did less scientific work, though I worked as hard as I possibly could,
than during any other equal length of time in my life. This was owing to
frequently recurring unwellness, and to one long and serious illness.
The greater part of my time, when I could do anything, was devoted to my
work on _Coral Reefs_, which I had begun before my marriage, and of
which the last proof-sheet was corrected on May 6th, 1842. This book,
though a small one, cost me twenty months of hard work, as I had to read
every work on the islands of the Pacific and to consult many charts. It
was thought highly of by scientific men, and the theory therein given
is, I think, now well established.
No other work of mine was begun in so deductive a spirit as this, for
the whole theory was thought out on the west coast of South America,
before I had seen a true coral reef. I had therefore only to verify and
extend my views by a careful examination of living reefs. But it should
be observed that I had during the two previous years been incessantly
attending to the effects on the shores of South America of the
intermittent elevation of the land, together with denudation and the
deposition of sediment. This necessarily led me to reflect much on the
effects of subsidence, and it was easy to replace in imagination the
continued deposition of sediment by the upward growth of corals. To do
this was to form my theory of the formation of barrier-reefs and atolls.
Besides my work on coral-reefs, during my residence in London, I read
before the Geological Society papers on the Erratic Boulders of South
America,[32] on Earthquakes,[33] and on the Formation by the Agency of
Earth-worms of Mould.[34] I also continued to superintend the
publication of the _Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle_. Nor did I ever
intermit collecting facts bearing on the origin of species; and I could
sometimes do this when I could do nothing else from illness.
In the summer of 1842 I was stronger than I had been for some time, and
took a little tour by myself in North Wales, for the sake of observing
the effects of the old glaciers which formerly filled all the larger
valleys. I published a short account of what I saw in the _Philosophical
Magazine_.[35] This excursion interested me greatly, and it was the last
time I was ever strong enough to climb mountains or to take long walks
such as are necessary for geological work.
During the early part of our life in London, I was strong enough to go
into general society, and saw a good deal of several scientific men and
other more or less distinguished men. I will give my impressions with
respect to some of them, though I have little to say worth saying.
I saw more of Lyell than of any other man, both before and after my
marriage. His mind was characterised, as it appeared to me, by
clearness, caution, sound judgment, and a good deal of originality. When
I made any remark to him on Geology, he never rested until he saw the
whole case clearly, and often made me see it more clearly than I had
done before. He would advance all possible objections to my suggestion,
and even after these were exhausted would long remain dubious. A second
characteristic was his hearty sympathy with the work of other scientific
men.[36]
On my return from the voyage of the _Beagle_, I explained to him my
views on coral-reefs, which differed from his, and I was greatly
surprised and encouraged by the vivid interest which he showed. His
delight in science was ardent, and he felt the keenest interest in the
future progress of mankind. He was very kind-hearted, and thoroughly
liberal in his religious beliefs, or rather disbeliefs; but he was a
strong theist. His candour was highly remarkable. He exhibited this by
becoming a convert to the Descent theory, though he had gained much fame
by opposing Lamarck's views, and this after he had grown old. He
reminded me that I had many years before said to him, when discussing
the opposition of the old school of geologists to his new views, "What a
good thing it would be if every scientific man was to die when sixty
years old, as afterwards he would be sure to oppose all new doctrines."
But he hoped that now he might be allowed to live.
The science of Geology is enormously indebted to Lyell--more so, as I
believe, than to any other man who ever lived. When [I was] starting on
the voyage of the _Beagle_, the sagacious Henslow, who, like all other
geologists, believed at that time in successive cataclysms, advised me
to get and study the first volume of the _Principles_, which had then
just been published, but on no account to accept the views therein
advocated. How differently would any one now speak of the _Principles_!
I am proud to remember that the first place, namely, St. Jago, in the
Cape de Verde Archipelago, in which I geologised, convinced me of the
infinite superiority of Lyell's views over those advocated in any other
work known to me.
The powerful effects of Lyell's works could formerly be plainly seen in
the different progress of the science in France and England. The present
total oblivion of Elie de Beaumont's wild hypotheses, such as his
_Craters of Elevation_ and _Lines of Elevation_ (which latter hypothesis
I heard Sedgwick at the Geological Society lauding to the skies), may be
largely attributed to Lyell.
I saw a good deal of Robert Brown, "facile Princeps Botanicorum," as he
was called by Humboldt. He seemed to me to be chiefly remarkable for the
minuteness of his observations and their perfect accuracy. His knowledge
was extraordinarily great, and much died with him, owing to his
excessive fear of ever making a mistake. He poured out his knowledge to
me in the most unreserved manner, yet was strangely jealous on some
points. I called on him two or three times before the voyage of the
_Beagle_, and on one occasion he asked me to look through a microscope
and describe what I saw. This I did, and believe now that it was the
marvellous currents of protoplasm in some vegetable cell. I then asked
him what I had seen; but he answered me, "That is my little secret."
He was capable of the most generous actions. When old, much out of
health, and quite unfit for any exertion, he daily visited (as Hooker
told me) an old man-servant, who lived at a distance (and whom he
supported), and read aloud to him. This is enough to make up for any
degree of scientific penuriousness or jealousy.
I may here mention a few other eminent men whom I have occasionally
seen, but I have little to say about them worth saying. I felt a high
reverence for Sir J. Herschel, and was delighted to dine with him at his
charming house at the Cape of Good Hope and afterwards at his London
house. I saw him, also, on a few other occasions. He never talked much,
but every word which he uttered was worth listening to.
I once met at breakfast, at Sir R. Murchison's house, the illustrious
Humboldt, who honoured me by expressing a wish to see me. I was a little
disappointed with the great man, but my anticipations probably were too
high. I can remember nothing distinctly about our interview, except
that Humboldt was very cheerful and talked much.
X.[37] reminds me of Buckle, whom I once met at Hensleigh Wedgwood's. I
was very glad to learn from [Buckle] his system of collecting facts. He
told me that he bought all the books which he read, and made a full
index to each, of the facts which he thought might prove serviceable to
him, and that he could always remember in what book he had read
anything, for his memory was wonderful. I asked him how at first he
could judge what facts would be serviceable, and he answered that he did
not know, but that a sort of instinct guided him. From this habit of
making indices, he was enabled to give the astonishing number of
references on all sorts of subjects which may be found in his _History
of Civilisation_. This book I thought most interesting, and read it
twice, but I doubt whether his generalisations are worth anything.
Buckle was a great talker; and I listened to him, saying hardly a word,
nor indeed could I have done so, for he left no gaps. When Mrs. Farrer
began to sing, I jumped up and said that I must listen to her. After I
had moved away, he turned round to a friend, and said (as was overheard
by my brother), "Well, Mr. Darwin's books are much better than his
conversation."
Of other great literary men, I once met Sydney Smith at Dean Milman's
house. There was something inexplicably amusing in every word which he
uttered. Perhaps this was partly due to the expectation of being amused.
He was talking about Lady Cork, who was then extremely old. This was the
lady who, as he said, was once so much affected by one of his charity
sermons, that she _borrowed_ a guinea from a friend to put in the plate.
He now said, "It is generally believed that my dear old friend Lady Cork
has been overlooked"; and he said this in such a manner that no one
could for a moment doubt that he meant that his dear old friend had been
overlooked by the devil. How he managed to express this I know not.
I likewise once met Macaulay at Lord Stanhope's (the historian's) house,
and as there was only one other man at dinner, I had a grand opportunity
of hearing him converse, and he was very agreeable. He did not talk at
all too much, nor indeed could such a man talk too much, as long as he
allowed others to turn the stream of his conversation, and this he did
allow.
Lord Stanhope once gave me a curious little proof of the accuracy and
fulness of Macaulay's memory. Many historians used often to meet at
Lord Stanhope's house; and, in discussing various subjects, they would
sometimes differ from Macaulay, and formerly they often referred to some
book to see who was right; but latterly, as Lord Stanhope noticed, no
historian ever took this trouble, and whatever Macaulay said was final.
On another occasion I met at Lord Stanhope's house one of his parties of
historians and other literary men, and amongst them were Motley and
Grote. After luncheon I walked about Chevening Park for nearly an hour
with Grote, and was much interested by his conversation and pleased by
the simplicity and absence of all pretension in his manners.
Long ago I dined occasionally with the old Earl, the father of the
historian. He was a strange man, but what little I knew of him I liked
much. He was frank, genial, and pleasant. He had strongly-marked
features, with a brown complexion, and his clothes, when I saw him, were
all brown. He seemed to believe in everything which was to others
utterly incredible. He said one day to me, "Why don't you give up your
fiddle-faddle of geology and zoology, and turn to the occult sciences?"
The historian, then Lord Mahon, seemed shocked at such a speech to me,
and his charming wife much amused.
The last man whom I will mention is Carlyle, seen by me several times at
my brother's house and two or three times at my own house. His talk was
very racy and interesting, just like his writings, but he sometimes went
on too long on the same subject. I remember a funny dinner at my
brother's, where, amongst a few others, were Babbage and Lyell, both of
whom liked to talk. Carlyle, however, silenced every one by haranguing
during the whole dinner on the advantages of silence. After dinner,
Babbage, in his grimmest manner, thanked Carlyle for his very
interesting lecture on silence.
Carlyle sneered at almost every one: One day in my house he called
Grote's _History_ "a fetid quagmire, with nothing spiritual about it." I
always thought, until his _Reminiscences_ appeared, that his sneers were
partly jokes, but this now seems rather doubtful. His expression was
that of a depressed, almost despondent, yet benevolent man, and it is
notorious how heartily he laughed. I believe that his benevolence was
real, though stained by not a little jealousy. No one can doubt about
his extraordinary power of drawing pictures of things and men--far more
vivid, as it appears to me, than any drawn by Macaulay. Whether his
pictures of men were true ones is another question.
He has been all-powerful in impressing some grand moral truths on the
minds of men. On the other hand, his views about slavery were
revolting. In his eyes might was right. His mind seemed to me a very
narrow one; even if all branches of science, which he despised, are
excluded. It is astonishing to me that Kingsley should have spoken of
him as a man well fitted to advance science. He laughed to scorn the
idea that a mathematician, such as Whewell, could judge, as I maintained
he could, of Goethe's views on light. He thought it a most ridiculous
thing that any one should care whether a glacier moved a little quicker
or a little slower, or moved at all. As far as I could judge, I never
met a man with a mind so ill adapted for scientific research.
Whilst living in London, I attended as regularly as I could the meetings
of several scientific societies, and acted as secretary to the
Geological Society. But such attendance, and ordinary society, suited my
health so badly that we resolved to live in the country, which we both
preferred and have never repented of.
_Residence at Down, from September 14, 1842, to the present time, 1876._
After several fruitless searches in Surrey and elsewhere, we found this
house and purchased it. I was pleased with the diversified appearance of
the vegetation proper to a chalk district, and so unlike what I had been
accustomed to in the Midland counties; and still more pleased with the
extreme quietness and rusticity of the place. It is not, however, quite
so retired a place as a writer in a German periodical makes it, who says
that my house can be approached only by a mule-track! Our fixing
ourselves here has answered admirably in one way which we did not
anticipate, namely, by being very convenient for frequent visits from
our children.
Few persons can have lived a more retired life than we have done.
Besides short visits to the houses of relations, and occasionally to the
seaside or elsewhere, we have gone nowhere. During the first part of our
residence we went a little into society, and received a few friends
here; but my health almost always suffered from the excitement, violent
shivering and vomiting attacks being thus brought on. I have therefore
been compelled for many years to give up all dinner-parties; and this
has been somewhat of a deprivation to me, as such parties always put me
into high spirits. From the same cause I have been able to invite here
very few scientific acquaintances.
My chief enjoyment and sole employment throughout life has been
scientific work, and the excitement from such work makes me for the time
forget, or drives quite away, my daily discomfort. I have therefore
nothing to record during the rest of my life, except the publication of
my several books. Perhaps a few details how they arose may be worth
giving.
_My several Publications._--In the early part of 1844, my observations
on the volcanic islands visited during the voyage of the _Beagle_ were
published. In 1845, I took much pains in correcting a new edition of my
_Journal of Researches_, which was originally published in 1839 as part
of Fitz-Roy's work. The success of this my first literary child always
tickles my vanity more than that of any of my other books. Even to this
day it sells steadily in England and the United States, and has been
translated for the second time into German, and into French and other
languages. This success of a book of travels, especially of a scientific
one, so many years after its first publication, is surprising. Ten
thousand copies have been sold in England of the second edition. In 1846
my _Geological Observations on South America_ were published. I record
in a little diary, which I have always kept, that my three geological
books (_Coral Reefs_ included) consumed four and a half years' steady
work; "and now it is ten years since my return to England. How much time
have I lost by illness?" I have nothing to say about these three books
except that to my surprise new editions have lately been called for.[38]
In October, 1846, I began to work on 'Cirripedia' (Barnacles). When on
the coast of Chile, I found a most curious form, which burrowed into
shells of Concholepas, and which differed so much from all other
Cirripedes that I had to form a new sub-order for its sole reception.
Lately an allied burrowing genus has been found on the shores of
Portugal. To understand the structure of my new Cirripede I had to
examine and dissect many of the common forms: and this gradually led me
on to take up the whole group. I worked steadily on the subject for the
next eight years, and ultimately published two thick volumes,[39]
describing all the known living species, and two thin quartos on the
extinct species. I do not doubt that Sir E. Lytton Bulwer had me in his
mind when he introduced in one of his novels a Professor Long, who had
written two huge volumes on limpets.
Although I was employed during eight years on this work, yet I record in
my diary that about two years out of this time was lost by illness. On
this account I went in 1848 for some months to Malvern for hydropathic
treatment, which did me much good, so that on my return home I was able
to resume work. So much was I out of health that when my dear father
died on November 13th, 1848, I was unable to attend his funeral or to
act as one of his executors.
My work on the Cirripedia possesses, I think, considerable value, as
besides describing several new and remarkable forms, I made out the
homologies of the various parts--I discovered the cementing apparatus,
though I blundered dreadfully about the cement glands--and lastly I
proved the existence in certain genera of minute males complemental to
and parasitic on the hermaphrodites. This latter discovery has at last
been fully confirmed; though at one time a German writer was pleased to
attribute the whole account to my fertile imagination. The Cirripedes
form a highly varying and difficult group of species to class; and my
work was of considerable use to me, when I had to discuss in the _Origin
of Species_ the principles of a natural classification. Nevertheless, I
doubt whether the work was worth the consumption of so much time.
From September 1854 I devoted my whole time to arranging my huge pile of
notes, to observing, and to experimenting in relation to the
transmutation of species. During the voyage of the _Beagle_ I had been
deeply impressed by discovering in the Pampean formation great fossil
animals covered with armour like that on the existing armadillos;
secondly, by the manner in which closely allied animals replace one
another in proceeding southwards over the Continent; and thirdly, by the
South American character of most of the productions of the Galapagos
archipelago, and more especially by the manner in which they differ
slightly on each island of the group; none of the islands appearing to
be very ancient in a geological sense.
It was evident that such facts as these, as well as many others, could
only be explained on the supposition that species gradually become
modified; and the subject haunted me. But it was equally evident that
neither the action of the surrounding conditions, nor the will of the
organisms (especially in the case of plants) could account for the
innumerable cases in which organisms of every kind are beautifully
adapted to their habits of life--for instance, a woodpecker or a
tree-frog to climb trees, or a seed for dispersal by hooks or plumes. I
had always been much struck by such adaptations, and until these could
be explained it seemed to me almost useless to endeavour to prove by
indirect evidence that species have been modified.
After my return to England it appeared to me that by following the
example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting all facts which bore in
any way on the variation of animals and plants under domestication and
nature, some light might perhaps be thrown on the whole subject. My
first note-book was opened in July 1837. I worked on true Baconian
principles, and without any theory collected facts on a wholesale scale,
more especially with respect to domesticated productions, by printed
enquiries, by conversation with skilful breeders and gardeners, and by
extensive reading. When I see the list of books of all kinds which I
read and abstracted, including whole series of Journals and
Transactions, I am surprised at my industry. I soon perceived that
selection was the keystone of man's success in making useful races of
animals and plants. But how selection could be applied to organisms
living in a state of nature remained for some time a mystery to me.
In October 1838, that is, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic
enquiry, I happened to read for amusement Malthus on _Population_, and
being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which
everywhere goes on from long-continued observation of the habits of
animals and plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances
favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable ones
to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of new
species. Here, then, I had at last got a theory by which to work; but I
was so anxious to avoid prejudice, that I determined not for some time
to write even the briefest sketch of it. In June 1842 I first allowed
myself the satisfaction of writing a very brief abstract of my theory in
pencil in 35 pages; and this was enlarged during the summer of 1844 into
one of 230 pages, which I had fairly copied out and still possess.
But at that time I overlooked one problem of great importance; and it is
astonishing to me, except on the principle of Columbus and his egg, how
I could have overlooked it and its solution. This problem is the
tendency in organic beings descended from the same stock to diverge in
character as they become modified. That they have diverged greatly is
obvious from the manner in which species of all kinds can be classed
under genera, genera under families, families under sub-orders, and so
forth; and I can remember the very spot in the road, whilst in my
carriage, when to my joy the solution occurred to me; and this was long
after I had come to Down. The solution, as I believe, is that the
modified offspring of all dominant and increasing forms tend to become
adapted to many and highly diversified places in the economy of nature.
Early in 1856 Lyell advised me to write out my views pretty fully, and
I began at once to do so on a scale three or four times as extensive as
that which was afterwards followed in my _Origin of Species_; yet it was
only an abstract of the materials which I had collected, and I got
through about half the work on this scale. But my plans were overthrown,
for early in the summer of 1858 Mr. Wallace, who was then in the Malay
archipelago, sent me an essay _On the Tendency of Varieties to depart
indefinitely from the Original Type_; and this essay contained exactly
the same theory as mine. Mr. Wallace expressed the wish that if I
thought well of his essay, I should send it to Lyell for perusal.
The circumstances under which I consented at the request of Lyell and
Hooker to allow of an abstract from my MS., together with a letter to
Asa Gray, dated September 5, 1857, to be published at the same time with
Wallace's Essay, are given in the _Journal of the Proceedings of the
Linnean Society_, 1858, p. 45. I was at first very unwilling to consent,
as I thought Mr. Wallace might consider my doing so unjustifiable, for I
did not then know how generous and noble was his disposition. The
extract from my MS. and the letter to Asa Gray had neither been intended
for publication, and were badly written. Mr. Wallace's essay, on the
other hand, was admirably expressed and quite clear. Nevertheless, our
joint productions excited very little attention, and the only published
notice of them which I can remember was by Professor Haughton of Dublin,
whose verdict was that all that was new in them was false, and what was
true was old. This shows how necessary it is that any new view should be
explained at considerable length in order to arouse public attention.
In September 1858 I set to work by the strong advice of Lyell and Hooker
to prepare a volume on the transmutation of species, but was often
interrupted by ill-health, and short visits to Dr. Lane's delightful
hydropathic establishment at Moor Park. I abstracted the MS. begun on a
much larger scale in 1856, and completed the volume on the same reduced
scale. It cost me thirteen months and ten days' hard labour. It was
published under the title of the _Origin of Species_, in November 1859.
Though considerably added to and corrected in the later editions, it has
remained substantially the same book.
It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It was from the first highly
successful. The first small edition of 1250 copies was sold on the day
of publication, and a second edition of 3000 copies soon afterwards.
Sixteen thousand copies have now (1876) been sold in England; and
considering how stiff a book it is, this is a large sale. It has been
translated into almost every European tongue, even into such languages
as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, and Russian. It has also, according to
Miss Bird, been translated into Japanese,[40] and is there much studied.
Even an essay in Hebrew has appeared on it, showing that the theory is
contained in the Old Testament! The reviews were very numerous; for some
time I collected all that appeared on the _Origin_ and on my related
books, and these amount (excluding newspaper reviews) to 265; but after
a time I gave up the attempt in despair. Many separate essays and books
on the subject have appeared; and in Germany a catalogue or bibliography
on "Darwinismus" has appeared every year or two.
The success of the _Origin_ may, I think, be attributed in large part to
my having long before written two condensed sketches, and to my having
finally abstracted a much larger manuscript, which was itself an
abstract. By this means I was enabled to select the more striking facts
and conclusions. I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule,
namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought
came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a
memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience
that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory
than favourable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were
raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted
to answer.
It has sometimes been said that the success of the _Origin_ proved "that
the subject was in the air," or "that men's minds were prepared for it."
I do not think that this is strictly true, for I occasionally sounded
not a few naturalists, and never happened to come across a single one
who seemed to doubt about the permanence of species. Even Lyell and
Hooker, though they would listen with interest to me, never seemed to
agree. I tried once or twice to explain to able men what I meant by
Natural selection, but signally failed. What I believe was strictly true
is that innumerable well-observed facts were stored in the minds of
naturalists ready to take their proper places as soon as any theory
which would receive them was sufficiently explained. Another element in
the success of the book was its moderate size; and this I owe to the
appearance of Mr. Wallace's essay; had I published on the scale in
which I began to write in 1856, the book would have been four or five
times as large as the _Origin_, and very few would have had the patience
to read it.
I gained much by my delay in publishing from about 1839, when the theory
was clearly conceived, to 1859; and I lost nothing by it, for I cared
very little whether men attributed most originality to me or Wallace;
and his essay no doubt aided in the reception of the theory. I was
forestalled in only one important point, which my vanity has always made
me regret, namely, the explanation by means of the Glacial period of the
presence of the same species of plants and of some few animals on
distant mountain summits and in the arctic regions. This view pleased me
so much that I wrote it out _in extenso_, and I believe that it was read
by Hooker some years before E. Forbes published his celebrated
memoir[41] on the subject. In the very few points in which we differed,
I still think that I was in the right. I have never, of course, alluded
in print to my having independently worked out this view.
Hardly any point gave me so much satisfaction when I was at work on the
_Origin_, as the explanation of the wide difference in many classes
between the embryo and the adult animal, and of the close resemblance of
the embryos within the same class. No notice of this point was taken, as
far as I remember, in the early reviews of the _Origin_, and I recollect
expressing my surprise on this head in a letter to Asa Gray. Within late
years several reviewers have given the whole credit to Fritz Mueller and
Haeckel, who undoubtedly have worked it out much more fully, and in some
respects more correctly than I did. I had materials for a whole chapter
on the subject, and I ought to have made the discussion longer; for it
is clear that I failed to impress my readers; and he who succeeds in
doing so deserves, in my opinion, all the credit.
This leads me to remark that I have almost always been treated honestly
by my reviewers, passing over those without scientific knowledge as not
worthy of notice. My views have often been grossly misrepresented,
bitterly opposed and ridiculed, but this has been generally done, as I
believe, in good faith. On the whole I do not doubt that my works have
been over and over again greatly overpraised. I rejoice that I have
avoided controversies, and this I owe to Lyell, who many years ago, in
reference to my geological works, strongly advised me never to get
entangled in a controversy, as it rarely did any good and caused a
miserable loss of time and temper.
Whenever I have found out that I have blundered, or that my work has
been imperfect, and when I have been contemptuously criticised, and even
when I have been overpraised, so that I have felt mortified, it has been
my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself that "I have
worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more than
this." I remember when in Good Success Bay, in Tierra del Fuego,
thinking (and, I believe, that I wrote home to the effect) that I could
not employ my life better than in adding a little to Natural Science.
This I have done to the best of my abilities, and critics may say what
they like, but they cannot destroy this conviction.
During the two last months of 1859 I was fully occupied in preparing a
second edition of the _Origin_, and by an enormous correspondence. On
January 1st, 1860, I began arranging my notes for my work on the
_Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication_; but it was not
published until the beginning of 1868; the delay having been caused
partly by frequent illnesses, one of which lasted seven months, and
partly by being tempted to publish on other subjects which at the time
interested me more.
On May 15th, 1862, my little book on the _Fertilisation of Orchids_,
which cost me ten months' work, was published: most of the facts had
been slowly accumulated during several previous years. During the summer
of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I was led to attend
to the cross-fertilisation of flowers by the aid of insects, from having
come to the conclusion in my speculations on the origin of species, that
crossing played an important part in keeping specific forms constant. I
attended to the subject more or less during every subsequent summer; and
my interest in it was greatly enhanced by having procured and read in
November 1841, through the advice of Robert Brown, a copy of C. K.
Sprengel's wonderful book, _Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur_. For
some years before 1862 I had specially attended to the fertilisation of
our British orchids; and it seemed to me the best plan to prepare as
complete a treatise on this group of plants as well as I could, rather
than to utilise the great mass of matter which I had slowly collected
with respect to other plants.
My resolve proved a wise one; for since the appearance of my book, a
surprising number of papers and separate works on the fertilisation of
all kinds of flowers have appeared; and these are far better done than I
could possibly have effected. The merits of poor old Sprengel, so long
overlooked, are now fully recognised many years after his death.
During the same year I published in the _Journal of the Linnean
Society_, a paper _On the Two Forms, or Dimorphic Condition of Primula_,
and during the next five years, five other papers on dimorphic and
trimorphic plants. I do not think anything in my scientific life has
given me so much satisfaction as making out the meaning of the structure
of these plants. I had noticed in 1838 or 1839 the dimorphism of _Linum
flavum_, and had at first thought that it was merely a case of unmeaning
variability. But on examining the common species of Primula, I found
that the two forms were much too regular and constant to be thus viewed.
I therefore became almost convinced that the common cowslip and primrose
were on the high-road to become dioecious;--that the short pistil in the
one form, and the short stamens in the other form were tending towards
abortion. The plants were therefore subjected under this point of view
to trial; but as soon as the flowers with short pistils fertilised with
pollen from the short stamens, were found to yield more seeds than any
other of the four possible unions, the abortion-theory was knocked on
the head. After some additional experiment, it became evident that the
two forms, though both were perfect hermaphrodites, bore almost the same
relation to one another as do the two sexes of an ordinary animal. With
Lythrum we have the still more wonderful case of three forms standing in
a similar relation to one another. I afterwards found that the offspring
from the union of two plants belonging to the same forms presented a
close and curious analogy with hybrids from the union of two distinct
species.
In the autumn of 1864 I finished a long paper on _Climbing Plants_, and
sent it to the Linnean Society. The writing of this paper cost me four
months: but I was so unwell when I received the proof-sheets that I was
forced to leave them very badly and often obscurely expressed. The paper
was little noticed, but when in 1875 it was corrected and published as a
separate book it sold well. I was led to take up this subject by reading
a short paper by Asa Gray, published in 1858. He sent me seeds, and on
raising some plants I was so much fascinated and perplexed by the
revolving movements of the tendrils and stems, which movements are
really very simple, though appearing at first sight very complex, that I
procured various other kinds of climbing plants, and studied the whole
subject. I was all the more attracted to it, from not being at all
satisfied with the explanation which Henslow gave us in his lectures,
about twining plants, namely, that they had a natural tendency to grow
up in a spire. This explanation proved quite erroneous. Some of the
adaptations displayed by climbing plants are as beautiful as those of
Orchids for ensuring cross-fertilisation.
My _Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication_ was begun, as
already stated, in the beginning of 1860, but was not published until
the beginning of 1868. It was a big book, and cost me four years and two
months' hard labour. It gives all my observations and an immense number
of facts collected from various sources, about our domestic productions.
In the second volume the causes and laws of variation, inheritance, &c.,
are discussed, as far as our present state of knowledge permits. Towards
the end of the work I give my well-abused hypothesis of Pangenesis. An
unverified hypothesis is of little or no value; but if any one should
hereafter be led to make observations by which some such hypothesis
could be established, I shall have done good service, as an astonishing
number of isolated facts can be thus connected together and rendered
intelligible. In 1875 a second and largely corrected edition, which cost
me a good deal of labour, was brought out.
My _Descent of Man_ was published in February 1871. As soon as I had
become, in the year 1837 or 1838, convinced that species were mutable
productions, I could not avoid the belief that man must come under the
same law. Accordingly I collected notes on the subject for my own
satisfaction, and not for a long time with any intention of publishing.
Although in the _Origin of Species_ the derivation of any particular
species is never discussed, yet I thought it best, in order that no
honourable man should accuse me of concealing my views, to add that by
the work "light would be thrown on the origin of man and his history."
It would have been useless, and injurious to the success of the book to
have paraded, without giving any evidence, my conviction with respect to
his origin.
But when I found that many naturalists fully accepted the doctrine of
the evolution of species, it seemed to me advisable to work up such
notes as I possessed, and to publish a special treatise on the origin of
man. I was the more glad to do so, as it gave me an opportunity of fully
discussing sexual selection--a subject which had always greatly
interested me. This subject, and that of the variation of our domestic
productions, together with the causes and laws of variation,
inheritance, and the intercrossing of plants, are the sole subjects
which I have been able to write about in full, so as to use all the
materials which I have collected. The _Descent of Man_ took me three
years to write, but then as usual some of this time was lost by
ill-health, and some was consumed by preparing new editions and other
minor works. A second and largely corrected edition of the _Descent_
appeared in 1874.
My book on the _Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals_ was
published in the autumn of 1872. I had intended to give only a chapter
on the subject in the _Descent of Man_, but as soon as I began to put my
notes together, I saw that it would require a separate treatise.
My first child was born on December 27th, 1839, and I at once commenced
to make notes on the first dawn of the various expressions which he
exhibited, for I felt convinced, even at this early period, that the
most complex and fine shades of expression must all have had a gradual
and natural origin. During the summer of the following year, 1840, I
read Sir C. Bell's admirable work on expression, and this greatly
increased the interest which I felt in the subject, though I could not
at all agree with his belief that various muscles had been specially
created for the sake of expression. From this time forward I
occasionally attended to the subject, both with respect to man and our
domesticated animals. My book sold largely; 5267 copies having been
disposed of on the day of publication.
In the summer of 1860 I was idling and resting near Hartfield, where two
species of [Sundew] abound; and I noticed that numerous insects had been
entrapped by the leaves. I carried home some plants, and on giving them
insects saw the movements of the tentacles, and this made me think it
probable that the insects were caught for some special purpose.
Fortunately a crucial test occurred to me, that of placing a large
number of leaves in various nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous fluids of
equal density; and as soon as I found that the former alone excited
energetic movements, it was obvious that here was a fine new field for
investigation.
During subsequent years, whenever I had leisure, I pursued my
experiments, and my book on _Insectivorous Plants_ was published in July
1875--that is sixteen years after my first observations. The delay in
this case, as with all my other books, has been a great advantage to me;
for a man after a long interval can criticise his own work, almost as
well as if it were that of another person. The fact that a plant should
secrete, when properly excited, a fluid containing an acid and ferment,
closely analogous to the digestive fluid of an animal, was certainly a
remarkable discovery.
During this autumn of 1876 I shall publish on the _Effects of Cross-and
Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom_. This book will form a
complement to that on the _Fertilisation of Orchids_, in which I showed
how perfect were the means for cross-fertilisation, and here I shall
show how important are the results. I was led to make, during eleven
years, the numerous experiments recorded in this volume, by a mere
accidental observation; and indeed it required the accident to be
repeated before my attention was thoroughly aroused to the remarkable
fact that seedlings of self-fertilised parentage are inferior, even in
the first generation, in height and vigour to seedlings of
cross-fertilised parentage. I hope also to republish a revised edition
of my book on Orchids, and hereafter my papers on dimorphic and
trimorphic plants, together with some additional observations on allied
points which I never have had time to arrange. My strength will then
probably be exhausted, and I shall be ready to exclaim "Nunc dimittis."
_Written May 1st, 1881._--_The Effects of Cross- and Self-Fertilisation_
was published in the autumn of 1876; and the results there arrived at
explain, as I believe, the endless and wonderful contrivances for the
transportal of pollen from one plant to another of the same species. I
now believe, however, chiefly from the observations of Hermann Mueller,
that I ought to have insisted more strongly than I did on the many
adaptations for self-fertilisation; though I was well aware of many such
adaptations. A much enlarged edition of my _Fertilisation of Orchids_
was published in 1877.
In this same year _The Different Forms of Flowers, &c._, appeared, and
in 1880 a second edition. This book consists chiefly of the several
papers on Hetero-styled flowers originally published by the Linnean
Society, corrected, with much new matter added, together with
observations on some other cases in which the same plant bears two kinds
of flowers. As before remarked, no little discovery of mine ever gave me
so much pleasure as the making out the meaning of heterostyled flowers.
The results of crossing such flowers in an illegitimate manner, I
believe to be very important, as bearing on the sterility of hybrids;
although these results have been noticed by only a few persons.
In 1879, I had a translation of Dr. Ernst Krause's _Life of Erasmus
Darwin_ published, and I added a sketch of his character and habits from
material in my possession. Many persons have been much interested by
this little life, and I am surprised that only 800 or 900 copies were
sold.
In 1880 I published, with [my son] Frank's assistance our _Power of
Movement in Plants_. This was a tough piece of work. The book bears
somewhat the same relation to my little book on _Climbing Plants_,
which _Cross-Fertilisation_ did to the _Fertilisation of Orchids_; for
in accordance with the principle of evolution it was impossible to
account for climbing plants having been developed in so many widely
different groups unless all kinds of plants possess some slight power of
movement of an analogous kind. This I proved to be the case; and I was
further led to a rather wide generalisation, viz., that the great and
important classes of movements, excited by light, the attraction of
gravity, &c., are all modified forms of the fundamental movement of
circumnutation. It has always pleased me to exalt plants in the scale of
organised beings; and I therefore felt an especial pleasure in showing
how many and what admirably well adapted movements the tip of a root
possesses.
I have now (May 1, 1881) sent to the printers the MS. of a little book
on _The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms_. This
is a subject of but small importance; and I know not whether it will
interest any readers,[42] but it has interested me. It is the completion
of a short paper read before the Geological Society more than forty
years ago, and has revived old geological thoughts.
I have now mentioned all the books which I have published, and these
have been the milestones in my life, so that little remains to be said.
I am not conscious of any change in my mind during the last thirty
years, excepting in one point presently to be mentioned; nor, indeed,
could any change have been expected unless one of general deterioration.
But my father lived to his eighty-third year with his mind as lively as
ever it was, and all his faculties undimmed; and I hope that I may die
before my mind fails to a sensible extent. I think that I have become a
little more skilful in guessing right explanations and in devising
experimental tests; but this may probably be the result of mere
practice, and of a larger store of knowledge. I have as much difficulty
as ever in expressing myself clearly and concisely; and this difficulty
has caused me a very great loss of time; but it has had the compensating
advantage of forcing me to think long and intently about every sentence,
and thus I have been led to see errors in reasoning and in my own
observations or those of others.
There seems to be a sort of fatality in my mind leading me to put at
first my statement or proposition in a wrong or awkward form. Formerly I
used to think about my sentences before writing them down; but for
several years I have found that it saves time to scribble in a vile
hand, whole pages as quickly as I possibly can, contracting half the
words; and then correct deliberately. Sentences thus scribbled down are
often better ones than I could have written deliberately.
Having said thus much about my manner of writing, I will add that with
my large books I spend a good deal of time over the general arrangement
of the matter. I first make the rudest outline in two or three pages,
and then a larger one in several pages, a few words or one word standing
for a whole discussion or series of facts. Each one of these headings is
again enlarged and often transferred before I begin to write _in
extenso_. As in several of my books facts observed by others have been
very extensively used, and as I have always had several quite distinct
subjects in hand at the same time, I may mention that I keep from thirty
to forty large portfolios, in cabinets with labelled shelves, into which
I can at once put a detached reference or memorandum. I have bought many
books, and at their ends I make an index of all the facts that concern
my work; or, if the book is not my own, write out a separate abstract,
and of such abstracts I have a large drawer full. Before beginning on
any subject I look to all the short indexes and make a general and
classified index, and by taking the one or more proper portfolios I have
all the information collected during my life ready for use.
I have said that in one respect my mind has changed during the last
twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry of
many kinds, such as the works of Milton, Gray, Byron, Wordsworth,
Coleridge, and Shelley, gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy
I took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical
plays. I have also said that formerly pictures gave me considerable, and
music very great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read
a line of poetry: I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it
so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost my
taste for pictures or music. Music generally sets me thinking too
energetically on what I have been at work on, instead of giving me
pleasure. I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me
the exquisite delight which it formerly did. On the other hand, novels,
which are works of the imagination, though not of a very high order,
have been for years a wonderful relief and pleasure to me, and I often
bless all novelists. A surprising number have been read aloud to me, and
I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily--against
which a law ought to be passed. A novel, according to my taste, does
not come into the first class unless it contains some person whom one
can thoroughly love, and if a pretty woman all the better.
This curious and lamentable loss of the higher aesthetic tastes is all
the odder, as books on history, biographies, and travels (independently
of any scientific facts which they may contain), and essays on all sorts
of subjects interest me as much as ever they did. My mind seems to have
become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large
collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of
that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I
cannot conceive. A man with a mind more highly organised or better
constituted than mine, would not, I suppose, have thus suffered; and if
I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some
poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps
the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active
through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may
possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral
character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.
My books have sold largely in England, have been translated into many
languages, and passed through several editions in foreign countries. I
have heard it said that the success of a work abroad is the best test of
its enduring value. I doubt whether this is at all trustworthy; but
judged by this standard my name ought to last for a few years. Therefore
it may be worth while to try to analyse the mental qualities and the
conditions on which my success has depended; though I am aware that no
man can do this correctly.
I have no great quickness of apprehension or wit which is so remarkable
in some clever men, for instance, Huxley. I am therefore a poor critic:
a paper or book, when first read, generally excites my admiration, and
it is only after considerable reflection that I perceive the weak
points. My power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought
is very limited; and therefore I could never have succeeded with
metaphysics or mathematics. My memory is extensive, yet hazy: it
suffices to make me cautious by vaguely telling me that I have observed
or read something opposed to the conclusion which I am drawing, or on
the other hand in favour of it; and after a time I can generally
recollect where to search for my authority. So poor in one sense is my
memory, that I have never been able to remember for more than a few days
a single date or a line of poetry.
Some of my critics have said, "Oh, he is a good observer, but he has no
power of reasoning!" I do not think that this can be true, for the
_Origin of Species_ is one long argument from the beginning to the end,
and it has convinced not a few able men. No one could have written it
without having some power of reasoning. I have a fair share of
invention, and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly
successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher
degree.
On the favourable side of the balance, I think that I am superior to the
common run of men in noticing things which easily escape attention, and
in observing them carefully. My industry has been nearly as great as it
could have been in the observation and collection of facts. What is far
more important, my love of natural science has been steady and ardent.
This pure love has, however, been much aided by the ambition to be
esteemed by my fellow naturalists. From my early youth I have had the
strongest desire to understand or explain whatever I observed,--that is,
to group all facts under some general laws. These causes combined have
given me the patience to reflect or ponder for any number of years over
any unexplained problem. As far as I can judge, I am not apt to follow
blindly the lead of other men. I have steadily endeavoured to keep my
mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I
cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown
to be opposed to it. Indeed, I have had no choice but to act in this
manner, for with the exception of the Coral Reefs, I cannot remember a
single first-formed hypothesis which had not after a time to be given up
or greatly modified. This has naturally led me to distrust greatly,
deductive reasoning in the mixed sciences. On the other hand, I am not
very sceptical,--a frame of mind which I believe to be injurious to the
progress of science. A good deal of scepticism in a scientific man is
advisable to avoid much loss of time, [but] I have met with not a few
men, who, I feel sure, have often thus been deterred from experiment or
observations, which would have proved directly or indirectly
serviceable.
In illustration, I will give the oddest case which I have known. A
gentleman (who, as I afterwards heard, is a good local botanist) wrote
to me from the Eastern counties that the seeds or beans of the common
field-bean had this year everywhere grown on the wrong side of the pod.
I wrote back, asking for further information, as I did not understand
what was meant; but I did not receive any answer for a very long time. I
then saw in two newspapers, one published in Kent and the other in
Yorkshire, paragraphs stating that it was a most remarkable fact that
"the beans this year had all grown on the wrong side." So I thought
there must be some foundation for so general a statement. Accordingly, I
went to my gardener, an old Kentish man, and asked him whether he had
heard anything about it, and he answered, "Oh, no, sir, it must be a
mistake, for the beans grow on the wrong side only on leap-year." I then
asked him how they grew in common years and how on leap-years, but soon
found that he knew absolutely nothing of how they grew at any time, but
he stuck to his belief.
After a time I heard from my first informant, who, with many apologies,
said that he should not have written to me had he not heard the
statement from several intelligent farmers; but that he had since spoken
again to every one of them, and not one knew in the least what he had
himself meant. So that here a belief--if indeed a statement with no
definite idea attached to it can be called a belief--had spread over
almost the whole of England without any vestige of evidence.
I have known in the course of my life only three intentionally falsified
statements, and one of these may have been a hoax (and there have been
several scientific hoaxes) which, however, took in an American
Agricultural Journal. It related to the formation in Holland of a new
breed of oxen by the crossing of distinct species of Bos (some of which
I happen to know are sterile together), and the author had the impudence
to state that he had corresponded with me, and that I had been deeply
impressed with the importance of his result. The article was sent to me
by the editor of an English Agricultural Journal, asking for my opinion
before republishing it.
A second case was an account of several varieties, raised by the author
from several species of Primula, which had spontaneously yielded a full
complement of seed, although the parent plants had been carefully
protected from the access of insects. This account was published before
I had discovered the meaning of heterostylism, and the whole statement
must have been fraudulent, or there was neglect in excluding insects so
gross as to be scarcely credible.
The third case was more curious: Mr. Huth published in his book on
'Consanguineous Marriage' some long extracts from a Belgian author, who
stated that he had interbred rabbits in the closest manner for very many
generations, without the least injurious effects. The account was
published in a most respectable Journal, that of the Royal Society of
Belgium; but I could not avoid feeling doubts--I hardly know why,
except that there were no accidents of any kind, and my experience in
breeding animals made me think this improbable.
So with much hesitation I wrote to Professor Van Beneden, asking him
whether the author was a trustworthy man. I soon heard in answer that
the Society had been greatly shocked by discovering that the whole
account was a fraud.[43] The writer had been publicly challenged in the
journal to say where he had resided and kept his large stock of rabbits
while carrying on his experiments, which must have consumed several
years, and no answer could be extracted from him.
My habits are methodical, and this has been of not a little use for my
particular line of work. Lastly, I have had ample leisure from not
having to earn my own bread. Even ill-health, though it has annihilated
several years of my life, has saved me from the distractions of society
and amusement.
Therefore, my success as a man of science, whatever this may have
amounted to, has been determined, as far as I can judge, by complex and
diversified mental qualities and conditions. Of these, the most
important have been--the love of science--unbounded patience in long
reflecting over any subject--industry in observing and collecting
facts--and a fair share of invention as well as of common-sense. With
such moderate abilities as I possess, it is truly surprising that I
should have influenced to a considerable extent the belief of scientific
men on some important points.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] The late Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's house in Surrey.
[6] Kept by Rev. G. Case, minister of the Unitarian Chapel in the High
Street. Mrs. Darwin was a Unitarian and attended Mr. Case's chapel, and
my father as a little boy went there with his elder sisters. But both he
and his brother were christened and intended to belong to the Church of
England; and after his early boyhood he seems usually to have gone to
church and not to Mr. Case's. It appears (_St. James's Gazette_,
December 15, 1883) that a mural tablet has been erected to his memory in
the chapel, which is now known as the "Free Christian Church."--F. D.
[7] Rev. W. A. Leighton remembers his bringing a flower to school and
saying that his mother had taught him how by looking at the inside of
the blossom the name of the plant could be discovered. Mr. Leighton goes
on, "This greatly roused my attention and curiosity, and I inquired of
him repeatedly how this could be done?"--but his lesson was naturally
enough not transmissible.--F. D.
[8] His father wisely treated this tendency not by making crimes of the
fibs, but by making light of the discoveries.--F. D.
[9] The house of his uncle, Josiah Wedgwood, the younger.
[10] It is curious that another Shrewsbury boy should have been
impressed by this military funeral; Mr. Gretton, in his _Memory's
Harkback_, says that the scene is so strongly impressed on his mind that
he could "walk straight to the spot in St. Chad's churchyard where the
poor fellow was buried." The soldier was an Inniskilling Dragoon, and
the officer in command had been recently wounded at Waterloo, where his
corps did good service against the French Cuirassiers.
[11] He lodged at Mrs. Mackay's, 11, Lothian Street. What little the
records of Edinburgh University can reveal has been published in the
_Edinburgh Weekly Dispatch_, May 22, 1888; and in the _St. James's
Gazette_, February 16, 1888. From the latter journal it appears that he
and his brother Erasmus made more use of the library than was usual
among the students of their time.
[12] I have heard him call to mind the pride he felt at the results of
the successful treatment of a whole family with tartar emetic.--F. D.
[13] Dr. Coldstream died September 17, 1863; see Crown 16mo. Book Tract.
No. 19 of the Religious Tract Society (no date).
[14] The society was founded in 1823, and expired about 1848 (_Edinburgh
Weekly Dispatch_, May 22, 1888).
[15] Josiah Wedgwood, the son of the founder of the Etruria Works.
[16]
Justum et tenacem propositi virum
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non vultus instantis tyranni
Mente quatit solida.
[17] Tenth in the list of January 1831.
[18] I gather from some of my father's contemporaries that he has
exaggerated the Bacchanalian nature of those parties.--F. D.
[19] Rev. C. Whitley, Hon. Canon of Durham, formerly Reader in Natural
Philosophy in Durham University.
[20] The late John Maurice Herbert, County Court Judge of Cardiff and
the Monmouth Circuit.
[21] Afterwards Sir H. Thompson, first baronet.
[22] The _Cambridge Ray Club_, which in 1887 attained its fiftieth
anniversary, is the direct descendant of these meetings, having been
founded to fill the blank caused by the discontinuance, in 1836, of
Henslow's Friday evenings. See Professor Babington's pamphlet, _The
Cambridge Ray Club_, 1887.
[23] Mr. Jenyns (now Blomefield) described the fish for the _Zoology of
the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle_; and is author of a long series of papers,
chiefly Zoological. In 1887 he printed, for private circulation, an
autobiographical sketch, _Chapters in my Life_, and subsequently some
(undated) addenda. The well-known Soame Jenyns was cousin to Mr. Jenyns'
father.
[24] In connection with this tour my father used to tell a story about
Sedgwick: they had started from their inn one morning, and had walked a
mile or two, when Sedgwick suddenly stopped, and vowed that he would
return, being certain "that damned scoundrel" (the waiter) had not given
the chambermaid the sixpence intrusted to him for the purpose. He was
ultimately persuaded to give up the project, seeing that there was no
reason for suspecting the waiter of perfidy.--F. D.
[25] _Philosophical Magazine_, 1842.
[26] Josiah Wedgwood.
[27] The Count d'Albanie's claim to Royal descent has been shown to be
baaed on a myth. See the _Quarterly Review_, 1847, vol. lxxxi. p. 83;
also Hayward's _Biographical and Critical Essays_, 1873, vol. ii. p.
201.
[28] Read at the meeting held November 16, 1835, and printed in a
pamphlet of 31 pp. for distribution among the members of the Society.
[29] In Fitzwilliam Street.
[30] _Geolog. Soc. Proc._ ii. 1838, pp. 416-449.
[31] 1839, pp. 39-82.
[32] _Geolog. Soc. Proc._ iii. 1842.
[33] _Geolog. Trans._ v. 1840.
[34] _Geolog. Soc. Proc._ ii. 1838.
[35] _Philosophical Magazine_, 1842.
[36] The slight repetition here observable is accounted for by the notes
on Lyell, &c., having been added in April, 1881, a few years after the
rest of the _Recollections_ were written.--F. D.
[37] A passage referring to X. is here omitted.--F. D.
[38] _Geological Observations_, 2nd Edit. 1876. _Coral Reefs_, 2nd Edit.
1874
[39] Published by the Ray Society.
[40] Miss Bird is mistaken, as I learn from Professor Mitsukuri.--F. D.
[41] _Geolog. Survey Mem._, 1846.
[42] Between November 1881 and February 1884, 8500 copies were sold.--F.
D.
[43] The falseness of the published statements on which Mr. Huth relied
were pointed out in a slip inserted in all the unsold copies of his
book, _The Marriage of near Kin_.--F. D.