 'Descent of Man.' Therefore it is very unjust,... of Mr. Mivart to +accuse me of base fraudulent concealment." + +The letter which here follows is of interest in connection with the +discussion, in the 'Descent of Man,' on the origin of the musical sense +in man:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E. GURNEY. (Author of 'The Power of Sound.') Down, +July 8, 1876. + +My dear Mr. Gurney, + +I have read your article ("Some disputed Points in Music."--'Fortnightly +Review,' July, 1876.) with much interest, except the latter part, which +soared above my ken. I am greatly pleased that you uphold my views to +a certain extent. Your criticism of the rasping noise made by insects +being necessarily rhythmical is very good; but though not made +intentionally, it may be pleasing to the females from the nerve cells +being nearly similar in function throughout the animal kingdom. With +respect to your letter, I believe that I understand your meaning, and +agree with you. I never supposed that the different degrees and kinds of +pleasure derived from different music could be explained by the musical +powers of our semi-human progenitors. Does not the fact that different +people belonging to the same civilised nation are very differently +affected by the same music, almost show that these diversities of taste +and pleasure have been acquired during their individual lives? Your +simile of architecture seems to me particularly good; for in this case +the appreciation almost must be individual, though possibly the sense +of sublimity excited by a grand cathedral, may have some connection with +the vague feelings of terror and superstition in our savage ancestors, +when they entered a great cavern or gloomy forest. I wish some one could +analyse the feeling of sublimity. It amuses me to think how horrified +some high flying aesthetic men will be at your encouraging such low +degraded views as mine. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The letters which follow are of a miscellaneous interest. The first +extract (from a letter, January 18, 1874) refers to a spiritualistic +seance, held at Erasmus Darwin's house, 6 Queen Anne Street, under the +auspices of a well-known medium:] + + +"... We had grand fun, one afternoon, for George hired a medium, who +made the chairs, a flute, a bell, and candlestick, and fiery points jump +about in my brother's diningroom, in a manner that astounded every one, +and took away all their breaths. It was in the dark, but George and +Hensleigh Wedgwood held the medium's hands and feet on both sides all +the time. I found it so hot and tiring that I went away before all these +astounding miracles, or jugglery, took place. How the man could possibly +do what was done passes my understanding. I came downstairs, and saw all +the chairs, etc., on the table, which had been lifted over the heads of +those sitting round it. + +The Lord have mercy on us all, if we have to believe in such rubbish. F. +Galton was there, and says it was a good seance..." + +The Seance in question led to a smaller and more carefully organised +one being undertaken, at which Mr. Huxley was present, and on which he +reported to my father:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO PROFESSOR T.H. HUXLEY. Down, January 29 [1874]. + +My dear Huxley, + +It was very good of you to write so long an account. Though the seance +did tire you so much it was, I think, really worth the exertion, as the +same sort of things are done at all the seances, even at --'s; and now +to my mind an enormous weight of evidence would be requisite to make one +believe in anything beyond mere trickery... I am pleased to think that +I declared to all my family, the day before yesterday, that the more +I thought of all that I had heard happened at Queen Anne St., the more +convinced I was it was all imposture... my theory was that [the medium] +managed to get the two men on each side of him to hold each other's +hands, instead of his, and that he was thus free to perform his antics. +I am very glad that I issued my ukase to you to attend. + +Yours affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In the spring of this year (1874) he read a book which gave him great +pleasure and of which he often spoke with admiration:--'The Naturalist +in Nicaragua,' by the late Thomas Belt. Mr. Belt, whose untimely death +may well be deplored by naturalists, was by profession an Engineer, so +that all his admirable observations in Natural History in Nicaragua and +elsewhere were the fruit of his leisure. The book is direct and vivid +in style and is full of description and suggestive discussions. With +reference to it my father wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"Belt I have read, and I am delighted that you like it so much, it +appears to me the best of all natural history journals which have ever +been published."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THE MARQUIS DE SAPORTA. Down, May 30, 1874. + +Dear Sir, + +I have been very neglectful in not having sooner thanked you for your +kindness in having sent me your 'Etudes sur la Vegetation,' etc., and +other memoirs. I have read several of them with very great interest, and +nothing can be more important, in my opinion, than your evidence of +the extremely slow and gradual manner in which specific forms change. I +observe that M. A. De Candolle has lately quoted you on this head versus +Heer. I hope that you may be able to throw light on the question whether +such protean, or polymorphic forms, as those of Rubus, Hieracium, etc., +at the present day, are those which generate new species; as for myself, +I have always felt some doubt on this head. I trust that you may soon +bring many of your countrymen to believe in Evolution, and my name +will then perhaps cease to be scorned. With the most sincere respect, I +remain, Dear Sir, + +Yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 5 [1874]. + +My dear Gray, + +I have now read your article (The article, "Charles Darwin," in the +series of "Scientific Worthies" ('Nature,' June 4, 1874). This admirable +estimate of my father's work in science is given in the form of a +comparison and contrast between Robert Brown and Charles Darwin.) in +'Nature,' and the last two paragraphs were not included in the slip sent +before. I wrote yesterday and cannot remember exactly what I said, and +now cannot be easy without again telling you how profoundly I have been +gratified. Every one, I suppose, occasionally thinks that he has worked +in vain, and when one of these fits overtakes me, I will think of your +article, and if that does not dispel the evil spirit, I shall know that +I am at the time a little bit insane, as we all are occasionally. + +What you say about Teleology ("Let us recognise Darwin's great service +to Natural Science in bringing back to it Teleology: so that instead +of Morphology versus Teleology, we shall have Morphology wedded to +Teleology.") pleases me especially, and I do not think any one else +has ever noticed the point. (See, however, Mr. Huxley's chapter on the +'Reception of the Origin of Species' in volume i.) I have always said +you were the man to hit the nail on the head. + +Yours gratefully and affectionately, CH. DARWIN. + + +[As a contribution to the history of the reception of the 'Origin of +Species,' the meeting of the British Association in 1874, at Belfast, +should be mentioned. It is memorable for Professor Tyndall's brilliant +presidential address, in which a sketch of the history of Evolution is +given culminating in an eloquent analysis of the 'Origin of Species,' +and of the nature of its great success. With regard to Prof. Tyndall's +address, Lyell wrote ('Life,' ii. page 455) congratulating my father on +the meeting, "on which occasion you and your theory of Evolution may +be fairly said to have had an ovation." In the same letter Sir Charles +speaks of a paper (On the Ancient Volcanoes of the Highlands, 'Journal +of Geological Soc.,' 1874.) of Professor Judd's, and it is to this that +the following letter refers:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, September 23, 1874. + +My dear Lyell, + +I suppose that you have returned, or will soon return, to London (Sir +Charles Lyell returned from Scotland towards the end of September.); +and, I hope, reinvigorated by your outing. In your last letter you +spoke of Mr. Judd's paper on the Volcanoes of the Hebrides. I have just +finished it, and to ease my mind must express my extreme admiration. + +It is years since I have read a purely geological paper which has +interested me so greatly. I was all the more interested, as in the +Cordillera I often speculated on the sources of the deluges of submarine +porphyritic lavas, of which they are built; and, as I have stated, I +saw to a certain extent the causes of the obliteration of the points +of eruption. I was also not a little pleased to see my volcanic book +quoted, for I thought it was completely dead and forgotten. What fine +work will Mr. Judd assuredly do!... Now I have eased my mind; and so +farewell, with both E.D.'s and C.D.'s very kind remembrances to Miss +Lyell. + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[Sir Charles Lyell's reply to the above letter must have been one of the +latest that my father received from his old friend, and it is with this +letter that the volumes of his published correspondence closes.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO AUG. FOREL. Down, October 15, 1874. + +My dear Sir, + +I have now read the whole of your admirable work ('Les Fourmis de la +Suisse,' 4to, 1874.) and seldom in my life have I been more interested +by any book. There are so many interesting facts and discussions, that I +hardly know which to specify; but I think, firstly, the newest points +to me have been about the size of the brain in the three sexes, together +with your suggestion that increase of mind power may have led to the +sterility of the workers. Secondly about the battles of the ants, and +your curious account of the enraged ants being held by their comrades +until they calmed down. Thirdly, the evidence of ants of the same +community being the offspring of brothers and sisters. You admit, I +think, that new communities will often be the product of a cross between +not-related ants. Fritz Muller has made some interesting observations +on this head with respect to Termites. The case of Anergates is most +perplexing in many ways, but I have such faith in the law of occasional +crossing that I believe an explanation will hereafter be found, such +as the dimorphism of either sex and the occasional production of +winged males. I see that you are puzzled how ants of the same community +recognize each other; I once placed two (F. rufa) in a pill-box smelling +strongly of asafoetida and after a day returned them to their homes; +they were threatened, but at last recognized. I made the trial thinking +that they might know each other by their odour; but this cannot have +been the case, and I have often fancied that they must have some common +signal. Your last chapter is one great mass of wonderful facts and +suggestions, and the whole profoundly interesting. I have seldom been +more gratified than by [your] honourable mention of my work. + +I should like to tell you one little observation which I made with care +many years ago; I saw ants (Formica rufa) carrying cocoons from a nest +which was the largest I ever saw and which was well-known to all the +country people near, and an old man, apparently about eighty years of +age, told me that he had known it ever since he was a boy. The ants +carrying the cocoons did not appear to be emigrating; following the +line, I saw many ascending a tall fir tree still carrying their cocoons. +But when I looked closely I found that all the cocoons were empty cases. +This astonished me, and next day I got a man to observe with me, and we +again saw ants bringing empty cocoons out of the nest; each of us fixed +on one ant and slowly followed it, and repeated the observation on many +others. We thus found that some ants soon dropped their empty cocoons; +others carried them for many yards, as much as thirty paces, and others +carried them high up the fir tree out of sight. Now here I think we +have one instinct in contest with another and mistaken one. The first +instinct being to carry the empty cocoons out of the nest, and it would +have been sufficient to have laid them on the heap of rubbish, as the +first breath of wind would have blown them away. And then came in the +contest with the other very powerful instinct of preserving and carrying +their cocoons as long as possible; and this they could not help doing +although the cocoons were empty. According as the one or other instinct +was the stronger in each individual ant, so did it carry the empty +cocoon to a greater or less distance. If this little observation should +ever prove of any use to you, you are quite at liberty to use it. Again +thanking you cordially for the great pleasure which your work has given +me, I remain with much respect, + +Yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--If you read English easily I should like to send you Mr. Belt's +book, as I think you would like it as much as did Fritz Muller. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. FISKE. Down, December 8, 1874. + +My dear Sir, + +You must allow me to thank you for the very great interest with which +I have at last slowly read the whole of your work. ('Outlines of Cosmic +Philosophy,' 2 volumes, 8vo. 1874.) I have long wished to know something +about the views of the many great men whose doctrines you give. With +the exception of special points I did not even understand H. Spencer's +general doctrine; for his style is too hard work for me. I never in my +life read so lucid an expositor (and therefore thinker) as you are; and +I think that I understand nearly the whole--perhaps less clearly about +Cosmic Theism and Causation than other parts. It is hopeless to attempt +out of so much to specify what has interested me most, and probably you +would not care to hear. I wish some chemist would attempt to ascertain +the result of the cooling of heated gases of the proper kinds, in +relation to your hypothesis of the origin of living matter. It pleased +me to find that here and there I had arrived from my own crude thoughts +at some of the same conclusions with you; though I could seldom or never +have given my reasons for such conclusions. I find that my mind is +so fixed by the inducive method, that I cannot appreciate deductive +reasoning: I must begin with a good body of facts and not from a +principle (in which I always suspect some fallacy) and then as much +deduction as you please. This may be very narrow-minded; but the result +is that such parts of H. Spencer, as I have read with care impress my +mind with the idea of his inexhaustible wealth of suggestion, but never +convince me; and so I find it with some others. I believe the cause to +lie in the frequency with which I have found first-formed theories [to +be] erroneous. I thank you for the honourable mention which you make +of my works. Parts of the 'Descent of Man' must have appeared laughably +weak to you: nevertheless, I have sent you a new edition just published. +Thanking you for the profound interest and profit with which I have read +your work. I remain, + +My dear Sir, yours very faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +1875. + +[The only work, not purely botanical, which occupied my father in the +present year was the correction of the second edition of 'The Variation +of Animals and Plants,' and on this he was engaged from the beginning of +July till October 3rd. The rest of the year was taken up with his work +on insectivorous plants, and on cross-fertilisation, as will be shown in +a later chapter. The chief alterations in the second edition of 'Animals +and Plants' are in the eleventh chapter on "Bud-variation and on certain +anomalous modes of reproduction;" the chapter on Pangenesis "was also +largely altered and remodelled." He mentions briefly some of the authors +who have noticed the doctrine. Professor Delpino's 'Sulla Darwiniana +Teoria della Pangenesi' (1869), an adverse but fair criticism, seems +to have impressed him as valuable. Of another critique my father +characteristically says ('Animals and Plants,' 2nd edition volume ii. +page 350.), "Dr. Lionel Beale ('Nature,' May 11, 1871, page 26) sneers +at the whole doctrine with much acerbity and some justice." He also +points out that, in Mantegazza's 'Elementi di Igiene,' the theory of +Pangenesis was clearly foreseen. + +In connection with this subject, a letter of my father's to 'Nature' +(April 27, 1871) should be mentioned. A paper by Mr. Galton had been +read before the Royal Society (March 30, 1871) in which were described +experiments, on intertransfusion of blood, designed to test the truth of +the hypothesis of pangenesis. My father, while giving all due credit to +Mr. Galton for his ingenious experiments, does not allow that pangenesis +has "as yet received its death-blow, though from presenting so many +vulnerable points its life is always in jeopardy." + +He seems to have found the work of correcting very wearisome, for he +wrote:-- + +"I have no news about myself, as I am merely slaving over the sickening +work of preparing new editions. I wish I could get a touch of poor +Lyell's feelings, that it was delightful to improve a sentence, like a +painter improving a picture." + +The feeling of effort or strain over this piece of work, is shown in a +letter to Professor Haeckel:-- + +"What I shall do in future if I live, Heaven only knows; I ought perhaps +to avoid general and large subjects, as too difficult for me with my +advancing years, and I suppose enfeebled brain." + +At the end of March, in this year, the portrait for which he was sitting +to Mr. Ouless was finished. He felt the sittings a great fatigue, in +spite of Mr. Ouless's considerate desire to spare him as far as was +possible. In a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker he wrote, "I look a very +venerable, acute, melancholy old dog; whether I really look so I do not +know." The picture is in the possession of the family, and is known +to many through M. Rajon's etching. Mr. Ouless's portrait is, in my +opinion, the finest representation of my father that has been produced. + +The following letter refers to the death of Sir Charles Lyell, which +took place on February 22nd, 1875, in his seventy-eighth year.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS BUCKLEY (NOW MRS. FISHER). (Mrs. Fisher acted as +Secretary to Sir Charles Lyell.) Down, February 23, 1875. + +My dear Miss Buckley, + +I am grieved to hear of the death of my old and kind friend, though I +knew that it could not be long delayed, and that it was a happy thing +that his life should not have been prolonged, as I suppose that his mind +would inevitably have suffered. I am glad that Lady Lyell (Lady Lyell +died in 1873.) has been saved this terrible blow. His death makes me +think of the time when I first saw him, and how full of sympathy and +interest he was about what I could tell him of coral reefs and South +America. I think that this sympathy with the work of every other +naturalist was one of the finest features of his character. How +completely he revolutionised Geology: for I can remember something of +pre-Lyellian days. + +I never forget that almost everything which I have done in science I +owe to the study of his great works. Well, he has had a grand and happy +career, and no one ever worked with a truer zeal in a noble cause. It +seems strange to me that I shall never again sit with him and Lady Lyell +at their breakfast. I am very much obliged to you for having so kindly +written to me. + +Pray give our kindest remembrances to Miss Lyell, and I hope that she +has not suffered much in health, from fatigue and anxiety. + +Believe me, my dear Miss Buckley, Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, February 25 [1875]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Your letter so full of feeling has interested me greatly. I cannot say +that I felt his [Lyell's] death much, for I fully expected it, and have +looked for some little time at his career as finished. + +I dreaded nothing so much as his surviving with impaired mental powers. +He was, indeed, a noble man in very many ways; perhaps in none more than +in his warm sympathy with the work of others. How vividly I can recall +my first conversation with him, and how he astonished me by his interest +in what I told him. How grand also was his candour and pure love of +truth. Well, he is gone, and I feel as if we were all soon to go... I +am deeply rejoiced about Westminster Abbey (Sir C. Lyell was buried in +Westminster Abbey.), the possibility of which had not occurred to me +when I wrote before. I did think that his works were the most enduring +of all testimonials (as you say) to him; but then I did not like the +idea of his passing away with no outward sign of what scientific men +thought of his merits. Now all this is changed, and nothing can be +better than Westminster Abbey. Mrs. Lyell has asked me to be one of the +pall-bearers, but I have written to say that I dared not, as I should so +likely fail in the midst of the ceremony, and have my head whirling off +my shoulders. All this affair must have cost you much fatigue and worry, +and how I do wish you were out of England... + + +[In 1881 he wrote to Mrs. Fisher in reference to her article on Sir +Charles Lyell in the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica':-- + +"For such a publication I suppose you do not want to say much about +his private character, otherwise his strong sense of humour and love of +society might have been added. Also his extreme interest in the progress +of the world, and in the happiness of mankind. Also his freedom from all +religious bigotry, though these perhaps would be a superfluity." + + +The following refers to the Zoological station at Naples, a subject on +which my father felt an enthusiastic interest:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ANTON DOHRN. Down, [1875?]. + +My dear Dr. Dohrn, + +Many thanks for your most kind letter, I most heartily rejoice at your +improved health and at the success of your grand undertaking, which will +have so much influence on the progress of Zoology throughout Europe. + +If we look to England alone, what capital work has already been done at +the Station by Balfour and Ray Lankester... When you come to England, I +suppose that you will bring Mrs. Dohrn, and we shall be delighted to see +you both here. I have often boasted that I have had a live Uhlan in my +house! It will be very interesting to me to read your new views on the +ancestry of the Vertebrates. I shall be sorry to give up the Ascidians, +to whom I feel profound gratitude; but the great thing, as it appears to +me, is that any link whatever should be found between the main divisions +of the Animal Kingdom... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO AUGUST WEISMANN. Down, December 6, 1875. + +My dear Sir, + +I have been profoundly interested by your essay on Amblystoma +('Umwandlung des Axolotl.'), and think that you have removed a great +stumbling block in the way of Evolution. I once thought of reversion in +this case; but in a crude and imperfect manner. I write now to call your +attention to the sterility of moths when hatched out of their proper +season; I give references in chapter 18 of my 'Variation under +Domestication' (volume ii. page 157, of English edition), and these +cases illustrate, I think, the sterility of Amblystoma. Would it not be +worth while to examine the reproductive organs of those individuals of +WINGLESS Hemiptera which occasionally have wings, as in the case of the +bed-bug. I think I have heard that the females of Mutilla sometimes have +wings. These cases must be due to reversion. I dare say many anomalous +cases will be hereafter explained on the same principle. + +I hinted at this explanation in the extraordinary case of the +blac-shouldered peacock, the so-called Pavo nigripennis given in my +'Variation under Domestication;' and I might have been bolder, as the +variety is in many respects intermediate between the two known species. + +With much respect, Yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +THE VIVISECTION QUESTION. + +[It was in November 1875 that my father gave his evidence before the +Royal Commission on Vivisection. (See volume i.) I have, therefore, +placed together here the matter relating to this subject, irrespective +of date. Something has already been said of my father's strong feeling +with regard to suffering both in man and beast. It was indeed one of the +strongest feelings in his nature, and was exemplified in matters small +and great, in his sympathy with the educational miseries of dancing +dogs, or in his horror at the sufferings of slaves. (He once made an +attempt to free a patient in a mad-house, who (as he wrongly supposed) +was sane. He had some correspondence with the gardener at the asylum, +and on one occasion he found a letter from a patient enclosed with one +from the gardener. The letter was rational in tone and declared that the +writer was sane and wrongfully confined. + +My father wrote to the Lunacy Commissioners (without explaining the +source of his information) and in due time heard that the man had been +visited by the Commissioners, and that he was certainly insane. Sometime +afterwards the patient was discharged, and wrote to thank my father for +his interference, adding that he had undoubtedly been insane, when he +wrote his former letter.) + +The remembrance of screams, or other sounds heard in Brazil, when he +was powerless to interfere with what he believed to be the torture of a +slave, haunted him for years, especially at night. In smaller matters, +where he could interfere, he did so vigorously. He returned one day from +his walk pale and faint from having seen a horse ill-used, and from the +agitation of violently remonstrating with the man. On another occasion +he saw a hors-breaker teaching his son to ride, the little boy was +frightened and the man was rough; my father stopped, and jumping out of +the carriage reproved the man in no measured terms. + +One other little incident may be mentioned, showing that his humanity to +animals was well-known in his own neighbourhood. A visitor, driving from +Orpington to Down, told the man to go faster, "Why," said the driver, +"If I had whipped the horse THIS much, driving Mr. Darwin, he would have +got out of the carriage and abused me well." + +With respect to the special point under consideration,--the sufferings +of animals subjected to experiment,--nothing could show a stronger +feeling than the following extract from a letter to Professor Ray +Lankester (March 22, 1871):-- + +"You ask about my opinion on vivisection. I quite agree that it is +justifiable for real investigations on physiology; but not for mere +damnable and detestable curiosity. It is a subject which makes me sick +with horror, so I will not say another word about it, else I shall not +sleep to-night." + +An extract from Sir Thomas Farrer's notes shows how strongly he +expressed himself in a similar manner in conversation:-- + +"The last time I had any conversation with him was at my house in +Bryanston Square, just before one of his last seizures. He was then +deeply interested in the vivisection question; and what he said made a +deep impression on me. He was a man eminently fond of animals and +tender to them; he would not knowingly have inflicted pain on a living +creature; but he entertained the strongest opinion that to prohibit +experiments on living animals, would be to put a stop to the knowledge +of and the remedies for pain and disease." + +The Anti-Vivisection agitation, to which the following letters refer, +seems to have become specially active in 1874, as may be seen, e.g. by +the index to 'Nature' for that year, in which the word "Vivisection," +suddenly comes into prominence. But before that date the subject had +received the earnest attention of biologists. Thus at the Liverpool +Meeting of the British Association in 1870, a Committee was appointed, +which reported, defining the circumstances and conditions under which, +in the opinion of the signatories, experiments on living animals were +justifiable. In the spring of 1875, Lord Hartismere introduced a Bill +into the Upper House to regulate the course of physiological research. +Shortly afterwards a Bill more just towards science in its provisions +was introduced to the House of Commons by Messrs. Lyon Playfair, +Walpole, and Ashley. It was, however, withdrawn on the appointment of a +Royal Commission to inquire into the whole question. The Commissioners +were Lords Cardwell and Winmarleigh, Mr. W.E. Forster, Sir J.B. +Karslake, Mr. Huxley, Professor Erichssen, and Mr. R.H. Hutton: they +commenced their inquiry in July, 1875, and the Report was published +early in the following year. + +In the early summer of 1876, Lord Carnarvon's Bill, entitled, "An Act to +amend the Law relating to Cruelty to Animals," was introduced. It cannot +be denied that the framers of this Bill, yielding to the unreasonable +clamour of the public, went far beyond the recommendations of the Royal +Commission. As a correspondent in 'Nature' put it (1876, page 248), +"the evidence on the strength of which legislation was recommended +went beyond the facts, the Report went beyond the evidence, the +Recommendations beyond the Report; and the Bill can hardly be said to +have gone beyond the Recommendations; but rather to have contradicted +them." + +The legislation which my father worked for, as described in the +following letters, was practically what was introduced as Dr. Lyon +Playfair's Bill.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MRS. LITCHFIELD. (His daughter.) January 4, 1875. + +My dear H. + +Your letter has led me to think over vivisection (I wish some new +word like anaes-section could be invented (He communicated to 'Nature' +(September 30, 1880) an article by Dr. Wilder, of Cornell University, an +abstract of which was published (page 517). Dr. Wilder advocated the use +of the word 'Callisection' for painless operations on animals.) for +some hours, and I will jot down my conclusions, which will appear +very unsatisfactory to you. I have long thought physiology one of the +greatest of sciences, sure sooner, or more probably later, greatly to +benefit mankind; but, judging from all other sciences, the benefits will +accrue only indirectly in the search for abstract truth. It is certain +that physiology can progress only by experiments on living animals. +Therefore the proposal to limit research to points of which we can now +see the bearings in regard to health, etc., I look at as puerile. +I thought at first it would be good to limit vivisection to public +laboratories; but I have heard only of those in London and Cambridge, +and I think Oxford; but probably there may be a few others. Therefore +only men living in a few great towns would carry on investigation, and +this I should consider a great evil. If private men were permitted to +work in their own houses, and required a licence, I do not see who is +to determine whether any particular man should receive one. It is young +unknown men who are the most likely to do good work. I would gladly +punish severely any one who operated on an animal not rendered +insensible, if the experiment made this possible; but here again I do +not see that a magistrate or jury could possibly determine such a point. +Therefore I conclude, if (as is likely) some experiments have been tried +too often, or anaesthetics have not been used when they could have been, +the cure must be in the improvement of humanitarian feelings. Under this +point of view I have rejoiced at the present agitation. If stringent +laws are passed, and this is likely, seeing how unscientific the House +of Commons is, and that the gentlemen of England are humane, as long +as their sports are not considered, which entailed a hundred or +thousand-fold more suffering than the experiments of physiologists--if +such laws are passed, the result will assuredly be that physiology, +which has been until within the last few years at a standstill in +England, will languish or quite cease. It will then be carried on solely +on the Continent; and there will be so many the fewer workers on this +grand subject, and this I should greatly regret. By the way, F. Balfour, +who has worked for two or three years in the laboratory at Cambridge, +declares to George that he has never seen an experiment, except with +animals rendered insensible. No doubt the names of Doctors will have +great weight with the House of Commons; but very many practitioners +neither know nor care anything about the progress of knowledge. I +cannot at present see my way to sign any petition, without hearing what +physiologists thought would be its effect, and then judging for myself. +I certainly could not sign the paper sent me by Miss Cobbe, with its +monstrous (as it seems to me) attack on Virchow for experimenting on the +Trichinae. I am tired and so no more. + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, April 14 [1875]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I worked all the time in London on the vivisection question; and we now +think it advisable to go further than a mere petition. Litchfield +(Mr. R.B. Litchfield, his son-in-law.) drew up a sketch of a Bill, the +essential features of which have been approved by Sanderson, Simon and +Huxley, and from conversation, will, I believe, be approved by Paget, +and almost certainly, I think, by Michael Foster. Sanderson, Simon and +Paget wish me to see Lord Derby, and endeavour to gain his advocacy with +the Home Secretary. Now, if this is carried into effect, it will be of +great importance to me to be able to say that the Bill in its essential +features has the approval of some half-dozen eminent scientific men. I +have therefore asked Litchfield to enclose a copy to you in its first +rough form; and if it is not essentially modified may I say that it +meets with your approval as President of the Royal Society? The object +is to protect animals, and at the same time not to injure Physiology, +and Huxley and Sanderson's approval almost suffices on this head. Pray +let me have a line from you soon. + +Yours affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The Physiological Society, which was founded in 1876, was in some +measure the outcome of the anti-vivisection movement, since it was this +agitation which impressed on Physiologists the need of a centre for +those engaged in this particular branch of science. With respect to the +Society, my father wrote to Mr. Romanes (May 29, 1876):-- + +"I was very much gratified by the wholly unexpected honour of being +elected one of the Honorary Members. This mark of sympathy has pleased +me to a very high degree." + +The following letter appeared in the "Times", April 18th, 1881:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO FRITHIOF HOLMGREN. (Professor of Physiology at +Upsala.) Down, April 14, 1881. + +Dear Sir, + +In answer to your courteous letter of April 7, I have no objection to +express my opinion with respect to the right of experimenting on living +animals. I use this latter expression as more correct and comprehensive +than that of vivisection. You are at liberty to make any use of this +letter which you may think fit, but if published I should wish the whole +to appear. I have all my life been a strong advocate for humanity to +animals, and have done what I could in my writings to enforce this duty. +Several years ago, when the agitation against physiologists commenced in +England, it was asserted that inhumanity was here practised, and useless +suffering caused to animals; and I was led to think that it might be +advisable to have an Act of Parliament on the subject. I then took an +active part in trying to get a Bill passed, such as would have +removed all just cause of complaint, and at the same time have left +physiologists free to pursue their researches,--a Bill very different +from the Act which has since been passed. It is right to add that +the investigation of the matter by a Royal Commission proved that the +accusations made against our English physiologists were false. From all +that I have heard, however, I fear that in some parts of Europe little +regard is paid to the sufferings of animals, and if this be the case, +I should be glad to hear of legislation against inhumanity in any such +country. On the other hand, I know that physiology cannot possibly +progress except by means of experiments on living animals, and I feel +the deepest conviction that he who retards the progress of physiology +commits a crime against mankind. Any one who remembers, as I can, the +state of this science half a century ago, must admit that it has made +immense progress, and it is now progressing at an ever-increasing rate. +What improvements in medical practice may be directly attributed to +physiological research is a question which can be properly discussed +only by those physiologists and medical practitioners who have studied +the history of their subjects; but, as far as I can learn, the benefits +are already great. However this may be, no one, unless he is grossly +ignorant of what science has done for mankind, can entertain any doubt +of the incalculable benefits which will hereafter be derived from +physiology, not only by man, but by the lower animals. Look for instance +at Pasteur's results in modifying the germs of the most malignant +diseases, from which, as it so happens, animals will in the first place +receive more relief than man. Let it be remembered how many lives and +what a fearful amount of suffering have been saved by the knowledge +gained of parasitic worms through the experiments of Virchow and others +on living animals. In the future every one will be astonished at the +ingratitude shown, at least in England, to these benefactors of mankind. +As for myself, permit me to assure you that I honour, and shall always +honour, every one who advances the noble science of physiology. + +Dear Sir, yours faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[In the "Times" of the following day appeared a letter headed "Mr. +Darwin and Vivisection," signed by Miss Frances Power Cobbe. To this +my father replied in the "Times" of April 22, 1881. On the same day he +wrote to Mr. Romanes:-- + +"As I have a fair opportunity, I sent a letter to the "Times" on +Vivisection, which is printed to-day. I thought it fair to bear my share +of the abuse poured in so atrocious a manner on all physiologists.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. + +Sir, + +I do not wish to discuss the views expressed by Miss Cobbe in the letter +which appeared in the "Times" of the 19th inst.; but as she asserts +that I have "misinformed" my correspondent in Sweden in saying that +"the investigation of the matter by a Royal Commission proved that the +accusations made against our English physiologists were false," I will +merely ask leave to refer to some other sentences from the Report of the +Commission. + +1. The sentence--"It is not to be doubted that inhumanity may be found +in persons of very high position as physiologists," which Miss Cobbe +quotes from page 17 of the report, and which, in her opinion, "can +necessarily concern English physiologists alone and not foreigners," +is immediately followed by the words "We have seen that it was so in +Magendie." Magendie was a French physiologist who became notorious some +half century ago for his cruel experiments on living animals. + +2. The Commissioners, after speaking of the "general sentiment of +humanity" prevailing in this country, say (page 10):-- + +"This principle is accepted generally by the very highly educated men +whose lives are devoted either to scientific investigation and +education or to the mitigation or the removal of the sufferings of +their fellow-creatures; though differences of degree in regard to its +practical application will be easily discernible by those who study the +evidence as it has been laid before us." + +Again, according to the Commissioners (page 10):-- + +"The secretary of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to +Animals, when asked whether the general tendency of the scientific world +in this country is at variance with humanity, says he believes it to be +very different, indeed, from that of foreign physiologists; and while +giving it as the opinion of the society that experiments are performed +which are in their nature beyond any legitimate province of science, and +that the pain which they inflict is pain which it is not justifiable to +inflict even for the scientific object in view, he readily acknowledges +that he does not know a single case of wanton cruelty, and that in +general the English physiologists have used anaesthetics where they +think they can do so with safety to the experiment." + +I am, Sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES DARWIN. + +April 21. + + +[In the "Times" of Saturday, April 23, 1881, appeared a letter from Miss +Cobbe in reply:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G.J. ROMANES. Down, April 25, 1881. + +My dear Romanes, + +I was very glad to read your last note with much news interesting to +me. But I write now to say how I, and indeed all of us in the house +have admired your letter in the "Times". (April 25, 1881.--Mr. Romanes +defended Dr. Sanderson against the accusations made by Miss Cobbe.) +It was so simple and direct. I was particularly glad about Burton +Sanderson, of whom I have been for several years a great admirer. I was +also especially glad to read the last sentences. I have been bothered +with several letters, but none abusive. Under a SELFISH point of view +I am very glad of the publication of your letter, as I was at first +inclined to think that I had done mischief by stirring up the mud. Now +I feel sure that I have done good. Mr. Jesse has written to me very +politely, he says his Society has had nothing to do with placards and +diagrams against physiology, and I suppose, therefore, that these +all originate with Miss Cobbe... Mr. Jesse complains bitterly that +the "Times" will "burke" all his letters to this newspaper, nor am I +surprised, judging from the laughable tirades advertised in "Nature". + +Ever yours, very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The next letter refers to a projected conjoint article on vivisection, +to which Mr. Romanes wished my father to contribute:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G.J. ROMANES. Down, September 2, 1881. + +My dear Romanes, + +Your letter has perplexed me beyond all measure. I fully recognise +the duty of every one whose opinion is worth anything, expressing his +opinion publicly on vivisection; and this made me send my letter to the +"Times". I have been thinking at intervals all morning what I could say, +and it is the simple truth that I have nothing worth saying. You and +men like you, whose ideas flow freely, and who can express them easily, +cannot understand the state of mental paralysis in which I find myself. +What is most wanted is a careful and accurate attempt to show what +physiology has already done for man, and even still more strongly +what there is every reason to believe it will hereafter do. Now I am +absolutely incapable of doing this, or of discussing the other points +suggested by you. + +If you wish for my name (and I should be glad that it should appear with +that of others in the same cause), could you not quote some sentence +from my letter in the "Times" which I enclose, but please return it. If +you thought fit you might say you quoted it with my approval, and +that after still further reflection I still abide most strongly in my +expressed conviction. + +For Heaven's sake, do think of this. I do not grudge the labour and +thought; but I could write nothing worth any one reading. + +Allow me to demur to your calling your conjoint article a "symposium" +strictly a "drinking party." This seems to me very bad taste, and I do +hope every one of you will avoid any semblance of a joke on the subject. +I KNOW that words, like a joke, on this subject have quite disgusted +some persons not at all inimical to physiology. One person lamented +to me that Mr. Simon, in his truly admirable Address at the Medical +Congress (by far the best thing which I have read), spoke of the +fantastic SENSUALITY ('Transactions of the International Medical +Congress,' 1881, volume iv. page 413. The expression "lackadaisical" +(not fantastic), and "feeble sensuality," are used with regard to the +feelings of the ant-vivisectionists.) (or some such term) of the many +mistaken, but honest men and women who are half mad on the subject... + +[To Dr. Lauder Brunton my father wrote in February 1882:-- + +"Have you read Mr. [Edmund] Gurney's articles in the 'Fortnightly' ("A +chapter in the Ethics of Pain," 'Fortnightly Review,' 1881, volume xxx. +page 778.) and 'Cornhill?' ("An Epilogue on Vivisection," 'Cornhill +Magazine,' 1882, volume xlv. page 191.) They seem to me very clever, +though obscurely written, and I agree with almost everything he says, +except with some passages which appear to imply that no experiments +should be tried unless some immediate good can be predicted, and this is +a gigantic mistake contradicted by the whole history of science."] + + + + +CHAPTER 2.IX. -- MISCELLANEA (continued) + +A REVIVAL OF GEOLOGICAL WORK--THE BOOK ON +EARTHWORMS--LIFE OF ERASMUS DARWIN--MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. + +1876-1882. + +[We have now to consider the work (other than botanical) which occupied +the concluding six years of my father's life. A letter to his old friend +Rev. L. Blomefield (Jenyns), written in March, 1877, shows what was my +father's estimate of his own powers of work at this time:-- + +"My dear Jenyns (I see I have forgotten your proper names).--Your +extremely kind letter has given me warm pleasure. As one gets old, one's +thoughts turn back to the past rather than to the future, and I often +think of the pleasant, and to me valuable, hours which I spent with you +on the borders of the Fens. + +"You ask about my future work; I doubt whether I shall be able to do +much more that is new, and I always keep before my mind the example +of poor old --, who in his old age had a cacoethes for writing. But I +cannot endure doing nothing, so I suppose that I shall go on as long as +I can without obviously making a fool of myself. I have a great mass +of matter with respect to variation under nature; but so much has been +published since the appearance of the 'Origin of Species,' that I very +much doubt whether I retain power of mind and strength to reduce the +mass into a digested whole. I have sometimes thought that I would try, +but dread the attempt..." + +His prophecy proved to be a true one with regard to any continuation +of any general work in the direction of Evolution, but his estimate of +powers which could afterwards prove capable of grappling with the 'Power +of Movement in Plants,' and with the work on 'Earthworms,' was certainly +a low one. + +The year 1876, with which the present chapter begins, brought with it +a revival of geological work. He had been astonished, as I hear from +Professor Judd, and as appears in his letters, to learn that his books +on 'Volcanic Islands,' 1844, and on 'South America,' 1846, were still +consulted by geologists, and it was a surprise to him that new editions +should be required. Both these works were originally published by +Messrs. Smith and Elder, and the new edition of 1876 was also brought +out by them. This appeared in one volume with the title 'Geological +Observations on the Volcanic Islands, and Parts of South America visited +during the Voyage of H.M.S. "Beagle".' He has explained in the preface +his reasons for leaving untouched the text of the original editions: +"They relate to parts of the world which have been so rarely visited +by men of science, that I am not aware that much could be corrected or +added from observations subsequently made. Owing to the great progress +which Geology has made within recent times, my views on some few points +may be somewhat antiquated; but I have thought it best to leave them as +they originally appeared." + +It may have been the revival of geological speculation, due to the +revision of his early books, that led to his recording the observations +of which some account is given in the following letter. Part of it +has been published in Professor James Geikie's 'Prehistoric Europe,' +chapters vii. and ix. (My father's suggestion is also noticed in Prof. +Geikie's address on the 'Ice Age in Europe and North America,' given +at Edinburgh, November 20, 1884.), a few verbal alterations having been +made at my father's request in the passages quoted. Mr. Geikie lately +wrote to me: "The views suggested in his letter as to the origin of the +angular gravels, etc., in the South of England will, I believe, come to +be accepted as the truth. This question has a much wider bearing than +might at first appear. In point of fact it solves one of the most +difficult problems in Quaternary Geology--and has already attracted the +attention of German geologists."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JAMES GEIKIE. Down, November 16, 1876. + +My dear Sir, + +I hope that you will forgive me for troubling you with a very long +letter. But first allow me to tell you with what extreme pleasure and +admiration I have just finished reading your 'Great Ice Age.' It seems +to me admirably done, and most clear. Interesting as many chapters are +in the history of the world, I do not think that any one comes [up] +nearly to the glacial period or periods. Though I have steadily read +much on the subject, your book makes the whole appear almost new to me. + +I am now going to mention a small observation, made by me two or three +years ago, near Southampton, but not followed out, as I have no strength +for excursions. I need say nothing about the character of the drift +there (which includes palaeolithic celts), for you have described its +essential features in a few words at page 506. It covers the whole +country [in an] even plain-like surface, almost irrespective of the +present outline of the land. + +The coarse stratification has sometimes been disturbed. I find that you +allude "to the larger stones often standing on end;" and this is the +point which struck me so much. Not only moderately sized angular stones, +but small oval pebbles often stand vertically up, in a manner which I +have never seen in ordinary gravel beds. This fact reminded me of what +occurs near my home, in the stiff red clay, full of unworn flints over +the chalk, which is no doubt the residue left undissolved by rain +water. In this clay, flints as long and thin as my arm often stand +perpendicularly up; and I have been told by the tank-diggers that it +is their "natural position!" I presume that this position may safely be +attributed to the differential movement of parts of the red clay as it +subsided very slowly from the dissolution of the underlying chalk; so +that the flints arrange themselves in the lines of least resistance. The +similar but less strongly marked arrangement of the stones in the +drift near Southampton makes me suspect that it also must have +slowly subsided; and the notion has crossed my mind that during the +commencement and height of the glacial period great beds of frozen snow +accumulated over the south of England, and that, during the summer, +gravel and stones were washed from the higher land over its surface, and +in superficial channels. The larger streams may have cut right through +the frozen snow, and deposited gravel in lines at the bottom. But on +each succeeding autumn, when the running water failed, I imagine that +the lines of drainage would have been filled up by blown snow afterwards +congealed, and that, owing to great surface accumulations of snow, it +would be a mere chance whether the drainage, together with gravel and +sand, would follow the same lines during the next summer. Thus, as I +apprehend, alternate layers of frozen snow and drift, in sheets and +lines, would ultimately have covered the country to a great thickness, +with lines of drift probably deposited in various directions at the +bottom by the larger streams. As the climate became warmer, the lower +beds of frozen snow would have melted with extreme slowness, and the +many irregular beds of interstratified drift would have sunk down with +equal slowness; and during this movement the elongated pebbles would +have arranged themselves more or less vertically. The drift would also +have been deposited almost irrespective of the outline of the underlying +land. When I viewed the country I could not persuade myself that any +flood, however great, could have deposited such coarse gravel over the +almost level platforms between the valleys. My view differs from that +of Holst, page 415 ['Great Ice Age'], of which I had never heard, as +his relates to channels cut through glaciers, and mine to beds of drift +interstratified with frozen snow where no glaciers existed. The upshot +of this long letter is to ask you to keep my notion in your head, +and look out for upright pebbles in any lowland country which you may +examine, where glaciers have not existed. Or if you think the notion +deserves any further thought, but not otherwise, to tell any one of +it, for instance Mr. Skertchly, who is examining such districts. Pray +forgive me for writing so long a letter, and again thanking you for the +great pleasure derived from your book, + +I remain yours very faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.... I am glad that you have read Blytt (Axel Blytt.--'Essay on +the Immigration of the Norwegian Flora during alternate rainy and dry +Seasons.' Christiania, 1876.); his paper seemed to me a most important +contribution to Botanical Geography. How curious that the same +conclusions should have been arrived at by Mr. Skertchly, who seems to +be a first-rate observer; and this implies, as I always think, a sound +theoriser. + +I have told my publisher to send you in two or three days a copy (second +edition) of my geological work during the voyage of the "Beagle". The +sole point which would perhaps interest you is about the steppe-like +plains of Patagonia. + +For many years past I have had fearful misgivings that it must have been +the level of the sea, and not that of the land which has changed. + +I read a few months ago your [brother's] very interesting life of +Murchison. (By Mr. Archibald Geikie.) Though I have always thought that +he ranked next to W. Smith in the classification of formations, and +though I knew how kind-hearted [he was], yet the book has raised him +greatly in my respect, notwithstanding his foibles and want of broad +philosophical views. + + +[The only other geological work of his later years was embodied in +his book on earthworms (1881), which may therefore be conveniently +considered in this place. This subject was one which had interested him +many years before this date, and in 1838 a paper on the formation of +mould was published in the Proceedings of the Geological Society (see +volume i.). + +Here he showed that "fragments of burnt marl, cinders, etc., which had +been thickly strewed over the surface of several meadows were found +after a few years lying at a depth of some inches beneath the turf, but +still forming a layer." For the explanation of this fact, which forms +the central idea of the geological part of the book, he was indebted to +his uncle Josiah Wedgwood, who suggested that worms, by bringing earth +to the surface in their castings, must undermine any objects lying on +the surface and cause an apparent sinking. + +In the book of 1881 he extended his observations on this burying action, +and devised a number of different ways of checking his estimates as to +the amount of work done. (He received much valuable help from Dr. King, +of the Botanical Gardens, Calcutta. The following passage is from a +letter to Dr. King, dated January 18, 1873:-- + +"I really do not know how to thank you enough for the immense trouble +which you have taken. You have attended EXACTLY and FULLY to the points +about which I was most anxious. If I had been each evening by your side, +I could not have suggested anything else.") He also added a mass of +observations on the habits, natural history and intelligence of worms, a +part of the work which added greatly to its popularity. + +In 1877 Sir Thomas Farrer had discovered close to his garden the remains +of a building of Roman-British times, and thus gave my father the +opportunity of seeing for himself the effects produced by earthworms' +work on the old concrete-floors, walls, etc. On his return he wrote to +Sir Thomas Farrer: + +"I cannot remember a more delightful week than the last. I know very +well that E. will not believe me, but the worms were by no means the +sole charm." + +In the autumn of 1880, when the 'Power of Movement in Plants' was nearly +finished, he began once more on the subject. He wrote to Professor Carus +(September 21):-- + +"In the intervals of correcting the press, I am writing a very little +book, and have done nearly half of it. Its title will be (as at present +designed) 'The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of +Worms.' (The full title is 'The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the +Action of Worms with Observations on their Habits,' 1881.) As far as I +can judge it will be a curious little book." + +The manuscript was sent to the printers in April, 1881, and when the +proo-sheets were coming in he wrote to Professor Carus: "The subject +has been to me a hobby-horse, and I have perhaps treated it in foolish +detail." + +It was published on October 10, and 2000 copies were sold at once. He +wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker, "I am glad that you approve of the 'Worms.' +When in old days I used to tell you whatever I was doing, if you were at +all interested, I always felt as most men do when their work is finally +published." + +To Mr. Mellard Reade he wrote (November 8): "It has been a complete +surprise to me how many persons have cared for the subject." And to Mr. +Dyer (in November): "My book has been received with almost laughable +enthusiasm, and 3500 copies have been sold!!!" Again, to his friend Mr. +Anthony Rich, he wrote on February 4, 1882, "I have been plagued with an +endless stream of letters on the subject; most of them very foolish +and enthusiastic; but some containing good facts which I have used in +correcting yesterday the 'Sixth Thousand.'" The popularity of the book +may be roughly estimated by the fact that, in the three years following +its publication, 8500 copies were sold--a sale relatively greater than +that of the 'Origin of Species.' + +It is not difficult to account for its success with the non-scientific +public. Conclusions so wide and so novel, and so easily understood, +drawn from the study of creatures so familiar, and treated with unabated +vigour and freshness, may well have attracted many readers. A reviewer +remarks: "In the eyes of most men... the earthworm is a mere blind, dumb, +senseless, and unpleasantly slimy annelid. Mr. Darwin undertakes to +rehabilitate his character, and the earthworm steps forth at once as +an intelligent and beneficent personage, a worker of vast geological +changes, a planer down of mountain sides... a friend of man... and an +ally of the Society for the preservation of ancient monuments." The "St. +James Gazette", October 17, 1881, pointed out that the teaching of the +cumulative importance of the infinitely little is the point of contact +between this book and the author's previous work. + +One more book remains to be noticed, the 'Life of Erasmus Darwin.' + +In February 1879 an essay by Dr. Ernst Krause, on the scientific work +of Erasmus Darwin, appeared in the evolutionary journal, 'Kosmos.' The +number of 'Kosmos' in question was a "Gratulationsheft" (The same number +contains a good biographical sketch of my father, of which the material +was to a large extent supplied by him to the writer, Professor Preyer +of Jena. The article contains an excellent list of my father's +publications.), or special congratulatory issue in honour of my father's +birthday, so that Dr. Krause's essay, glorifying the older evolutionist, +was quite in its place. He wrote to Dr. Krause, thanking him cordially +for the honour paid to Erasmus, and asking his permission to publish +(The wish to do so was shared by his brother, Erasmus Darwin the +younger, who continued to be associated with the project.) an English +translation of the Essay. + +His chief reason for writing a notice of his grandfather's life was "to +contradict flatly some calumnies by Miss Seward." This appears from a +letter of March 27, 1879, to his cousin Reginald Darwin, in which +he asks for any documents and letters which might throw light on the +character of Erasmus. This led to Mr. Reginald Darwin placing in my +father's hands a quantity of valuable material, including a curious +folio common-place book, of which he wrote: "I have been deeply +interested by the great book,... reading and looking at it is like having +communion with the dead...[it] has taught me a good deal about the +occupations and tastes of our grandfather." A subsequent letter (April +8) to the same correspondent describes the source of a further supply of +material:-- + +Since my last letter I have made a strange discovery; for an old box +from my father marked "Old Deeds," and which consequently I had never +opened, I found full of letters--hundreds from Dr. Erasmus--and others +from old members of the Family: some few very curious. Also a drawing of +Elston before it was altered, about 1750, of which I think I will give a +copy." + +Dr. Krause's contribution formed the second part of the 'Life of Erasmus +Darwin,' my father supplying a "preliminary notice." This expression on +the title-page is somewhat misleading; my father's contribution is more +than half the book, and should have been described as a biography. Work +of this kind was new to him, and he wrote doubtfully to Mr. Thiselton +Dyer, June 18th: "God only knows what I shall make of his life, it is +such a new kind of work to me." The strong interest he felt about +his forebears helped to give zest to the work, which became a decided +enjoyment to him. With the general public the book was not markedly +successful, but many of his friends recognised its merits. Sir J.D. +Hooker was one of these, and to him my father wrote, "Your praise of the +Life of Dr. D. has pleased me exceedingly, for I despised my work, and +thought myself a perfect fool to have undertaken such a job." + +To Mr. Galton, too, he wrote, November 14:-- + +"I am EXTREMELY glad that you approve of the little 'Life' of our +grandfather, for I have been repenting that I ever undertook it, as the +work was quite beyond my tether." + +The publication of the 'Life of Erasmus Darwin' led to an attack by +Mr. Samuel Butler, which amounted to a charge of falsehood against my +father. After consulting his friends, he came to the determination to +leave the charge unanswered, as unworthy of his notice. (He had, in a +letter to Mr. Butler, expressed his regret at the oversight which caused +so much offence.) Those who wish to know more of the matter, may gather +the facts of the case from Ernst Krause's 'Charles Darwin,' and they +will find Mr. Butler's statement of his grievance in the "Athenaeum", +January 31, 1880, and in the "St. James's Gazette", December 8, 1880. +The affair gave my father much pain, but the warm sympathy of those +whose opinion he respected soon helped him to let it pass into a +well-merited oblivion. + +The following letter refers to M. J.H. Fabre's 'Souvenirs +Entomologiques.' It may find a place here, as it contains a defence of +Erasmus Darwin on a small point. The postscript is interesting, as +an example of one of my father's bold ideas both as to experiment and +theory:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.H. FABRE. Down, January 31, 1880. + +My dear Sir, + +I hope that you will permit me to have the satisfaction of thanking you +cordially for the lively pleasure which I have derived from reading +your book. Never have the wonderful habits of insects been more vividly +described, and it is almost as good to read about them as to see them. I +feel sure that you would not be unjust to even an insect, much less to +a man. Now, you have been misled by some translator, for my grandfather, +Erasmus Darwin, states ('Zoonomia,' volume i. page 183, 1794) that it +was a wasp (guepe) which he saw cutting off the wings of a large fly. I +have no doubt that you are right in saying that the wings are generally +cut off instinctively; but in the case described by my grandfather, the +wasp, after cutting off the two ends of the body, rose in the air, and +was turned round by the wind; he then alighted and cut off the wings. I +must believe, with Pierre Huber, that insects have "une petite dose de +raison." In the next edition of your book, I hope that you will alter +PART of what you say about my grandfather. + +I am sorry that you are so strongly opposed to the Descent theory; I +have found the searching for the history of each structure or instinct +an excellent aid to observation; and wonderful observer as you are, it +would suggest new points to you. If I were to write on the evolution of +instincts, I could make good use of some of the facts which you give. +Permit me to add, that when I read the last sentence in your book, I +sympathised deeply with you. (The book is intended as a memorial of the +early death of M. Fabre's son, who had been his father's assistant in +his observations on insect life.) + +With the most sincere respect, I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully, +CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--Allow me to make a suggestion in relation to your wonderful +account of insects finding their way home. I formerly wished to try it +with pigeons: namely, to carry the insects in their paper "cornets," +about a hundred paces in the opposite direction to that which you +ultimately intended to carry them; but before turning round to return, +to put the insect in a circular box, with an axle which could be made to +revolve very rapidly, first in one direction, and then in another, so +as to destroy for a time all sense of direction in the insects. I have +sometimes IMAGINED that animals may feel in which direction they were at +the first start carried. (This idea was a favourite one with him, and he +has described in 'Nature' (volume vii. 1873, page 360) the behaviour of +his cob Tommy, in whom he fancied he detected a sense of direction. The +horse had been taken by rail from Kent to the Isle of Wight; when there +he exhibited a marked desire to go eastward, even when his stable lay in +the opposite direction. In the same volume of 'Nature,' page 417, is +a letter on the 'Origin of Certain Instincts,' which contains a short +discussion on the sense of direction.) If this plan failed, I had +intended placing the pigeons within an induction coil, so as to disturb +any magnetic or dia-magnetic sensibility, which it seems just possible +that they may possess. + +C.D. + + +[During the latter years of my father's life there was a growing +tendency in the public to do him honour. In 1877 he received the +honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Cambridge. The degree +was conferred on November 17, and with the customary Latin speech +from the Public Orator, concluding with the words: "Tu vero, qui leges +naturae tam docte illustraveris, legum doctor nobis esto." + +The honorary degree led to a movement being set on foot in the +University to obtain some permanent memorial of my father. A sum of +about 400 pounds was subscribed, and after the rejection of the idea +that a bust would be the best memorial, a picture was determined on. In +June 1879 he sat to Mr. W. Richmond for the portrait in the possession +of the University, now placed in the Library of the philosophical +Society at Cambridge. He is represented seated in his Doctor's gown, the +head turned towards the spectator: the picture has many admirers, but, +according to my own view, neither the attitude nor the expression are +characteristic of my father. + +A similar wish on the part of the Linnean Society-- with which my father +was so closely associated--led to his sitting in August, 1881, to Mr. +John Collier, for the portrait now in the possession of the Society. +Of the artist, he wrote, "Collier was the most considerate, kind and +pleasant painter a sitter could desire." The portrait represents him +standing facing the observer in the loose cloak so familiar to those who +knew him, and with his slouch hat in his hand. Many of those who knew +his face most intimately, think that Mr. Collier's picture is the best +of the portraits, and in this judgment the sitter himself was inclined +to agree. According to my feeling it is not so simple or strong a +representation of him as that given by Mr. Ouless. There is a certain +expression in Mr. Collier's portrait which I am inclined to consider an +exaggeration of the almost painful expression which Professor Cohn has +described in my father's face, and which he had previously noticed in +Humboldt. Professor Cohn's remarks occur in a pleasantly written account +of a visit to Down in 1876, published in the "Breslauer Zeitung", April +23, 1882. (In this connection may be mentioned a visit (1881) from +another distinguished German, Hans Richter. The occurrence is otherwise +worthy of mention, inasmuch as it led to the publication, after my +father's death, of Herr Richter's recollections of the visit. The sketch +is simply and sympathetically written, and the author has succeeded in +giving a true picture of my father as he lived at Down. It appeared in +the "Neue Tagblatt" of Vienna, and was republished by Dr. O. Zacharias +in his 'Charles R. Darwin,' Berlin, 1882.) + +Besides the Cambridge degree, he received about the same time honours of +an academic kind from some foreign societies. + +On August 5, 1878, he was elected a Corresponding Member of the French +Institute ("Lyell always spoke of it as a great scandal that Darwin +was so long kept out of the French Institute. As he said, even if the +development hypothesis were objected to, Darwin's original works on +Coral Reefs, the Cirripedia, and other subjects, constituted a more +than sufficient claim"--From Professor Judd's notes.), in the Botanical +Section, and wrote to Dr. Asa Gray:-- + +"I see that we are both elected Corresponding Members of the Institute. +It is rather a good joke that I should be elected in the Botanical +Section, as the extent of my knowledge is little more than that a daisy +is a Compositous plant and a pea a Leguminous one." + +(The statement has been more than once published that he was elected to +the Zoological Section, but this was not the case. + +He received twenty-six votes out of a possible 39, five blank papers +were sent in, and eight votes were recorded for the other candidates. + +In 1872 an attempt had been made to elect him to the Section of Zoology, +when, however, he only received 15 out of 48 votes, and Loven was chosen +for the vacant place. It appears ('Nature,' August 1, 1872) that an +eminent member of the Academy wrote to "Les Mondes" to the following +effect:-- + +"What has closed the doors of the Academy to Mr. Darwin is that the +science of those of his books which have made his chief title to +fame-the 'Origin of Species,' and still more the 'Descent of Man,' +is not science, but a mass of assertions and absolutely gratuitous +hypotheses, often evidently fallacious. This kind of publication and +these theories are a bad example, which a body that respects itself +cannot encourage.") + +In the early part of the same year he was elected a Corresponding Member +of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and he wrote (March 12) to Professor +Du Bois Reymond, who had proposed him for election:-- + +"I thank you sincerely for your most kind letter, in which you announce +the great honour conferred on me. The knowledge of the names of the +illustrious men, who seconded the proposal is even a greater pleasure to +me than the honour itself." + +The seconders were Helmholtz, Peters, Ewald, Pringsheim and Virchow. + +In 1879 he received the Baly Medal of the Royal College of Physicians. +(The visit to London, necessitated by the presentation of the Baly +Medal, was combined with a visit to Miss Forster's house at Abinger, +in Surrey, and this was the occasion of the following characteristic +letter:--"I must write a few words to thank you cordially for lending us +your house. It was a most kind thought, and has pleased me greatly; but +I know well that I do not deserve such kindness from any one. On the +other hand, no one can be too kind to my dear wife, who is worth her +weight in gold many times over, and she was anxious that I should +get some complete rest, and here I cannot rest. Your house will be a +delightful haven and again I thank you truly.") + +Again in 1879 he received from the Royal Academy of Turin the "Bressa" +prize for the years 1875-78, amounting to the sum of 12,000 francs. +In the following year he received on his birthday, as on previous +occasions, a kind letter of congratulation from Dr. Dohrn of Naples. In +writing (February 15th) to thank him and the other naturalists at the +Zoological Station, my father added:-- + +"Perhaps you saw in the papers that the Turin Society honoured me to an +extraordinary degree by awarding me the "Bressa" Prize. Now it occurred +to me that if your station wanted some pieces of apparatus, of about the +value of 100 pounds, I should very much like to be allowed to pay for +it. Will you be so kind as to keep this in mind, and if any want should +occur to you, I would send you a cheque at any time." + +I find from my father's accounts that 100 pounds was presented to the +Naples Station. + +He received also several tokens of respect and sympathy of a more +private character from various sources. With regard to such incidents +and to the estimation of the public generally, his attitude may be +illustrated by a passage from a letter to Mr. Romanes:--(The lecture +referred to was given at the Dublin meeting of the British association.) + +"You have indeed passed a most magnificent eulogium upon me, and I +wonder that you were not afraid of hearing 'oh! oh!' or some other sign +of disapprobation. Many persons think that what I have done in science +has been much overrated, and I very often think so myself; but my +comfort is that I have never consciously done anything to gain applause. +Enough and too much about my dear self." + +Among such expressions of regard he valued very highly the two +photographic albums received from Germany and Holland on his birthday, +1877. Herr Emil Rade of Munster, originated the idea of the German +birthday gift, and undertook the necessary arrangements. To him my +father wrote (February 16, 1877):-- + +"I hope that you will inform the one hundred and fifty-four men of +science, including some of the most highly honoured names in the world, +how grateful I am for their kindness and generous sympathy in having +sent me their photographs on my birthday." + +To Professor Haeckel he wrote (February 16, 1877):-- + +The album has just arrived quite safe. It is most superb. (The album is +magnificently bound and decorated with a beautifully illuminated +title page, the work of an artist, Herr A. Fitger of Bremen, who also +contributed the dedicatory poem.) It is by far the greatest honour which +I have ever received, and my satisfaction has been greatly enhanced by +your most kind letter of February 9... I thank you all from my heart. +I have written by this post to Herr Rade, and I hope he will somehow +manage to thank all my generous friends." + +To Professor A. van Bemmelen he wrote, on receiving a similar present +from a number of distinguished men and lovers of Natural History in the +Netherlands:-- + +"Sir, + +I received yesterday the magnificent present of the album, together +with your letter. I hope that you will endeavour to find some means to +express to the two hundred and seventeen distinguished observers and +lovers of natural science, who have sent me their photographs, my +gratitude for their extreme kindness. I feel deeply gratified by this +gift, and I do not think that any testimonial more honourable to me +could have been imagined. I am well aware that my books could never have +been written, and would not have made any impression on the public mind, +had not an immense amount of material been collected by a long series +of admirable observers; and it is to them that honour is chiefly due. I +suppose that every worker at science occasionally feels depressed, and +doubts whether what he has published has been worth the labour which +it has cost him, but for the few remaining years of my life, whenever +I want cheering, I will look at the portraits of my distinguished +co-workers in the field of science, and remember their generous +sympathy. When I die, the album will be a most precious bequest to my +children. I must further express my obligation for the very interesting +history contained in your letter of the progress of opinion in the +Netherlands, with respect to Evolution, the whole of which is quite new +to me. I must again thank all my kind friends, from my heart, for their +ever-memorable testimonial, and I remain, Sir, + +Your obliged and grateful servant, CHARLES R. DARWIN." + + +[In the June of the following year (1878) he was gratified by learning +that the Emperor of Brazil had expressed a wish to meet him. Owing to +absence from home my father was unable to comply with this wish; he +wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"The Emperor has done so much for science, that every scientific man is +bound to show him the utmost respect, and I hope that you will express +in the strongest language, and which you can do with entire truth, how +greatly I feel honoured by his wish to see me; and how much I regret my +absence from home." + +Finally it should be mentioned that in 1880 he received an address +personally presented by members of the Council of the Birmingham +Philosophical Society, as well as a memorial from the Yorkshire +Naturalist Union presented by some of the members, headed by Dr. Sorby. +He also received in the same year a visit from some of the members of +the Lewisham and Blackheath Scientific Association,--a visit which was, +I think, enjoyed by both guests and host.] + + +MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS--1876-1882. + +[The chief incident of a personal kind (not already dealt with) in the +years which we are now considering was the death of his brother Erasmus, +who died at his house in Queen Anne Street, on August 26th, 1881. My +father wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker (August 30):-- + +"The death of Erasmus is a very heavy loss to all of us, for he had +a most affectionate disposition. He always appeared to me the most +pleasant and clearest headed man, whom I have ever known. London will +seem a strange place to me without his presence; I am deeply glad that +he died without any great suffering, after a very short illness from +mere weakness and not from any definite disease. ("He was not, I +think, a happy man, and for many years did not value life, though never +complaining."--From a letter to Sir Thomas Farrer.) + +"I cannot quite agree with you about the death of the old and young. +Death in the latter case, when there is a bright future ahead, causes +grief never to be wholly obliterated." + +An incident of a happy character may also be selected for especial +notice, since it was one which strongly moved my father's sympathy. +A letter (December 17, 1879) to Sir Joseph Hooker shows that the +possibility of a Government Pension being conferred on Mr. Wallace first +occurred to my father at this time. The idea was taken up by others, and +my father's letters show that he felt the most lively interest in the +success of the plan. He wrote, for instance, to Mrs. Fisher, "I hardly +ever wished for anything more than I do for the success of our plan." He +was deeply pleased when this thoroughly deserved honour was bestowed on +his friend, and wrote to the same correspondent (January 7, 1881), +on receiving a letter from Mr. Gladstone announcing the fact: "How +extraordinarily kind of Mr. Gladstone to find time to write under the +present circumstances. (Mr. Gladstone was then in office, and the letter +must have been written when he was overwhelmed with business connected +with the opening of Parliament (January 6). Good heavens! how pleased I +am!" + +The letters which follow are of a miscellaneous character and refer +principally to the books he read, and to his minor writings.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MISS BUCKLEY (MRS. FISHER). Down, February 11 [1876]. + +My dear Miss Buckley, + +You must let me have the pleasure of saying that I have just finished +reading with very great interest your new book. ('A Short History of +Natural Science.') The idea seems to me a capital one, and as far as I +can judge very well carried out. There is much fascination in taking +a bird's eye view of all the grand leading steps in the progress of +science. At first I regretted that you had not kept each science more +separate; but I dare say you found it impossible. I have hardly any +criticisms, except that I think you ought to have introduced Murchison +as a great classifier of formations, second only to W. Smith. You have +done full justice, and not more than justice, to our dear old master, +Lyell. Perhaps a little more ought to have been said about botany, and +if you should ever add this, you would find Sachs' 'History,' lately +published, very good for your purpose. + +You have crowned Wallace and myself with much honour and glory. I +heartily congratulate you on having produced so novel and interesting a +work, and remain, + +My dear Miss Buckley, yours very faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. [Hopedene] (Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's +house in Surrey.), June 5, 1876. + +My dear Wallace, + +I must have the pleasure of expressing to you my unbounded admiration of +your book ('Geographical Distribution,' 1876.), though I have read only +to page 184--my object having been to do as little as possible while +resting. I feel sure that you have laid a broad and safe foundation +for all future work on Distribution. How interesting it will be to see +hereafter plants treated in strict relation to your views; and then all +insects, pulmonate molluscs and fresh-water fishes, in greater detail +than I suppose you have given to these lower animals. The point which +has interested me most, but I do not say the most valuable point, is +your protest against sinking imaginary continents in a quite reckless +manner, as was stated by Forbes, followed, alas, by Hooker, and +caricatured by Wollaston and [Andrew] Murray! By the way, the main +impression that the latter author has left on my mind is his utter want +of all scientific judgment. I have lifted up my voice against the above +view with no avail, but I have no doubt that you will succeed, owing +to your new arguments and the coloured chart. Of a special value, as it +seems to me, is the conclusion that we must determine the areas, chiefly +by the nature of the mammals. When I worked many years ago on this +subject, I doubted much whether the now called Palaearctic and Nearctic +regions ought to be separated; and I determined if I made another region +that it should be Madagascar. I have, therefore, been able to appreciate +your evidence on these points. What progress Palaeontology has made +during the last 20 years; but if it advances at the same rate in the +future, our views on the migration and birth-place of the various groups +will, I fear, be greatly altered. I cannot feel quite easy about the +Glacial period, and the extinction of large mammals, but I must hope +that you are right. I think you will have to modify your belief about +the difficulty of dispersal of land molluscs; I was interrupted when +beginning to experimentize on the just hatched young adhering to the +feet of groun-roosting birds. I differ on one other point, viz. in the +belief that there must have existed a Tertiary Antarctic continent, from +which various forms radiated to the southern extremities of our present +continents. But I could go on scribbling forever. You have written, as +I believe, a grand and memorable work which will last for years as the +foundation for all future treatises on Geographical Distribution. + +My dear Wallace, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--You have paid me the highest conceivable compliment, by what +you say of your work in relation to my chapters on distribution in the +'Origin,' and I heartily thank you for it. + + +[The following letters illustrate my father's power of taking a vivid +interest in work bearing on Evolution, but unconnected with his own +special researches at the time. The books referred to in the first +letter are Professor Weismann's 'Studien zur Descendenzlehre' (My father +contributed a prefatory note to Mr. Meldola's translation of Prof. +Weismann's 'Studien,' 1880-81.), being part of the series of essays +by which the author has done such admirable service to the cause of +evolution:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO AUGUST WEISMANN. January 12, 1877. + +... I read German so slowly, and have had lately to read several other +papers, so that I have as yet finished only half of your first essay and +two-thirds of your second. They have excited my interest and admiration +in the highest degree, and whichever I think of last, seems to me +the most valuable. I never expected to see the coloured marks on +caterpillars so well explained; and the case of the ocelli delights me +especially... + +... There is one other subject which has always seemed to me more +difficult to explain than even the colours of caterpillars, and that is +the colour of birds' eggs, and I wish you would take this up. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MELCHIOR NEUMAYR (Professor of Palaeontology at +Vienna.), VIENNA. Down, Beckenham, Kent, March 9, 1877. + +Dear Sir, + +From having been obliged to read other books, I finished only +yesterday your essay on 'Die Congerien,' etc. ('Die Congerien und +Paludinenschichten Slavoneins.' 4to, 1875.) + +I hope that you will allow me to express my gratitude for the pleasure +and instruction which I have derived from reading it. It seems to me to +be an admirable work; and is by far the best case which I have ever +met with, showing the direct influence of the conditions of life on the +organization. + +Mr. Hyatt, who has been studying the Hilgendorf case, writes to me with +respect to the conclusions at which he has arrived, and these are nearly +the same as yours. He insists that closely similar forms may be derived +from distinct lines of descent; and this is what I formerly called +analogical variation. There can now be no doubt that species may become +greatly modified through the direct action of the environment. I have +some excuse for not having formerly insisted more strongly on this head +in my 'Origin of Species,' as most of the best facts have been observed +since its publication. + +With my renewed thanks for your most interesting essay, and with the +highest respect, I remain, dear Sir, + +Yours very faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO E.S. MORSE. Down, April 23, 1877. + +My dear Sir, + +You must allow me just to tell you how very much I have been interested +with the excellent Address ("What American Zoologists have done for +Evolution," an Address to the American Association for the Advancement +of Science, August, 1876. Volume xxv. of the Proceedings of the +Association.) which you have been so kind as to send me, and which I had +much wished to read. I believe that I had read all, or very nearly all, +the papers by your countrymen to which you refer, but I have been fairly +astonished at their number and importance when seeing them thus put +together. I quite agree about the high value of Mr. Allen's works +(Mr. J.A. Allen shows the existence of geographical races of birds and +mammals. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. volume xv.), as showing how much +change may be expected apparently through the direct action of the +conditions of life. As for the fossil remains in the West, no words will +express how wonderful they are. There is one point which I regret that +you did not make clear in your Address, namely what is the meaning and +importance of Professors Cope and Hyatt's views on acceleration and +retardation. I have endeavoured, and given up in despair, the attempt to +grasp their meaning. + +Permit me to thank you cordially for the kind feeling shown towards me +through your Address, and I remain, my dear Sir, + +Yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The next letter refers to his 'Biographical Sketch of an Infant,' +written from notes made 37 years previously, and published in 'Mind,' +July, 1877. The article attracted a good deal of attention, and was +translated at the time in 'Kosmos,' and the 'Revue Scientifique,' +and has been recently published in Dr. Krause's 'Gesammelte kleinere +SchrifteN von Charles Darwin,' 1887:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G. CROOM ROBERTSON. (The editor of 'Mind.') Down, +April 27, 1877. + +Dear Sir, + +I hope that you will be so good as to take the trouble to read the +enclosed MS., and if you think it fit for publication in your admirable +journal of 'Mind,' I shall be gratified. If you do not think it fit, as +is very likely, will you please to return it to me. I hope that you will +read it in an extra critical spirit, as I cannot judge whether it is +worth publishing from having been so much interested in watching the +dawn of the several faculties in my own infant. I may add that I should +never have thought of sending you the MS., had not M. Taine's article +appeared in your Journal. (1877, page 252. The original appeared in the +'Revue Philosophique' 1876.) If my MS. is printed, I think that I had +better see a proof. + +I remain, dear Sir, Yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The two following extracts show the lively interest he preserved in +diverse fields of enquiry. Professor Cohn of Breslau had mentioned, in +a letter, Koch's researches on Splenic Fever, my father replied, January +3:-- + +"I well remember saying to myself, between twenty and thirty years ago, +that if ever the origin of any infectious disease could be proved, it +would be the greatest triumph to science; and now I rejoice to have seen +the triumph." + +In the spring he received a copy of Dr. E. von Mojsisovics' 'Dolomit +Riffe,' his letter to the author (June 1, 1878) is interesting as +bearing on the influence of his own work on the methods of geology. + +"I have at last found time to read the first chapter of your 'Dolomit +Riffe,' and have been EXCEEDINGLY interested by it. What a wonderful +change in the future of Geological chronology you indicate, by assuming +the descent theory to be established, and then taking the graduated +changes of the same group of organisms as the true standard! I never +hoped to live to see such a step even proposed by any one." + +Another geological research which roused my father's admiration was Mr. +D. Mackintosh's work on erratic blocks. Apart from its intrinsic merit +the work keenly excited his sympathy from the conditions under which it +was executed, Mr. Mackintosh being compelled to give nearly his +whole time to tuition. The following passage is from a letter to Mr. +Mackintosh of October 9, 1879, and refers to his paper in the Journal of +the Geological Society, 1878:-- + +"I hope that you will allow me to have the pleasure of thanking you +for the very great pleasure which I have derived from just reading your +paper on erratic blocks. The map is wonderful, and what labour each +of those lines show! I have thought for some years that the agency of +floating ice, which nearly half a century ago was overrated, has of +late been underrated. You are the sole man who has ever noticed the +distinction suggested by me (In his paper on the 'Ancient Glaciers of +Carnarvonshire,' Phil. Mag. xxi. 1842.) between flat or planed scored +rocks, and mammillated scored rocks."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO C. RIDLEY. Down, November 28, 1878. + +Dear Sir, + +I just skimmed through Dr. Pusey's sermon, as published in the +"Guardian", but it did [not] seem to me worthy of any attention. As I +have never answered criticisms excepting those made by scientific men, +I am not willing that this letter should be published; but I have no +objection to your saying that you sent me the three questions, and that +I answered that Dr. Pusey was mistaken in imagining that I wrote the +'Origin' with any relation whatever to Theology. I should have thought +that this would have been evident to any one who had taken the trouble +to read the book, more especially as in the opening lines of the +introduction I specify how the subject arose in my mind. This answer +disposes of your two other questions; but I may add that many years +ago, when I was collecting facts for the 'Origin,' my belief in what is +called a personal God was as firm as that of Dr. Pusey himself, and +as to the eternity of matter I have never troubled myself about such +insoluble questions. Dr. Pusey's attack will be as powerless to retard +by a day the belief in Evolution, as were the virulent attacks made by +divines fifty years ago against Geology, and the still older ones of the +Catholic Church against Galileo, for the public is wise enough always to +follow Scientific men when they agree on any subject; and now there is +almost complete unanimity amongst Biologists about Evolution, though +there is still considerable difference as to the means, such as how far +natural selection has acted, and how far external conditions, or whether +there exists some mysterious innate tendency to perfectability. I +remain, dear Sir, + +Yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[Theologians were not the only adversaries of freedom in science. On +September 22, 1877, Prof. Virchow delivered an address at the Munich +meeting of German Naturalists and Physicians, which had the effect of +connecting Socialism with the Descent theory. This point of view was +taken up by anti-evolutionists to such an extent that, according to +Haeckel, the "Kreuz Zeitung" threw "all the blame of" the "treasonable +attempts of the democrats Hodel and Nobiling... directly on the theory of +Descent." Prof. Haeckel replied with vigour and ability in his 'Freedom +in Science and Teaching' (English Translation 1879), an essay which must +have the sympathy of all lovers of freedom. + +The following passage from a letter (December 26, 1879) to Dr. Scherzer, +the author of the 'Voyage of the "Novara",' gives a hint of my father's +views on this once burning question:-- + +"What a foolish idea seems to prevail in Germany on the connection +between Socialism and Evolution through Natural Selection."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.N. MOSELEY. (Professor of Zoology at Oxford. +The book alluded to is Prof. Moseley's 'Notes by a Naturalist on the +"Challenger".') Down, January 20, 1879. + +Dear Moseley, + +I have just received your book, and I declare that never in my life +have I seen a dedication which I admired so much. ("To Charles Darwin, +Esquire, LL.D., F.R.S., etc., from the study of whose 'Journal of +Researches' I mainly derived my desire to travel round the world; to the +development of whose theory I owe the principal pleasures and interests +of my life, and who has personally given me much kindly encouragement in +the prosecution of my studies, this book is, by permission, gratefully +dedicated.") Of course I am not a fair judge, but I hope that I speak +dispassionately, though you have touched me in my very tenderest point, +by saying that my old Journal mainly gave you the wish to travel as a +Naturalist. I shall begin to read your book this very evening, and am +sure that I shall enjoy it much. + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H.N. MOSELEY. Down, February 4, 1879. + +Dear Moseley, + +I have at last read every word of your book, and it has excited in me +greater interest than any other scientific book which I have read for +a long time. You will perhaps be surprised how slow I have been, but +my head prevents me reading except at intervals. If I were asked which +parts have interested me most, I should be somewhat puzzled to answer. +I fancy that the general reader would prefer your account of Japan. +For myself I hesitate between your discussions and description of the +Southern ice, which seems to me admirable, and the last chapter which +contained many facts and views new to me, though I had read your papers +on the stony Hydroid Corals, yet your resume made me realise better than +I had done before, what a most curious case it is. + +You have also collected a surprising number of valuable facts bearing on +the dispersal of plants, far more than in any other book known to me. +In fact your volume is a mass of interesting facts and discussions, +with hardly a superfluous word; and I heartily congratulate you on its +publication. + +Your dedication makes me prouder than ever. + +Believe me, yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In November, 1879, he answered for Mr. Galton a series of questions +utilised in his 'Inquiries into Human Faculty,' 1883. He wrote to Mr. +Galton:-- + +"I have answered the questions as well as I could, but they are +miserably answered, for I have never tried looking into my own mind. +Unless others answer very much better than I can do, you will get no +good from your queries. Do you not think you ought to have the age +of the answerer? I think so, because I can call up faces of many +schoolboys, not seen for sixty years, with MUCH DISTINCTNESS, but +nowadays I may talk with a man for an hour, and see him several times +consecutively, and, after a month, I am utterly unable to recollect what +he is at all like. The picture is quite washed out. The greater number +of the answers are given in the annexed table."] + +QUESTIONS ON THE FACULTY OF VISUALISING. + +1. ILLUMINATION? Moderate, but my solitary breakfast was early, and the +morning dark. + +2. DEFINITION? Some objects quite defined, a slice of cold beef, some +grapes and a pear, the state of my plate when I had finished, and a few +other objects, are as distinct as if I had photo's before me. + +3. COMPLETENESS? Very moderately so. + +4. COLOURING? The objects above named perfectly coloured. + +5. EXTENT OF FIELD OF VIEW? Rather small. + +DIFFERENT KINDS OF IMAGERY. + +6. PRINTED PAGES. I cannot remember a single sentence, but I remember +the place of the sentence and the kind of type. + +7. FURNITURE? I have never attended to it. + +8. PERSONS? I remember the faces of persons formerly well-known vividly, +and can make them do anything I like. + +9. SCENERY? Remembrance vivid and distinct, and gives me pleasure. + +10. GEOGRAPHY? No. + +11. MILITARY MOVEMENTS? No. + +12. MECHANISM? Never tried. + +13. GEOMETRY? I do not think I have any power of the kind. + +14. NUMERALS? When I think of any number, printed figures arise before +my mind. I can't remember for an hour four consecutive figures. + +15. CARD PLAYING? Have not played for many years, but I am sure should +not remember. + +16. CHESS? Never played. + + +[In 1880 he published a short paper in 'Nature' (volume xxi. page 207) +on the "Fertility of Hybrids from the common and Chinese goose." He +received the hybrids from the Rev. Dr. Goodacre, and was glad of the +opportunity of testing the accuracy of the statement that these species +are fertile inter se. This fact, which was given in the 'Origin' on +the authority of Mr. Eyton, he considered the most remarkable as +yet recorded with respect to the fertility of hybrids. The fact (as +confirmed by himself and Dr. Goodacre) is of interest as giving another +proof that sterility is no criterion of specific difference, since the +two species of goose now shown to be fertile inter se are so distinct +that they have been placed by some authorities in distinct genera or +sub-genera. + +The following letter refers to Mr. Huxley's lecture: "The Coming of Age +of the Origin of Species" (This same "Coming of Age" was the subject +of an address from the Council of the Otago Institute. It is given in +'Nature,' February 24, 1881.), given at the Royal Institution, April 9, +1880, published in 'Nature,' and in 'Science and Culture,' page 310:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Abinger Hall, Dorking, Sunday, April 11, +1880. + +My dear Huxley, + +I wished much to attend your Lecture, but I have had a bad cough, and we +have come here to see whether a change would do me good, as it has done. +What a magnificent success your lecture seems to have been, as I judge +from the reports in the "Standard" and "Daily News", and more especially +from the accounts given me by three of my children. I suppose that you +have not written out your lecture, so I fear there is no chance of its +being printed in extenso. You appear to have piled, as on so many other +occasions, honours high and thick on my old head. But I well know how +great a part you have played in establishing and spreading the belief in +the descen-theory, ever since that grand review in the "Times" and the +battle royal at Oxford up to the present day. + +Ever my dear Huxley, Yours sincerely and gratefully, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--It was absurdly stupid in me, but I had read the announcement of +your Lecture, and thought that you meant the maturity of the subject, +until my wife one day remarked, "it is almost twenty-one years since +the 'Origin' appeared," and then for the first time the meaning of your +words flashed on me! + + +[In the above-mentioned lecture Mr. Huxley made a strong point of the +accumulation of palaeontological evidence which the years between 1859 +and 1880 have given us in favour of Evolution. On this subject my father +wrote (August 31, 1880):] + + +My dear Professor Marsh, + +I received some time ago your very kind note of July 28th, and yesterday +the magnificent volume. (Odontornithes. A Monograph on the extinct +Toothed Birds of North America. 1880. By O.C. Marsh.) I have looked with +renewed admiration at the plates, and will soon read the text. Your work +on these old birds, and on the many fossil animals of North America has +afforded the best support to the theory of Evolution, which has appeared +within the last twenty years. (Mr. Huxley has well pointed out ('Science +and Culture,' page 317) that: "In 1875, the discovery of the toothed +birds of the cretaceous formation in North America, by Prof. Marsh, +completed the series of transitional forms between birds and reptiles, +and removed Mr. Darwin's proposition that, 'many animal forms of life +have been utterly lost, through which the early progenitors of birds +were formerly connected with the early progenitors of the other +vertebrate classes,' from the region of hypothesis to that of +demonstrable fact.") The general appearance of the copy which you have +sent me is worthy of its contents, and I can say nothing stronger than +this. + +With cordial thanks, believe me, Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[In November, 1880, he received an account of a flood in Brazil, from +which his friend Fritz Muller had barely escaped with his life. My +father immediately wrote to Hermann Muller anxiously enquiring whether +his brother had lost books, instruments, etc., by this accident, and +begging in that case "for the sake of science, so that science should +not suffer," to be allowed to help in making good the loss. Fortunately, +however, the injury to Fritz Muller's possessions was not so great as +was expected, and the incident remains only as a memento, which I trust +cannot be otherwise than pleasing to the survivor, of the friendship of +the two naturalists. + +In 'Nature' (November 11, 1880) appeared a letter from my father, +which is, I believe, the only instance in which he wrote publicly with +anything like severity. The late Sir Wyville Thomson wrote, in the +Introduction to the 'Voyage of the "Challenger"': "The character of +the abyssal fauna refuses to give the least support to the theory which +refers the evolution of species to extreme variation guided only by +natural selection." My father, after characterising these remarks as +a "standard of criticism, not uncommonly reached by theologians +and metaphysicians," goes on to take exception to the term "extreme +variation," and challenges Sir Wyville to name any one who has "said +that the evolution of species depends only on natural selection." The +letter closes with an imaginary scene between Sir Wyville and a breeder, +in which Sir Wyville criticises artificial selection in a somewhat +similar manner. The breeder is silent, but on the departure of his +critic he is supposed to make use of "emphatic but irreverent language +about naturalists." The letter, as originally written, ended with a +quotation from Sedgwick on the invulnerability of those who write on +what they do not understand, but this was omitted on the advice of a +friend, and curiously enough a friend whose combativeness in the good +cause my father had occasionally curbed.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G.J. ROMANES. Down, April 16, 1881. + +My dear Romanes, + +My MS. on 'Worms' has been sent to the printers, so I am going to amuse +myself by scribbling to you on a few points; but you must not waste your +time in answering at any length this scribble. + +Firstly, your letter on intelligence was very useful to me and I tor +up and re-wrote what I sent to you. I have not attempted to define +intelligence; but have quoted your remarks on experience, and have shown +how far they apply to worms. It seems to me that they must be said +to work with some intelligence, anyhow they are not guided by a blind +instinct. + +Secondly, I was greatly interested by the abstract in 'Nature' of your +work on Echinoderms ("On the locomotor system of Echinoderms," by G.J. +Romanes and J. Cossar Ewart. 'Philosophical Transactions,' 1881, +page 829.), the complexity with simplicity, and with such curious +co-ordination of the nervous system is marvellous; and you showed me +before what splendid gymnastic feats they can perform. + +Thirdly, Dr. Roux has sent me a book just published by him: 'Der Kampf +der Theile,' etc., 1881 (240 pages in length). + +He is manifestly a well-read physiologist and pathologist, and from his +position a good anatomist. It is full of reasoning, and this in German +is very difficult to me, so that I have only skimmed through each +page; here and there reading with a little more care. As far as I can +imperfectly judge, it is the most important book on Evolution, which +has appeared for some time. I believe that G.H. Lewes hinted at the same +fundamental idea, viz. that there is a struggle going on within every +organism between the organic molecules, the cells and the organs. +I think that his basis is, that every cell which best performs its +function is, in consequence, at the same time best nourished and best +propagates its kind. The book does not touch on mental phenomena, but +there is much discussion on rudimentary or atrophied parts, to which +subject you formerly attended. Now if you would like to read this book, +I would sent it... If you read it, and are struck with it (but I may +be WHOLLY mistaken about its value), you would do a public service by +analysing and criticising it in 'Nature.' + +Dr. Roux makes, I think, a gigantic oversight in never considering +plants; these would simplify the problem for him. + +Fourthly, I do not know whether you will discuss in your book on the +mind of animals any of the more complex and wonderful instincts. It is +unsatisfactory work, as there can be no fossilised instincts, and the +sole guide is their state in other members of the same order, and mere +PROBABILITY. + +But if you do discuss any (and it will perhaps be expected of you), I +should think that you could not select a better case than that of the +sand wasps, which paralyse their prey, as formerly described by +Fabre, in his wonderful paper in the 'Annales des Sciences,' and since +amplified in his admirable 'Souvenirs.' + +Whilst reading this latter book, I speculated a little on the subject. +Astonishing nonsense is often spoken of the sand wasp's knowledge of +anatomy. Now will any one say that the Gauchos on the plains of La Plata +have such knowledge, yet I have often seen them pith a struggling and +lassoed cow on the ground with unerring skill, which no mere anatomist +could imitate. The pointed knife was infallibly driven in between the +vertebrae by a single slight thrust. I presume that the art was first +discovered by chance, and that each young Gaucho sees exactly how the +others do it, and then with a very little practice learns the art. Now +I suppose that the sand wasps originally merely killed their prey by +stinging them in many places (see page 129 of Fabre's 'Souvenirs,' and +page 241) on the lower and softest side of the body--and that to sting +a certain segment was found by far the most successful method; and was +inherited like the tendency of a bulldog to pin the nose of a bull, or +of a ferret to bite the cerebellum. It would not be a very great step +in advance to prick the ganglion of its prey only slightly, and thus +to give its larvae fresh meat instead of old dried meat. Though Fabre +insists so strongly on the unvarying character of instinct, yet it is +shown that there is some variability, as at pages 176, 177. + +I fear that I shall have utterly wearied you with my scribbling and bad +handwriting. + +My dear Romanes, yours, very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +POSTSCRIPT OF A LETTER TO PROFESSOR A. AGASSIZ, MAY 5TH, 1881:-- + +I read with much interest your address before the American Association. +However true your remarks on the genealogies of the several groups may +be, I hope and believe that you have over-estimated the difficulties to +be encountered in the future:--A few days after reading your address, I +interpreted to myself your remarks on one point (I hope in some degree +correctly) in the following fashion:-- + +Any character of an ancient, generalised, or intermediate form may, and +often does, re-appear in its descendants, after countless generations, +and this explains the extraordinarily complicated affinities of existing +groups. This idea seems to me to throw a flood of light on the lines, +sometimes used to represent affinities, which radiate in all directions, +often to very distant sub-groups,--a difficulty which has haunted me for +half a century. A strong case could be made out in favour of believing +in such reversion after immense intervals of time. I wish the idea had +been put into my head in old days, for I shall never again write on +difficult subjects, as I have seen too many cases of old men becoming +feeble in their minds, without being in the least conscious of it. If +I have interpreted your ideas at all correctly, I hope that you will +re-urge, on any fitting occasion, your view. I have mentioned it to a +few persons capable of judging, and it seemed quite new to them. I beg +you to forgive the proverbial garrulity of old age. + +C.D. + + +[The following letter refers to Sir J.D. Hooker's Geographical address +at the York Meeting (1881) of the British Association:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, August 6, 1881. + +My dear Hooker, + +For Heaven's sake never speak of boring me, as it would be the greatest +pleasure to aid you in the slightest degree and your letter has +interested me exceedingly. I will go through your points seriatim, but +I have never attended much to the history of any subject, and my memory +has become atrociously bad. It will therefore be a mere chance whether +any of my remarks are of any use. + +Your idea, to show what travellers have done, seems to me a brilliant +and just one, especially considering your audience. + +1. I know nothing about Tournefort's works. + +2. I believe that you are fully right in calling Humboldt the greatest +scientific traveller who ever lived, I have lately read two or three +volumes again. His Geology is funny stuff; but that merely means that he +was not in advance of his age. I should say he was wonderful, more for +his near approach to omniscience than for originality. Whether or not +his position as a scientific man is as eminent as we think, you might +truly call him the parent of a grand progeny of scientific travellers, +who, taken together, have done much for science. + +3. It seems to me quite just to give Lyell (and secondarily E. Forbes) a +very prominent place. + +4. Dana was, I believe, the first man who maintained the permanence +of continents and the great oceans... When I read the 'Challenger's' +conclusion that sediment from the land is not deposited at greater +distances than 200 or 300 miles from the land, I was much strengthened +in my old belief. Wallace seems to me to have argued the case +excellently. Nevertheless, I would speak, if I were in your place, +rather cautiously; for T. Mellard Reade has argued lately with some +force against the view; but I cannot call to mind his arguments. If +forced to express a judgment, I should abide by the view of approximate +permanence since Cambrian days. + +5. The extreme importance of the Arctic fossil-plants, is self-evident. +Take the opportunity of groaning over [our] ignorance of the Lignite +Plants of Kerguelen Land, or any Antarctic land. It might do good. + +6. I cannot avoid feeling sceptical about the travelling of plants from +the North EXCEPT DURING THE TERTIARY PERIOD. It may of course have been +so and probably was so from one of the two poles at the earliest period, +during Pre-Cambrian ages; but such speculations seem to me hardly +scientific seeing how little we know of the old Floras. + +I will now jot down without any order a few miscellaneous remarks. + +I think you ought to allude to Alph. De Candolle's great book, for +though it (like almost everything else) is washed out of my mind, yet I +remember most distinctly thinking it a very valuable work. Anyhow, you +might allude to his excellent account of the history of all cultivated +plants. + +How shall you manage to allude to your New Zealand and Tierra del Fuego +work? if you do not allude to them you will be scandalously unjust. + +The many Angiosperm plants in the Cretacean beds of the United States +(and as far as I can judge the age of these beds has been fairly well +made out) seems to me a fact of very great importance, so is +their relation to the existing flora of the United States under an +Evolutionary point of view. Have not some Australian extinct forms been +lately found in Australia? or have I dreamed it? + +Again, the recent discovery of plants rather low down in our Silurian +beds is very important. + +Nothing is more extraordinary in the history of the Vegetable Kingdom, +as it seems to me, than the APPARENTLY very sudden or abrupt development +of the higher plants. I have sometimes speculated whether there did +not exist somewhere during long ages an extremely isolated continent, +perhaps near the South Pole. + +Hence I was greatly interested by a view which Saporta propounded to me, +a few years ago, at great length in MS. and which I fancy he has +since published, as I urged him to do--viz., that as soon as +flower-frequenting insects were developed, during the latter part of the +secondary period, an enormous impulse was given to the development of +the higher plants by cross-fertilization being thus suddenly formed. + +A few years ago I was much struck with Axel Blytt's Essay showing from +observation, on the peat beds in Scandinavia, that there had apparently +been long periods with more rain and other with less rain (perhaps +connected with Croll's recurrent astronomical periods), and that these +periods had largely determined the present distribution of the plants of +Norway and Sweden. This seemed to me, a very important essay. + +I have just read over my remarks and I fear that they will not be of the +slightest use to you. + +I cannot but think that you have got through the hardest, or at least +the most difficult, part of your work in having made so good and +striking a sketch of what you intend to say; but I can quite understand +how you must groan over the great necessary labour. + +I most heartily sympathise with you on the successes of B. and R.: +as years advance what happens to oneself becomes of very little +consequence, in comparison with the careers of our children. + +Keep your spirits up, for I am convinced that you will make an excellent +address. + +Ever yours, affectionately, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[In September he wrote:-- + +"I have this minute finished reading your splendid but too short +address. I cannot doubt that it will have been fully appreciated by the +Geographers of York; if not, they are asses and fools."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JOHN LUBBOCK. Sunday evening [1881]. + +My dear L., + +Your address (Presidential Address at the York meeting of the British +Association.) has made me think over what have been the great steps in +Geology during the last fifty years, and there can be no harm in telling +you my impression. But it is very odd that I cannot remember what you +have said on Geology. I suppose that the classification of the Silurian +and Cambrian formations must be considered the greatest or most +important step; for I well remember when all these older rocks were +called grau-wacke, and nobody dreamed of classing them; and now we have +three azoic formations pretty well made out beneath the Cambrian! But +the most striking step has been the discovery of the Glacial period: you +are too young to remember the prodigious effect this produced about the +year 1840 (?) on all our minds. Elie de Beaumont never believed in it to +the day of his death! the study of the glacial deposits led to the study +of the superficial drift, which was formerly NEVER STUDIED and called +Diluvium, as I well remember. The study under the microscope of +rock-sections is another not inconsiderable step. So again the making +out of cleavage and the foliation of the metamorphic rocks. But I will +not run on, having now eased my mind. Pray do not waste even one minute +in acknowledging my horrid scrawls. + +Ever yours, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following extracts referring to the late Francis Maitland Balfour +(Professor of Animal Morphology at Cambridge. He was born in 1851, and +was killed, with his guide, on the Aiguille Blanche, near Courmayeur, +in July, 1882.), show my father's estimate of his work and intellectual +qualities, but they give merely an indication of his strong appreciation +of Balfour's most lovable personal character:-- + +From a letter to Fritz Muller, January 5, 1882:-- + +"Your appreciation of Balfour's book ['Comparative Embryology'] has +pleased me excessively, for though I could not properly judge of it, +yet it seemed to me one of the most remarkable books which have been +published for some considerable time. He is quite a young man, and if he +keeps his health, will do splendid work... He has a fair fortune of +his own, so that he can give up his whole time to Biology. He is very +modest, and very pleasant, and often visits here and we like him very +much." + +From a letter to Dr. Dohrn, February 13, 1882:-- + +"I have got one very bad piece of news to tell you, that F. Balfour is +very ill at Cambridge with typhoid fever... I hope that he is not in a +very dangerous state; but the fever is severe. Good Heavens, what a loss +he would be to Science, and to his many loving friends!"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, January 12, 1882. + +My dear Huxley, + +Very many thanks for 'Science and Culture,' and I am sure that I shall +read most of the essays with much interest. With respect to Automatism +("On the hypothesis that animals are automata and its history," an +Address given at the Belfast meeting of the British Association, 1874, +and published in the 'Fortnightly Review,' 1874, and in 'Science and +Culture.'), I wish that you could review yourself in the old, and +of course forgotten, trenchant style, and then you would here answer +yourself with equal incisiveness; and thus, by Jove, you might go on ad +infinitum, to the joy and instruction of the world. + +Ever yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The following letter refers to Dr. Ogle's translation of Aristotle, 'On +the Parts of Animals' (1882):] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. OGLE. Down, February 22, 1882. + +My dear Dr. Ogle, + +You must let me thank you for the pleasure which the introduction to +the Aristotle book has given me. I have rarely read anything which has +interested me more, though I have not read as yet more than a quarter of +the book proper. + +From quotations which I had seen, I had a high notion of Aristotle's +merits, but I had not the most remote notion what a wonderful man he +was. Linnaeus and Cuvier have been my two gods, though in very different +ways, but they were mere schoolboys to old Aristotle. How very curious, +also, his ignorance on some points, as on muscles as the means of +movement. I am glad that you have explained in so probable a manner some +of the grossest mistakes attributed to him. I never realized, before +reading your book, to what an enormous summation of labour we owe even +our common knowledge. I wish old Aristotle could know what a grand +Defender of the Faith he had found in you. Believe me, my dear Dr. Ogle, + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In February, he received a letter and a specimen from a Mr. W.D. Crick, +which illustrated a curious mode of dispersal of bivalve shells, +namely, by closure of their valves so as to hold on to the leg of a +water-beetle. This class of fact had a special charm for him, and he +wrote to 'Nature,' describing the case. ('Nature,' April 6, 1882.) + +In April he received a letter from Dr. W. Van Dyck, Lecturer in Zoology +at the Protestant College of Beyrout. The letter showed that the street +dogs of Beyrout had been rapidly mongrelised by introduced European +dogs, and the facts have an interesting bearing on my father's theory of +Sexual Selection.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W.T. VAN DYCK. Down, April 3, 1882. + +Dear Sir, + +After much deliberation, I have thought it best to send your very +interesting paper to the Zoological Society, in hopes that it will +be published in their Journal. This journal goes to every scientific +institution in the world, and the contents are abstracted in all +year-books on Zoology. Therefore I have preferred it to 'Nature,' though +the latter has a wider circulation, but is ephemeral. + +I have prefaced your essay by a few general remarks, to which I hope +that you will not object. + +Of course I do not know that the Zoological Society, which is much +addicted to mere systematic work, will publish your essay. If it does, I +will send you copies of your essay, but these will not be ready for some +months. If not published by the Zoological Society, I will endeavour +to get 'Nature' to publish it. I am very anxious that it should be +published and preserved. + +Dear Sir, Yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The paper was read at a meeting of the Zoological Society on April +18th--the day before my father's death. + +The preliminary remarks with which Dr. Van Dyck's paper is prefaced are +thus the latest of my father's writings.] + +We must now return to an early period of his life, and give a connected +account of his botanical work, which has hitherto been omitted. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.X. -- FERTILISATION OF FLOWERS. + +[In the letters already given we have had occasion to notice the general +bearing of a number of botanical problems on the wider question of +Evolution. The detailed work in botany which my father accomplished by +the guidance of the light cast on the study of natural history by his +own work on Evolution remains to be noticed. In a letter to Mr. Murray, +September 24th, 1861, speaking of his book on the 'Fertilisation of +Orchids,' he says: "It will perhaps serve to illustrate how Natural +History may be worked under the belief of the modification of species." +This remark gives a suggestion as to the value and interest of his +botanical work, and it might be expressed in far more emphatic language +without danger of exaggeration. + +In the same letter to Mr. Murray, he says: "I think this little volume +will do good to the 'Origin,' as it will show that I have worked hard +at details." It is true that his botanical work added a mass of +corroborative detail to the case for Evolution, but the chief support +to his doctrines given by these researches was of another kind. They +supplied an argument against those critics who have so freely dogmatised +as to the uselessness of particular structures, and as to the consequent +impossibility of their having been developed by means of natural +selection. His observations on Orchids enabled him to say: "I can show +the meaning of some of the apparently meaningless ridges, horns, who +will now venture to say that this or that structure is useless?" A +kindred point is expressed in a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker (May 14th, +1862:)-- + +"When many parts of structure, as in the woodpecker, show distinct +adaptation to external bodies, it is preposterous to attribute them to +the effects of climate, etc., but when a single point alone, as a hooked +seed, it is conceivable it may thus have arisen. I have found the study +of Orchids eminently useful in showing me how nearly all parts of the +flower are co-adapted for fertilization by insects, and therefore +the results of natural selection--even the most trifling details of +structure." + +One of the greatest services rendered by my father to the study of +Natural History is the revival of Teleology. The evolutionist studies +the purpose or meaning of organs with the zeal of the older Teleology, +but with far wider and more coherent purpose. He has the invigorating +knowledge that he is gaining not isolated conceptions of the economy +of the present, but a coherent view of both past and present. And even +where he fails to discover the use of any part, he may, by a knowledge +of its structure, unravel the history of the past vicissitudes in the +life of the species. In this way a vigour and unity is given to the +study of the forms of organised beings, which before it lacked. +This point has already been discussed in Mr. Huxley's chapter on the +'Reception of the "Origin of Species",' and need not be here considered. +It does, however, concern us to recognize that this "great service to +natural science," as Dr. Gray describes it, was effected almost as much +by his special botanical work as by the 'Origin of Species.' + +For a statement of the scope and influence of my father's botanical +work, I may refer to Mr. Thiselton Dyer's article in 'Charles Darwin,' +one of the "Nature Series". Mr. Dyer's wide knowledge, his friendship +with my father, and especially his power of sympathising with the work +of others, combine to give this essay a permanent value. The following +passage (page 43) gives a true picture:-- + +"Notwithstanding the extent and variety of his botanical work, Mr. +Darwin always disclaimed any right to be regarded as a professed +botanist. He turned his attention to plants, doubtless because they +were convenient objects for studying organic phenomena in their least +complicated forms; and this point of view, which, if one may use the +expression without disrespect, had something of the amateur about it, +was in itself of the greatest importance. For, from not being, till he +took up any point, familiar with the literature bearing on it, his mind +was absolutely free from any prepossession. He was never afraid of his +facts, or of framing any hypothesis, however startling, which seemed to +explain them... In any one else such an attitude would have produced +much work that was crude and rash. But Mr. Darwin--if one may venture +on language which will strike no one who had conversed with him as +over-strained--seemed by gentle persuasion to have penetrated that +reserve of nature which baffles smaller men. In other words, his long +experience had given him a kind of instinctive insight into the method +of attack of any biological problem, however unfamiliar to him, while +he rigidly controlled the fertility of his mind in hypothetical +explanations by the no less fertility of ingeniously devised +experiment." + +To form any just idea of the greatness of the revolution worked by my +father's researches in the study of the fertilisation of flowers, it +is necessary to know from what a condition this branch of knowledge has +emerged. It should be remembered that it was only during the early +years of the present century that the idea of sex, as applied to plants, +became at all firmly established. Sachs, in his 'History of Botany' +(1875), has given some striking illustrations of the remarkable slowness +with which its acceptance gained ground. He remarks that when we +consider the experimental proofs given by Camerarius (1694), and by +Kolreuter (1761-66), it appears incredible that doubts should afterwards +have been raised as to the sexuality of plants. Yet he shows that such +doubts did actually repeatedly crop up. These adverse criticisms rested +for the most part on careless experiments, but in many cases on a priori +arguments. Even as late as 1820, a book of this kind, which would now +rank with circle squaring, or flat-earth philosophy, was seriously +noticed in a botanical journal. + +A distinct conception of sex as applied to plants, had not long emerged +from the mists of profitless discussion and feeble experiment, at the +time when my father began botany by attending Henslow's lectures at +Cambridge. + +When the belief in the sexuality of plants had become established as an +incontrovertible piece of knowledge, a weight of misconception remained, +weighing down any rational view of the subject. Camerarius (Sachs, +'Geschichte,' page 419.) believed (naturally enough in his day) that +hermaphrodite flowers are necessarily self-fertilised. He had the wit to +be astonished at this, a degree of intelligence which, as Sachs points +out, the majority of his successors did not attain to. + +The following extracts from a note-book show that this point occurred to +my father as early as 1837:-- + +"Do not plants which have male and female organs together [i.e. in the +same flower] yet receive influence from other plants? Does not Lyell +give some argument about varieties being difficult to keep [true] on +account of pollen from other plants? Because this may be applied to show +all plants do receive intermixture." + +Sprengel (Christian Conrad Sprengel, 1750-1816.), indeed, understood +that the hermaphrodite structure of flowers by no means necessarily +leads to self-fertilisation. But although he discovered that in many +cases pollen is of necessity carried to the stigma of another FLOWER, he +did not understand that in the advantage gained by the intercrossing of +distinct PLANTS lies the key to the whole question. Hermann Muller has +well remarked that this "omission was for several generations fatal to +Sprengel's work... For both at the time and subsequently, botanists felt +above all the weakness of his theory, and they set aside, along with his +defective ideas, his rich store of patient and acute observations and +his comprehensive and accurate interpretations." It remained for my +father to convince the world that the meaning hidden in the structure of +flowers was to be found by seeking light in the same direction in which +Sprengel, seventy years before, had laboured. Robert Brown was the +connecting link between them, for it was at his recommendation that +my father in 1841 read Sprengel's now celebrated 'Secret of Nature +Displayed.' ('Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur im Baue und in der +Befruchtung der Blumen.' Berlin, 1793.) The book impressed him as being +"full of truth," although "with some little nonsense." It not only +encouraged him in kindred speculation, but guided him in his work, +for in 1844 he speaks of verifying Sprengel's observations. It may be +doubted whether Robert Brown ever planted a more beautiful seed than in +putting such a book into such hands. + +A passage in the 'Autobiography' (volume i.) shows how it was that my +father was attracted to the subject of fertilisation: "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." + +The original connection between the study of flowers and the problem of +evolution is curious, and could hardly have been predicted. Moreover, it +was not a permanent bond. As soon as the idea arose that the offspring +of cross-fertilisation is, in the struggle for life, likely to conquer +the seedlings of self-fertilised parentage, a far more vigorous belief +in the potency of natural selection in moulding the structure of flowers +is attained. A central idea is gained towards which experiment and +observation may be directed. + +Dr. Gray has well remarked with regard to this central idea ('Nature,' +June 4, 1874):--"The aphorism, 'Nature abhors a vacuum,' is a +characteristic specimen of the science of the middle ages. The aphorism, +Nature abhors close fertilisation,' and the demonstration of the +principle, belong to our age and to Mr. Darwin. To have originated this, +and also the principle of Natural Selection... and to have applied these +principles to the system of nature, in such a manner as to make, within +a dozen years, a deeper impression upon natural history than has been +made since Linnaeus, is ample title for one man's fame." + +The flowers of the Papilionaceae attracted his attention early, and +were the subject of his first paper on fertilisation. ("Gardeners' +Chronicle", 1857, page 725. It appears that this paper was a piece of +"over-time" work. He wrote to a friend, "that confounded leguminous +paper was done in the afternoon, and the consequence was I had to go to +Moor Park for a week.") The following extract from an undated letter to +Dr. Asa Gray seems to have been written before the publication of this +paper, probably in 1856 or 1857:-- + +"... What you say on Papilionaceous flowers is very true; and I have no +facts to show that varieties are crossed; but yet (and the same remark +is applicable in a beautiful way to Fumaria and Dielytra, as I noticed +many years ago), I must believe that the flowers are constructed partly +in direct relation to the visits of insects; and how insects can avoid +bringing pollen from other individuals I cannot understand. It is really +pretty to watch the action of a Humble-bee on the scarlet kidney bean, +and in this genus (and in Lathyrus grandiflorus) the honey is so placed +that the bee invariably alights on that ONE side of the flower towards +which the spiral pistil is protruded (bringing out with it pollen), and +by the depression of the wing-petal is forced against the bee's side all +dusted with pollen. (If you will look at a bed of scarlet kidney beans +you will find that the wing-petals on the LEFT side alone are all +scratched by the tarsi of the bees. [Note in the original letter by C. +Darwin.]) In the broom the pistil is rubbed on the centre of the back +of the bee. I suspect there is something to be made out about the +Leguminosae, which will bring the case within OUR theory; though I have +failed to do so. Our theory will explain why in the vegetable and animal +kingdom the act of fertilisation even in hermaphrodites usually takes +place sub-jove, though thus exposed to GREAT injury from damp and rain. +In animals which cannot be [fertilised] by insects or wind, there is NO +CASE of LAND-animals being hermaphrodite without the concourse of two +individuals." + +A letter to Dr. Asa Gray (September 5th, 1857) gives the substance of +the paper in the "Gardeners' Chronicle":-- + +"Lately I was led to examine buds of kidney bean with the pollen shed; +but I was led to believe that the pollen could HARDLY get on the stigma +by wind or otherwise, except by bees visiting [the flower] and moving +the wing petals: hence I included a small bunch of flowers in two +bottles in every way treated the same: the flowers in one I daily just +momentarily moved, as if by a bee; these set three fine pods, the other +NOT ONE. Of course this little experiment must be tried again, and this +year in England it is too late, as the flowers seem now seldom to set. +If bees are necessary to this flower's self-fertilisation, bees must +almost cross them, as their dusted right-side of head and right legs +constantly touch the stigma. + +"I have, also, lately been re-observing daily Lobelia fulgens--this in +my garden is never visited by insects, and never sets seeds, without +pollen be put on the stigma (whereas the small blue Lobelia is visited +by bees and does set seed); I mention this because there are such +beautiful contrivances to prevent the stigma ever getting its own +pollen; which seems only explicable on the doctrine of the advantage of +crosses." + +The paper was supplemented by a second in 1858. ("Gardeners' Chronicle", +1858, page 828. In 1861 another paper on Fertilisation appeared in the +"Gardeners' Chronicle", page 552, in which he explained the action of +insects on Vinca major. He was attracted to the periwinkle by the fact +that it is not visited by insects and never set seeds.) The chief object +of these publications seems to have been to obtain information as to the +possibility of growing varieties of leguminous plants near each other, +and yet keeping them true. It is curious that the Papilionaceae should +not only have been the first flowers which attracted his attention by +their obvious adaptation to the visits of insects, but should also have +constituted one of his sorest puzzles. The common pea and the sweet pea +gave him much difficulty, because, although they are as obviously fitted +for insect-visits as the rest of the order, yet their varieties keep +true. The fact is that neither of these plants being indigenous, they +are not perfectly adapted for fertilisation by British insects. He could +not, at this stage of his observations, know that the co-ordination +between a flower and the particular insect which fertilises it may be +as delicate as that between a lock and its key, so that this explanation +was not likely to occur to him. (He was of course alive to variety in +the habits of insects. He published a short note in the "Entomologists +Weekly Intelligencer", 1860, asking whether the Tineina and other small +moths suck flowers.) + +Besides observing the Leguminosae, he had already begun, as shown in +the foregoing extracts, to attend to the structure of other flowers in +relation to insects. At the beginning of 1860 he worked at Leschenaultia +(He published a short paper on the manner of fertilisation of this +flower, in the "Gardeners' Chronicle", 1871, page 1166.), which at first +puzzled him, but was ultimately made out. A passage in a letter chiefly +relating to Leschenaultia seems to show that it was only in the spring +of 1860 that he began widely to apply his knowledge to the relation of +insects to other flowers. This is somewhat surprising, when we remember +that he had read Sprengel many years before. He wrote (May 14):-- + +"I should look at this curious contrivance as specially related to +visits of insects; as I begin to think is almost universally the case." + +Even in July 1862 he wrote to Dr. Asa Gray:-- + +"There is no end to the adaptations. Ought not these cases to make +one very cautious when one doubts about the use of all parts? I fully +believe that the structure of all irregular flowers is governed in +relation to insects. Insects are the Lords of the floral (to quote the +witty "Athenaeum") world." + +He was probably attracted to the study of Orchids by the fact that +several kinds are common near Down. The letters of 1860 show that these +plants occupied a good deal of his attention; and in 1861 he gave part +of the summer and all the autumn to the subject. He evidently considered +himself idle for wasting time on Orchids, which ought to have been given +to 'Variation under Domestication.' Thus he wrote:-- + +"There is to me incomparably more interest in observing than in writing; +but I feel quite guilty in trespassing on these subjects, and not +sticking to varieties of the confounded cocks, hens and ducks. I hear +that Lyell is savage at me. I shall never resist Linum next summer." + +It was in the summer of 1860 that he made out one of the most striking +and familiar facts in the book, namely, the manner in which the pollen +masses in Orchis are adapted for removal by insects. He wrote to Sir +J.D. Hooker July 12:-- + +"I have been examining Orchis pyramidalis, and it almost equals, perhaps +even beats, your Listera case; the sticky glands are congenitally united +into a saddle-shaped organ, which has great power of movement, and +seizes hold of a bristle (or proboscis) in an admirable manner, and then +another movement takes place in the pollen masses, by which they +are beautifully adapted to leave pollen on the two LATERAL stigmatic +surfaces. I never saw anything so beautiful." + +In June of the same year he wrote:-- + +"You speak of adaptation being rarely VISIBLE, though present in plants. +I have just recently been looking at the common Orchis, and I declare I +think its adaptations in every part of the flower quite as beautiful and +plain, or even more beautiful than in the Woodpecker. I have written and +sent a notice for the "Gardeners' Chronicle" (June 9, 1860. This seems +to have attracted some attention, especially among entomologists, as it +was reprinted in the "Entomologists Weekly Intelligencer", 1860.), on a +curious difficulty in the Bee Orchis, and should much like to hear what +you think of the case. In this article I have incidentally touched on +adaptation to visits of insects; but the contrivance to keep the sticky +glands fresh and sticky beats almost everything in nature. I never +remember having seen it described, but it must have been, and, as I +ought not in my book to give the observation as my own, I should be very +glad to know where this beautiful contrivance is described." + +He wrote also to Dr. Gray, June 8, 1860:-- + +"Talking of adaptation, I have lately been looking at our common +orchids, and I dare say the facts are as old and well-known as the +hills, but I have been so struck with admiration at the contrivances, +that I have sent a notice to the "Gardeners' Chronicle". The Ophrys +apifera, offers, as you will see, a curious contradiction in structure." + +Besides attending to the fertilisation of the flowers he was already, in +1860, busy with the homologies of the parts, a subject of which he made +good use in the Orchid book. He wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker (July):-- + +"It is a real good joke my discussing homologies of Orchids with you, +after examining only three or four genera; and this very fact makes me +feel positive I am right! I do not quite understand some of your +terms; but sometime I must get you to explain the homologies; for I am +intensely interested on the subject, just as at a game of chess." + +This work was valuable from a systematic point of view. In 1880 he wrote +to Mr. Bentham:-- + +"It was very kind in you to write to me about the Orchideae, for it has +pleased me to an extreme degree that I could have been of the LEAST use +to you about the nature of the parts." + +The pleasure which his early observations on Orchids gave him is shown +in such extracts as the following from a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker (July +27, 1861):-- + +"You cannot conceive how the Orchids have delighted me. They came safe, +but box rather smashed; cylindrical old cocoa- or snuff-canister much +safer. I enclose postage. As an account of the movement, I shall allude +to what I suppose is Oncidium, to make CERTAIN,--is the enclosed flower +with crumpled petals this genus? Also I most specially want to know what +the enclosed little globular brown Orchid is. I have only seen pollen +of a Cattleya on a bee, but surely have you not unintentionally sent +me what I wanted most (after Catasetum or Mormodes), viz. one of the +Epidendreae?! I PARTICULARLY want (and will presently tell you why) +another spike of this little Orchid, with older flowers, some even +almost withered." + +His delight in observation is again shown in a letter to Dr. Gray +(1863). referring to Cruger's letters from Trinidad, he wrote:--"Happy +man, he has actually seen crowds of bees flying round Catasetum, with +the pollinia sticking to their backs!" + +The following extracts of letters to Sir J.D. Hooker illustrate further +the interest which his work excited in him:-- + +"Veitch sent me a grand lot this morning. What wonderful structures! + +"I have now seen enough, and you must not send me more, for though I +enjoy looking at them MUCH, and it has been very useful to me, seeing +so many different forms, it is idleness. For my object each species +requires studying for days. I wish you had time to take up the group. +I would give a good deal to know what the rostellum is, of which I have +traced so many curious modifications. I suppose it cannot be one of the +stigmas (It is a modification of the upper stigma.), there seems a great +tendency for two lateral stigmas to appear. My paper, though touching +on only subordinate points will run, I fear, to 100 MS. folio pages! +The beauty of the adaptation of parts seems to me unparalleled. I should +think or guess waxy pollen was most differentiated. In Cypripedium which +seems least modified, and a much exterminated group, the grains are +single. In ALL OTHERS, as far as I have seen, they are in packets of +four; and these packets cohere into many wedge-formed masses in Orchis; +into eight, four, and finally two. It seems curious that a flower should +exist, which could AT MOST fertilise only two other flowers, seeing +how abundant pollen generally is; this fact I look at as explaining the +perfection of the contrivance by which the pollen, so important from its +fewness, is carried from flower to flower" (1861). + +"I was thinking of writing to you to-day, when your note with the +Orchids came. What frightful trouble you have taken about Vanilla; you +really must not take an atom more; for the Orchids are more play than +real work. I have been much interested by Epidendrum, and have worked +all morning at them; for heaven's sake, do not corrupt me by any more" +(August 30, 1861). + +He originally intended to publish his notes on Orchids as a paper in the +Linnean Society's Journal, but it soon became evident that a separate +volume would be a more suitable form of publication. In a letter to Sir +J.D. Hooker, September 24, 1861, he writes:-- + +"I have been acting, I fear that you will think, like a goose; and +perhaps in truth I have. When I finished a few days ago my Orchis +paper, which turns out 140 folio pages!! and thought of the expense of +woodcuts, I said to myself, I will offer the Linnean Society to withdraw +it, and publish it in a pamphlet. It then flashed on me that perhaps +Murray would publish it, so I gave him a cautious description, and +offered to share risks and profits. This morning he writes that he +will publish and take all risks, and share profits and pay for all +illustrations. It is a risk, and heaven knows whether it will not be a +dead failure, but I have not deceived Murray, and [have] told him that +it would interest those alone who cared much for natural history. I hope +I do not exaggerate the curiosity of the many special contrivances." + +He wrote the two following letters to Mr. Murray about the publication +of the book:] + +Down, September 21 [1861]. + +My dear Sir, + +Will you have the kindness to give me your opinion, which I shall +implicitly follow. I have just finished a very long paper intended for +Linnean Society (the title is enclosed), and yesterday for the first +time it occurred to me that POSSIBLY it might be worth publishing +separately which would save me trouble and delay. The facts are new, and +have been collected during twenty years and strike me as curious. Like a +Bridgewater treatise, the chief object is to show the perfection of the +many contrivances in Orchids. The subject of propagation is interesting +to most people, and is treated in my paper so that any woman could read +it. Parts are dry and purely scientific; but I think my paper would +interest a good many of such persons who care for Natural History, but +no others. + +... It would be a very little book, and I believe you think very little +books objectionable. I have myself GREAT doubts on the subject. I am +very apt to think that my geese are swans; but the subject seems to me +curious and interesting. + +I beg you not to be guided in the least in order to oblige me, but as +far as you can judge, please give me your opinion. If I were to publish +separately, I would agree to any terms, such as half risk and half +profit, or what you liked; but I would not publish on my sole risk, for +to be frank, I have been told that no publisher whatever, under such +circumstances, cares for the success of a book. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. MURRAY. Down, September 24 [1861]. + +My dear Sir, + +I am very much obliged for your note and very liberal offer. I have +had some qualms and fears. All that I can feel sure of is that the MS. +contains many new and curious facts, and I am sure the Essay would have +interested me, and will interest those who feel lively interest in the +wonders of nature; but how far the public will care for such minute +details, I cannot at all tell. It is a bold experiment; and at worst, +cannot entail much loss; as a certain amount of sale will, I think, be +pretty certain. A large sale is out of the question. As far as I can +judge, generally the points which interest me I find interest others; +but I make the experiment with fear and trembling,--not for my own sake, +but for yours... + + +[On September 28th he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"What a good soul you are not to sneer at me, but to pat me on the back. +I have the greatest doubt whether I am not going to do, in publishing +my paper, a most ridiculous thing. It would annoy me much, but only for +Murray's sake, if the publication were a dead failure." + +There was still much work to be done, and in October he was still +receiving Orchids from Kew, and wrote to Hooker:-- + +"It is impossible to thank you enough. I was almost mad at the wealth of +Orchids." And again-- + +"Mr. Veitch most generously has sent me two splendid buds of Mormodes, +which will be capital for dissection, but I fear will never be +irritable; so for the sake of charity and love of heaven do, I beseech +you, observe what movement takes place in Cychnoches, and what part must +be touched. Mr. V. has also sent me one splendid flower of Catasetum, +the most wonderful Orchid I have seen." + +On October 13th he wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker:-- + +"It seems that I cannot exhaust your good nature. I have had the hardest +day's work at Catasetum and buds of Mormodes, and believe I understand +at last the mechanism of movements and the functions. Catasetum is +a beautiful case of slight modification of structure leading to new +functions. I never was more interested in any subject in my life than in +this of Orchids. I owe very much to you." + +Again to the same friend, November 1, 1861:-- + +"If you really can spare another Catasetum, when nearly ready, I shall +be most grateful; had I not better send for it? The case is truly +marvellous; the (so-called) sensation, or stimulus from a light touch +is certainly transmitted through the antennae for more than one inch +INSTANTANEOUSLY... A cursed insect or something let my last flower off +last night." + +Professor de Candolle has remarked ('Darwin considere, etc.,' 'Archives +des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles,' 3eme periode. Tome vii. 481, 1882 +(May).) of my father, "Ce n'est pas lui qui aurait demande de construire +des palais pour y loger des laboratoires." This was singularly true of +his orchid work, or rather it would be nearer the truth to say that +he had no laboratory, for it was only after the publication of the +'Fertilisation of Orchids,' that he built himself a greenhouse. He wrote +to Sir J.D. Hooker (December 24th, 1862):-- + +"And now I am going to tell you a MOST important piece of news!! I +have almost resolved to build a small hot-house; my neighbour's really +firs-rate gardener has suggested it, and offered to make me plans, and +see that it is well done, and he is really a clever fellow, who wins +lots of prizes, and is very observant. He believes that we should +succeed with a little patience; it will be a grand amusement for me to +experiment with plants." + +Again he wrote (February 15th, 1863):-- + +"I write now because the new hot-house is ready, and I long to stock it, +just like a schoolboy. Could you tell me pretty soon what plants you can +give me; and then I shall know what to order? And do advise me how I had +better get such plants as you can SPARE. Would it do to send my tax-cart +early in the morning, on a day that was not frosty, lining the cart with +mats, and arriving here before night? I have no idea whether this +degree of exposure (and of course the cart would be cold) could injure +stov-plants; they would be about five hours (with bait) on the journey +home." + +A week later he wrote:-- + +"you cannot imagine what pleasure your plants give me (far more than +your dead Wedgwood ware can give you); and I go and gloat over them, +but we privately confessed to each other, that if they were not our own, +perhaps we should not see such transcendent beauty in each leaf." + +And in March, when he was extremely unwell he wrote:-- + +"A few words about the Stove-plants; they do so amuse me. I have crawled +to see them two or three times. Will you correct and answer, and return +enclosed. I have hunted in all my books and cannot find these names +(His difficulty with regard to the names of plants is illustrated, with +regard to a Lupine on which he was at work, in an extract from a letter +(July 21, 1866) to Sir J.D. Hooker: "I sent to the nursery garden, +whence I bought the seed, and could only hear that it was 'the common +blue Lupine,' the man saying 'he was no scholard, and did not know +Latin, and that parties who make experiments ought to find out the +names.'"), and I like much to know the family." + +The book was published May 15th, 1862. Of its reception he writes to +Murray, June 13th and 18th:-- + +"The Botanists praise my Orchid-book to the skies. Some one sent me +(perhaps you) the 'Parthenon,' with a good review. The "Athenaeum" (May +24, 1862.) treats me with very kind pity and contempt; but the reviewer +knew nothing of his subject." + +"There is a superb, but I fear exaggerated, review in the 'London +Review,' (June 14, 1862.) But I have not been a fool, as I thought I +was, to publish (Doubts on this point still, however, occurred to him +about this time. He wrote to Prof. Oliver (June 8): "I am glad that +you have read my Orchis-book and seem to approve of it; for I never +published anything which I so much doubted whether it was worth +publishing, and indeed I still doubt. The subject interested me beyond +what, I suppose, it is worth."); for Asa Gray, about the most competent +judge in the world, thinks almost as highly of the book as does the +'London Review.' The "Athenaeum" will hinder the sale greatly." + +The Rev. M.J. Berkeley was the author of the notice in the 'London +Review,' as my father learned from Sir J.D. Hooker, who added, 'I +thought it very well done indeed. I have read a good deal of the +Orchid-book, and echo all he says." + +To this my father replied (June 30th, 1862):-- + +"My dear Old Friend, + +You speak of my warming the cockles of your heart, but you will never +know how often you have warmed mine. It is not your approbation of my +scientific work (though I care for that more than for any one's): it is +something deeper. To this day I remember keenly a letter you wrote to me +from Oxford, when I was at the Water-cure, and how it cheered me when I +was utterly weary of life. Well, my Orchis-book is a success (but I do +not know whether it sells.)" + +In another letter to the same friend, he wrote:-- + +"You have pleased me much by what you say in regard to Bentham and +Oliver approving of my book; for I had got a sort of nervousness, +and doubted whether I had not made an egregious fool of myself, and +concocted pleasant little stinging remarks for reviews, such as 'Mr. +Darwin's head seems to have been turned by a certain degree of +success, and he thinks that the most trifling observations are worth +publication.'" + +Mr. Bentham's approval was given in his Presidential Address to the +Linnean Society, May 24, 1862, and was all the more valuable because +it came from one who was by no means supposed to be favourable to +evolutionary doctrines.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 10 [1862]. + +My dear Gray, + +Your generous sympathy makes you overestimate what you have read of my +Orchid-book. But your letter of May 18th and 26th has given me an almost +foolish amount of satisfaction. The subject interested me, I knew, +beyond its real value; but I had lately got to think that I had made +myself a complete fool by publishing in a semi-popular form. Now I shall +confidently defy the world. I have heard that Bentham and Oliver approve +of it; but I have heard the opinion of no one else whose opinion is +worth a farthing... No doubt my volume contains much error: how curiously +difficult it is to be accurate, though I try my utmost. Your notes have +interested me beyond measure. I can now afford to d-- my critics with +ineffable complacency of mind. Cordial thanks for this benefit. It +is surprising to me that you should have strength of mind to care for +science, amidst the awful events daily occurring in your country. I +daily look at the "Times" with almost as much interest as an American +could do. When will peace come? it is dreadful to think of the +desolation of large parts of your magnificent country; and all the +speechless misery suffered by many. I hope and think it not unlikely +that we English are wrong in concluding that it will take a long time +for prosperity to return to you. It is an awful subject to reflect on... + + +[Dr. Asa Gray reviewed the book in 'Silliman's Journal' ('Silliman's +Journal,' volume xxiv. page 138. Here is given an account of the +fertilisation of Platanthera Hookeri. P. hyperborea is discussed in +Dr. Gray's 'Enumeration' in the same volume, page 259; also, with other +species, in a second notice of the Orchid-book at page 420.), where he +speaks, in strong terms, of the fascination which it must have for even +slightly instructed readers. He made, too, some original observations on +an American orchid, and these first-fruits of the subject, sent in MS. +or proof sheet to my father, were welcomed by him in a letter (July +23rd):-- + +"Last night, after writing the above, I read the great bundle of notes. +Little did I think what I had to read. What admirable observations! You +have distanced me on my own hobby-horse! I have not had for weeks such a +glow of pleasure as your observations gave me." + +The next letter refers to the publication of the review:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, July 28 [1862]. + +My dear Gray, + +I hardly know what to thank for first. Your stamps gave infinite +satisfaction. I took him (One of his boys who was ill.) first one lot, +and then an hour afterwards another lot. He actually raised himself on +one elbow to look at them. It was the first animation he showed. He said +only: "You must thank Professor Gray awfully." In the evening after +a long silence, there came out the oracular sentence: "He is awfully +kind." And indeed you are, overworked as you are, to take so much +trouble for our poor dear little man.--And now I must begin the +"awfullys" on my own account: what a capital notice you have published +on the orchids! It could not have been better; but I fear that you +overrate it. I am very sure that I had not the least idea that you or +any one would approve of it so much. I return your last note for the +chance of your publishing any notice on the subject; but after all +perhaps you may not think it worth while; yet in my judgment SEVERAL of +your facts, especially Platanthera hyperborea, are MUCH too good to be +merged in a review. But I have always noticed that you are prodigal in +originality in your reviews... + + +[Sir Joseph Hooker reviewed the book in the "Gardeners' Chronicle", +writing in a successful imitation of the style of Lindley, the Editor. +My father wrote to Sir Joseph (November 12, 1862):-- + +"So you did write the review in the "Gardeners' Chronicle". Once or +twice I doubted whether it was Lindley; but when I came to a little slap +at R. Brown, I doubted no longer. You arch-rogue! I do not wonder you +have deceived others also. Perhaps I am a conceited dog; but if so, you +have much to answer for; I never received so much praise, and coming +from you I value it much more than from any other." + +With regard to botanical opinion generally, he wrote to Dr. Gray, "I +am fairly astonished at the success of my book with botanists." Among +naturalists who were not botanists, Lyell was pre-eminent in his +appreciation of the book. I have no means of knowing when he read it, +but in later life, as I learn from Professor Judd, he was enthusiastic +in praise of the 'Fertilisation of Orchids,' which he considered "next +to the 'Origin,' as the most valuable of all Darwin's works." Among the +general public the author did not at first hear of many disciples, thus +he wrote to his cousin Fox in September 1862: "Hardly any one not a +botanist, except yourself, as far as I know, has cared for it." + +A favourable notice appeared in the "Saturday Review", October 18th, +1862; the reviewer points out that the book would escape the angry +polemics aroused by the 'Origin.' (Dr. Gray pointed out that if the +Orchid-book (with a few trifling omissions) had appeared before the +'Origin,' the author would have been canonised rather than anathematised +by the natural theologians.) This is illustrated by a review in the +"Literary Churchman", in which only one fault found, namely, that Mr. +Darwin's expression of admiration at the contrivances in orchids is too +indirect a way of saying, "O Lord, how manifold are Thy works!" + +A somewhat similar criticism occurs in the 'Edinburgh Review' (October +1862). The writer points out that Mr. Darwin constantly uses phrases, +such as "beautiful contrivance," "the labellum is... IN ORDER TO +attract," "the nectar is PURPOSELY lodged." The Reviewer concludes his +discussion thus: "We know, too that these purposes and ideas are not our +own, but the ideas and purposes of Another." + +The 'Edinburgh' reviewer's treatment of this subject was criticised +in the "Saturday Review", November 15th, 1862: With reference to this +article my father wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker (December 29th, 1862):-- + +"Here is an odd chance; my nephew Henry Parker, an Oxford Classic, and +Fellow of Oriel, came here this evening; and I asked him whether he +knew who had written the little article in the "Saturday", smashing the +[Edinburgh reviewer], which we liked; and after a little hesitation he +owned he had. I never knew that he wrote in the "Saturday"; and was it +not an odd chance?" + +The 'Edinburgh' article was written by the Duke of Argyll, and has +since been made use of in his 'Reign of Law,' 1867. Mr. Wallace replied +('Quarterly Journal of Science,' October 1867. Republished in 'Natural +Selection,' 1871.) to the Duke's criticisms, making some specially good +remarks on those which refer to orchids. He shows how, by a "beautiful +self-acting adjustment," the nectary of the orchid Angraecum (from 10 to +14 inches in length), and the proboscis of a moth sufficiently long to +reach the nectar, might be developed by natural selection. He goes on to +point out that on any other theory we must suppose that the flower was +created with an enormously long nectary, and that then by a special act, +an insect was created fitted to visit the flower, which would otherwise +remain sterile. With regard to this point my father wrote (October 12 or +13, 1867):-- + +"I forgot to remark how capitally you turn the tables on the Duke, when +you make him create the Angraecum and Moth by special creation." + +If we examine the literature relating to the fertilisation of flowers, +we do not find that this new branch of study showed any great activity +immediately after the publication of the Orchid-book. There are a few +papers by Asa Gray, in 1862 and 1863, by Hildebrand in 1864, and +by Moggridge in 1865, but the great mass of work by Axell, Delpino, +Hildebrand, and the Mullers, did not begin to appear until about 1867. +The period during which the new views were being assimilated, and before +they became thoroughly fruitful, was, however, surprisingly short. The +later activity in this department may be roughly gauged by the fact +that the valuable 'Bibliography,' given by Prof. D'Arcy Thompson in his +translation of Muller's 'Befruchtung' (1883), contains references to 814 +papers. + +Besides the book on Orchids, my father wrote two or three papers on the +subject, which will be found mentioned in the Appendix. The earliest of +these, on the three sexual forms of Catasetum, was published in 1862; it +is an anticipation of part of the Orchid-book, and was merely published +in the Linnean Society's Journal, in acknowledgment of the use made of +a specimen in the Society's possession. The possibility of apparently +distinct species being merely sexual forms of a single species, +suggested a characteristic experiment, which is alluded to in the +following letter to one of his earliest disciples in the study of the +fertilisation of flowers:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. TRAHERNE MOGGRIDGE. (The late Mr. Moggridge, author +of 'Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders,' 'Flora of Mentone,' etc.) +Down, October 13 [1865]. + +My dear Sir, + +I am especially obliged to you for your beautiful plates and +letter-press; for no single point in natural history interests and +perplexes me so much as the self-fertilisation (He once remarked to Dr. +Norman Moore that one of the things that made him wish to live a +few thousand years, was his desire to see the extinction of the +Bee-orchis,--an end to which he believed its self-fertilising habit was +leading.) of the Bee-orchis. You have already thrown some light on the +subject, and your present observations promise to throw more. + +I formed two conjectures: first, that some insect during certain seasons +might cross the plants, but I have almost given up this; nevertheless, +pray have a look at the flowers next season. Secondly, I conjectured +that the Spider and Bee-orchis might be a crossing and self-fertile +form of the same species. Accordingly I wrote some years ago to an +acquaintance, asking him to mark some Spider-orchids, and observe +whether they retained the same character; but he evidently thought the +request as foolish as if I had asked him to mark one of his cows with a +ribbon, to see if it would turn next spring into a horse. Now will +you be so kind as to tie a string round the stem of a half-a-dozen +Spider-orchids, and when you leave Mentone dig them up, and I would try +and cultivate them and see if they kept constant; but I should require +to know in what sort of soil and situations they grow. It would be +indispensable to mark the plant so that there could be no mistake about +the individual. It is also just possible that the same plant would throw +up, at different seasons different flower-scapes, and the marked plants +would serve as evidence. + +With many thanks, my dear sir, Yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--I send by this post my paper on climbing plants, parts of which +you might like to read. + +[Sir Thomas Farrer and Dr. W. Ogle were also guided and encouraged by +my father in their observations. The following refers to a paper by Sir +Thomas Farrer, in the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' 1868, on +the fertilisation of the Scarlet Runner:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. FARRER. Down, September 15, 1868. + +My dear Mr. Farrer, + +I grieve to say that the MAIN features of your case are known. I am +the sinner and described them some ten years ago. But I overlooked +many details, as the appendage to the single stamen, and several other +points. I send my notes, but I must beg for their return, as I have NO +OTHER COPY. I quite agree, the facts are most striking, especially +as you put them. Are you sure that the Hive-bee is the cutter? it is +against my experience. If sure, make the point more prominent, or if not +sure, erase it. I do not think the subject is quite new enough for the +Linnean Society; but I dare say the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural +History,' or "Gardeners' Chronicle" would gladly publish your +observations, and it is a great pity they should be lost. If you like +I would send your paper to either quarter with a note. In this case +you must give a title, and your name, and perhaps it would be well to +premise your remarks with a line of reference to my paper stating that +you had observed independently and more fully. + +I have read my own paper over after an interval of several years, and am +amused at the caution with which I put the case that the final end +was for crossing distinct individuals, of which I was then as fully +convinced as now, but I knew that the doctrine would shock all +botanists. Now the opinion is becoming familiar. + +To see penetration of pollen-tubes is not difficult, but in most cases +requires some practice with dissecting under a one-tenth of an inch +focal distance single lens; and just at first this will seem to you +extremely difficult. + +What a capital observer you are--a first-rate Naturalist has been +sacrificed, or partly sacrificed to Public life. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--If you come across any large Salvia, look at it--the contrivance +is admirable. It went to my heart to tell a man who came here a few +weeks ago with splendid drawings and MS. on Salvia, that the work +had been all done in Germany. (Dr. W. Ogle, the observer of the +fertilisation of Salvia here alluded to, published his results in the +'Pop. Science Review,' 1869. He refers both gracefully and gratefully to +his relationship with my father in the introduction to his translation +of Kerner's 'Flowers and their Unbidden Guests.') + + +[The following extract is from a letter, November 26th, 1868, to Sir +Thomas Farrer, written as I learn from him, "in answer to a request for +some advice as to the best modes of observation." + +"In my opinion the best plan is to go on working and making copious +notes, without much thought of publication, and then if the results turn +out striking publish them. It is my impression, but I do not feel sure +that I am right, that the best and most novel plan would be, instead +of describing the means of fertilisation in particular plants, to +investigate the part which certain structures play with all plants +or throughout certain orders; for instance, the brush of hairs on the +style, or the diadelphous condition of the stamens, in the Leguminosae, +or the hairs within the corolla, etc. etc. Looking to your note, I think +that this is perhaps the plan which you suggest. + +"It is well to remember that Naturalists value observations far more +than reasoning; therefore your conclusions should be as often as +possible fortified by noticing how insects actually do the work." + +In 1869, Sir Thomas Farrer corresponded with my father on the +fertilisation of Passiflora and of Tacsonia. He has given me his +impressions of the correspondence:-- + +"I had suggested that the elaborate series of chevaux-de-frise, by +which the nectary of the common Passiflora is guarded, were specially +calculated to protect the flower from the stiff-beaked humming birds +which would not fertilise it, and to facilitate the access of the little +proboscis of the humble bee, which would do so; whilst, on the other +hand, the long pendent tube and flexible valve-like corona which retains +the nectar of Tacsonia would shut out the bee, which would not, +and admit the humming bird which would, fertilise that flower. The +suggestion is very possibly worthless, and could only be verified or +refuted by examination of flowers in the countries where they grow +naturally... What interested me was to see that on this as on almost any +other point of detailed observation, Mr. Darwin could always say, 'Yes; +but at one time I made some observations myself on this particular +point; and I think you will find, etc. etc.' That he should after years +of interval remember that he had noticed the peculiar structure to which +I was referring in the Passiflora princeps struck me at the time as very +remarkable." + +With regard to the spread of a belief in the adaptation of flowers for +cross-fertilisation, my father wrote to Mr. Bentham April 22, 1868: + +"Most of the criticisms which I sometimes meet with in French works +against the frequency of crossing, I am certain are the result of mere +ignorance. I have never hitherto found the rule to fail that when an +author describes the structure of a flower as specially adapted for +self-fertilisation, it is really adapted for crossing. The Fumariaceae +offer a good instance of this, and Treviranus threw this order in my +teeth; but in Corydalis, Hildebrand shows how utterly false the idea +of self-fertilisation is. This author's paper on Salvia is really +worth reading, and I have observed some species, and know that he is +accurate." + +The next letter refers to Professor Hildebrand's paper on Corydalis, +published in the 'Proc. Internat. Hort. Congress,' London, 1866, and in +Pringsheim's 'Jahrbucher,' volume v. The memoir on Salvia alluded to is +contained in the previous volume of the same Journal:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. HILDEBRAND. (Professor of Botany at Freiburg.) +Down, May 16 [1866]. + +My dear Sir, + +The state of my health prevents my attending the Hort. Congress; but +I forwarded yesterday your paper to the secretary, and if they are not +overwhelmed with papers, yours will be gladly received. I have made many +observations on the Fumariaceae, and convinced myself that they were +adapted for insect agency; but I never observed anything nearly so +curious as your most interesting facts. I hope you will repeat your +experiments on the Corydalis on a larger scale, and especially on +several distinct plants; for your plant might have been individually +peculiar, like certain individual plants of Lobelia, etc., described by +Gartner, and of Passiflora and Orchids described by Mr. Scott... + +Since writing to you before, I have read your admirable memoir on +Salvia, and it has interested me almost as much as when I first +investigated the structure of Orchids. Your paper illustrates several +points in my 'Origin of Species,' especially the transition of organs. +Knowing only two or three species in the genus, I had often marvelled +how one cell of the anther could have been transformed into the movable +plate or spoon; and how well you show the gradations; but I am surprised +that you did not more strongly insist on this point. + +I shall be still more surprised if you do not ultimately come to the +same belief with me, as shown by so many beautiful contrivances, +that all plants require, from some unknown cause, to be occasionally +fertilized by pollen from a distinct individual. With sincere respect, +believe me, my dear Sir, + +Yours very faithfully, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following letter refers to the late Hermann Muller's 'Befruchtung +der Blumen,' by far the most valuable of the mass of literature +originating in the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' An English translation, +by Prof. D'Arcy Thompson was published in 1883. My father's "Prefatory +Notice" to this work is dated February 6, 1882, and is therefore almost +the last of his writings:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H. MULLER. Down, May 5, 1873. + +My dear Sir, + +Owing to all sorts of interruptions and to my reading German so slowly, +I have read only to page 88 of your book; but I must have the pleasure +of telling you how very valuable a work it appears to me. Independently +of the many original observations, which of course form the most +important part, the work will be of the highest use as a means of +reference to all that has been done on the subject. I am fairly +astonished at the number of species of insects, the visits of which to +different flowers you have recorded. You must have worked in the most +indefatigable manner. About half a year ago the editor of 'Nature' +suggested that it would be a grand undertaking if a number of +naturalists were to do what you have already done on so large a scale +with respect to the visits of insects. I have been particularly glad +to read your historical sketch, for I had never before seen all the +references put together. I have sometimes feared that I was in +error when I said that C.K. Sprengel did not fully perceive that +cross-fertilisation was the final end of the structure of flowers; +but now this fear is relieved, and it is a great satisfaction to me to +believe that I have aided in making his excellent book more generally +known. Nothing has surprised me more than to see in your historical +sketch how much I myself have done on the subject, as it never before +occurred to me to think of all my papers as a whole. But I do not doubt +that your generous appreciation of the labours of others has led you to +over-estimate what I have done. With very sincere thanks and respect, +believe me, + +Yours faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--I have mentioned your book to almost every one who, as far as I +know, cares for the subject in England; and I have ordered a copy to be +send to our Royal Society. + + +[The next letter, to Dr. Behrens, refers to the same subject as the +last:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. BEHRENS. Down, August 29 [1878]. + +Dear Sir, + +I am very much obliged to you for having sent me your 'Geschichte der +Bestaubungs-Theorie' (Progr. der K. Gewerbschule zu Elberfeld, 1877, +1878.), and which has interested me much. It has put some things in a +new light, and has told me other things which I did not know. I heartily +agree with you in your high appreciation of poor old C. Sprengel's work; +and one regrets bitterly that he did not live to see his labours thus +valued. It rejoices me also to notice how highly you appreciate H. +Muller, who has always seemed to me an admirable observer and reasoner. +I am at present endeavouring to persuade an English publisher to bring +out a translation of his 'Befruchtung.' + +Lastly, permit me to thank you for your very generous remarks on +my works. By placing what I have been able to do on this subject in +systematic order, you have made me think more highly of my own work than +I ever did before! Nevertheless, I fear that you have done me more than +justice. + +I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully and obliged, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The letter which follows was called forth by Dr. Gray's article in +'Nature,' to which reference has already been made, and which appeared +June 4, 1874:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 3 [1874]. + +My dear Gray, + +I was rejoiced to see your hand-writing again in your note of the 4th, +of which more anon. I was astonished to see announced about a week ago +that you were going to write in 'Nature' an article on me, and this +morning I received an advance copy. It is the grandest thing ever +written about me, especially as coming from a man like yourself. It +has deeply pleased me, particularly some of your side remarks. It is a +wonderful thing to me to live to see my name coupled in any fashion with +that of Robert Brown. But you are a bold man, for I am sure that you +will be sneered at by not a few botanists. I have never been so honoured +before, and I hope it will do me good and make me try to be as careful +as possible; and good heavens, how difficult accuracy is! I feel a very +proud man, but I hope this won't last... + + +[Fritz Muller has observed that the flowers of Hedychium are so arranged +that the pollen is removed by the wings of hovering butterflies. My +father's prediction of this observation is given in the following +letter:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO H. MULLER. Down, August 7, 1876. + +... I was much interested by your brother's article on Hedychium; about +two years ago I was so convinced that the flowers were fertilized by the +tips of the wings of large moths, that I wrote to India to ask a man to +observe the flowers and catch the moths at work, and he sent me 20 to 30 +Sphin-moths, but so badly packed that they all arrived in fragments; and +I could make out nothing... + +Yours sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[The following extract from a letter (February 25, 1864), to Dr. Gray +refers to another prediction fulfilled:-- + +"I have of course seen no one, and except good dear Hooker, I hear from +no one. He, like a good and true friend, though so overworked, often +writes to me. + +"I have had one letter which has interested me greatly, with a paper, +which will appear in the Linnean Journal, by Dr. Cruger of Trinidad, +which shows that I am all right about Catasetum, even to the spot where +the pollinia adhere to the bees, which visit the flower, as I said, to +gnaw the labellum. Cruger's account of Coryanthes and the use of the +bucket-like labellum full of water beats everything: I SUSPECT that the +bees being well wetted flattens their hairs, and allows the viscid disc +to adhere."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO THE MARQUIS DE SAPORTA. Down, December 24, 1877. + +My dear Sir, + +I thank you sincerely for your long and most interesting letter, which I +should have answered sooner had it not been delayed in London. I had not +heard before that I was to be proposed as a Corresponding Member of the +Institute. Living so retired a life as I do, such honours affect me very +little, and I can say with entire truth that your kind expression of +sympathy has given and will give me much more pleasure than the election +itself, should I be elected. + +Your idea that dicotyledonous plants were not developed in force until +sucking insects had been evolved seems to me a splendid one. I am +surprised that the idea never occurred to me, but this is always +the case when one first hears a new and simple explanation of some +mysterious phenomenon... I formerly showed that we might fairly assume +that the beauty of flowers, their sweet odour and copious nectar, may be +attributed to the existence of flower-haunting insects, but your idea, +which I hope you will publish, goes much further and is much more +important. With respect to the great development of mammifers in the +later Geological periods following from the development of dicotyledons, +I think it ought to be proved that such animals as deer, cows, horses, +etc. could not flourish if fed exclusively on the gramineae and other +anemophilous monocotyledons; and I do not suppose that any evidence on +this head exists. + +Your suggestion of studying the manner of fertilisation of the surviving +members of the most ancient forms of the dicotyledons is a very good +one, and I hope that you will keep it in mind yourself, for I have +turned my attention to other subjects. Delpino I think says that +Magnolia is fertilised by insects which gnaw the petals, and I should +not be surprised if the same fact holds good with Nymphaea. Whenever I +have looked at the flowers of these latter plants I have felt inclined +to admit the view that petals are modified stamens, and not modified +leaves; though Poinsettia seems to show that true leaves might be +converted into coloured petals. I grieve to say that I have never +been properly grounded in Botany and have studied only special +points--therefore I cannot pretend to express any opinion on your +remarks on the origin of the flowers of the Coniferae, Gnetaceae, etc.; +but I have been delighted with what you say on the conversion of a +monoecious species into a hermaphrodite one by the condensations of the +verticils on a branch bearing female flowers near the summit, and male +flowers below. + +I expect Hooker to come here before long, and I will then show him your +drawing, and if he makes any important remarks I will communicate +with you. He is very busy at present in clearing off arrears after his +American Expedition, so that I do not like to trouble him, even with the +briefest note. I am at present working with my son at some Physiological +subjects, and we are arriving at very curious results, but they are not +as yet sufficiently certain to be worth communicating to you... + + +[In 1877 a second edition of the 'Fertilisation of Orchids' was +published, the first edition having been for some time out of print. The +new edition was remodelled and almost re-written, and a large amount +of new matter added, much of which the author owed to his friend Fritz +Muller. + +With regard to this edition he wrote to Dr. Gray:-- + +"I do not suppose I shall ever again touch the book. After much doubt I +have resolved to act in this way with all my books for the future; that +is to correct them once and never touch them again, so as to use the +small quantity of work left in me for new matter." + +He may have felt a diminution of his powers of reviewing large bodies of +facts, such as would be needed in the preparation of new editions, but +his powers of observation were certainly not diminished. He wrote to Mr. +Dyer on July 14, 1878:] + + +My dear Dyer, + +Thalia dealbata was sent me from Kew: it has flowered and after looking +casually at the flowers, they have driven me almost mad, and I have +worked at them for a week: it is as grand a case as that of Catasetum. + +Pistil vigorously motile (so that whole flower shakes when pistil +suddenly coils up); when excited by a touch the two filaments [are] +produced laterally and transversely across the flower (just over the +nectar) from one of the petals or modified stamens. It is splendid to +watch the phenomenon under a weak power when a bristle is inserted into +a YOUNG flower which no insect has visited. As far as I know Stylidium +is the sole case of sensitive pistil and here it is the pistil + +stamens. In Thalia (Hildebrand has described an explosive arrangement +in some of the Maranteae--the tribe to which Thalia belongs.) +cross-fertilisation is ensured by the wonderful movement, if bees visit +several flowers. + +I have now relieved my mind and will tell the purport of this note--viz. +if any other species of Thalia besides T. dealbata should flower with +you, for the love of heaven and all the saints, send me a few in TIN BOX +WITH DAMP MOSS. + +Your insane friend, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In 1878 Dr. Ogle's translation of Kerner's interesting book, 'Flowers +and their Unbidden Guests,' was published. My father, who felt much +interest in the translation (as appears in the following letter), +contributed some prefatory words of approval:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. OGLE. Down, December 16 [1878]. + +... I have now read Kerner's book, which is better even than I +anticipated. The translation seems to me as clear as daylight, and +written in forcible and good familiar English. I am rather afraid that +it is too good for the English public, which seems to like very washy +food, unless it be administered by some one whose name is well-known, +and then I suspect a good deal of the unintelligible is very pleasing +to them. I hope to heaven that I may be wrong. Anyhow, you and Mrs. +Ogle have done a right good service for Botanical Science. Yours very +sincerely, + +CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--You have done me much honour in your prefatory remarks. + + +[One of the latest references to his Orchid-work occurs in a letter to +Mr. Bentham, February 16, 1880. It shows the amount of pleasure which +this subject gave to my father, and (what is characteristic of him) +that his reminiscence of the work was one of delight in the observations +which preceded its publication. Not to the applause which followed it:-- + +"They are wonderful creatures, these Orchids, and I sometimes think +with a glow of pleasure, when I remember making out some little point in +their method of fertilisation."] + + + + +CHAPTER 2.XI. -- THE 'EFFECTS OF CROSS- AND SELF-FERTILISATION + +IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.' + +1876. + +[This book, as pointed out in the 'Autobiography,' is a complement to +the 'Fertilisation of Orchids,' because it shows how important are +the results of cross-fertilisation which are ensured by the mechanisms +described in that book. + +By proving that the offspring of cross-fertilisation are more +vigorous than the offspring of self-fertilisation, he showed that one +circumstance which influences the fate of young plants in the +struggle for life is the degree to which their parents are fitted for +cross-fertilisation. He thus convinced himself that the intensity of the +struggle (which he had elsewhere shown to exist among young plants) is +a measure of the strength of a selective agency perpetually sifting +out every modification in the structure of flowers which can effect its +capabilities for cros-fertilisation. + +The book is also valuable in another respect, because it throws light on +the difficult problems of the origin of sexuality. The increased vigour +resulting from cross-fertilisation is allied in the closest manner to +the advantage gained by change of conditions. So strongly is this the +case, that in some instances cross-fertilisation gives no advantage to +the offspring, unless the parents have lived under slightly different +conditions. So that the really important thing is not that two +individuals of different BLOOD shall unite, but two individuals which +have been subjected to different conditions. We are thus led to believe +that sexuality is a means for infusing vigour into the offspring by the +coalescence of differentiated elements, an advantage which could not +follow if reproductions were entirely asexual. + +It is remarkable that this book, the result of eleven years of +experimental work, owed its origin to a chance observation. My father +had raised two beds of Linaria vulgaris--one set being the offspring of +cross- and the other of self-fertilisation. These plants were grown for +the sake of some observations on inheritance, and not with any view to +cross-breeding, and he was astonished to observe that the offspring of +self-fertilisation were clearly less vigorous than the others. It seemed +incredible to him that this result could be due to a single act of +self-fertilisation, and it was only in the following year when precisely +the same result occurred in the case of a similar experiment on +inheritance in Carnations, that his attention was "thoroughly aroused" +and that he determined to make a series of experiments specially +directed to the question. The following letters give some account of the +work in question.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. September 10, [1866?]. + +... I have just begun a large course of experiments on the germination +of the seed, and on the growth of the young plants when raised from a +pistil fertilised by pollen from the same flower, and from pollen from +a distinct plant of the same, or of some other variety. I have not +made sufficient experiments to judge certainly, but in some cases the +difference in the growth of the young plants is highly remarkable. I +have taken every kind of precaution in getting seed from the same +plant, in germinating the seed on my own chimney-piece, in planting the +seedlings in the same flower-pot, and under this similar treatment I +have seen the young seedlings from the crossed seed exactly twice as +tall as the seedlings from the sel-fertilised seed; both seeds having +germinated on the same day. If I can establish this fact (but perhaps it +will all go to the dogs), in some fifty cases, with plants of different +orders, I think it will be very important, for then we shall positively +know why the structure of every flower permits, or favours, or +necessitates an occasional cross with a distinct individual. But all +this is rather cooking my hare before I have caught it. But somehow it +is a great pleasure to me to tell you what I am about. Believe me, my +dear Gray, + +Ever yours most truly, and with cordial thanks, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO G. BENTHAM. April 22, 1868. + +... I am experimenting on a very large scale on the difference in power +of growth between plants raised from self-fertilised and crossed seeds; +and it is no exaggeration to say that the difference in growth and +vigour is sometimes truly wonderful. Lyell, Huxley and Hooker have seen +some of my plants, and been astonished; and I should much like to show +them to you. I always supposed until lately that no evil effects would +be visible until after several generations of self-fertilisation; but +now I see that one generation sometimes suffices; and the existence of +dimorphic plants and all the wonderful contrivances of orchids are quite +intelligible to me. + +With cordial thanks for your letter, which has pleased me greatly, + +Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[An extract from a letter to Dr. Gray (March 11, 1873) mentions the +progress of the work:-- + +"I worked last summer hard at Drosera, but could not finish till I +got fresh plants, and consequently took up the effects of crossing and +sel-fertilising plants, and am got so interested that Drosera must go to +the dogs till I finish with this, and get it published; but then I will +resume my beloved Drosera, and I heartily apologise for having sent the +precious little things even for a moment to the dogs." + +The following letters give the author's impression of his own book.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. MURRAY. Down, September 16, 1876. + +My dear Sir, + +I have just received proofs in sheet of five sheets, so you will have +to decide soon how many copies will have to be struck off. I do not know +what to advise. The greater part of the book is extremely dry, and the +whole on a special subject. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the book +is of value, and I am convinced that for MANY years copies will be +occasionally sold. Judging from the sale of my former books, and from +supposing that some persons will purchase it to complete the set of +my works, I would suggest 1500. But you must be guided by your larger +experience. I will only repeat that I am convinced the book is of some +permanent value... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO VICTOR CARUS. Down, September 27, 1876. + +My dear Sir, + +I sent by this morning's post the four first perfect sheets of my new +book, the title of which you will see on the first page, and which will +be published early in November. + +I am sorry to say that it is only shorter by a few pages than my +'Insectivorous Plants.' The whole is now in type, though I have +corrected finally only half the volume. You will, therefore, rapidly +receive the remainder. The book is very dull. Chapters II. to VI., +inclusive, are simply a record of experiments. Nevertheless, I believe +(though a man can never judge his own books) that the book is valuable. +You will have to decide whether it is worth translating. I hope so. It +has cost me very great labour, and the results seem to me remarkable and +well established. + +If you translate it, you could easily get aid for Chapters II. to VI., +as there is here endless, but I have thought necessary repetition. I +shall be anxious to hear what you decide... + +I most sincerely hope that your health has been fairly good this summer. + +My dear Sir, yours very truly, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, October 28, 1876. + +My dear Gray, + +I send by this post all the clean sheets as yet printed, and I hope to +send the remainder within a fortnight. Please observe that the first six +chapters are not readable, and the six last very dull. Still I believe +that the results are valuable. If you review the book, I shall be very +curious to see what you think of it, for I care more for your judgment +than for that of almost any one else. I know also that you will speak +the truth, whether you approve or disapprove. Very few will take the +trouble to read the book, and I do not expect you to read the whole, but +I hope you will read the latter chapters. + +... I am so sick of correcting the press and licking my horrid bad style +into intelligible English. + + +[The 'Effects of Cross and Self-fertilisation' was published on November +10, 1876, and 1500 copies were sold before the end of the year. The +following letter refers to a review in 'Nature' (February 15, 1877.):] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. THISELTON DYER. Down, February 16, 1877. + +Dear Dyer, + +I must tell you how greatly I am pleased and honoured by your article in +'Nature,' which I have just read. You are an adept in saying what +will please an author, not that I suppose you wrote with this express +intention. I should be very well contented to deserve a fraction of your +praise. I have also been much interested, and this is better than mere +pleasure, by your argument about the separation of the sexes. I dare +say that I am wrong, and will hereafter consider what you say more +carefully: but at present I cannot drive out of my head that the sexes +must have originated from two individuals, slightly different, which +conjugated. But I am aware that some cases of conjugation are opposed to +any such views. + +With hearty thanks, Yours sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.XII. -- 'DIFFERENT FORMS OF FLOWERS ON PLANTS OF THE SAME SPECIES.' + +1877. + +[The volume bearing the above title was published in 1877, and was +dedicated by the author to Professor Asa Gray, "as a small tribute of +respect and affection." It consists of certain earlier papers re-edited, +with the addition of a quantity of new matter. The subjects treated in +the book are:-- + +1. Heterostyled Plants. + +2. Polygamous, Dioecious, and Gynodioecious Plants. + +3. Cleistogamic Flowers. + +The nature of heterostyled plants may be illustrated in the primrose, +one of the best known examples of the class. If a number of primroses be +gathered, it will be found that some plants yield nothing but "pin-eyed" +flowers, in which the style (or organ for the transmission of the pollen +to the ovule) is long, while the others yield only "thrum-eyed" flowers +with short styles. Thus primroses are divided into two sets or castes +differing structurally from each other. My father showed that they also +differ sexually, and that in fact the bond between the two castes +more nearly resembles that between separate sexes than any other known +relationship. Thus for example a long-styled primrose, though it can +be fertilised by its own pollen, is not FULLY fertile unless it is +impregnated by the pollen of a short-styled flower. Heterostyled plants +are comparable to hermaphrodite animals, such as snails, which require +the concourse of two individuals, although each possesses both the +sexual elements. The difference is that in the case of the primrose +it is PERFECT FERTILITY, and not simply FERTILITY, that depends on the +mutual action of the two sets of individuals. + +The work on heterostyled plants has a special bearing, to which the +author attached much importance, on the problem of origin of species. +(See 'Autobiography,' volume i.) + +He found that a wonderfully close parallelism exists between +hybridisation and certain forms of fertilisation among heterostyled +plants. So that it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the +"illegitimately" reared seedlings are hybrids, although both their +parents belong to identically the same species. In a letter to Professor +Huxley, my father writes as if his researches on heterostyled plants +tended to make him believe that sterility is a selected or acquired +quality. But in his later publications, e.g. in the sixth edition of +the 'Origin,' he adheres to the belief that sterility is an incidental +rather than a selected quality. The result of his work on heterostyled +plants is of importance as showing that sterility is no test of specific +distinctness, and that it depends on differentiation of the sexual +elements which is independent of any racial difference. I imagine that +it was his instinctive love of making out a difficulty which to a great +extent kept him at work so patiently on the heterostyled plants. But it +was the fact that general conclusions of the above character could +be drawn from his results which made him think his results worthy of +publication. (See 'Forms of Flowers,' page 243.) + +The papers which on this subject preceded and contributed to 'Forms of +Flowers' were the following:-- + +"On the two Forms or Dimorphic Condition in the Species of Primula, and +on their remarkable Sexual Relations." Linn. Soc. Journal, 1862.) + +"On the Existence of Two Forms, and on their Reciprocal Sexual +Relations, in several Species of the Genus Linum." Linn. Soc. Journal, +1863. + +"On the Sexual Relations of the Three Forms of Lythrum salicaria," Ibid. +1864. + +"On the Character and Hybrid-like Nature of the Offspring from the +Illegitimate Unions of Dimorphic and Trimorphic Plants." Ibid. 1869. + +"On the Specific Differences between Primula veris, Brit. Fl. (var. +Officinalis, Linn.), P. vulgaris, Brit. Fl. (var. acaulis, Linn.) and +P. elatior, Jacq.; and on the Hybrid Nature of the Common Oxlip. +With Supplementary Remarks on Naturally Produced Hybrids in the Genus +Verbascum." Ibid. 1869. + + +The following letter shows that he began the work on heterostyled plants +with an erroneous view as to the meaning of the facts.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 7 [1860]. + +... I have this morning been looking at my experimental cowslips, and I +find some plants have all flowers with long stamens and short pistils, +which I will call "male plants," others with short stamens and long +pistils, which I will call "female plants." This I have somewhere seen +noticed, I think by Henslow; but I find (after looking at my two sets +of plants) that the stigmas of the male and female are of slightly +different shape, and certainly different degree of roughness, and what +has astonished me, the pollen of the so-called female plant, though very +abundant, is more transparent, and each granule is exactly only 2/3 +of the size of the pollen of the so-called male plant. Has this been +observed? I cannot help suspecting [that] the cowslip is in fact +dioecious, but it may turn out all a blunder, but anyhow I will mark +with sticks the so-called male and female plants and watch their +seeding. It would be a fine case of gradation between an hermaphrodite +and unisexual condition. Likewise a sort of case of balancement of +long and short pistils and stamens. Likewise perhaps throws light on +oxlips... + +I have now examined primroses and find exactly the same difference +in the size of the pollen, correlated with the same difference in the +length of the style and roughness of the stigmas. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. June 8 [1860]. + +... I have been making some little trifling observations which have +interested and perplexed me much. I find with primroses and cowslips, +that about an equal number of plants are thus characterised. + +SO-CALLED (by me) MALE plant. Pistil much shorter than stamens; stigma +rather smooth,--POLLEN GRAINS LARGE, throat of corolla short. + +SO-CALLED FEMALE plant. Pistil much longer than stamens, stigma rougher, +POLLEN-GRAINS SMALLER,--throat of corolla long. + +I have marked a lot of plants, and expected to find the so-called male +plant barren; but judging from the feel of the capsules, this is not the +case, and I am very much surprised at the difference in the size of the +pollen... If it should prove that the so-called male plants produce less +seed than the so-called females, what a beautiful case of gradation from +hermaphrodite to unisexual condition it will be! If they produce about +equal number of seed, how perplexing it will be. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, December 17 [1860?]. + +... I have just been ordering a photograph of myself for a friend; and +have ordered one for you, and for heaven's sake oblige me, and burn that +now hanging up in your room.--It makes me look atrociously wicked. + +... In the spring I must get you to look for long pistils and short +pistils in the rarer species of Primula and in some allied Genera. It +holds with P. Sinensis. You remember all the fuss I made on this subject +last spring; well, the other day at last I had time to weigh the seeds, +and by Jove the plants of primroses and cowslip with short pistils and +large grained pollen (Thus the plants which he imagined to be tending +towards a male condition were more productive than the supposed +females.) are rather more fertile than those with long pistils, and +small-grained pollen. I find that they require the action of insects to +set them, and I never will believe that these differences are without +some meaning. + +Some of my experiments lead me to suspect that the large-grained pollen +suits the long pistils and the small-grained pollen suits the short +pistils; but I am determined to see if I cannot make out the mystery +next spring. + +How does your book on plants brew in your mind? Have you begun it?... + +Remember me most kindly to Oliver. He must be astonished at not having a +string of questions, I fear he will get out of practice! + + +[The Primula-work was finished in the autumn of 1861, and on November +8th he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"I have sent my paper on dimorphism in Primula to the Linn. Soc. I +shall go up and read it whenever it comes on; I hope you may be able to +attend, for I do not suppose many will care a penny for the subject." + +With regard to the reading of the paper (on November 21st), he wrote to +the same friend:-- + +"I by no means thought that I produced a "tremendous effect" in the +Linn. Soc., but by Jove the Linn. Soc. produced a tremendous effect on +me, for I could not get out of bed till late next evening, so that I +just crawled home. I fear I must give up trying to read any paper or +speak; it is a horrid bore, I can do nothing like other people." + +To Dr. Gray he wrote, (December 1861):-- + +"You may rely on it, I will send you a copy of my Primula paper as soon +as I can get one; but I believe it will not be printed till April 1st, +and therefore after my Orchid Book. I care more for your and Hooker's +opinion than for that of all the rest of the world, and for Lyell's +on geological points. Bentham and Hooker thought well of my paper when +read; but no one can judge of evidence by merely hearing a paper." + +The work on Primula was the means of bringing my father in contact +with the late Mr. John Scott, then working as a gardener in the Botanic +Gardens at Edinburgh,--an employment which he seems to have chosen in +order to gratify his passion for natural history. He wrote one or two +excellent botanical papers, and ultimately obtained a post in India. +(While in India he made some admirable observations on expression for my +father.) He died in 1880. + +A few phrases may be quoted from letters to Sir J.D. Hooker, showing my +father's estimate of Scott:-- + +"If you know, do please tell me who is John Scott of the Botanical +Gardens of Edinburgh; I have been corresponding largely with him; he is +no common man." + +"If he had leisure he would make a wonderful observer; to my judgment I +have come across no one like him." + +"He has interested me strangely, and I have formed a very high opinion +of his intellect. I hope he will accept pecuniary assistance from me; +but he has hitherto refused." (He ultimately succeeded in being allowed +to pay for Mr. Scott's passage to India.) + +"I know nothing of him excepting from his letters; these show remarkable +talent, astonishing perseverance, much modesty, and what I admire, +determined difference from me on many points." + +So highly did he estimate Scott's abilities that he formed a plan (which +however never went beyond an early stage of discussion) of employing him +to work out certain problems connected with intercrossing. + +The following letter refers to my father's investigations on Lythrum (He +was led to this, his first case of trimorphism by Lecoq's 'Geographie +Botanique,' and this must have consoled him for the trick this work +played him in turning out to be so much larger than he expected. He +wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker: "Here is a good joke: I saw an extract from +Lecoq, 'Geograph. Bot.,' and ordered it and hoped that it was a good +sized pamphlet, and nine thick volumes have arrived!"), a plant which +reveals even a more wonderful condition of sexual complexity than that +of Primula. For in Lythrum there are not merely two, but three castes, +differing structurally and physiologically from each other:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, August 9 [1862]. + +My dear Gray, + +It is late at night, and I am going to write briefly, and of course to +beg a favour. + +The Mitchella very good, but pollen apparently equal-sized. I have just +examined Hottonia, grand difference in pollen. Echium vulgare, a humbug, +merely a case like Thymus. But I am almost stark staring mad over +Lythrum (On another occasion he wrote (to Dr. Gray) with regard to +Lythrum: "I must hold hard, otherwise I shall spend my life over +dimorphism."); if I can prove what I fully believe, it is a grand case +of TRIMORPHISM, with three different pollens and three stigmas; I have +castrated and fertilised above ninety flowers, trying all the eighteen +distinct crosses which are possible within the limits of this one +species! I cannot explain, but I feel sure you would think it a grand +case. I have been writing to Botanists to see if I can possibly get L. +hyssopifolia, and it has just flashed on me that you might have Lythrum +in North America, and I have looked to your Manual. For the love of +heaven have a look at some of your species, and if you can get me seed, +do; I want much to try species with few stamens, if they are dimorphic; +Nesaea verticillata I should expect to be trimorphic. Seed! Seed! Seed! +I should rather like seed of Mitchella. But oh, Lythrum! + +Your utterly mad friend, C. DARWIN. + +P.S.--There is reason in my madness, for I can see that to those who +already believe in change of species, these facts will modify to a +certain extent the whole view of Hybridity. (A letter to Dr. Gray (July, +1862) bears on this point: "A few days ago I made an observation which +has surprised me more than it ought to do--it will have to be repeated +several times, but I have scarcely a doubt of its accuracy. I stated +in my Primula paper that the long-styled form of Linum grandiflorum +was utterly sterile with its own pollen; I have lately been putting the +pollen of the two forms on the stigma of the SAME flower; and it strikes +me as truly wonderful, that the stigma distinguishes the pollen; and is +penetrated by the tubes of the one and not by those of the other; nor +are the tubes exserted. Or (which is the same thing) the stigma of the +one form acts on and is acted on by pollen, which produces not the +least effect on the stigma of the other form. Taking sexual power as the +criterion of difference, the two forms of this one species may be said +to be generically distinct.") + + +[On the same subject he wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker in August 1862:-- + +"Is Oliver at Kew? When I am established at Bournemouth I am completely +mad to examine any fresh flowers of any Lythraceous plant, and I would +write and ask him if any are in bloom." + +Again he wrote to the same friend in October:-- + +"If you ask Oliver, I think he will tell you I have got a real odd case +in Lythrum, it interests me extremely, and seems to me the strangest +case of propagation recorded amongst plants or animals, viz. a necessary +triple alliance between three hermaphrodites. I feel sure I can now +prove the truth of the case from a multitude of crosses made this +summer." + +In an article, 'Dimorphism in the Genitalia of Plants' ('Silliman's +Journal,' 1862, volume xxxiv. page 419), Dr. Gray pointed out that the +structural difference between the two forms of Primula had already been +defined in the 'Flora of North America,' as DIOECIO-DIMORPHISM. The +use of this term called forth the following remarks from my father. The +letter also alludes to a review of the 'Fertilisation of Orchids' in the +same volume of 'Silliman's Journal.'] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, November 26 [1862]. + +My dear Gray, + +The very day after my last letter, yours of November 10th, and the +review in 'Silliman,' which I feared might have been lost, reached me. +We were all very much interested by the political part of your letter; +and in some odd way one never feels that information and opinions +painted in a newspaper come from a living source; they seem dead, +whereas all that you write is full of life. The reviews interested me +profoundly; you rashly ask for my opinion, and you must consequently +endure a long letter. First for Dimorphism; I do not AT PRESENT like the +term "Dioecio-dimorphism;" for I think it gives quite a false notion, +that the phenomena are connected with a separation of the sexes. +Certainly in Primula there is unequal fertility in the two forms, and I +suspect this is the case with Linum; and, therefore I felt bound in +the Primula paper to state that it might be a step towards a dioecious +condition; though I believe there are no dioecious forms in Primulaceae +or Linaceae. But the three forms in Lythrum convince me that the +phenomenon is in no way necessarily connected with any tendency to +separation of sexes. The case seems to me in result or function to be +almost identical with what old C.K. Sprengel called "dichogamy," and +which is so frequent in truly hermaphrodite groups; namely, the pollen +and stigma of each flower being mature at different periods. If I am +right, it is very advisable not to use the term "dioecious," as this at +once brings notions of separation of sexes. + +... I was much perplexed by Oliver's remarks in the 'Natural History +Review' on the Primula case, on the lower plants having sexes more often +separated than in the higher plants,--so exactly the reverse of what +takes place in animals. Hooker in his review of the 'Orchids' repeats +this remark. There seems to be much truth in what you say ("Forms which +are low in the scale as respects morphological completeness may be +high in the scale of rank founded on specialisation of structure and +function."--Dr. Gray, in 'Silliman's Journal.'), and it did not occur to +me, about no improbability of specialisation in CERTAIN lines in lowly +organised beings. I could hardly doubt that the hermaphrodite state is +the aboriginal one. But how is it in the conjugation of Confervae--is +not one of the two individuals here in fact male, and the other female? +I have been much puzzled by this contrast in sexual arrangements +between plants and animals. Can there be anything in the following +consideration: By ROUGHEST calculation about one-third of the British +GENERA of aquatic plants belong to the Linnean classes of Mono and +Dioecia; whilst of terrestrial plants (the aquatic genera being +subtracted) only one-thirteenth of the genera belong to these two +classes. Is there any truth in this fact generally? Can aquatic plants, +being confined to a small area or small community of individuals, +require more free crossing, and therefore have separate sexes? But to +return to our point, does not Alph. de Candolle say that aquatic plants +taken as a whole are lowly organised, compared with terrestrial; and may +not Oliver's remark on the separation of the sexes in lowly organised +plants stand in some relation to their being frequently aquatic? Or is +this all rubbish? + +... What a magnificent compliment you end your review with! You and +Hooker seem determined to turn my head with conceit and vanity (if not +already turned) and make me an unbearable wretch. + +With most cordial thanks, my good and kind friend, Farewell, C. DARWIN. + + +[The following passage from a letter (July 28, 1863), to Prof. +Hildebrand, contains a reference to the reception of the dimorphic work +in France:-- + +"I am extremely much pleased to hear that you have been looking at the +manner of fertilisation of your native Orchids, and still more pleased +to hear that you have been experimenting on Linum. I much hope that you +may publish the result of these experiments; because I was told that the +most eminent French botanists of Paris said that my paper on Primula was +the work of imagination, and that the case was so improbable they did +not believe in my results."] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. April 19 [1864]. + +... I received a little time ago a paper with a good account of your +Herbarium and Library, and a long time previously your excellent review +of Scott's 'Primulaceae,' and I forwarded it to him in India, as it +would much please him. I was very glad to see in it a new case of +Dimorphism (I forget just now the name of the plant); I shall be +grateful to hear of any other cases, as I still feel an interest in +the subject. I should be very glad to get some seed of your dimorphic +Plantagos; for I cannot banish the suspicion that they must belong to a +very different class like that of the common Thyme. (In this prediction +he was right. See 'Forms of Flowers,' page 307.) How could the +wind, which is the agent of fertilisation, with Plantago, fertilise +"reciprocally dimorphic" flowers like Primula? Theory says this cannot +be, and in such cases of one's own theories I follow Agassiz and +declare, "that nature never lies." I should even be very glad to examine +the two dried forms of Plantago. Indeed, any dried dimorphic plants +would be gratefully received... + +Did my Lythrum paper interest you? I crawl on at the rate of two hours +per diem, with 'Variation under Domestication.' + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, November 26 [1864]. + +... You do not know how pleased I am that you have read my Lythrum paper; +I thought you would not have time, and I have for long years looked at +you as my Public, and care more for your opinion than that of all the +rest of the world. I have done nothing which has interested me so much +as Lythrum, since making out the complemental males of Cirripedes. +I fear that I have dragged in too much miscellaneous matter into the +paper. + +... I get letters occasionally, which show me that Natural Selection is +making GREAT progress in Germany, and some amongst the young in France. +I have just received a pamphlet from Germany, with the complimentary +title of "Darwinische Arten-Enstehung-Humbug"! + +Farewell, my best of old friends, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. September 10, [1867?]. + +... The only point which I have made out this summer, which could +possibly interest you, is that the common Oxlip found everywhere, more +or less commonly in England, is certainly a hybrid between the primrose +and cowslip; whilst the P. elatior (Jacq.), found only in the +Eastern Counties, is a perfectly distinct and good species; hardly +distinguishable from the common oxlip, except by the length of the +seed-capsule relatively to the calyx. This seems to me rather a horrid +fact for all systematic botanists... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. HILDEBRAND. Down, November 16, 1868. + +My dear Sir, + +I wrote my last note in such a hurry from London, that I quite forgot +what I chiefly wished to say, namely to thank you for your excellent +notices in the 'Bot. Zeitung' of my paper on the offspring of dimorphic +plants. The subject is so obscure that I did not expect that any one +would have noticed my paper, and I am accordingly very much pleased +that you should have brought the subject before the many excellent +naturalists of Germany. + +Of all the German authors (but they are not many) whose works I have +read, you write by far the clearest style, but whether this is a +compliment to a German writer I do not know. + + +[The two following letters refer to the small bud-like "Cleistogamic" +flowers found in the violet and many other plants. They do not open and +are necessarily self-fertilised:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, May 30 [1862]. + +... What will become of my book on Variation? I am involved in a +multiplicity of experiments. I have been amusing myself by looking at +the small flowers of Viola. If Oliver (Shortly afterwards he wrote: +"Oliver, the omniscient, has sent me a paper in the 'Bot. Zeitung,' with +most accurate description of all that I saw in Viola.") has had time to +study them, he will have seen the curious case (as it seems to me) which +I have just made clearly out, viz. that in these flowers, the FEW pollen +grains are never shed, or never leave the anther-cells, but emit long +pollen tubes, which penetrate the stigma. To-day I got the anther with +the included pollen grain (now empty) at one end, and a bundle of tubes +penetrating the stigmatic tissue at the other end; I got the whole under +a microscope without breaking the tubes; I wonder whether the stigma +pours some fluid into the anther so as to excite the included grains. It +is a rather odd case of correlation, that in the double sweet violet +the small flowers are double; i.e., have a multitude of minute scales +representing the petals. What queer little flowers they are. + +Have you had time to read poor dear Henslow's life? it has interested me +for the man's sake, and, what I did not think possible, has even exalted +his character in my estimation... + + +[The following is an extract from the letter given in part above, and +refers to Dr. Gray's article on the sexual differences of plants:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. NOVEMBER 26 [1862]. + +... You will think that I am in the most unpleasant, contradictory, +fractious humour, when I tell you that I do not like your term of +"precocious fertilisation" for your second class of dimorphism [i.e. for +cleistogamic fertilisation]. If I can trust my memory, the state of +the corolla, of the stigma, and the pollen-grains is different from the +state of the parts in the bud; that they are in a condition of special +modification. But upon my life I am ashamed of myself to differ so much +from my betters on this head. The TEMPORARY theory (This view is now +generally accepted.) which I have formed on this class of dimorphism, +just to guide experiment, is that the PERFECT flowers can only be +perfectly fertilised by insects, and are in this case abundantly +crossed; but that the flowers are not always, especially in early +spring, visited enough by insects, and therefore the little imperfect +self-fertilising flowers are developed to ensure a sufficiency of seed +for present generations. Viola canina is sterile, when not visited by +insects, but when so visited forms plenty of seed. I infer from the +structure of three or four forms of Balsamineae, that these require +insects; at least there is almost as plain adaptation to insects as in +the Orchids. I have Oxalis acetosella ready in pots for experiment +next spring; and I fear this will upset my little theory... Campanula +carpathica, as I found this summer, is absolutely sterile if insects are +excluded. Specularia speculum is fairly fertile when enclosed; and this +seemed to me to be partially effected by the frequent closing of the +flower; the inward angular folds of the corolla corresponding with the +clefts of the open stigma, and in this action pushing pollen from the +outside of the stigma on to its surface. Now can you tell me, does S. +perfoliata close its flower like S. speculum, with angular inward folds? +if so, I am smashed without some fearful "wriggling." Are the IMPERFECT +flowers of your Specularia the early or the later ones? very early or +very late? It is rather pretty to see the importance of the closing of +flowers of S. speculum. + + +['Forms of Flowers' was published in July; in June, 1877, he wrote to +Professor Carus with regard to the translation:-- + +"My new book is not a long one, viz. 350 pages, chiefly of the larger +type, with fifteen simple woodcuts. All the proofs are corrected except +the Index, so that it will soon be published. + +"... I do not suppose that I shall publish any more books, though perhaps +a few more papers. I cannot endure being idle, but heaven knows whether +I am capable of any more good work." + +The review alluded to in the next letter is at page 445 of the volume of +'Nature' for 1878:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. THISELTON DYER. Down, April 5, 1878. + +My dear Dyer, + +I have just read in 'Nature' the review of 'Forms of Flowers,' and I am +sure that it is by you. I wish with all my heart that it deserved one +quarter of the praises which you give it. Some of your remarks have +interested me greatly... Hearty thanks for your generous and most kind +sympathy, which does a man real good, when he is as dog-tired as I am at +this minute with working all day, so good-bye. + +C. DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.XIII. -- CLIMBING AND INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. + +[My father mentions in his 'Autobiography' (volume i.) that he was led +to take up the subject of climbing plants by reading Dr. Gray's paper, +"Note on the Coiling of the Tendrils of Plants." ('Proc. Amer. Acad. of +Arts and Sciences,' 1858.) This essay seems to have been read in 1862, +but I am only able to guess at the date of the letter in which he asks +for a reference to it, so that the precise date of his beginning this +work cannot be determined. + +In June 1863 he was certainly at work, and wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker for +information as to previous publications on the subject, being then in +ignorance of Palm's and H. v. Mohl's works on climbing plants, both of +which were published in 1827.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down [June] 25 [1863]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I have been observing pretty carefully a little fact which has surprised +me; and I want to know from you and Oliver whether it seems new or odd +to you, so just tell me whenever you write; it is a very trifling fact, +so do not answer on purpose. + +I have got a plant of Echinocystis lobata to observe the irritability +of the tendrils described by Asa Gray, and which of course, is plain +enough. Having the plant in my study, I have been surprised to find +that the uppermost part of each branch (i.e. the stem between the two +uppermost leaves excluding the growing tip) is CONSTANTLY and slowly +twisting round making a circle in from one-half to two hours; it +will sometimes go round two or three times, and then at the same rate +untwists and twists in opposite directions. It generally rests half +an hour before it retrogrades. The stem does not become permanently +twisted. The stem beneath the twisting portion does not move in the +least, though not tied. The movement goes on all day and all early +night. It has no relation to light for the plant stands in my window +and twists from the light just as quickly as towards it. This may be a +common phenomenon for what I know, but it confounded me quite, when I +began to observe the irritability of the tendrils. I do not say it is +the final cause, but the result is pretty, for the plant every one and +a half or two hours sweeps a circle (according to the length of the +bending shoot and the length of the tendril) of from one foot to twenty +inches in diameter, and immediately that the tendril touches any object +its sensitiveness causes it immediately to seize it; a clever gardener, +my neighbour, who saw the plant on my table last night, said: "I +believe, Sir, the tendrils can see, for wherever I put a plant it finds +out any stick near enough." I believe the above is the explanation, viz. +that it sweeps slowly round and round. The tendrils have some sense, for +they do not grasp each other when young. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, July 14 [1863]. + +My dear Hooker, + +I am getting very much amused by my tendrils, it is just the sort of +niggling work which suits me, and takes up no time and rather rests me +whilst writing. So will you just think whether you know any plant, which +you could give or lend me, or I could buy, with tendrils, remarkable in +any way for development, for odd or peculiar structure, or even for an +odd place in natural arrangement. I have seen or can see Cucurbitaceae, +Passion-flower, Virginian-creeper, Cissus discolor, Common-pea +and Everlasting-pea. It is really curious the diversification of +irritability (I do not mean the spontaneous movement, about which I +wrote before and correctly, as further observation shows): for instance, +I find a slight pinch between the thumb and finger at the end of the +tendril of the Cucurbitaceae causes prompt movement, but a pinch excites +no movement in Cissus. The cause is that one side alone (the concave) is +irritable in the former; whereas both sides are irritable in Cissus, so +if you excite at the same time both OPPOSITE sides there is no movement, +but by touching with a pencil the two branches of the tendril, in any +part whatever, you cause movement towards that point; so that I can +mould, by a mere touch, the two branches into any shape I like... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, August 4 [1863]. + +My present hobby-horse I owe to you, viz. the tendrils: their +irritability is beautiful, as beautiful in all its modifications as +anything in Orchids. About the SPONTANEOUS movement (independent of +touch) of the tendrils and upper internodes, I am rather taken aback by +your saying, "is it not wel-known?" I can find nothing in any book which +I have... The spontaneous movement of the tendrils is independent of the +movement of the upper internodes, but both work harmoniously together +in sweeping a circle for the tendrils to grasp a stick. So with all +climbing plants (without tendrils) as yet examined, the upper internodes +go on night and day sweeping a circle in one fixed direction. It is +surprising to watch the Apocyneae with shoots 18 inches long (beyond the +supporting stick), steadily searching for something to climb up. When +the shoot meets a stick, the motion at that point is arrested, but in +the upper part is continued; so that the climbing of all plants yet +examined is the simple result of the spontaneous circulatory movement of +the upper internodes. Pray tell me whether anything has been published +on this subject? I hate publishing what is old; but I shall hardly +regret my work if it is old, as it has much amused me... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. May 28, 1864. + +... An Irish nobleman on his death-bed declared that he could +conscientiously say that he had never throughout life denied himself any +pleasure; and I can conscientiously say that I have never scrupled to +trouble you; so here goes.--Have you travelled South, and can you tell +me whether the trees, which Bignonia capreolata climbs, are covered with +moss or filamentous lichen or Tillandsia? (He subsequently learned from +Dr. Gray that Polypodium incanum abounds on the trees in the districts +where this species of Bignonia grows. See 'Climbing Plants,' page 103.) +I ask because its tendrils abhor a simple stick, do not much relish +rough bark, but delight in wool or moss. They adhere in a curious manner +by making little disks, like the Ampelopsis... By the way, I will enclose +some specimens, and if you think it worth while, you can put them under +the simple microscope. It is remarkable how specially adapted some +tendrils are; those of Eccremocarpus scaber do not like a stick, will +have nothing to say to wool; but give them a bundle of culms of grass, +or a bundle of bristles and they seize them well. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, June 10 [1864]. + +... I have now read two German books, and all I believe that has been +written on climbers, and it has stirred me up to find that I have a +good deal of new matter. It is strange, but I really think no one has +explained simple twining plants. These books have stirred me up, and +made me wish for plants specified in them. I shall be very glad of those +you mention. I have written to Veitch for young Nepenthes and Vanilla +(which I believe will turn out a grand case, though a root creeper), +if I cannot buy young Vanilla I will ask you. I have ordered a +leaf-climbing fern, Lygodium. All this work about climbers would hurt +my conscience, did I think I could do harder work. (He was much out of +health at this time.) + + +[He continued his observations on climbing plants during the prolonged +illness from which he suffered in the autumn of 1863, and in the +following spring. He wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker, apparently in March +1864:-- + +"For several days I have been decidedly better, and what I lay much +stress on (whatever doctors say), my brain feels far stronger, and I +have lost many dreadful sensations. The hot-house is such an amusement +to me, and my amusement I owe to you, as my delight is to look at the +many odd leaves and plants from Kew... The only approach to work which +I can do is to look at tendrils and climbers, this does not distress my +weakened brain. Ask Oliver to look over the enclosed queries (and do you +look) and amuse a broken-down brother naturalist by answering any which +he can. If you ever lounge through your houses, remember me and climbing +plants." + +On October 29, 1864, he wrote to Dr. Gray:-- + +"I have not been able to resist doing a little more at your godchild, my +climbing paper, or rather in size little book, which by Jove I will have +copied out, else I shall never stop. This has been new sort of work +for me, and I have been pleased to find what a capital guide for +observations a full conviction of the change of species is." + +On January 19, 1865, he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"It is working hours, but I am trying to take a day's holiday, for I +finished and despatched yesterday my climbing paper. For the last ten +days I have done nothing but correct refractory sentences, and I loathe +the whole subject." + +A letter to Dr. Gray, April 9, 1865, has a word or two on the subject:-- + +"I have begun correcting proofs of my paper on 'Climbing Plants.' I +suppose I shall be able to send you a copy in four or five weeks. I +think it contains a good deal new and some curious points, but it is so +fearfully long, that no one will ever read it. If, however, you do not +SKIM through it, you will be an unnatural parent, for it is your child." + +Dr. Gray not only read it but approved of it, to my father's great +satisfaction, as the following extracts show:-- + +"I was much pleased to get your letter of July 24th. Now that I can +do nothing, I maunder over old subjects, and your approbation of my +climbing paper gives me VERY great satisfaction. I made my observations +when I could do nothing else and much enjoyed it, but always doubted +whether they were worth publishing. I demur to its not being necessary +to explain in detail about the spires in CAUGHT tendrils running in +opposite directions; for the fact for a long time confounded me, and +I have found it difficult enough to explain the cause to two or three +persons." (August 15, 1865.) + +"I received yesterday your article (In the September number of +'Silliman's Journal,' concluded in the January number, 1866.) on +climbers, and it has pleased me in an extraordinary and even silly +manner. You pay me a superb compliment, and as I have just said to my +wife, I think my friends must perceive that I like praise, they give me +such hearty doses. I always admire your skill in reviews or abstracts, +and you have done this article excellently and given the whole essence +of my paper... I have had a letter from a good Zoologist in S. Brazil, +F. Muller, who has been stirred up to observe climbers and gives me some +curious cases of BRANCH-climbers, in which branches are converted +into tendrils, and then continue to grow and throw out leaves and new +branches, and then lose their tendril character." (October 1865.) + +The paper on Climbing Plants was republished in 1875, as a separate +book. The author had been unable to give his customary amount of care to +the style of the original essay, owing to the fact that it was written +during a period of continued ill-health, and it was now found to require +a great deal of alteration. He wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker (March 3, +1875): "It is lucky for authors in general that they do not require such +dreadful work in merely licking what they write into shape." And to Mr. +Murray in September he wrote: "The corrections are heavy in 'Climbing +Plants,' and yet I deliberately went over the MS. and old sheets three +times." The book was published in September 1875, an edition of 1500 +copies was struck off; the edition sold fairly well, and 500 additional +copies were printed in June of the following year.] + + +INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. + +[In the summer of 1860 he was staying at the house of his sister-in-law, +Miss Wedgwood, in Ashdown Forest, whence he wrote (July 29, 1860), to +Sir Joseph Hooker;-- + +"Latterly I have done nothing here; but at first I amused myself with +a few observations on the insect-catching power of Drosera; and I must +consult you some time whether my 'twaddle' is worth communicating to the +Linnean Society." + +In August he wrote to the same friend:-- + +"I will gratefully send my notes on Drosera when copied by my copier: +the subject amused me when I had nothing to do." + +He has described in the 'Autobiography' (volume i.), the general nature +of these early experiments. He noticed insects sticking to the leaves, +and finding that flies, etc., placed on the adhesive glands were held +fast and embraced, he suspected that the leaves were adapted to supply +nitrogenous food to the plant. He therefore tried the effect on the +leaves of various nitrogenous fluids--with results which, as far as they +went, verified his surmise. In September, 1860, he wrote to Dr. Gray:-- + +"I have been infinitely amused by working at Drosera: the movements +are really curious; and the manner in which the leaves detect certain +nitrogenous compounds is marvellous. You will laugh; but it is, at +present, my full belief (after endless experiments) that they detect +(and move in consequence of) the 1/2880 part of a single grain of +nitrate of ammonia; but the muriate and sulphate of ammonia bother their +chemical skill, and they cannot make anything of the nitrogen in these +salts! I began this work on Drosera in relation to GRADATION as throwing +light on Dionaea." + +Later in the autumn he was again obliged to leave home for Eastbourne, +where he continued his work on Drosera. The work was so new to him that +he found himself in difficulties in the preparation of solutions, and +became puzzled over fluid and solid ounces, etc. etc. To a friend, the +late Mr. E. Cresy, who came to his help in the matter of weights and +measures, he wrote giving an account of the experiments. The extract +(November 2, 1860) which follows illustrates the almost superstitious +precautions he often applied to his researches:-- + +"Generally I have scrutinised every gland and hair on the leaf before +experimenting; but it occurred to me that I might in some way affect the +leaf; though this is almost impossible, as I scrutinised with equal care +those that I put into distilled water (the same water being used for +dissolving the carbonate of ammonia). I then cut off four leaves (not +touching them with my fingers), and put them in plain water, and four +other leaves into the weak solution, and after leaving them for an hour +and a half, I examined every hair on all eight leaves; no change on the +four in water; every gland and hair affected in those in ammonia. + +"I had measured the quantity of weak solution, and I counted the glands +which had absorbed the ammonia, and were plainly affected; the result +convinced me that each gland could not have absorbed more than 1/64000 +or 1/65000 of a grain. I have tried numbers of other experiments all +pointing to the same result. Some experiments lead me to believe that +very sensitive leaves are acted on by much smaller doses. Reflect +how little ammonia a plant can get growing on poor soil--yet it is +nourished. The really surprising part seems to me that the effect should +be visible, and not under very high power; for after trying a high +power, I thought it would be safer not to consider any effect which +was not plainly visible under a two-thirds object glass and middle +eye-piece. The effect which the carbonate of ammonia produces is the +segregation of the homogeneous fluid in the cells into a cloud of +granules and colourless fluid; and subsequently the granules coalesce +into larger masses, and for hours have the oddest movements--coalescing, +dividing, coalescing ad infinitum. I do not know whether you will care +for these ill-written details; but, as you asked, I am sure I am bound +to comply, after all the very kind and great trouble which you have +taken." + +On his return home he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker (November 21, 1860):-- + +"I have been working like a madman at Drosera. Here is a fact for you +which is certain as you stand where you are, though you won't believe +it, that a bit of hair 1/78000 of one grain in weight placed on gland, +will cause ONE of the gland-bearing hairs of Drosera to curve inwards, +and will alter the condition of the contents of every cell in the +foot-stalk of the gland." + +And a few days later to Lyell:-- + +"I will and must finish my Drosera MS., which will take me a week, for, +at the present moment, I care more about Drosera than the origin of all +the species in the world. But I will not publish on Drosera till next +year, for I am frightened and astounded at my results. I declare it is +a certain fact, that one organ is so sensitive to touch, that a weight +seventy-eight times less than that, viz., 1/1000 of a grain, which +will move the best chemical balance, suffices to cause a conspicuous +movement. Is it not curious that a plant should be far more sensitive to +the touch than any nerve in the human body? Yet I am perfectly sure that +this is true. When I am on my hobby-horse, I never can resist telling my +friends how well my hobby goes, so you must forgive the rider." + +The work was continued, as a holiday task, at Bournemouth, where he +stayed during the autumn of 1862. The discussion in the following letter +on "nervous matter" in Drosera is of interest in relation to recent +researches on the continuity of protoplasm from cell to cell:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Cliff Cottage, Bournemouth. September 26 +[1862]. + +My dear Hooker, + +Do not read this till you have leisure. If that blessed moment ever +comes, I should be very glad to have your opinion on the subject of this +letter. I am led to the opinion that Drosera must have diffused matter +in organic connection, closely analogous to the nervous matter of +animals. When the glands of one of the papillae or tentacles, in its +natural position is supplied with nitrogenised fluid and certain other +stimulants, or when loaded with an extremely slight weight, or when +struck several times with a needle, the pedicel bends near its base in +under one minute. These varied stimulants are conveyed down the pedicel +by some means; it cannot be vibration, for drops of fluid put on quite +quietly cause the movement; it cannot be absorption of the fluid from +cell to cell, for I can see the rate of absorption, which though quick, +is far slower, and in Dionaea the transmission is instantaneous; +analogy from animals would point to transmission through nervous matter. +Reflecting on the rapid power of absorption in the glands, the extreme +sensibility of the whole organ, and the conspicuous movement caused by +varied stimulants, I have tried a number of substances which are not +caustic or corrosive,... but most of which are known to have a remarkable +action on the nervous matter of animals. You will see the results in +the enclosed paper. As the nervous matter of different animals are +differently acted on by the same poisons, one would not expect the +same action on plants and animals; only if plants have diffused nervous +matter, some degree of analogous action. And this is partially the case. +Considering these experiments, together with the previously made remarks +on the functions of the parts, I cannot avoid the conclusion, +that Drosera possesses matter at least in some degree analogous in +constitution and function to nervous matter. Now do tell me what you +think, as far as you can judge from my abstract; of course many more +experiments would have to be tried; but in former years I tried on the +whole leaf, instead of on separate glands, a number of innocuous (This +line of investigation made him wish for information on the action +of poisons on plants; as in many other cases he applied to Professor +Oliver, and in reference to the result wrote to Hooker: "Pray thank +Oliver heartily for his heap of references on poisons.") substances, +such as sugar, gum, starch, etc., and they produced no effect. Your +opinion will aid me in deciding some future year in going on with +this subject. I should not have thought it worth attempting, but I had +nothing on earth to do. + +My dear Hooker, Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + +P.S.--We return home on Monday 28th. Thank Heaven! + + +[A long break now ensued in his work on insectivorous plants, and it was +not till 1872 that the subject seriously occupied him again. A passage +in a letter to Dr. Asa Gray, written in 1863 or 1864, shows, however, +that the question was not altogether absent from his mind in the +interim:-- + +"Depend on it you are unjust on the merits of my beloved Drosera; it is +a wonderful plant, or rather a most sagacious animal. I will stick up +for Drosera to the day of my death. Heaven knows whether I shall ever +publish my pile of experiments on it." + +He notes in his diary that the last proof of the 'Expression of the +Emotions' was finished on August 22, 1872, and that he began to work on +Drosera on the following day.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. [Sevenoaks], October 22 [1872]. + +... I have worked pretty hard for four or five weeks on Drosera, and +then broke down; so that we took a house near Sevenoaks for three weeks +(where I now am) to get complete rest. I have very little power of +working now, and must put off the rest of the work on Drosera till next +spring, as my plants are dying. It is an endless subject, and I must cut +it short, and for this reason shall not do much on Dionaea. The point +which has interested me most is tracing the NERVES! which follow the +vascular bundles. By a prick with a sharp lancet at a certain point, +I can paralyse one-half the leaf, so that a stimulus to the other half +causes no movement. It is just like dividing the spinal marrow of a +frog:--no stimulus can be sent from the brain or anterior part of the +spine to the hind legs; but if these latter are stimulated, they move by +reflex action. I find my old results about the astonishing sensitiveness +of the nervous system (!?)of Drosera to various stimulants fully +confirmed and extended... + + +[His work on digestion in Drosera and other points in the physiology of +the plant soon led him into regions where his knowledge was defective, +and here the advice and assistance which he received from Dr. Burdon +Sanderson was of much value:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J. BURDON SANDERSON. Down, July 25, 1873. + +My dear Dr. Sanderson, + +I should like to tell you a little about my recent work with Drosera, to +show that I have profited by your suggestions, and to ask a question or +two. + +1. It is really beautiful how quickly and well Drosera and Dionaea +dissolve little cubes of albumen and gelatine. I kept the same sized +cubes on wet moss for comparison. When you were here I forgot that I had +tried gelatine, but albumen is far better for watching its dissolution +and absorption. Frankland has told me how to test in a rough way for +pepsin; and in the autumn he will discover what acid the digestive juice +contains. + +2. A decoction of cabbage-leaves and green peas causes as much +inflection as an infusion of raw meat; a decoction of grass is less +powerful. Though I hear that the chemists try to precipitate all albumen +from the extract of belladonna, I think they must fail, as the extract +causes inflection, whereas a new lot of atropine, as well as the +valerianate [of atropine], produce no effect. + +3. I have been trying a good many experiments with heated water... Should +you not call the following case one of heat rigor? Two leaves were +heated to 130 deg, and had every tentacle closely inflected; one was +taken out and placed in cold water, and it re-expanded; the other was +heated to 145 deg, and had not the least power of re-expansion. Is not +this latter case heat rigor? If you can inform me, I should very much +like to hear at what temperature cold-blooded and invertebrate animals +are killed. + +4. I must tell you my final result, of which I am sure, [as to] the +sensitiveness of Drosera. I made a solution of one part of phosphate of +ammonia by weight to 218,750 of water; of this solution I gave so much +that a leaf got 1/8000 of a grain of the phosphate. I then counted the +glands, and each could have got only 1/1552000 of a grain; this being +absorbed by the glands, sufficed to cause the tentacles bearing these +glands to bend through an angle of 180 deg. Such sensitiveness requires +hot weather, and carefully selected young yet mature leaves. It strikes +me as a wonderful fact. I must add that I took every precaution, by +trying numerous leaves at the same time in the solution and in the same +water which was used for making the solution. + +5. If you can persuade your friend to try the effects of carbonate of +ammonia on the aggregation of the white blood corpuscles, I should very +much like to hear the result. + +I hope this letter will not have wearied you. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. THISELTON DYER. Down, 24 [December 1873?]. + +My dear Mr. Dyer, + +I fear that you will think me a great bore, but I cannot resist telling +you that I have just found out that the leaves of Pinguicula possess +a beautifully adapted power of movement. Last night I put on a row of +little flies near one edge of two YOUNGISH leaves; and after 14 hours +these edges are beautifully folded over so as to clasp the flies, thus +bringing the glands into contact with the upper surfaces of the flies, +and they are now secreting copiously above and below the flies and no +doubt absorbing. The acid secretion has run down the channelled edge and +has collected in the spoon-shaped extremity, where no doubt the glands +are absorbing the delicious soup. The leaf on one side looks just like +the helix of a human ear, if you were to stuff flies within the fold. +Yours most sincerely, + +CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 3 [1874]. + +... I am now hard at work getting my book on Drosera & Co. ready for the +printers, but it will take some time, for I am always finding out new +points to observe. I think you will be interested by my observations on +the digestive process in Drosera; the secretion contains an acid of the +acetic series, and some ferment closely analogous to, but not identical +with, pepsin; for I have been making a long series of comparative +trials. No human being will believe what I shall publish about the +smallness of the doses of phosphate of ammonia which act. + +... I began reading the Madagascar squib (A description of a carnivorous +plant supposed to subsist on human beings.) quite gravely, and when I +found it stated that Felis and Bos inhabited Madagascar, I thought it +was a false story, and did not perceive it was a hoax till I came to the +woman... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F.C. DONDERS. (Professor Donders, the well-known +physiologist of Utrecht.) Down, July 7, 1874. + +My dear Professor Donders, + +My son George writes to me that he has seen you, and that you have been +very kind to him, for which I return to you my cordial thanks. He +tells me on your authority, of a fact which interests me in the highest +degree, and which I much wish to be allowed to quote. It relates to the +action of one millionth of a grain of atropine on the eye. Now will you +be so kind, whenever you can find a little leisure, to tell me whether +you yourself have observed this fact, or believe it on good authority. +I also wish to know what proportion by weight the atropine bore to the +water solution, and how much of the solution was applied to the eye. The +reason why I am so anxious on this head is that it gives some support +to certain facts repeatedly observed by me with respect to the action of +phosphate of ammonia on Drosera. The 1/4000000 of a grain absorbed by +a gland clearly makes the tentacle which bears this gland become +inflected; and I am fully convinced that 1/20000000 of a grain of the +crystallised salt (i.e. containing about one-third of its weight of +water of crystallisation) does the same. Now I am quite unhappy at the +thought of having to publish such a statement. It will be of great value +to me to be able to give any analogous facts in support. The case of +Drosera is all the more interesting as the absorption of the salt or +any other stimulant applied to the gland causes it to transmit a motor +influence to the base of the tentacle which bears the gland. + +Pray forgive me for troubling you, and do not trouble yourself to answer +this until your health is fully re-established. + +Pray believe me, Yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[During the summer of 1874 he was at work on the genus Utricularia, +and he wrote (July 16th) to Sir J.D. Hooker giving some account of the +progress of his work:-- + +"I am rather glad you have not been able to send Utricularia, for the +common species has driven F. and me almost mad. The structure is MOST +complex. The bladders catch a multitude of Entomostraca, and larvae of +insects. The mechanism for capture is excellent. But there is much that +we cannot understand. From what I have seen to-day, I strongly suspect +that it is necrophagous, i.e. that it cannot digest, but absorbs +decaying matter." + +He was indebted to Lady Dorothy Nevill for specimens of the curious +Utricularia montana, which is not aquatic like the European species, +but grows among the moss and debris on the branches of trees. To this +species the following letter refers:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO LADY DOROTHY NEVILL. Down September 18 [1874]. + +Dear Lady Dorothy Nevill, + +I am so much obliged to you. I was so convinced that the bladders were +with the leaves that I never thought of removing the moss, and this was +very stupid of me. The great solid bladder-like swellings almost on the +surface are wonderful objects, but are not the true bladders. These I +found on the roots near the surface, and down to a depth of two inches +in the sand. They are as transparent as glass, from 1/20 to 1/100 of +an inch in size, and hollow. They have all the important points of +structure of the bladders of the floating English species, and I felt +confident I should find captured prey. And so I have to my delight in +two bladders, with clear proof that they had absorbed food from the +decaying mass. For Utricularia is a carrion-feeder, and not strictly +carnivorous like Drosera. + +The great solid bladder-like bodies, I believe, are reservoirs of water +like a camel's stomach. As soon as I have made a few more observations, +I mean to be so cruel as to give your plant no water, and observe +whether the great bladders shrink and contain air instead of water; I +shall then also wash all earth from all roots, and see whether there are +true bladders for capturing subterranean insects down to the very bottom +of the pot. Now shall you think me very greedy, if I say that supposing +the species is not very precious, and you have several, will you give +me one more plant, and if so, please to send it to "Orpington Station, +S.E.R., to be forwarded by foot messenger." + +I have hardly ever enjoyed a day more in my life than I have this day's +work; and this I owe to your Ladyship's great kindness. + +The seeds are very curious monsters; I fancy of some plant allied to +Medicago, but I will show them to Dr. Hooker. + +Your ladyship's very gratefully, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, September 30, 1874. + +My dear H., + +Your magnificent present of Aldrovanda has arrived quite safe. I have +enjoyed greatly a good look at the shut leaves, one of which I cut open. +It is an aquatic Dionaea, which has acquired some structures identical +with those of Utricularia! + +If the leaves open and I can transfer them open under the microscope, I +will try some experiments, for mortal man cannot resist the temptation. +If I cannot transfer, I will do nothing, for otherwise it would require +hundreds of leaves. + +You are a good man to give me such pleasure. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +[The manuscript of 'Insectivorous Plants' was finished in March 1875. +He seems to have been more than usually oppressed by the writing of this +book, thus he wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker in February:-- + +"You ask about my book, and all that I can say is that I am ready to +commit suicide; I thought it was decently written, but find so much +wants rewriting, that it will not be ready to go to printers for two +months, and will then make a confoundedly big book. Murray will say that +it is no use publishing in the middle of summer, so I do not know what +will be the upshot; but I begin to think that every one who publishes a +book is a fool." + +The book was published on July 2nd, 1875, and 2700 copies were sold out +of the edition of 3000.] + + + + +CHAPTER 2.XIV. -- THE 'POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.' + +1880. + +[The few sentences in the autobiographical chapter give with sufficient +clearness the connection between the 'Power of Movement,' and one of the +author's earlier books, that on 'Climbing Plants.' The central idea +of the book is that the movements of plants in relation to light, +gravitation, etc., are modifications of a spontaneous tendency to +revolve or circumnutate, which is widely inherent in the growing parts +of plants. This conception has not been generally adopted, and has not +taken a place among the canons of orthodox physiology. The book has been +treated by Professor Sachs with a few words of professorial contempt; +and by Professor Wiesner it has been honoured by careful and generously +expressed criticism. + +Mr. Thiselton Dyer ('Charles Darwin' ('Nature' Series), page 41.) has +well said: "Whether this masterly conception of the unity of what has +hitherto seemed a chaos of unrelated phenomena will be sustained, time +alone will show. But no one can doubt the importance of what Mr. Darwin +has done, in showing that for the future the phenomena of plant movement +can and indeed must be studied from a single point of view." + +The work was begun in the summer of 1877, after the publication of +'Different Forms of Flowers,' and by the autumn his enthusiasm for the +subject was thoroughly established, and he wrote to Mr. Dyer: "I am +all on fire at the work." At this time he was studying the movements +of cotyledons, in which the sleep of plants is to be observed in its +simplest form; in the following spring he was trying to discover what +useful purpose these sleep-movements could serve, and wrote to Sir +Joseph Hooker (March 25th, 1878):-- + +"I think we have PROVED that the sleep of plants is to lessen the injury +to the leaves from radiation. This has interested me much, and has cost +us great labour, as it has been a problem since the time of Linnaeus. +But we have killed or badly injured a multitude of plants: N.B.--Oxalis +carnosa was most valuable, but last night was killed." + +His letters of this period do not give any connected account of +the progress of the work. The two following are given as being +characteristic of the author:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. THISELTON DYER. Down, June 2, 1878. + +My dear Dyer, + +I remember saying that I should die a disgraced man if I did not observe +a seedling Cactus and Cycas, and you have saved me from this horrible +fate, as they move splendidly and normally. But I have two questions to +ask: the Cycas observed was a huge seed in a broad and very shallow pot +with cocoa-nut fibre as I suppose. It was named only Cycas. Was it Cycas +pectinata? I suppose that I cannot be wrong in believing that what first +appears above ground is a true leaf, for I can see no stem or axis. +Lastly, you may remember that I said that we could not raise Opuntia +nigricans; now I must confess to a piece of stupidity; one did come up, +but my gardener and self stared at it, and concluded that it could not +be a seedling Opuntia, but now that I have seen one of O. basilaris, I +am sure it was; I observed it only casually, and saw movements, which +makes me wish to observe carefully another. If you have any fruit, +will Mr. Lynch (Mr. R.I. Lynch, now Curator of the Botanic Garden at +Cambridge was at this time in the Royal Gardens, Kew.) be so kind as to +send one more? + +I am working away like a slave at radicles [roots] and at movements of +true leaves, for I have pretty well done with cotyledons... + +That was an EXCELLENT letter about the Gardens (This refers to an +attempt to induce the Government to open the Royal Gardens at Kew in the +morning.): I had hoped that the agitation was over. Politicians are a +poor truckling lot, for [they] must see the wretched effects of keeping +the gardens open all day long. + +Your ever troublesome friend, CH. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. THISELTON DYER. 4 Bryanston St., Portman Square, +November 21 [1878]. + +My dear Dyer, + +I must thank you for all the wonderful trouble which you have taken +about the seeds of Impatiens, and on scores of other occasions. It in +truth makes me feel ashamed of myself, and I cannot help thinking: "Oh +Lord, when he sees our book he will cry out, is this all for which I +have helped so much!" In seriousness, I hope that we have made out some +points, but I fear that we have done very little for the labour which +we have expended on our work. We are here for a week for a little rest, +which I needed. + +If I remember right, November 30th, is the anniversary at the Royal, and +I fear Sir Joseph must be almost at the last gasp. I shall be glad when +he is no longer President. + +Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +[In the spring of the following year, 1879. When he was engaged in +putting his results together, he wrote somewhat despondingly to Mr. +Dyer: "I am overwhelmed with my notes, and almost too old to undertake +the job which I have in hand--i.e. movements of all kinds. Yet it is +worse to be idle." + +Later on in the year, when the work was approaching completion, he wrote +to Prof. Carus (July 17, 1879), with respect to a translation:-- + +"Together with my son Francis, I am preparing a rather large volume on +the general movements of Plants, and I think that we have made out a +good many new points and views. + +"I fear that our views will meet a good deal of opposition in Germany; +but we have been working very hard for some years at the subject. + +"I shall be MUCH pleased if you think the book worth translating, and +proof-sheets shall be sent you, whenever they are ready." + +In the autumn he was hard at work on the manuscript, and wrote to Dr. +Gray (October 24, 1879):-- + +"I have written a rather big book--more is the pity--on the movements +of plants, and I am now just beginning to go over the MS. for the second +time, which is a horrid bore." + +Only the concluding part of the next letter refers to the 'Power of +Movements':] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO A. DE CANDOLLE. May 28, 1880. + +My dear Sir, + +I am particularly obliged to you for having so kindly send me your +'Phytographie' (A book on the methods of botanical research, more +especially of systematic work.); for if I had merely seen it advertised, +I should not have supposed that it could have concerned me. As it is, I +have read with very great interest about a quarter, but will not +delay longer thanking you. All that you say seems to me very clear +and convincing, and as in all your writings I find a large number of +philosophical remarks new to me, and no doubt shall find many more. They +have recalled many a puzzle through which I passed when monographing the +Cirripedia; and your book in those days would have been quite invaluable +to me. It has pleased me to find that I have always followed your plan +of making notes on separate pieces of paper; I keep several scores of +large portfolios, arranged on very thin shelves about two inches apart, +fastened to the walls of my study, and each shelf has its proper name +or title; and I can thus put at once every memorandum into its proper +place. Your book will, I am sure, be very useful to many young students, +and I shall beg my son Francis (who intends to devote himself to the +physiology of plants) to read it carefully. + +As for myself I am taking a fortnight's rest, after sending a pile of +MS. to the printers, and it was a piece of good fortune that your book +arrived as I was getting into my carriage, for I wanted something to +read whilst away from home. My MS. relates to the movements of plants, +and I think that I have succeeded in showing that all the more important +great classes of movements are due to the modification of a kind of +movement common to all parts of all plants from their earliest youth. + +Pray give my kind remembrances to your son, and with my highest respect +and best thanks, + +Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + +P.S.--It always pleases me to exalt plants in the organic scale, and if +you will take the trouble to read my last chapter when my book (which +will be sadly too big) is published and sent to you, I hope and think +that you also will admire some of the beautiful adaptations by which +seedling plants are enabled to perform their proper functions. + + +[The book was published on November 6, 1880, and 1500 copies were +disposed of at Mr. Murray's sale. With regard to it he wrote to Sir J.D. +Hooker (November 23):-- + +"Your note has pleased me much--for I did not expect that you would have +had time to read ANY of it. Read the last chapter, and you will know the +whole result, but without the evidence. The case, however, of radicles +bending after exposure for an hour to geotropism, with their tips (or +brains) cut off is, I think, worth your reading (bottom of page 525); it +astounded me. The next most remarkable fact, as it appeared to me (page +148), is the discrimination of the tip of the radicle between a slightly +harder and softer object affixed on opposite sides of tip. But I will +bother you no more about my book. The sensitiveness of seedlings to +light is marvellous." + +To another friend, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, he wrote (November 28, 1880):-- + +"Very many thanks for your most kind note, but you think too highly of +our work, not but what this is very pleasant... Many of the Germans are +very contemptuous about making out the use of organs; but they may sneer +the souls out of their bodies, and I for one shall think it the most +interesting part of Natural History. Indeed you are greatly mistaken if +you doubt for one moment on the very great value of your constant and +most kind assistance to us." + +The book was widely reviewed, and excited much interest among the +general public. The following letter refers to a leading article in the +"Times", November 20, 1880:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO MRS. HALIBURTON. (Mrs. Haliburton was a daughter of my +father's early friend, the late Mr. Owen, of Woodhouse.) Down, November +22, 1880. + +My dear Sarah, + +You see how audaciously I begin; but I have always loved and shall +ever love this name. Your letter has done more than please me, for its +kindness has touched my heart. I often think of old days and of the +delight of my visits to Woodhouse, and of the deep debt of gratitude +I owe to your father. It was very good of you to write. I had quite +forgotten my old ambition about the Shrewsbury newspaper (Mrs. +Haliburton had reminded him of his saying as a boy that if Eddowes' +newspaper ever alluded to him as "our deserving fellow-townsman," his +ambition would be amply gratified.); but I remember the pride which I +felt when I saw in a book about beetles the impressive words "captured +by C. Darwin." Captured sounded so grand compared with caught. This +seemed to me glory enough for any man! I do not know in the least what +made the "Times" glorify me (The following is the opening sentence +of the leading article:--"Of all our living men of science none have +laboured longer and to more splendid purpose than Mr. Darwin."), for it +has sometimes pitched into me ferociously. + +I should very much like to see you again, but you would find a visit +here very dull, for we feel very old and have no amusement, and lead +a solitary life. But we intend in a few weeks to spend a few days in +London, and then if you have anything else to do in London, you would +perhaps come and lunch with us. (My father had the pleasure of seeing +Mrs. Haliburton at his brother's house in Queen Anne Street.) + +Believe me, my dear Sarah, Yours gratefully and affectionately, CHARLES +DARWIN. + + +[The following letter was called forth by the publication of a volume +devoted to the criticism of the 'Power of Movement in Plants' by an +accomplished botanist, Dr. Julius Wiesner, Professor of Botany in the +University of Vienna:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO JULIUS WIESNER. Down, October 25th, 1881. + +My dear Sir, + +I have now finished your book ('Das Bewegungsvermogen der Pflanzen.' +Vienna, 1881.), and have understood the whole except a very few +passages. In the first place, let me thank you cordially for the manner +in which you have everywhere treated me. You have shown how a man may +differ from another in the most decided manner, and yet express his +difference with the most perfect courtesy. Not a few English and German +naturalists might learn a useful lesson from your example; for the +coarse language often used by scientific men towards each other does no +good, and only degrades science. + +I have been profoundly interested by your book, and some of your +experiments are so beautiful, that I actually felt pleasure while being +vivisected. It would take up too much space to discuss all the important +topics in your book. I fear that you have quite upset the interpretation +which I have given of the effects of cutting off the tips of +horizontally extended roots, and of those laterally exposed to moisture; +but I cannot persuade myself that the horizontal position of lateral +branches and roots is due simply to their lessened power of growth. Nor +when I think of my experiments with the cotyledons of Phalaris, can I +give up the belief of the transmission of some stimulus due to light +from the upper to the lower part. At page 60 you have misunderstood my +meaning, when you say that I believe that the effects from light +are transmitted to a part which is not itself heliotropic. I never +considered whether or not the short part beneath the ground was +heliotropic; but I believe that with young seedlings the part which +bends NEAR, but ABOVE the ground is heliotropic, and I believe so from +this part bending only moderately when the light is oblique, and bending +rectangularly when the light is horizontal. Nevertheless the bending of +this lower part, as I conclude from my experiments with opaque caps, +is influenced by the action of light on the upper part. My opinion, +however, on the above and many other points, signifies very little, for +I have no doubt that your book will convince most botanists that I am +wrong in all the points on which we differ. + +Independently of the question of transmission, my mind is so full of +facts leading me to believe that light, gravity, etc., act not in a +direct manner on growth, but as stimuli, that I am quite unable to +modify my judgment on this head. I could not understand the passage at +page 78, until I consulted my son George, who is a mathematician. He +supposes that your objection is founded on the diffused light from the +lamp illuminating both sides of the object, and not being reduced, with +increasing distance in the same ratio as the direct light; but he doubts +whether this NECESSARY correction will account for the very little +difference in the heliotropic curvature of the plants in the successive +pots. + +With respect to the sensitiveness of the tips of roots to contact, I +cannot admit your view until it is proved that I am in error about bits +of card attached by liquid gum causing movement; whereas no movement +was caused if the card remained separated from the tip by a layer of the +liquid gum. The fact also of thicker and thinner bits of card attached +on opposite sides of the same root by shellac, causing movement in one +direction, has to be explained. You often speak of the tip having been +injured; but externally there was no sign of injury: and when the tip +was plainly injured, the extreme part became curved TOWARDS the injured +side. I can no more believe that the tip was injured by the bits of +card, at least when attached by gum-water, than that the glands of +Drosera are injured by a particle of thread or hair placed on it, or +that the human tongue [is so] when it feels any such object. + +About the most important subject in my book, namely circumnutation, I +can only say that I feel utterly bewildered at the difference in our +conclusions; but I could not fully understand some parts which my +son Francis will be able to translate to me when he returns home. The +greater part of your book is beautifully clear. + +Finally, I wish that I had enough strength and spirit to commence +a fresh set of experiments, and publish the results, with a full +recantation of my errors when convinced of them; but I am too old for +such an undertaking, nor do I suppose that I shall be able to do much, +or any more, original work. I imagine that I see one possible source of +error in your beautiful experiment of a plant rotating and exposed to a +lateral light. + +With high respect and with sincere thanks for the kind manner in which +you have treated me and my mistakes, I remain, my dear Sir, yours +sincerely, + +CHARLES DARWIN. + + + + +CHAPTER 2.XV. -- MISCELLANEOUS BOTANICAL LETTERS. + +1873-1882. + +[The present chapter contains a series of miscellaneous letters on +botanical subjects. Some of them show my father's varied interests in +botanical science, and others give account of researches which never +reached completion.] + + +BLOOM ON LEAVES AND FRUIT. + +[His researches into the meaning of the "bloom," or waxy coating found +on many leaves, was one of those inquiries which remained unfinished at +the time of his death. He amassed a quantity of notes on the subject, +part of which I hope to publish at no distant date. (A small instalment +on the relation between bloom and the distribution of the stomata on +leaves has appeared in the 'Journal of the Linnean Society,' 1886. +Tschirsch ("Linnaea", 1881) has published results identical with +some which my father and myself obtained, viz. that bloom diminishes +transpiration. The same fact was previously published by Garreau in +1850.) + +One of his earliest letters on this subject was addressed in August, +1873, to Sir Joseph Hooker:-- + +"I want a little information from you, and if you do not yourself know, +please to enquire of some of the wise men of Kew. + +"Why are the leaves and fruit of so many plants protected by a thin +layer of waxy matter (like the common cabbage), or with fine hair, so +that when such leaves or fruit are immersed in water they appear as if +encased in thin glass? It is really a pretty sight to put a pod of the +common pea, or a raspberry into water. I find several leaves are thus +protected on the under surface and not on the upper. + +"How can water injure the leaves if indeed this is at all the case?" + +On this latter point he wrote to Sir Thomas Farrer:-- + +"I am now become mad about drops of water injuring leaves. Please ask +Mr. Paine (Sir Thomas Farrer's gardener.) whether he believes, FROM +HIS OWN EXPERIENCE, that drops of water injure leaves or fruit in his +conservatories. It is said that the drops act as burning-glasses; if +this is true, they would not be at all injurious on cloudy days. As +he is so acute a man, I should very much like to hear his opinion. I +remember when I grew hot-house orchids I was cautioned not to wet their +leaves; but I never then thought on the subject. + +"I enjoyed my visit greatly with you, and I am very sure that all +England could not afford a kinder and pleasanter host." + +Some years later he took up the subject again, and wrote to Sir Joseph +Hooker (May 25, 1877):-- + +"I have been looking over my old notes about the "bloom" on plants, +and I think that the subject is well worth pursuing, though I am very +doubtful of any success. Are you inclined to aid me on the mere chance +of success, for without your aid I could do hardly anything?"] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO ASA GRAY. Down, June 4 [1877]. + +... I am now trying to make out the use or function of "bloom," or the +waxy secretion on the leaves and fruit of plants, but am VERY doubtful +whether I shall succeed. Can you give me any light? Are such plants +commoner in warm than in colder climates? I ask because I often walk out +in heavy rain, and the leaves of very few wild dicotyledons can be here +seen with drops of water rolling off them like quick-silver. Whereas in +my flower garden, greenhouse, and hot-houses there are several. Again, +are bloo-protected plants common on your DRY western plains? Hooker +THINKS that they are common at the Cape of Good Hope. It is a puzzle +to me if they are common under very dry climates, and I find bloom very +common on the Acacias and Eucalypti of Australia. Some of the Eucalypti +which do not appear to be covered with bloom have the epidermis +protected by a layer of some substance which is dissolved in boiling +alcohol. Are there any bloo-protected leaves or fruit in the Arctic +regions? If you can illuminate me, as you so often have done, pray do +so; but otherwise do not bother yourself by answering. + +Yours affectionately, C. DARWIN. + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO W. THISELTON DYER. Down, September 5 [1877]. + +My dear Dyer, + +One word to thank you. I declare had it not been for your kindness, we +should have broken down. As it is we have made out clearly that with +some plants (chiefly succulent) the bloom checks evaporation--with +some certainly prevents attacks of insects; with SOME sea-shore plants +prevents injury from salt-water, and, I believe, with a few prevents +injury from pure water resting on the leaves. This latter is as yet +the most doubtful and the most interesting point in relation to the +movements of plants... + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO F. MULLER. Down, July 4 [1881]. + +My dear Sir, + +Your kindness is unbounded, and I cannot tell you how much your last +letter (May 31) has interested me. I have piles of notes about the +effect of water resting on leaves, and their movements (as I supposed) +to shake off the drops. But I have not looked over these notes for a +long time, and had come to think that perhaps my notion was mere fancy, +but I had intended to begin experimenting as soon as I returned home; +and now with your INVALUABLE letter about the position of the leaves of +various plants during rain (I have one analogous case with Acacia from +South Africa), I shall be stimulated to work in earnest. + + +VARIABILITY. + +[The following letter refers to a subject on which my father felt the +strongest interest:--the experimental investigation of the causes of +variability. The experiments alluded to were to some extent planned out, +and some preliminary work was begun in the direction indicated below, +but the research was ultimately abandoned.] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO J.H. GILBERT. (Dr. Gilbert, F.R.S., joint author +with Sir John Bennett Lawes of a long series of valuable researches in +Scientific Agriculture.) Down, February 16, 1876. + +My dear Sir, + +When I met you at the Linnean Society, you were so kind as to say that +you would aid me with advice, and this will be of the utmost value to me +and my son. I will first state my object, and hope that you will excuse +a long letter. It is admitted by all naturalists that no problem is so +perplexing as what causes almost every cultivated plant to vary, and no +experiments as yet tried have thrown any light on the subject. Now +for the last ten years I have been experimenting in crossing and +self-fertilising plants; and one indirect result has surprised me much; +namely, that by taking pains to cultivate plants in pots under glass +during several successive generations, under nearly similar conditions, +and by self-fertilising them in each generation, the colour of the +flowers often changes, and, what is very remarkable, they became in some +of the most variable species, such as Mimulus, Carnation, etc., quite +constant, like those of a wild species. + +This fact and several others have led me to the suspicion that the cause +of variation must be in different substances absorbed from the soil by +these plants when their powers of absorption are not interfered with +by other plants with which they grow mingled in a state of nature. +Therefore my son and I wish to grow plants in pots in soil entirely, or +as nearly entirely as is possible, destitute of all matter which plants +absorb, and then to give during several successive generations to +several plants of the same species as different solutions as may be +compatible with their life and health. And now, can you advise me how +to make soil approximately free of all the substances which plants +naturally absorb? I suppose white silver sand, sold for cleaning +harness, etc., is nearly pure silica, but what am I to do for alumina? +Without some alumina I imagine that it would be impossible to keep the +soil damp and fit for the growth of plants. I presume that clay washed +over and over again in water would still yield mineral matter to the +carbonic acid secreted by the roots. I should want a good deal of soil, +for it would be useless to experimentise unless we could fill from +twenty to thirty moderately sized flower-pots every year. Can you +suggest any plan? for unless you can it would, I fear, be useless for us +to commence an attempt to discover whether variability depends at all +on matter absorbed from the soil. After obtaining the requisite kind of +soil, my notion is to water one set of plants with nitrate of potassium, +another set with nitrate of sodium, and another with nitrate of lime, +giving all as much phosphate of ammonia as they seemed to support, for +I wish the plants to grow as luxuriantly as possible. The plants watered +with nitrate of Na and of Ca would require, I suppose, some K; but +perhaps they would get what is absolutely necessary from such soil as I +should be forced to employ, and from the rain-water collected in tanks. +I could use hard water from a deep well in the chalk, but then all the +plants would get lime. If the plants to which I give Nitrate of Na and +of Ca would not grow I might give them a little alum. + +I am well aware how very ignorant I am, and how crude my notions are; +and if you could suggest any other solutions by which plants would be +likely to be affected it would be a very great kindness. I suppose that +there are no organic fluids which plants would absorb, and which I could +procure? + +I must trust to your kindness to excuse me for troubling you at such +length, and, + +I remain, dear Sir, yours sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[The next letter to Professor Semper (Professor of Zoology at Wurzburg.) +bears on the same subject:] + +FROM CHARLES DARWIN TO K. SEMPER. Down, July 19, 1881. + +My dear Professor Semper, + +I have been much pleased to receive your letter, but I did not expect +you to answer my former one... I cannot remember what I wrote to you, +but I am sure that it must have expressed the interest which I felt in +reading your book. (Published in the 'International Scientific Series,' +in 1881, under the title, 'The Natural Conditions of Existence as they +affect Animal Life.') I thought that you attributed too much weight to +the DIRECT action of the environment; but whether I said so I know not, +for without being asked I should have thought it presumptuous to have +criticised your book, nor should I now say so had I not during the last +few days been struck with Professor Hoffmann's review of his own work in +the 'Botanische Zeitung,' on the variability of plants; and it is really +surprising how little effect he produced by cultivating certain plants +under unnatural conditions, as the presence of salt, lime, zinc, etc., +etc., during SEVERAL generations. Plants, moreover, were selected which +were the most likely to vary under such conditions, judging from the +existence of closely-allied forms adapted for these conditions. No +doubt I originally attributed too little weight to the direct action of +conditions, but Hoffmann's paper has staggered me. Perhaps hundreds of +generations of exposure are necessary. It is a most perplexing subject. +I wish I was not so old, and had more strength, for I see lines of +research to follow. Hoffmann even doubts whether plants vary more +under cultivation than in their native home and under their natural +conditions. If so, the astonishing variations of almost all cultivated +plants must be due to selection and breeding from the varying +individuals. This idea crossed my mind many years ago, but I was +afraid to publish it, as I thought that people would say, "how he does +exaggerate the importance of selection." + +I still MUST believe that changed conditions give the impulse to +variability, but that they act IN MOST CASES in a very indirect manner. +But, as I said, it is a most perplexing problem. Pray forgive me for +writing at such length; I had no intention of doing so when I sat down +to write. + +I am extremely sorry to hear, for your own sake and for that of Science, +that you are so hard worked, and that so much of your time is consumed +in official labour. + +Pray believe me, dear Professor Semper, Yours sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +GALLS. + +[Shortly before his death, my father began to experimentise on the +possibility of producing galls artificially. A letter to Sir J.D. Hooker +(November 3, 1880) shows the interest which he felt in the question:-- + +"I was delighted with Paget's Essay ('Disease in Plants,' by Sir +James Paget.--See "Gardeners' Chronicle", 1880.); I hear that he has +occasionally attended to this subject from his youth... I am very glad he +has called attention to galls: this has always seemed to me a profoundly +interesting subject; and if I had been younger would take it up." + +His interest in this subject was connected with his ever-present wish +to learn something of the causes of variation. He imagined to himself +wonderful galls caused to appear on the ovaries of plants, and by these +means he thought it possible that the seed might be influenced, and thus +new varieties arise. He made a considerable number of experiments by +injecting various reagents into the tissues of leaves, and with some +slight indications of success.] + + +AGGREGATION. + +[The following letter gives an idea of the subject of the last of his +published papers. ('Journal of the Linnean Society.' volume xix, 1882, +pages 239 and 262.) The appearances which he observed in leaves and +roots attracted him, on account of their relation to the phenomena of +aggregation which had so deeply interested him when he was at work on +Drosera:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO S.H. VINES. (Reader in Botany in the University of +Cambridge.) Down, November 1, 1881. + +My dear Mr. Vines, + +As I know how busy you are, it is a great shame to trouble you. But you +are so rich in chemical knowledge about plants, and I am so poor, that +I appeal to your charity as a pauper. My question is--Do you know of +any solid substance in the cells of plants which glycerine and water +dissolves? But you will understand my perplexity better if I give you +the facts: I mentioned to you that if a plant of Euphorbia peplus is +gently dug up and the roots placed for a short time in a weak solution +(1 to 10,000 of water, suffices in 24 hours) of carbonate of ammonia the +(generally) alternate longitudinal rows of cells in every rootlet, from +the root-cap up to the very top of the root (but not as far as I have +yet seen in the green stem) become filled with translucent, brownish +grains of matter. These rounded grains often cohere and even become +confluent. Pure phosphate and nitrate of ammonia produce (though more +slowly) the same effect, as does pure carbonate of soda. + +Now, if slices of root under a cover-glass are irrigated with glycerine +and water, every one of the innumerable grains in the cells disappear +after some hours. What am I to think of this.?... + +Forgive me for bothering you to such an extent; but I must mention +that if the roots are dipped in boiling water there is no deposition of +matter, and carbonate of ammonia afterwards produces no effect. I should +state that I now find that the granular matter is formed in the cells +immediately beneath the thin epidermis, and a few other cells near the +vascular tissue. If the granules consisted of living protoplasm (but +I can see no traces of movement in them), then I should infer that +the glycerine killed them and aggregation ceased with the diffusion of +invisibly minute particles, for I have seen an analogous phenomenon in +Drosera. + +If you can aid me, pray do so, and anyhow forgive me. Yours very +sincerely, CH. DARWIN. + + +MR. TORBITT'S EXPERIMENTS ON THE POTATO-DISEASE. + +[Mr. James Torbitt, of Belfast, has been engaged for the last twelve +years in the difficult undertaking, in which he has been to a large +extent successful, of raising fungus-proof varieties of the potato. My +father felt great interest in Mr. Torbitt's work, and corresponded with +him from 1876 onwards. The following letter, giving a clear account of +Mr. Torbitt's method and of my father's opinion of the probability of +its success, was written with the idea that Government aid for the work +might possibly be obtainable:] + + +CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. FARRER. Down, March 2, 1878. + +My dear Farrer, + +Mr. Torbitt's plan of overcoming the potato-disease seems to me by far +the best which has ever been suggested. It consists, as you know +from his printed letter, of rearing a vast number of seedlings from +cross-fertilised parents, exposing them to infection, ruthlessly +destroying all that suffer, saving those which resist best, and +repeating the process in successive seminal generations. My belief in +the probability of good results from this process rests on the fact of +all characters whatever occasionally varying. It is known, for instance, +that certain species and varieties of the vine resist phylloxera better +than others. Andrew Knight found in one variety or species of the apple +which was not in the least attacked by coccus, and another variety has +been observed in South Australia. Certain varieties of the peach resist +mildew, and several other such cases could be given. Therefore there is +no great improbability in a new variety of potato arising which would +resist the fungus completely, or at least much better than any existing +variety. With respect to the cross-fertilisation of two distinct +seedling plants, it has been ascertained that the offspring thus raised +inherit much more vigorous constitutions and generally are more prolific +than seedlings from self-fertilised parents. It is also probable that +cross-fertilisation would be especially valuable in the case of the +potato, as there is reason to believe that the flowers are seldom +crossed by our native insects; and some varieties are absolutely sterile +unless fertilised with pollen from a distinct variety. There is some +evidence that the good effects from a cross are transmitted for several +generations; it would not, therefore be necessary to cross-fertilise the +seedlings in each generation, though this would be desirable, as it is +almost certain that a greater number of seeds would thus be obtained. It +should be remembered that a cross between plants raised from the tubers +of the same plant, though growing on distinct roots, does no more good +than a cross between flowers on the same individual. Considering the +whole subject, it appears to me that it would be a national misfortune +if the cros-fertilised seeds in Mr. Torbitt's possession produced by +parents which have already shown some power of resisting the disease, +are not utilised by the Government, or some public body, and the process +of selection continued during several more generations. + +Should the Agricultural Society undertake the work, Mr. Torbitt's +knowledge gained by experience would be especially valuable; and +an outline of the plan is given in his printed letter. It would be +necessary that all the tubers produced by each plant should be collected +separately, and carefully examined in each succeeding generation. + +It would be advisable that some kind of potato eminently liable to the +disease should be planted in considerable numbers near the seedlings so +as to infect them. + +Altogether the trial would be one requiring much care and extreme +patience, as I know from experience with analogous work, and it may be +feared that it would be difficult to find any one who would pursue the +experiment with sufficient energy. It seems, therefore, to me highly +desirable that Mr. Torbitt should be aided with some small grant so as +to continue the work himself. + +Judging from his reports, his efforts have already been crowned in so +short a time with more success than could have been anticipated; and +I think you will agree with me, that any one who raises a fungus-proof +potato will be a public benefactor of no common kind. + +My dear Farrer, yours sincerely, CHARLES DARWIN. + + +[After further consultation with Sir Thomas Farrer and with Mr. Caird, +my father became convinced that it was hopeless to attempt to obtain +Government aid. He wrote to Mr. Torbitt to this effect, adding, "it +would be less trouble to get up a subscription from a few rich leading +agriculturists than from Government. This plan I think you cannot object +to, as you have asked nothing, and will have nothing whatever to do with +the subscription. In fact, the affair is, in my opinion, a compliment +to you." The idea here broached was carried out, and Mr. Torbitt was +enabled to continue his work by the aid of a sum to which Sir T. Farrer, +Mr. Caird, my father, and a few friends, subscribed. + +My father's sympathy and encouragement were highly valued by Mr. +Torbitt, who tells me that without them he should long ago have given up +his attempt. A few extracts will illustrate my father's fellow feeling +with Mr. Torbitt's energy and perseverance:-- + +"I admire your indomitable spirit. If any one ever deserved success, +you do so, and I keep to my original opinion that you have a very good +chance of raising a fungus-proof variety of the potato. + +"A pioneer in a new undertaking is sure to meet with many +disappointments, so I hope that you will keep up your courage, though we +have done so very little for you." + +Mr. Torbitt tells me that he still (1887) succeeds in raising varieties +possessing well-marked powers of resisting disease; but this immunity is +not permanent, and, after some years, the varieties become liable to the +attacks of the fungus.] + + +THE KEW INDEX OF PLANT-NAMES, OR 'NOMENCLATOR DARWINIANUS.' + +[Some account of my father's connection with the Index of Plant-names +now (1887) in course of preparation at Kew will be found in Mr. B. +Daydon Jackson's paper in the 'Journal of Botany,' 1887, page 151. Mr. +Jackson quotes the following statement by Sir J.D. Hooker:-- + +"Shortly before his death, Mr. Charles Darwin informed Sir Joseph Hooker +that it was his intention to devote a considerable sum of money annually +for some years in aid or furtherance of some work or works of practical +utility to biological science, and to make provisions in his will in the +event of these not being completed during his lifetime. + +"Amongst other objects connected with botanical science, Mr. Darwin +regarded with especial interest the importance of a complete index +to the names and authors of the genera and species of plants known to +botanists, together with their native countries. Steudel's 'Nomenclator' +is the only existing work of this nature, and although now nearly half a +century old, Mr. Darwin had found it of great aid in his own researches. +It has been indispensable to every botanical institution, whether as a +list of all known flowering plants, as an indication of their authors, +or as a digest of botanical geography." + + +Since 1840, when the 'Nomenclator' was published, the number of +described plants may be said to have doubled, so that the 'Nomenclator' +is now seriously below the requirements of botanical work. To remedy +this want, the 'Nomenclator' has been from time to time posted up in an +interleaved copy in the Herbarium at Kew, by the help of "funds supplied +by private liberality." (Kew Gardens Report, 1881, page 62.) + +My father, like other botanists, had as Sir Joseph Hooker points out, +experienced the value of Steudel's work. He obtained plants from all +sorts of sources, which were often incorrectly named, and he felt the +necessity of adhering to the accepted nomenclature, so that he might +convey to other workers precise indications as to the plants which he +had studied. It was also frequently a matter of importance to him to +know the native country of his experimental plants. Thus it was natural +that he should recognize the desirability of completing and publishing +the interleaved volume at Kew. The wish to help in this object was +heightened by the admiration he felt for the results for which the world +has to thank the Royal Gardens at Kew, and by his gratitude for the +invaluable aid which for so many years he received from its Director and +his staff. He expressly stated that it was his wish "to aid in some +way the scientific work carried on at the Royal Gardens" (Kew Gardens +Report, 1881, page 62.)--which induced him to offer to supply funds for +the completion of the Kew 'Nomenclator.' + +The following passage, for which I am indebted to Professor Judd, is of +much interest, as illustrating the motives that actuated my father in +this matter. Professor Judd writes:-- + +"On the occasion of my last visit to him, he told me that his income +having recently greatly increased, while his wants remained the same, +he was most anxious to devote what he could spare to the advancement +of Geology or Biology. He dwelt in the most touching manner on the fact +that he owed so much happiness and fame to the natural-history +sciences, which had been the solace of what might have been a painful +existence;--and he begged me, if I knew of any research which could be +aided by a grant of a few hundreds of pounds, to let him know, as it +would be a delight to him to feel that he was helping in promoting the +progress of science. He informed me at the same time that he was making +the same suggestion to Sir Joseph Hooker and Professor Huxley with +respect to Botany and Zoology respectively. I was much impressed by +the earnestness, and, indeed, deep emotion, with which he spoke of his +indebtedness to Science, and his desire to promote its interests." + +Sir Joseph Hooker was asked by my father "to take into consideration, +with the aid of the botanical staff at Kew and the late Mr. Bentham, the +extent and scope of the proposed work, and to suggest the best means of +having it executed. In doing this, Sir Joseph had further the advantage +of the great knowledge and experience of Professor Asa Gray, of +Cambridge, U.S.A., and of Mr. John Ball, F.R.S." ('Journal of Botany,' +loc. cit.) + +The plan of the proposed work having been carefully considered, Sir +Joseph Hooker was able to confide its elaboration in detail to Mr. +B. Daydon Jackson, Secretary of the Linnean Society, whose extensive +knowledge of botanical literature qualifies him for the task. My +father's original idea of producing a modern edition of Steudel's +'Nomenclator' has been practically abandoned, the aim now kept in view +is rather to construct a list of genera and species (with references) +founded on Bentham and Hooker's 'Genera Plantarum.' The colossal nature +of the work in progress at Kew may be estimated by the fact that the +manuscript of the 'Index' is at the present time (1887) believed to +weigh more than a ton. Under Sir Joseph Hooker's supervision the work +goes steadily forward, being carried out with admirable zeal by Mr. +Jackson, who devotes himself unsparingly to the enterprise, in which, +too, he has the advantage of the active interest in the work felt by +Professor Oliver and Mr. Thiselton Dyer. + +The Kew 'Index,' which will, in all probability, be ready to go to press +in four or five years, will be a fitting memorial of my father: and his +share in its completion illustrates a part of his character--his ready +sympathy with work outside his own lines of investigation--and his +respect for minute and patient labour in all branches of science.] + + + + +CHAPTER 2.XVI. -- CONCLUSION. + +Some idea of the general course of my father's health may have been +gathered from the letters given in the preceding pages. The subject of +health appears more prominently than is often necessary in a Biography, +because it was, unfortunately, so real an element in determining the +outward form of his life. + +During the last ten years of his life the condition of his health was a +cause of satisfaction and hope to his family. His condition showed +signs of amendment in several particulars. He suffered less distress +and discomfort, and was able to work more steadily. Something has +been already said of Dr. Bence Jones's treatment, from which my father +certainly derived benefit. In later years he became a patient of Sir +Andrew Clark, under whose care he improved greatly in general health. It +was not only for his generously rendered service that my father felt +a debt of gratitude towards Sir Andrew Clark. He owed to his cheering +personal influence an ofte-repeated encouragement, which laterally added +something real to his happiness, and he found sincere pleasure in Sir +Andrew's friendship and kindness towards himself and his children. + +Scattered through the past pages are one or two references to pain or +uneasiness felt in the region of the heart. How far these indicate that +the heart was affected early in life, I cannot pretend to say; in any +case it is certain that he had no serious or permanent trouble of +this nature until shortly before his death. In spite of the general +improvement in his health, which has been above alluded to, there was +a certain loss of physical vigour occasionally apparent during the last +few years of his life. This is illustrated by a sentence in a letter +to his old friend Sir James Sulivan, written on January 10, 1879: "My +scientific work tires me more than it used to do, but I have nothing +else to do, and whether one is worn out a year or two sooner or later +signifies but little." + +A similar feeling is shown in a letter to Sir J.D. Hooker of June 15, +1881. My father was staying at Patterdale, and wrote: "I am rather +despondent about myself... I have not the heart or strength to begin any +investigation lasting years, which is the only thing which I enjoy, and +I have no little jobs which I can do." + +In July, 1881, he wrote to Mr. Wallace, "We have just returned home +after spending five weeks on Ullswater; the scenery is quite charming, +but I cannot walk, and everything tires me, even seeing scenery... What +I shall do with my few remaining years of life I can hardly tell. I +have everything to make me happy and contented, but life has become very +wearisome to me." He was, however, able to do a good deal of work, and +that of a trying sort (On the action of carbonate of ammonia on roots +and leaves.), during the autumn of 1881, but towards the end of the year +he was clearly in need of rest; and during the winter was in a lower +condition than was usual with him. + +On December 13 he went for a week to his daughter's house in Bryanston +Street. During his stay in London he went to call on Mr. Romanes, and +was seized when on the door-step with an attack apparently of the same +kind as those which afterwards became so frequent. The rest of the +incident, which I give in Mr. Romanes' words, is interesting too from a +different point of view, as giving one more illustration of my father's +scrupulous consideration for others:-- + +"I happened to be out, but my butler, observing that Mr. Darwin was ill, +asked him to come in, he said he would prefer going home, and although +the butler urged him to wait at least until a cab could be fetched, he +said he would rather not give so much trouble. For the same reason he +refused to allow the butler to accompany him. Accordingly he watched him +walking with difficulty towards the direction in which cabs were to be +met with, and saw that, when he had got about three hundred yards from +the house, he staggered and caught hold of the park-railings as if +to prevent himself from falling. The butler therefore hastened to his +assistance, but after a few seconds saw him turn round with the evident +purpose of retracing his steps to my house. However, after he had +returned part of the way he seems to have felt better, for he again +changed his mind, and proceeded to find a cab." + +During the last week of February and in the beginning of March, attacks +of pain in the region of the heart, with irregularity of the pulse, +became frequent, coming on indeed nearly every afternoon. A seizure of +this sort occurred about March 7, when he was walking alone at a short +distance from the house; he got home with difficulty, and this was the +last time that he was able to reach his favourite 'Sand-walk.' Shortly +after this, his illness became obviously more serious and alarming, and +he was seen by Sir Andrew Clark, whose treatment was continued by Dr. +Norman Moore, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and Mr. Alfrey, of St. +Mary Cray. He suffered from distressing sensations of exhaustion and +faintness, and seemed to recognise with deep depression the fact that +his working days were over. He gradually recovered from this condition, +and became more cheerful and hopeful, as is shown in the following +letter to Mr. Huxley, who was anxious that my father should have closer +medical supervision than the existing arrangements allowed: + + +Down, March 27, 1882. + +My dear Huxley, + +Your most kind letter has been a real cordial to me. I have felt better +to-day than for three weeks, and have felt as yet no pain. Your plan +seems an excellent one, and I will probably act upon it, unless I get +very much better. Dr. Clark's kindness is unbounded to me, but he is +too busy to come here. Once again, accept my cordial thanks, my dear old +friend. I wish to God there were more automata (The allusion is to Mr. +Huxley's address 'On the Hypothesis that Animals are Automata, and its +History,' given at the Belfast meeting of the British Association in +1874, and republished in 'Science and Culture.') in the world like you. + +Ever yours, CH. DARWIN." + + +The allusion to Sir Andrew Clark requires a word of explanation. Sir +Andrew Clark himself was ever ready to devote himself to my father, who, +however, could not endure the thought of sending for him, knowing how +severely his great practice taxed his strength. + +No especial change occurred during the beginning of April, but on +Saturday 15th he was seized with giddiness while sitting at dinner in +the evening, and fainted in an attempt to reach his sofa. On the 17th +he was again better, and in my temporary absence recorded for me the +progress of an experiment in which I was engaged. During the night of +April 18th, about a quarter to twelve, he had a severe attack and passed +into a faint, from which he was brought back to consciousness with great +difficulty. He seemed to recognise the approach of death, and said, "I +am not the least afraid to die." All the next morning he suffered from +terrible nausea and faintness, and hardly rallied before the end came. + +He died at about four o'clock on Wednesday, April 19th, 1882, in the +seventy-fourth year of his age. + +I close the record of my father's life with a few words of retrospect +added to the manuscript of his 'Autobiography' in 1879:-- + +"As for myself, I believe that I have acted rightly in steadily +following, and devoting my life to Science. I feel no remorse from +having committed any great sin, but have often and often regretted that +I have not done more direct good to my fellow creatures." + + +APPENDIX I. + +THE FUNERAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. + + +On the Friday succeeding my father's death, the following letter, signed +by twenty members of Parliament, was addressed to Dr. Bradley, Dean of +Westminster:-- + + +HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 21, 1882. + +Very Rev. Sir, + +We hope you will not think we are taking a liberty if we venture to +suggest that it would be acceptable to a very large number of our +fellow-countrymen of all classes and opinions that our illustrious +countryman, Mr. Darwin, should be buried in Westminster Abbey. + +We remain, your obedient servants, + +JOHN LUBBOCK, NEVIL STOREY MASKELYNE, A.J. MUNDELLA, G.O. TREVELYAN, +LYON PLAYFAIR, CHARLES W. DILKE, DAVID WEDDERBURN, ARTHUR RUSSEL, HORACE +DAVEY, BENJAMIN ARMITAGE, RICHARD B. MARTIN, FRANCIS W. BUXTON, E.L. +STANLEY, HENRY BROADHURST, JOHN BARRAN, F.J. CHEETHAM, H.S. HOLLAND, H. +CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, CHARLES BRUCE, RICHARD FORT. + +The Dean was abroad at the time, and telegraphed his cordial +acquiescence. + +The family had desired that my father should be buried at Down: with +regard to their wishes, Sir John Lubbock wrote:-- + +HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 25, 1882. + +My dear Darwin, + +I quite sympathise with your feeling, and personally I should greatly +have preferred that your father should have rested in Down amongst us +all. It is, I am sure, quite understood that the initiative was not +taken by you. Still, from a national point of view, it is clearly right +that he should be buried in the Abbey. I esteem it a great privilege to +be allowed to accompany my dear master to the grave. + +Believe me, yours most sincerely, + +JOHN LUBBOCK. + +W.E. DARWIN, ESQ. + + +The family gave up their first-formed plans, and the funeral took place +in Westminster Abbey on April 26th. The pall-bearers were:-- + + SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, + MR. HUXLEY, + MR. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL (American Minister), + MR. A.R. WALLACE, + THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, + CANON FARRAR, + SIR J.D. HOOKER, + MR. WM. SPOTTISWOODE (President of the Royal Society), + THE EARL OF DERBY, + THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. + +The funeral was attended by the representatives of France, Germany, +Italy, Spain, Russia, and by those of the Universities, and learned +Societies, as well as by large numbers of personal friends and +distinguished men. + +The grave is in the North aisle of the Nave close to the angle of the +choir-screen, and a few feet from the grave of Sir Isaac Newton. The +stone bears the inscription-- + +CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN. Born 12 February, 1809. Died 19 April, 1882. + + +APPENDIX II. + +I.--LIST OF WORKS BY CHARLES DARWIN. + +Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of Her Majesty's Ships 'Adventure' +and 'Beagle' between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their +examination of the Southern shores of South America, and the 'Beagle's' +circumnavigation of the globe. Volume iii. Journal and Remarks, +1832-1836. By Charles Darwin. 8vo. London, 1839. + +Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the +countries visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle' round the world, +under the command of Captain Fitz-Roy, R.N. 2nd edition, corrected, with +additions. 8vo. London, 1845. (Colonial and Home Library.) + +A Naturalist's Voyage. Journal of Researches, etc., 8vo. London, 1860. +[Contains a postscript dated February 1, 1860.] + +Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle.' Edited and superintended +by Charles Darwin. Part I. Fossil Mammalia, by Richard Owen. With a +Geological Introduction, by Charles Darwin. 4to. London, 1840. + +--Part II. Mammalia, by George R. Waterhouse. With a notice of their +habits and ranges, by Charles Darwin. 4to. London, 1839. + +--Part III. Birds, by John Gould. An "Advertisement" (2 pages) states +that in consequence of Mr. Gould's having left England for Australia, +many descriptions were supplied by Mr. G.R. Gray of the British Museum. +4to. London, 1841. + +--Part IV. Fish, by Rev. Leonard Jenyns. 4to. London, 1842. + +--Part V. Reptiles, by Thomas Bell. 4to. London, 1843. + +The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. Being the First Part of +the Geology of the Voyage of the 'Beagle.' 8vo. London, 1842. + +The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. 2nd edition. 8vo. London, +1874. + +Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands, visited during the +Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle.' Being the Second Part of the Geology of the +Voyage of the 'Beagle.' 8vo. London, 1844. + +Geological Observations on South America. Being the Third Part of the +Geology of the Voyage of the 'Beagle.' 8vo. London, 1846. + +Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands and parts of South +America visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle.' 2nd edition. 8vo. +London, 1876. + +A Monograph of the Fossil Lepadidae; or, Pedunculated Cirripedes of +Great Britain. 4to. London, 1851. (Palaeontographical Society.) + +A Monograph of the Sub-class Cirripedia, with Figures of all the +Species. The Lepadidae; or, Pedunculated Cirripedes. 8vo. London, 1851. +(Ray Society.) + +--The Balanidae (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidae, etc. 8vo. +London, 1854. (Ray Society.) + +A Monograph of the Fossil Balanidae and Verrucidae of Great Britain. +4to. London, 1854. (Palaeontographical Society.) + +On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the +Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. 8vo. London, +1859. (Dated October 1st, 1859, published November 24, 1859.) + +--Fifth thousand. 8vo. London, 1860. + +--Third edition, with additions and corrections. (Seventh thousand.) +8vo. London, 1861. (Dated March, 1861.) + +--Fourth edition with additions and corrections. (Eighth thousand.) 8vo. +London, 1866. (Dated June, 1866.) + +--Fifth edition, with additions and corrections. (Tenth thousand.) 8vo. +London, 1869. (Dated May, 1869.) + +--Sixth edition, with additions and corrections to 1872. (Twenty-fourth +thousand.) 8vo. London, 1882. (Dated January, 1872.) + +On the various contrivances by which Orchids are fertilised by Insects. +8vo. London, 1862. + +--Second edition. 8vo. London, 1877. [In the second edition the word +"On" is omitted from the title.] + +The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. Second edition. 8vo. +London, 1875. [First appeared in the ninth volume of the 'Journal of the +Linnean Society.'] + +The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. 2 volumes. 8vo. +London, 1868. + +--Second edition, revised. 2 volumes. 8vo. London, 1875. + +The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. 2 volumes. 8vo. +London, 1871. + +--Second edition. 8vo. London, 1874. (In 1 volume.) + +The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. 8vo. London, 1872. + +Insectivorous Plants. 8vo. London, 1875. + +The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom. +8vo. London, 1876. + +--Second edition. 8vo. London, 1878. + +The different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the same Species. 8vo. +London, 1877. + +--Second edition. 8vo. London, 1880. + +The Power of Movement in Plants. By Charles Darwin, assisted by Francis +Darwin. 8vo. London, 1880. + +The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms, with +Observations on their Habits. 8vo. London, 1881. + + +II.--LIST OF BOOKS CONTAINING CONTRIBUTIONS BY CHARLES DARWIN. + +A Manual of scientific enquiry; prepared for the use of Her Majesty's +Navy: and adapted for travellers in general. Edited by Sir John F.W. +Herschel, Bart. 8vo. London, 1849. (Section VI. Geology. By Charles +Darwin.) + +Memoir of the Rev. John Stevens Henslow. By the Rev. Leonard Jenyns. +8vo. London, 1862. [In Chapter III., Recollections by Charles Darwin.] + +A letter (1876) on the 'Drift' near Southampton published in Prof. J. +Geikie's 'Prehistoric Europe.' + +Flowers and their unbidden guests. By A. Kerner. With a Prefatory Letter +by Charles Darwin. The translation revised and edited by W. Ogle. 8vo. +London, 1878. + +Erasmus Darwin. By Ernst Krause. Translated from the German by W.S. +Dallas. With a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. 8vo. London, 1879. + +Studies in the Theory of Descent. By August Weismann. Translated and +edited by Raphael Meldola. With a Prefatory Notice by Charles Darwin. +8vo. London, 1880--. + +The Fertilisation of Flowers. By Hermann Muller. Translated and edited +by D'Arcy W. Thompson. With a Preface by Charles Darwin. 8vo. London, +1883. + +Mental Evolution in Animals. By G.J. Romanes. With a posthumous essay on +instinct by Charles Darwin, 1883. [Also published in the Journal of the +Linnean Society.] + +Some Notes on a curious habit of male humble bees were sent to Prof. +Hermann Muller, of Lippstadt, who had permission from Mr. Darwin to make +what use he pleased of them. After Muller's death the Notes were given +by his son to Dr. E. Krause, who published them under the title, +"Ueber die Wege der Hummel-Mannchen" in his book, 'Gesammelte kleinere +Schriften von Charles Darwin.' (1886). + + +III.--LIST OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS, INCLUDING A SELECTION OF LETTERS AND +SHORT COMMUNICATIONS TO SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. + +Letters to Professor Henslow, read by him at the meeting of the +Cambridge Philosophical Society, held November 16, 1835. 31 pages. 8vo. +Privately printed for distribution among the members of the Society. + +Geological Notes made during a survey of the East and West Coasts of +South America in the years 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1835; with an account +of a transverse section of the Cordilleras of the Andes between +Valparaiso and Mendoza. [Read November 18, 1835.] Geology Society Proc. +ii. 1838, pages 210-212. [This Paper is incorrectly described in Geology +Society Proc. ii., page 210 as follows:--"Geological notes, etc., by F. +Darwin, Esq., of St. John's College, Cambridge: communicated by Prof. +Sedgwick." It is Indexed under C. Darwin.] + +Notes upon the Rhea Americana. Zoology Society Proc., Part v. 1837. +pages 35-36. + +Observations of proofs of recent elevation on the coast of Chili, made +during the survey of H.M.S. "Beagle," commanded by Captain Fitz-Roy. +[1837.] Geological Society Proc. ii.1838, pages 446-449. + +A sketch of the deposits containing extinct Mammalia in the +neighbourhood of the Plata. [1837.] Geological Society Proc. ii. 1838, +pages 542-544. + +On certain areas of elevation and subsidence in the Pacific and +Indian oceans, as deduced from the study of coral formations. [1837.] +Geological Society Proc. ii. 1838, pages 552-554. + +On the Formation of Mould. [Read November 1, 1837.] Geological Society +Proc. ii. 1838, pages 574-576; Geological Society Transactions v. 1840, +pages 505-510. + +On the Connexion of certain Volcanic Phenomena and on the formation of +mountain-chains and the effects of continental elevations. [Read March +7, 1838.] Geological Society Proc. ii. 1838, pages 654-660; Geological +Society Transactions v. 1840, pages 601-632. [In the Society's +Transactions the wording of the title is slightly different.] + +Origin of saliferous deposits. Salt Lakes of Patagonia and La Plata. +Geological Society Journal ii. (Part ii.), 1838, pages 127-128. + +Note on a Rock seen on an Iceberg in 16 deg South Latitude. Geographical +Society Journal ix. 1839, pages 528-529. + +Observations on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, and of other parts of +Lochaber in Scotland, with an attempt to prove that they are of marine +origin. Phil. Trans. 1839, pages 39-82. + +On a remarkable Bar of Sandstone off Pernambuco, on the Coast of Brazil. +Phil. Mag. xix. 1841, pages 257-260. + +On the Distribution of the Erratic Boulders and on the Contemporaneous +Unstratified Deposits of South America. [1841.] Geological Society Proc. +iii. 1842, pages 425-430; Geological Society Transactions vi. 1842, +pages 415-432. + +Notes on the Effects produced by the Ancient Glaciers of +Caernarvonshire, and on the Boulders transported by Floating Ice. London +Philosophical Magazine volume xxi. page 180. 1842. + +Remarks on the preceding paper, in a Letter from Charles Darwin, Esq., +to Mr. Maclaren. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal xxxiv. 1843, +pages 47- 50. [The "preceding" paper is: "On Coral Islands and Reefs as +described by Mr. Darwin. By Charles Maclaren, Esq., F.R.S.E."] + +Observations on the Structure and Propagation of the genus Sagitta. +Annals and Magazine of Natural History xiii. 1844, pages 1-6. + +Brief descriptions of several Terrestrial Planariae, and of some +remarkable Marine Species, with an Account of their Habits. Annals and +Magazine of Natural History xiv. 1844, pages 241-251. + +An account of the Fine Dust which often falls on Vessels in the Atlantic +Ocean. Geological Society Journal ii. 1846, pages 26-30. + +On the Geology of the Falkland Islands. Geological Society Journal ii. +1846, pages 267-274. + +A review of Waterhouse's 'Natural History of the Mammalia.' [Not +signed.] Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1847. Volume xix. page +53. + +On the Transportal of Erratic Boulders from a lower to a higher level. +Geological Society Journal iv. 1848, pages 315-323. + +On British fossil Lepadidae. Geological Society Journal vi. 1850, pages +439-440. [The G.S.J. says "This paper was withdrawn by the author with +the permission of the Council."] + +Analogy of the Structure of some Volcanic Rocks with that of Glaciers. +Edinburgh Royal Society Proc. ii. 1851, pages 17-18. + +On the power of Icebergs to make rectilinear, uniformly-directed Grooves +across a Submarine Undulatory Surface. Philosophical Magazine x. 1855, +pages 96-98. + +Vitality of Seeds. "Gardeners' Chronicle", November 17, 1855, page 758. + +On the action of Sea-water on the Germination of Seeds. [1856.] Linnean +Society Journal i. 1857 ("Botany"), pages 130-140. + +On the Agency of Bees in the Fertilisation of Papilionaceous Flowers. +"Gardeners' Chronicle", page 725, 1857. + +On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of +Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. By Charles Darwin, +Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., and F.G.S., and Alfred Wallace, Esq. [Read +July 1st, 1858.] Journal of the Linnean Society 1859, volume iii. +("Zoology"), page 45. + +Special titles of Charles Darwin's contributions to the foregoing:-- + +i. Extract from an unpublished work on Species by Charles Darwin Esq., +consisting of a portion of a chapter entitled, "On the Variation of +Organic Beings in a State of Nature; on the Natural Means of Selection; +on the Comparison of Domestic Races and true Species." + +ii. Abstract of a Letter from C. Darwin, Esq., to Professor Asa Gray, of +Boston U.S., dated September 5, 1857. + +On the Agency of Bees in the Fertilisation of Papilionaceous Flowers, +and on the Crossing of Kidney Beans. "Gardeners' Chronicle", 1858, page +828 and Annals of Natural History 3rd series ii. 1858, pages 459-465. + +Do the Tineina or other small Moths suck Flowers, and if so what +Flowers? "Entomological Weekly Intelligencer" volume viii. 1860, page +103. + +Note on the achenia of Pumilio Argyrolepis. "Gardeners' Chronicle", +January 5, 1861, page 4. + +Fertilisation of Vincas. "Gardeners' Chronicle", pages 552, 831, 832. +1861. + +On the Two Forms, or Dimorphic Condition, in the species of Primula, and +on their remarkable Sexual Relations. Linnean Society Journal vi. 1862 +("Botany"), pages 77-96. + +On the Three remarkable Sexual Forms of Catasetum tridentatum, an Orchid +in the possession of the Linnean Society. Linnean Society Journal vi. +1862 ("Botany"), pages 151-157. + +Yellow Rain. "Gardeners' Chronicle", July 18, 1863, page 675. + +On the thickness of the Pampean formation near Buenos Ayres. Geological +Society Journal xix. 1863, pages 68-71. + +On the so-called "Auditory-sac" of Cirripedes. Natural History Review, +1863, pages 115-116. + +A review of Mr. Bates' paper on 'Mimetic Butterflies.' Natural History +Review, 1863, page 221-. [Not signed.] + +On the existence of two forms, and on their reciprocal sexual relation, +in several species of the genus Linum. Linnean Society Journal vii. 1864 +("Botany"), pages 69-83. + +On the Sexual Relations of the Three Forms of Lythrum salicaria. [1864.] +Linnean Society Journal viii. 1865 ("Botany"), pages 169-196. + +On the Movement and Habits of Climbing Plants. [1865.] Linnean Society +Journal ix. 1867 ("Botany"), pages 1-118. + +Note on the Common Broom (Cytisus scoparius). [1866.] Linnean Society +Journal ix. 1867 ("Botany"), page 358. + +Notes on the Fertilization of Orchids. Annals and Magazine of Natural +History, 4th series, iv. 1869, pages 141-159. + +On the Character and Hybrid-like Nature of the Offspring from the +Illegitimate Unions of Dimorphic and Trimorphic Plants. [1868.] Linnean +Society Journal x. 1869 ("Botany"), pages 393-437. + +On the Specific Difference between Primula veris, British Fl. (var. +officinalis, of Linn.), P. vulgaris, British Fl. (var. acaulis, Linn.), +and P. elatior, Jacq.; and on the Hybrid Nature of the common Oxlip. +With Supplementary Remarks on naturally produced Hybrids in the genus +Verbascum. [1868.] Linnean Society Journal x. 1869 ("Botany"), pages +437-454. + +Note on the Habits of the Pampas Woodpecker (Colaptes campestris). +Zoological Society Proceedings November 1, 1870, pages 705-706. + +Fertilisation of Leschenaultia. "Gardeners' Chronicle", page 1166, 1871. + +The Fertilisation of Winter-flowering Plants. 'Nature,' November 18, +1869, volume i. page 85. + +Pangenesis. 'Nature,' April 27, 1871, volume iii. page 502. + +A new view of Darwinism. 'Nature,' July 6, 1871, volume iv. page 180. + +Bree on Darwinism. 'Nature,' August 8, 1872, volume vi. page 279. + +Inherited Instinct. 'Nature,' February 13, 1873, volume vii. page 281. + +Perception in the Lower Animals. 'Nature,' March 13, 1873, volume vii. +page 360. + +Origin of certain instincts. 'Nature,' April 3, 1873, volume vii. page +417. + +Habits of Ants. 'Nature,' July 24, 1873, volume viii. page 244. + +On the Males and Complemental Males of Certain Cirripedes, and on +Rudimentary Structures. 'Nature,' September 25, 1873, volume viii. page +431. + +Recent researches on Termites and Honey-bees. 'Nature,' February 19, +1874, volume ix. page 308. + +Fertilisation of the Fumariaceae. 'Nature,' April 16, 1874, volume ix. +page 460. + +Flowers of the Primrose destroyed by Birds. 'Nature,' April 23, 1874, +volume ix. page 482; May 14, 1874, volume x. page 24. + +Cherry Blossoms. 'Nature,' May 11, 1876, volume xiv. page 28. + +Sexual Selection in relation to Monkeys. 'Nature,' November 2, 1876, +volume xv. page 18. Reprinted as a supplement to the 'Descent of Man,' +18.. + +Fritz Muller on Flowers and Insects. 'Nature,' November 29, 1877, volume +xvii. page 78. + +The Scarcity of Holly Berries and Bees. "Gardeners' Chronicle", January +20, 1877, page 83. + +Note on Fertilization of Plants. "Gardeners' Chronicle", volume vii. +page 246, 1877. + +A biographical sketch of an infant. 'Mind,' No.7, July, 1877. + +Transplantation of Shells. 'Nature,' May 30, 1878, volume xviii. page +120. + +Fritz Muller on a Frog having Eggs on its back--on the abortion of the +hairs on the legs of certain Caddis-Flies, etc. 'Nature,' March 20, +1879, volume xix. page 462. + +Rats and Water-Casks. 'Nature,' March 27, 1879, volume xix. page 481. + +Fertility of Hybrids from the common and Chinese Goose. 'Nature,' +January 1, 1880, volume xxi. page 207. + +The Sexual Colours of certain Butterflies. 'Nature,' January 8, 1880, +volume xxi. page 237. + +The Omori Shell Mounds. 'Nature,' April 15, 1880, volume xxi. page 561. + +Sir Wyville Thomson and Natural Selection. 'Nature,' November 11, 1880, +volume xxiii. page 32. + +Black Sheep. 'Nature,' December 30, 1880, volume xxiii. page 193. + +Movements of Plants. 'Nature,' March 3, 1881, volume xxiii. page 409. + +The Movements of Leaves. 'Nature,' April 28, 1881, volume xxiii. page +603. + +Inheritance. 'Nature,' July 21, 1881, volume xxiv. page 257. + +Leaves injured at Night by Free Radiation. 'Nature,' September 15, 1881, +volume xxiv. page 459. + +The Parasitic Habits of Molothrus. 'Nature,' November 17, 1881, volume +xxv. page 51. + +On the Dispersal of Freshwater Bivalves. 'Nature,' April 6, 1882, volume +xxv. page 529. + +The Action of Carbonate of Ammonia on the Roots of certain Plants. [Read +March 16, 1882.] Linnean Society Journal ("Botany"), volume xix. 1882, +pages 239-261. + +The Action of Carbonate of Ammonia on Chlorophyll-bodies. [Read March 6, +1882.] Linnean Society Journal ("Botany"), volume xix. 1882, pages 262- +284. + +On the modification of a Race of Syrian Street-Dogs by means of Sexual +Selection. By W. Van Dyck. With a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. +[Read April 18, 1882.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society 1882, pages +367-370. + + +APPENDIX III. + +PORTRAITS. + +1838: Water-colour by G. Richmond in the possession of The Family. + +1851: Lithograph by Ipswich British Association Series. + +1853: Chalk Drawing by Samuel Lawrence in the possession of The Family. + +1853?: Chalk Drawing (Probably a sketch made at one of the sittings +for the last mentioned.) by Samuel Lawrence in the possession of Prof. +Hughes, Cambridge. + +1869: Bust, marble, by T. Woolner, R.A. in the possession of The Family. + +1875: Oil Painting (A replica by the artist is in the possession of +Christ's College, Cambridge.) by W. Ouless, R.A., etched by P. Rajon, in +the possession of The Family. + +1879: Oil Painting by W.B. Richmond in the possession of The University +of Cambridge. + +1881: Oil Painting (A replica by the artist is in the possession of W.E. +Darwin, Esq., Southampton.) by the Hon. John Collier, in the possession +of The Linnaean Society, etched by Leopold Flameng. + + +CHIEF PORTRAITS AND MEMORIALS NOT TAKEN FROM LIFE. + +Statue by Joseph Boehm, R.A., in the possession of Museum, South +Kensington. + +Bust by Chr. Lehr, Junr. + +Plaque by T. Woolner, R.A., and Josiah Wedgwood and Sons in the +possession of Christ's College, in Charles Darwin's Room. + +Deep Medallion by J. Boehm, R.A. to be placed in Westminster Abbey. + + +CHIEF ENGRAVINGS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS. + +1854?: By Messrs. Maull and Fox, engraved on wood for 'Harper's +Magazine' (October 1884). + +1870?: By O.J. Rejlander, engraved on steel by C.H. Jeens for 'Nature' +(June 4, 1874). + +1874?: By Captain Darwin, R.E., engraved on wood for the 'Century +Magazine' (January 1883). Frontispiece, volume i. + +(The dates of these photographs must, from various causes, remain +uncertain. Owing to a loss of books by fire, Messrs. Maull and Fox can +give only an approximate date. Mr. Rejlander died some years ago, and +his business was broken up. My brother, captain Darwin, has no record of +the date at which his photograph was taken.) + +1881: By Messrs. Elliott and Fry, engraved on wood by G. Kruells, for +the present work. + + +APPENDIX IV. + +HONOURS, DEGREES, SOCIETIES, ETC. + +(The list has been compiled from the diplomas and letters in my father's +possession, and is no doubt incomplete, as he seems to have lost or +mislaid some of the papers received from foreign Societies. Where the +name of a foreign Society (excluding those in the United States) is +given in English, it is a translation of the Latin (or in one case +Russian) of the original Diploma.) + +ORDER.--Prussian Order, 'Pour le Merite.' 1867. + +OFFICE.--County Magistrate. 1857. + +DEGREES. + +Cambridge: B.A. 1831 [1832]. See volume i. M.A. 1837. Hon. LL.D. 1877. + +Breslau: Hon. Doctor in Medicine and Surgery. 1862. + +Bonn: Hon. Doctor in Medicine and Surgery. 1868. + +Leyden: Hon. M.D. 1875. + +SOCIETIES.--London: + +Zoological. Corresponding Member. 1831. (He afterwards became a Fellow +of the Society.) Entomological. 1833, Original Member. Geological. 1836. +Wollaston Medal, 1859. Royal Geographical. 1838. Royal. 1839. Royal +Medal, 1853. Copley Medal, 1864. Linnean. 1854. Ethnological. 1861. +Medico-Chirurgical. Hon. Member. 1868. Baly Medal of the Royal College +of Physicians, 1879. + +SOCIETIES.--PROVINCIAL, COLONIAL, AND INDIAN. + +Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1865. Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, +1826. Hon. Member, 1861. Royal Irish Academy. Hon. Member, 1866. +Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. Hon. Member, 1868. +Watford Natural History Society. Hon. Member, 1877. Asiatic Society +of Bengal. Hon. Member, 1871. Royal Society of New South Wales. Hon. +Member, 1879. Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand. Hon. +Member, 1863. New Zealand Institute. Hon. Member, 1872. + +FOREIGN SOCIETIES.--AMERICA. + +Sociedad Cientifica Argentina. Hon. Member, 1877. Academia Nacional +de Ciencias, Argentine Republic. Hon. Member, 1878. Sociedad Zoologica +Arjentina. Hon. Member, 1874. Boston Society of Natural History. Hon. +Member, 1873. American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Boston). Foreign +Hon. Member, 1874. California Academy of Sciences. Hon. Member, 1872. +California State Geological Society. Corresponding Member, 1877. +Franklin Literary Society, Indiana. Hon. Member, 1878. Sociedad de +Naturalistas Neo-Granadinos. Hon. Member, 1860. New York Academy +of Sciences. Hon. Member, 1879. Gabinete Portuguez de Leitura em +Pernambuco. Corresponding Member, 1879. Academy of Natural Sciences +of Philadelphia. Correspondent, 1860. American Philosophical Society, +Philadelphia. Member, 1869. + +AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. + +Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna. Foreign Corresponding Member, +1871; Hon. Foreign Member, 1875. Anthropologische Gesellschaft in Wien. +Hon. Member, 1872. K. k. Zoologisch-botanische Gesellschaft in Wien. +Member, 1867. Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia, Pest, 1872. + +BELGIUM. + +Societe Royale des Sciences Medicales et Naturelles de Bruxelles. +Hon. Member, 1878. Societie Royale de Botanique de Belgique. 'Membre +Associe,' 1881. Academie Royale des Sciences, etc., de Belgique. +'Associe de la Classe des Sciences.' 1870. + +DENMARK. + +Royal Society of Copenhagen. Fellow, 1879. + +FRANCE. + +Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris. Foreign Member, 1871. Societe +Entomologique de France. Hon. Member, 1874. Societe Geologique de France +(Life Member), 1837. Institut de France. 'Correspondant' Section of +Botany, 1878. + +GERMANY. + +Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (Berlin). Corresponding Member, +1863; Fellow, 1878. Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie, etc. +Corresponding Member, 1877. Schlesische Gesellschaft fur Vaterlandische +Cultur (Breslau). Hon. Member 1878. Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolina +Academia Naturae Curiosorum (Dresden). 1857. (The diploma contains the +words "accipe... ex antiqua nostra consuetudine cognomen Forster." It was +formerly the custom in the "Caesarea Leopoldin-Carolina Academia", that +each new member should receive as a 'cognomen,' a name celebrated in +that branch of science to which he belonged. Thus a physician might be +christened Boerhave, or an astronomer, Kepler. My father seems to have +been named after the traveller John Reinhold Forster.) Senkenbergische +Naturforschende Gesellschaft zu Frankfurt am Main. Corresponding +Member, 1873. Naturforschende Gesellschaft zu Halle. Member 1879. +Siebenburgische Verein fur Naturwissenschaften (Hermannstadt). Hon. +Member, 1877. Medicinisch-naturwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft zu Jena. +Hon. Member, 1878. Royal Bavarian Academy of Literature and Science +(Munich). Foreign Member, 1878. + +HOLLAND. + +Koninklijke Natuurkundige Vereeniging in Nederlandsch-Indie (Batavia). +Corresponding Member, 1880. Societe Hollandaise des Sciences a Harlem. +Foreign Member, 1877. Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen te +Middelburg. Foreign Member, 1877. + +ITALY. + +Societa Geografica Italiana (Florence). 1870. Societa Italiana di +Antropologia e di Etnologia (Florence). Hon. Member, 1872. Societa dei +Naturalisti in Modena. Hon. Member, 1875. Academia de' Lincei di Roma. +Foreign Member, 1875. La Scuola Italica, Academia Pitagorica, Reale ed +Imp. Societa (Rome). "Presidente Onoraria degli Anziani Pitagorici," +1880. Royal Academy of Turin. 1873. "Bressa" Prize, 1879. + +PORTUGAL. + +Sociedade de Geographia de Lisboa (Lisbon). Corresponding Member, 1877. + +RUSSIA. + +Society of Naturalists of the Imperial Kazan University. Hon. Member, +1875. Societas Caesarea Naturae Curiosorum (Moscow). Hon. Member, 1870. +Imperial Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg). Corresponding Member, +1867. + +SPAIN. + +Institucion Libre de Ensenanza (Madrid). Hon. Professor, 1877. + +SWEDEN. + +Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Stockholm). Foreign Member, 1865. +Royal Society of Sciences (Upsala). Fellow, 1860. + +SWITZERLAND. + +Societe des Sciences Naturelles de Neuchatel. Corresponding Member, +1863. + + +INDEX. + + ABBOT, F.E., letter to. + + ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES (Philadelphia) elects Darwin a member. + + AGASSIZ, Alexander, letter to. + + AGASSIZ, Louis, Darwin's estimate of. + Letters to. + His attitude toward the 'Origin of Species.' + Reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + AGGREGATION, studied by Darwin. + + 'ALMANACK, THE NATURALISTS' POCKET,' mentioned. + + ANDES, Darwin crosses the. + + 'ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,' mentioned. + + ANTICIPATION of Darwin's views. + + ANTS, observations on. + + APPLETON, D., & CO., publish 'Origin of Species' in America. + + ARGYLL, Duke of, criticises the 'Origin of Species.' + Darwin's comments on his criticisms. + Darwin on his 'Reign of Law.' + Reviews the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' + + ARISTOTLE, Darwin's estimate of. + + ARRANGEMENT of leaves on the stems of plants. + + 'ATHENAEUM,' Darwin on its review of the 'Origin of Species.' + Reports British Association discussion. + Darwin's letters to, in his own defence. + Criticises Darwin. + + AUSTRALIA, development of animals in. + + AUSTRALIAN flora. + + AUSTRIAN expedition. + + AUTOBIOGRAPHY, extracts from. + + AVELING, Dr., on Darwin's religious views. + Note. + + BAIN, Alexander, letter to. + + BALFOUR, Francis M., Darwin's estimate of. + + BALY medal presented to Darwin. + + BAER, K.E. von, agrees with Darwin. + + BASTIAN, H.C., Darwin on his 'Beginnings of Life.' + + BATES, H.W., Darwin on his insect fauna of the Amazon valley. + Letters to. + Darwin on his mimetic variations of butterflies. + + BATS. + + "BEAGLE", voyage of. + Darwin offered an appointment to the. + Her equipments. + Object of her voyage. + Her crew. + + BEETLES, collecting. + + BEHRENS, W., letter to. + + BELL, T., describes Darwin's reptiles. + + BELL-STONE of Shrewsbury mentioned. + + BELT, Thomas, Darwin on his 'Naturalist in Nicaragua.' + + BEMMELEN, A. van, letter to. + + BENTHAM, George, his silence on natural selection. + Letter to Francis Darwin on his adoption of Darwin's views. + His view of natural selection. + Letters to. + + BERKELEY, Rev. M.J., reviews the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' + + BERLIN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES elects Darwin corresponding member. + + BET made by Darwin. + + BLOMEFIELD (JENYNS), Rev. Leonard, Darwin becomes acquainted with. + Letters to. + Darwin on his 'Observations in Natural History.' + + BLOOM on leaves and fruit, Darwin's work on. + + BLYTH, Edward, mentioned. + + BOOLE, Mrs., her letter on natural selection and religion. + Letter to. + + BOOTT, Francis, mentioned. + + BOTANY, Darwin's work on, and its relation to natural selection. + + BOWEN, Francis, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + BRACE, C.L., and wife, Darwin on their philanthropic work. + + BRAZIL, Emperor of, wishes to meet Darwin. + + BREE, C.R., his work 'Species not Transmutable.' + Accuses Wallace of blundering, and is answered by Darwin. + + BREEDING, sources of information on. + + BRESSA prize presented to Darwin. + + BRITISH ASSOCIATION discusses the 'Origin of Species.' + Oxford meeting of, allegorized. + Belfast meeting. + + BRONN, H.G., edits the 'Origin of Species' in German. + Letters to. + Criticisms on the 'Origin of Species.' + + BROWN, Robert, mentioned. + + BRUNTON, T. Lauder, letter to. + + BUCKLE, his system of collecting facts. + Darwin on his 'History of Civilisation.' + + BUCKLEY, Miss A.B., letters to. + + BUFFON, Darwin on. + + BUNBURY, Sir C., mentioned. + + BUTLER, Samuel, charges Darwin of falsehood. + + BUTLER, Dr., his school at Shrewsbury. + + BUTTON, Jemmy, a visit to. + + CAIRNS, J.E., his lecture on 'The Slave Power.' + + CAM BRIDGE, University of, makes Darwin LL.D. + Obtains memorial portrait of him. + + CAMERON, Mrs., makes a photograph of Darwin. + + CANARY ISLANDS, projected trip to. + + CANDOLLE, Alphonse de, letters to. + His view of the 'Origin of Species.' + Darwin on his 'Histoire des Sciences et des Savants.' + + CARLYLE, Thomas, on Erasmus A. Darwin. + His interesting talk. + + CARPENTER, W.B., letters to. + Reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + His work on 'Foraminifera.' + + CARUS, J. Victor, letters to. + + CATON, John D., letter to. + + CHAMBERS, R., Darwin on his geological views. + + CHANCE, not implied in evolution. + + CHIMNEY-SWEEPS, Darwin's efforts for. + + CIRRIPEDIA, monograph of the. + Nomenclature of. + Work on. + The so-called auditory sac of. + + CIVIL WAR in the United States. + Darwin on. + + CLARK, William, mentioned. + + CLARK, Sir Andrew, is Darwin's physician. + + CLIMATE and migration. + + 'CLIMBING PLANTS,' written and published. + Work on. + Republished in book-form. + + COAL, discussion on submarine. + + COHN, Prof., describes a visit to Darwin. + + COLENSO, Bishop, his 'Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua.' + + COLLECTING, Darwin on. + Butterflies. + + COLLIER, John, paints Darwin's portrait. + + COLOURS OF INSECTS. + + CONTINENTAL EXTENSION, Darwin's reasons against. + + CONTINENTS, permanence of. + + COPE, E.D., Darwin on his theory of acceleration. + + COPLEY MEDAL presented to Darwin. + + 'CORAL REEFS,' at work upon. + Opinions on. + Criticised by Semper. + Darwin's answer to Semper. + Darwin on Murray's criticisms of. + Second edition. + + CRAWFORD, John, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + CREATIVE POWER. + + 'CREED OF SCIENCE,' read by Darwin. + + CRESY, E., letter to. + + CRICK, W.D., communicates to Darwin a mode of dispersal of bivalve shells. + + CUTTING EDGES OF BOOKS, Darwin on. + + DANA, Prof., sends Darwin 'Geology of U.S. Expedition.' + + DARESTE, Camille, letter to. + + DARWIN FAMILY. + + DARWIN, Annie, Darwin's account of. + Death of. + + DARWIN, Miss C., letter to. + + DARWIN, Catherine, letters to. + + DARWIN, Charles, studies medicine at Edinburgh. + Young man of great promise. + + DARWIN, Charles Robert (1809-1882). + Table of relationship. + Ancestors. + Personal characteristics as traced from his forefathers. + Love and respect for his father's memory. + His affection for his brother Erasmus. + Autobiography. + Mother dies. + Taste for natural history. + School-boy experiences. + Humane disposition toward animals. + Goes to Dr. Butler's school at Shrewsbury. + Taste for long, solitary walks. + Inability to master a language. + Leaves school with strong and diversified tastes. + Fondness for poetry in early life. + A wish to travel first roused by reading 'Wonders of the World.' + Fondness for shooting. + Collects minerals and becomes interested in insects and birds. + Studies chemistry. + Goes to Edinburgh University. + And attends medical lectures. + Collects and dissects marine animals. + Attends meetings of the Plinian Royal Medical and Wernerian societies. + Attends lectures on geology and zoology. + Meets Sir J. Mackintosh. + Spends three years at Cambridge studying for the ministry. + Phrenological characteristics. + Reads Paley with delight. + Attends Henslow's lectures on botany. + His taste for pictures and music. + His interest in entomology. + Friendship of Prof. Henslow and its influence upon his career. + Meets Dr. Whewell. + Reads Humboldt's 'Personal Narrative' and Herschel's 'Introduction to the + Study of Natural History.' + Begins the study of geology. + Field-work in North Wales. + Voyage of the "Beagle". + Receives a proposal to sail in the "Beagle". + Starts for Cambridge and thence to London. + 'Voyage of the "Beagle" the most important event in my life.' + Sails in the "Beagle". + His letters read before the Philosophical Society of Cambridge. + Returns to England. + Begins his 'Journal of Travels.' + Takes lodgings in London. + Begins preparing MS. for his 'Geological Observations.' + Arranges for publication of 'Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle". + Opens first note-book of 'Origin of Species.' + Meets Lyell and Robert Brown. + Marries. + Works on his 'Coral Reefs.' + Reads papers before Geological Society. + Acts as secretary of the Geological Society. + Residence at Down. + His absorption in science. + His publications. + 'Geological Observations' published. + Success of the 'Journal of Researches.' + Begins work on 'Cirripedia.' + visits to water-cure establishments. + Work on the 'Origin of Species.' + Reads 'Malthus on Population.' + Begins notes on 'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication.' + Becomes interested in cross-fertilisation of flowers. + Publishes papers on dimorphic and trimorphic plants. + Publishes 'Descent of Man.' + First child born. + Publishes translation and sketch of 'Life of Erasmus Darwin.' + Methods of work. + Mental qualities. + Fond of novel reading. + A good observer. + Habits and personal appearance. + Ill health. + Fondness for dogs. + Correspondence. + Business habits. + Scientific reading. + Wide interest in science. + Journals of daily events. + Holidays. + Relation to his family and friends. + His account of his little daughter Annie. + How he brought up his children. + Manner towards servants. + As a host. + Modesty. + Not quick at argument. + Intercourse with strangers. + Use of simple methods and few instruments. + Perseverance. + Theorizing power. + Books used only as tools. + Use of note-books and portfolios. + Courteous tone toward his reader. + Illustration of his books. + Consideration for other authors. + His wife's tender care. + Cambridge life. + His character. + Intention of going into the church. + Appointment to the "Beagle". + The voyage. + Life at sea. + Views on slavery. + Excursion across the Andes. + Meets Sir J. Herschel. + Reaches home. + Life at London and Cambridge. + Residence at Cambridge. + Works on his 'Journal of Researches.' + Appointed secretary of Geological Society. + Visits Glen Roy. + Admiration for Lyell's 'Elements.' + Increasing ill-health. + At work on 'Coral Reefs.' + His religious views. + Life at Down, 1842-1854. + Reasons for leaving London. + Early impressions of Down. + Theory of coral islands. + Time spent on geological books. + Purchases farm in Lincolnshire. + Dines with Lord Mahon. + Daughter Annie dies. + His children. + Growth of views on 'Origin of Species.' + Plan for publishing 'Sketch of 1844,' in case of his sudden death. + Pigeon fancying enterprise. + Collecting plants. + General acceptance of his work. + Publishes 'Origin of Species.' + Elected correspondent of the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia). + His views on the civil war in the United States. + At Bournemouth. + His view of Lyell's 'Antiquity of Man.' + Receives the Copley medal. + Elected to Royal Society of Edinburgh. + His conscientiousness in argument. + His intercourse with horticulturists and stock-raisers. + Elected to the Royal Society of Holland. + Made a knight of the Prussian order Pour le Merite. + Sits for a bust. + Declines a nomination for the degree of D.C.L. because of ill-health. + His connection with the South American Missionary Society. + His answers to Galton's questions on nature and nurture. + Sits for portrait to W. Ouless. + Elected to Physiological Society. + Replies to Miss Cobbe on vivisection in the "Times". + Publishes the 'Life of Erasmus Darwin.' + Sits for memorial portraits. + Receives various honours. + Makes a present to the Naples Zoological Station. + His answers to Galton's questions on the faculty of visualising. + Offers aid to Fritz Muller. + Replies to Sir W. Thomson on abyssal fauna. + His botanical work. + Builds a greenhouse. + Publishes work on the fertilisation of orchids. + Studies the bloom on leaves and fruit. + Studies the causes of variability. + Studies the production of galls. + Studies aggregation. + Encourages Torbitt's work on the potato disease. + Aids the preparation of the Kew 'Index of Plant-names.' + Death. + Burial in Westminster Abbey. + List of works. + + DARWIN & Wallace's joint paper on variation. + + DARWIN, Edward, author of 'Gamekeeper's Manual.' + + DARWIN, Mrs. Emma (Wedgwood), letter to. + + DARWIN, Erasmus (born 1731), poet and philosopher. + Character of. + Life published in English. + + DARWIN, Erasmus (born 1759). + + DARWIN, Erasmus Alvey (1804-1881), educated as a physician. + Character of. + Carlyle's sketch of his character. + Miss Wedgwood's letter on his character. + Letter from. + His death. + + DARWIN, Robert, of Elston Hall. + Charles Darwin's estimate of. + + DARWIN, Robert Waring, (born 1724), publishes 'Principia Botanica.' + + DARWIN, Robert Waring, (born 1767), studies medicine at Leyden. + Settles in Shrewsbury. + Marries Susannah Wedgwood. + His son Charles's description of him. + His six children. + Letters to. + + DARWIN, Susan, letters to. + + DARWIN, William, of Marton, first known ancestor of Charles. + + DARWIN, William, son of Richard, appointed yeoman of the Royal Armoury. + + DARWIN, William (1655). + + DARWYN, Richard, of Marton, mentioned. + + DAVIDSON, Thomas, letter to, asking him to investigate brachiopods. + Letter to. + On British brachiopoda. + + DE CANDOLLE, A., see Candolle, A. De. + + DESCENT, doctrine of. + + DESCENT OF ANIMALS. + + 'DESCENT OF MAN,' published. + Work on. + Reviews of. + Reception in Germany. + Wallace's views on. + Second edition. + Connected with socialism. + + DESIGN IN NATURE, doctrine of. + + DIAGRAMS OF DESCENT OF MAMMALS. + + 'DIFFERENT FORMS OF FLOWERS,' published. + Reviewed in 'Nature.' + + DIGESTION OF PLANTS, Darwin's work on. + + DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. + + DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER, principle of. + + DOGS, multiple origin of. + + DOHRN, Anton, letter to. + + DONDERS, F.C., letters to. + + DOWN, description of. + + DRIFT near Southampton, stones standing on end in. + + DU BOIS-REYMOND agrees with Darwin. + + DYCK, W.T. van, letter to. + + DYER, W. Thiselton, on Darwin's botanical work. + Letters to. + + EAR, human, infolded point of. + + Earthquakes, paper read on. + + EATON, J., extract from his book on 'Pigeons.' + + 'EDINBURGH REVIEW,' Darwin's criticisms on. + + EDUCATION, Darwin on. + + 'EFFECTS OF CROSS And SELF-FERTILISATION,' published. + Work on. + + ELECTRICAL ORGANS in fish. + + ERRATIC BOULDERS of South America, paper on, read. + + EVOLUTION, doctrine of, objections to, answered. + Not a doctrine of chance. + And teleology. + Neither anti-theistic nor theistic. + Mental. + + EXPRESSION, facial, origin of. + + 'EXPRESSION OF The EMOTIONS,' published. + Work on. + Reviews of. + + EYRE, Gov., Darwin's views on the prosecution of. + + FABRE, J.H., letter to. + + FALCONER, Hugh, letters to. + Mentioned. + Letter to Darwin. + Views on the origin of elephants. + Reclamation from Lyell's 'Antiquity of Man.' + + FARRER, F.W., letter to. + + FARRER, Sir Thomas H., aids Darwin's researches on earthworms. + Letters to. + + FAWCETT, Henry, defends Darwin's reasoning. + + 'FERTILISATION OF ORCHIDS,' published. + + FISKE, John, letter to. + + FISHER, Mrs., letters to. + + FITTON, W.H., mentioned. + + FITZ-ROY, R.,captain of the "Beagle". + His character. + Meets Darwin. + Letters to. + His intention of resigning. + + FLINT instruments. + + FLOURENS, P.,on the 'Origin of Species.' + + FLOWERS, fertilisation of. + + FORBES, David, praises Darwin's work on Chile. + + FORBES, Edward, his theory of change of level. + + FORDYCE, J.,letter to. + + FOREL, Aug., letter to. + + 'FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD,' paper read on. + Published. + Work on. + Its reception. + + FOX, William Darwin, Darwin's friendship with. + Letters to. + + FRANCE, Institute of, elects Darwin corresponding member. + + FRAUDS, scientific. + + FREE-WILL, doctrine of. + + FREKE, Dr., his 'Origin of Species by Means of Organic Affinity.' + + FEUGIANS, Darwin's impressions of. + + GALAPAGOS animals and plants. + + GALLS, production of, studied by Darwin. + + GALTON, Francis, mentioned. + His questions on nature and nurture, and Darwin's answers. + His questions on the faculty of visualising, and Darwin's answers. + + 'GARDENERS' CHRONICLE,' Darwin answers Mr. Westwood in. + + GAUDRY, A., letter to. + + GEIKIE, Archibald, his opinion of Darwin's geological works. + + GEIKIE, James, letter to. + + GENERA, varying of large. + + GENERATION, spontaneous. + + GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. + + 'GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS,' MS. begun. + + 'GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON VOLCANIC ISLANDS' published. + Opinions on. + Second edition. + + 'GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON SOUTH AMERICA,' opinions on. + + GEOLOGICAL RECORD, imperfection of. + Succession in. + + GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Darwin wishes to become a member. + Papers contributed to. + + GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS secured during voyage. + Disposed of. + + GEOLOGICAL, importance of. + Of St. Jago. + Article on, in 'Admiralty Manual.' + Darwin on the progress of. + + GERMANY, progress of natural selection in. + + GERMINATION, experiments in. + + GILBERT, J.H., letter to. + + GLACIAL period, its effect on species. + Phenomena at Cwm Idwal. + + GLACIERS, paper on ancient, in Wales. + + GLEN ROY, Darwin visits. + 'Observations' on, published. + Work criticised by D. Milne. + + GOURMET CLUB and its members. + + GOVERNMENT AID in publication of 'Zoology of Voyage of "Beagle".' + + GRAHAM, W., letter to. + + GRAY, Asa, his papers on natural selection and natural theology. + Letters to. + Letter to Hooker on the 'Origin of Species.' + On the 'Origin of Species.' + Reviews the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' + Reviews the 'Variation of Animals and Plants.' + + GRAY, J.E., mentioned. + + GUNTHER, A., letters to. + + GURNEY, E., letter to. + + HAAST, Sir Julius von, letter to. + + HAECKEL, E., his views on the 'Origin of Species.' + Darwin's friendship with. + His work for natural selection in Germany. + Letters to. + + HALIBURTON, Mrs., letters to. + + HARVEY, W.H., criticises the 'Origin of Species.' + + HAUGHTON, Rev. S., criticises Darwin and Wallace's joint paper. + + HENSLOW, J.S., his friendship with Darwin. + His character. + Letter from. + Letters to. + Presides at the Oxford discussion on the 'Origin of Species.' + His views on natural selection. + His death. + + HERBERT, John Maurice, Darwin's friendship with. + Letters to. + + HERSCHEL, Sir J., Darwin's opinion of. + Meets Darwin. + + HETEROGENY, Darwin on. + + HIGGINSON, T.W., letter to. + + HILDEBRAND, F., letters to. + + HIPPOCRATES anticipates Darwin on pangenesis. + + HOLMGREN, Frithiof, letter to. + + HOLLAND, Royal Society of, elects Darwin a member. + + HOLLAND, Sir Henry, his view of the 'Origin of Species.' + + HOMOEOPATHY, Darwin's estimate of. + + HONOURS conferred on Darwin, list of. + + HOOKER, Sir Joseph D., Darwin's friendship for. + Letters to. + Letter from. + His reminiscences of Darwin. + On the 'Origin of Species.' + Darwin on his 'Australian Flora.' + Answers Harvey. + Memorial on his treatment by the First Commissioner of Works. + Reviews the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' + + HOOKER, Sir William, mentioned. + + HOPKINS, William, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + HUDSON, Darwin's reply to. + + HUMBOLDT, Darwin's estimate of. + + HUTTON, F.W., reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + HUXLEY, Thomas Henry, mentioned. + His opinion of Darwin's work on 'Cirripedes.' + On the 'Vestiges of Creation.' + On the 'Philosophie Zoologique.' + On the 'Principles of Geology.' + On the reception of the 'Origin of Species.' + Letters to. + On the 'Origin of Species.' + Reviews the 'Origin of Species' in 'Westminster Review.' + Defends Darwin before the British Association. + Contradicts R. Owen. + Letter from. + Lectures to workingmen on natural selection. + Asked by Darwin to write a text-book on zoology. + Replies to the 'Quarterly' reviewer on the 'Descent of Man.' + + HYATT, Alpheus, letter to, on his theory of acceleration. + + HYBRID GEESE, fertility of. + + HYBRIDISM. + + IMMORTALITY, Darwin's views upon. + + 'INFANT, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF AN.' + + INFERIORITY inherited by the forms which are beaten. + + INNES, Rev. J. Brodie, on Darwin's interest in village affairs. + On the 'Origin of Species' and the Bible. + On Darwin's conscientiousness. + Letter to. + + 'INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS,' published. + Work on. + + INSECTS, instinct of. + As carriers of pollen. + + INSTINCT, Darwin on. + + ISLANDS, animals of. + + ISOLATION, effect of, on the origin of species. + + JARDINE, Sir W., mentioned. + + JEFFREYS, Gwyn, mentioned. + + JENKINS, Fleeming, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + Darwin on his criticisms. + + JENYNS (BLOMEFIELD), Rev. Leonard, mentioned. + Letters to. + Letter from. + His 'Observations in Natural History.' + + JONES, Dr. Bence, is Darwin's physician. + + 'JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES,' work on. + Lyell's opinion of. + The German translation and its reception. + Second edition published. + Dedication of. + Condemned in manuscript. + + JUDD, Prof., his paper on 'Volcanoes of the Hebrides.' + On Darwin's desire to promote the progress of science. + + JUKES, Joseph B., mentioned. + + KEW, 'Index of Plant Names.' + + KINGSLEY, Rev C., letter from, on the 'Origin of Species.' + + KOCH'S RESEARCHES on splenic fever. + Darwin on. + + KOLLIKER, Prof., is reviewed by Huxley. + + KRAUSE, Ernst, criticises Bronn's German edition of the 'Origin of + Species.' + His essay on Erasmus Darwin published. + + KROHN, Aug., finds mistakes in the 'Origin of Species.' + + LAMARCK's discussion of the species question, its insufficiency. + Darwin on. + + LANE, Dr., his recollections of Darwin. + + LANGEL reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + LANKESTER, E. Ray, letter to. + + LANSDOWNE, Marquis of, anecdote of. + + LEE, Samuel, mentioned. + + LESQUEREUX, Leo, accepts the doctrine of natural selection. + + LEWES, G.H., reviews the 'Variation of Animals and Plants.' + + LINDLEY, John, mentioned. + + LINNEAN SOCIETY obtains memorial portrait of Darwin. + + LITCHFIELD, Mrs., on Darwin's style. + Letter to. + + LIZARDS. + + LONSDALE, William, mentioned. + + LOWELL, J.A., reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + LUBBOCK, Sir John, letters to. + On the burial of Darwin. + + LYELL, Sir Charles, estimate of his character as a geologist. + Letters to. + Letters from. + Opinion of 'Coral Reefs.' + His views of the 'Origin of Species.' + On the origin of species by natural causes. + Admission of the doctrine of natural selection. + Darwin on his 'Antiquity of Man.' + Falconer's reclamation from his 'Antiquity of Man.' + Darwin on his 'Elements of Geology.' + His death. + Darwin's opinion of. + + MACAULAY and his memory. + + MCDONNELL, R., his study of electrical organs in fish. + + MACKINTOSH, D., his work on erratic blocks. + + MACLEAY, W.S., mentioned. + + MADEIRA AND BERMUDA birds not peculiar. + + MALAY ARCHIPELAGO,' Wallace's 'Zoological Geography of. + + MAMMALS, descent of, from a single type. + + MAN, all races of, descended from one type. + Antiquity of. + Origin of. + Relationship to apes. + + MARRIAGES, consanguineous. + + MARSH, O.C., letter to. + + MASTERS, Maxwell, letter to. + + MATTHEW, Patrick, anticipates the doctrine of natural selection. + + MAW, George, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + MEDAL of Royal Society awarded to Darwin. + + MEGATHERIUM sent down from heaven. + + MESMERISM, Darwin's estimate of. + + MILNE, D., criticises Glen Roy paper. + + MIMETIC MODIFICATIONS in plants. + + MIVART, St. G., Darwin on his 'Genesis of Species.' + His 'Genesis of Species' reviewed by Chauncey Wright. + Criticised by Huxley. + His 'Lessons from Nature' reviewed in the 'Academy.' + + MODIFICATION. + + MODIFICATIONS, absence of. + + MOGGRIDGE, J.T., letter to. + + MOJSISOVIC, E. von, Darwin on 'Dolomit Riffe.' + + MONADS, persistence of. + + MONSTERS. + + MONSTROSITIES are sterile. + + MORSE, E.S., letter to. + + MOSELEY, H.N., letters to. + + MULLER, Fritz, letters to. + His 'Fur Darwin' translated. + Receives offer of aid from Darwin. + + MULLER, Hermann, letters to. + + MULLER, Max, his 'Lectures on the Science of Language.' + + MURRAY, Andrew, quoted on the 'Origin of Species.' + + MURRAY, John, letters to. + + MUSIC OF INSECTS. + + MUTABILITY OF SPECIES. + + NAGELI, C., his 'Entstehung und Begriff der Naturhistorischen Art.' + Letter to. + + NAPLES Zoological Station receives a present from Darwin. + + NATURAL HISTORY, Darwin's passion for. + + NATURAL SELECTION, see Selection, natural. + + NAUDIN, Darwin on. + + NEUMAYR, Melchior, letter to. + + NEVILL, Lady Dorothy, letter to. + + NEWTON, A., letter to. + Reviews the 'Variation of Animals and Plants.' + + NEW ZEALAND, animals of. + Plants of. + + NOBILITY, natural selection among. + + NOMENCLATURE of species, discussion on. + + NORMAN, E., Darwin's secretary. + + NOVARA expedition. + + 'OBSERVATIONS ON PARALLEL ROADS OF GLEN ROY,' published. + Extract from. + + OGLE, William, letter to. + + 'ORCHIDS, FERTILISATION OF,' work on. + Published. + Reviews of. + Second edition published. + + 'ORCHIS BANK' described. + + ORGANS, rudimentary. + + 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES,' first note-book of, opened. + Growth of the. + Published. + Its success. + Second edition. + Darwin's change of views upon. + Description of sketch of 1844. + Huxley's view of sketch of 1844. + Prof. Newton's view of same. + The writing of. + Abstract book. + Unorthodoxy of. + Faults of style. + Lyell on. + Huxley on. + Bishop Wilberforce on. + Huxley's summary of reviews of. + Answer to Lyell on. + H.C. Watson on. + Jos. D. Hooker on. + French translation proposed. + First German edition. + Reviewed in the "Times". + First American edition. + Asa Gray on. + Kingsley on. + And the Bible. + Rev. J. Brodie Innes on. + Reviewed in the 'Edinburgh Review.' + Reviewed in the 'North American Review.' + Reviewed in the 'Revue des deux Mondes.' + Reviewed in the "New York Times". + Reviewed in the "Christian Examiner". + Discussed by the British Association. + Reviewed in 'Quarterly Review.' + Reviewed in the 'London Review.' + Reviewed in the 'American Journal of Science and Arts. + Bronn's criticisms of. + Reviewed in the 'Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.' + Answers to criticisms on. + Third edition. + 'Historical Sketch of the Recent Progress of Opinion on the.' + Dutch edition. + First French edition. + Reviewed in the 'Geologist.' + Reviewed in the 'Dublin Hospital Gazette.' + Reviewed in the 'Zoologist.' + De Candolle's view of. + Haeckel's view of. + Gen. Sabine on. + Flourens on. + Second French edition. + Criticised by the Duke of Argyll. + Fourth edition. + Third German edition. + Russian editions of. + Fifth edition. + Reviewed in the 'North British Review.' + Reviewed in the 'Athenaeum.' + Third and fourth French editions. + Sixth edition. + Criticised by Pusey. + 'Coming of age of.' + + OSTRICH, Darwin discovers a new species of. + + OULESS, W., paints Darwin's portrait. + + OWEN, Sir R., criticises Darwin's theory. + Contradicted by Huxley. + His views on variation by descent. + + PALEY's argument of design in nature no longer good. + His 'Natural Theology' mentioned. + + PAMPAEAN FORMATION, Darwin on. + + PANGENESIS, hypothesis of. + Opinions on. + Anticipated by Hippocrates. + + PARKER, Henry, defends the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' + + PARSONS, Theophilus, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + PEACOCK, George, letter on appointment of naturalist to "Beagle". + Letter from, appointing Darwin to "Beagle". + + PENGELLY, William, mentioned. + + PERTHES, Boucher de, Darwin on. + + PETRELS as agents of distribution. + + PHILLIPS, John, mentioned. + + PHILOSOPHICAL CLUB, its nature. + + 'PHILOSOPHIE ZOOLOGIQUE,' Huxley on. + + PHOTOGRAPHS, albums of, presented to Darwin by German and Dutch scientists. + + PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY elects Darwin an honorary member. + + PICTET, Francois Jules, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + PIGEONS, Darwin's interest in. + + PLANTS, fossil. + sexuality of. + A recent discovery. + + PLATYSMA, contraction of, from shuddering. + + PORTRAITS OF DARWIN, list of. + + POTATO DISEASE, Torbitt's experiments on. + + POUR LE MERITE, Darwin admitted to order. + + POUTER PIGEON, variation in. + + 'POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS,' published. + Work on. + + PRESTWICH, J., letter to. + + PREYER, W., letter to. + + PRIMOGENITURE, law of, Darwin on. + + 'PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY,' Huxley on. + + PRIORITY, nomenclature of species by. + + PROGRESSION, necessary. + + PROTECTION, modification for. + + PUSEY's criticisms of the 'Origin of Species.' + + 'QUARTERLY REVIEW,' recognises merits of 'Journal of Researches.' + + QUATREFAGES, J.L.A. de, letters to. + + RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF DARWIN, difficulties not created by science. + + REMINISCENCES OF DARWIN by Hooker. + + REVELATION, Darwin's disbelief in. + + REVERSION, Darwin on. + + REYMOND, Du Bois-, letter to. + + RICHMOND, W.B., paints Darwin's portrait. + + RIDLEY, C., letter to. + + RIVERS, T., letter to. + + ROBERTSON, G. Croom, letter to. + + ROBERTSON, John, reviews the 'Origin of Species.' + + RODWELL, Rev. J.M., letter to. + + ROLLESTON, George, his 'Canons.' + + ROMAN CATHOLIC church on evolution. + + ROMANES, G.J., on Darwin's conscientiousness. + Letters to. + + ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS presents the Baly medal to Darwin. + + ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH elects Darwin honorary member. + + ROYER, Mlle. Clemence, translates the 'Origin of Species.' + Publishes third French edition. + + RUDIMENTARY organs. + + SABINE, Gen., on the 'Origin of Species.' + + SALTER, J.W., his diagram of spirifers. + 'Sand-walk' described. + + SANDERSON, J. Burdon, letter to. + + SAPORTA, Marquis de, letter to. + + SCHAAFFHAUSEN, H., claims to anticipate Darwin. + + SCOTT, John, Darwin's estimate of. + + SEDGWICK, Rev. Adam, mentioned. + On the 'Origin of Species.' + His review of the 'Origin of Species.' + Criticises the 'Origin of Species.' + On the imperfection of the geological record. + + SEEDS, vitality of. + + SELECTION, NATURAL, doctrine of, clearly conceived by Darwin about 1839. + Opposed to doctrine of design. + Effect of, on the scientific mind. + And religion. + Small effects of, in changing species. + Among the nobility. + Huxley's lectures to workingmen on. + Progress of. + Darwin anticipated on. + Use of the term. + Effect on sterility. + Progress among the clergy. + Progress of, in Germany. + Progress of, in France. + + SELECTION, SEXUAL, instance of, in the dogs of Beyrout. + + SEMPER, K., letters to. + + SHELBURNE, Lord, anecdote of. + + SLAVERY, Darwin's opinion of. + In the United States. + + SMITH, Sydney, inexplicably amusing. + + SOCIALISM and the descent of man. + + SOCIETIES, learned, Darwin's membership in. + + SOUTH AMERICAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, Darwin's connection with. + + SPECIES, mutability of. + Origin of, effect of isolation on. + Specific centres. + + SPENCER, Herbert, letters to. + Prof. Huxley's friendship with. + Darwin on. + Originates the term 'survival of the fittest.' + His impression of 'Pangenesis.' + + SPIRITISM, Darwin on. + + SPONTANEITY, Bain's theory of. + + SPRENGEL, C.C., his work on the fertilisation of flowers. + + STANHOPE, Lord, his parties of historians. + + STEBBING, Rev. T.R.R., letter to. + + STENDEL'S 'Nomenclator.' + + STERILITY, effect of natural selection on. + Of moths. + + STOKES, Admiral, Lord, extract from letter of. + + STONES standing on end in the Southampton drift. + + STRICKLAND, Hugh, letters to. + Letter from. + + STRIPED HORSES. + + STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. + + STYLE of Darwin. + + SUBLIMITY, where felt most by Darwin. + + SULIVAN, B.J., letter to. + + SULIVAN, Admiral Sir James, extract from letter of. + + SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, use of the term. + + TEGETMEIER, W.B., extract from letter to. + + TELEOLOGY, evolution and. + Darwin's revival of. + + TENERIFFE, projected trip to. + + THIEL, H., letter to. + + THOMSON, Thomas, mentioned. + + THOMSON, Sir Wyville, on abyssal fauna. + + THORLEY, Miss, botanical work with. + + THWAITES, G.J.K., mentioned. + + TIERRA DEL FUEGO MISSION, Darwin's connection with. + + "TIMES", its review of the 'Origin of Species.' + Darwin on. + + TORBITT, James, his work on the potato disease. + + TURIN, Royal Academy of, presents Darwin the Bressa prize. + + TYLOR, E.B., letter to. + + TYNDALL, John, praises the 'Origin of Species.' + + USBORNE, A.B., extract from a letter of. + + VAN DYCK, W.T., letter to. + + VARIATIONS IN SPECIES, Wallace's essay on. + Darwin and Wallace's joint paper on. + Sudden. + Governed by design. + Cause of. + Mimetic, of butterflies. + Governed by design. + Mimetic, of plants. + In colours of insects. + Transmission of. + Analogical. + Darwin studies the causes of. + + 'VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION,' work on. + Publication of. + Reviewed in the "Nation". + Russian edition. + Second edition. + Reviewed in the "Pall Mall Gazette". + Reviewed in the "Gardeners' Chronicle". + Reviewed in the "Athenaeum". + Reviewed in the 'Zoological Record.' + American edition. + + VARIETIES, production of. + And species, collecting facts about. + + 'VESTIGES OF CREATION' read by Darwin. + Huxley on. + + VINES, S.H., letter to. + + VIRCHOW connects the descent of man with socialism. + + VISUALISING, questions and answers on the faculty of. + + VIVISECTION. + + WAGNER, Moritz, criticised by A. Weismann. + Letters to. + + WAGNER, R., mentioned. + + WALLACE, A.R., sends essay to Darwin. + Letters to. + Essay on variation. + His 'Zoological Geography.' + Reviews the 'Descent of Man.' + Reviews Mivart's 'Lessons from Nature.' + Pension granted to. + Defends the 'Fertilisation of Orchids.' + + WATKINS, Archdeacon, reminiscence of Darwin. + Letter to. + + WATSON, H.C., mentioned. + On the 'Origin of Species.' + + WEDGWOOD, Josiah, his character. + Mentioned. + Letter from. + + WEDGWOOD, Miss Julia, on Erasmus Darwin, in "Spectator". + Letter to. + + WEISMANN, August, letters to. + + WELLS, Dr., anticipates Darwin on natural selection. + + WESTMINSTER ABBEY, Darwin buried in. + + WHEWELL, Dr., mentioned. + On the succession of species. + + WHITLEY, C., letter to. + + WIESNER, Julius, letter to. + + WILBERFORCE, Bishop, criticises the 'Origin of Species.' + + WILLIAM IV, coronation of. + + WOODPECKER, Pampas, Darwin on. + + WOOLNER, T., makes a bust of Darwin. + Discovers infolded point of the human ear. + + WOLLASTON MEDAL. + + WOLLASTON's 'Insecta Maderensia.' + His 'Variation of Species' referred to. + + WORKS BY DARWIN, list of. + + WRIGHT, Chauncey, letter from. + Letters to. + On his visit to Darwin at Down. + + YARRELL, William, mentioned. + + ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Darwin visits. + Reads a paper at. + + 'ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. "BEAGLE",' arrangement for publication. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LETTERS OF DARWIN, VOL II *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the + United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where + you are located before using this eBook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that: + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without +widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + |