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CHAPTER II. 



THE GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES. 

 LETTERS, 1 843-1 856. 



[The history of my father's life is told more completely in 

 his correspondence with Sir J. D. Hooker than in any other 

 series of letters ; and this is especially true of the history 

 of the growth of the ' Origin of Species.' This, therefore, 

 seems an appropriate place for the following notes, which 

 Sir Joseph Hooker has kindly given me. They give, more- 

 over, an interesting picture of his early friendship with my 

 father : 



"My first meeting with Mr. Darwin was in 1839, in 



Trafalgar Square. I was walking with an officer who 



had been his shipmate for a short time in the Beagle seven 



years before, but who had not, I believe, since met him. 



I was introduced ; the interview was of course brief, and the 



memory of him that I carried away and still retain was that 



of a rather tall and rather broad-shouldered man, with 



a slight stoop, an agreeable and animated expression when 



talking, beetle brows, and a hollow but mellow voice ; and 



that his greeting of his old acquaintance was sailor-like 



that is, delightfully frank and cordial. I observed him well, 



for I was already aware of his attainments and labours, derived 



from having read various proof-sheets of his then unpublished 



' Journal.' These had been submitted to Mr. (afterwards Sir 



Charles) Lyell by Mr. Darwin, and by him sent to his father, 



Ch. Lyell, Esq., of Kinnordy, who (being a very old friend of 



my father, and taking a kind interest in my projected career 



as a naturalist) had allowed me to peruse them. At this time 



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