1858.] SIR J. D. HOOKER. 1 39 



the moment that you are the one living soul from whom I have 

 constantly received sympathy. Believe [me] that I never forget 

 for even a minute how much assistance I have received from 

 you. You are quite correct that I never even suspected that 

 my speculations were a "jam-pot" to you ; indeed, I thought, 

 until quite lately, that my MS. had produced no effect on 

 you, and this has often staggered me. Nor did I know that 

 you had spoken in general terms about my work to our 

 friends, excepting to dear old Falconer, who some few years 

 ago once told me that I should do more mischief than any ten 

 other naturalists would do good, [and] that I had half-spoiled 

 you already ! All this is stupid egotistical stuff, and I write 

 it only because you may think me ungrateful for not having 

 valued and understood your sympathy ; which God knows is 

 not the case. It is an accursed evil to a man to become so 

 absorbed in any subject as I am in mine. 



I was in London yesterday for a few hours with Falconer, 

 and he gave me a magnificent lecture on the age of man. We 

 are not upstarts ; we can boast of a pedigree going far back 

 in time coeval with extinct species. He has a grand fact of 

 some large molar tooth in the Trias. 



I am quite knocked up, and am going next Monday to 

 revive under Water-cure at Moor Park. 



My dear Hooker, yours affectionately, 



C. Darwin. 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker. 



Nov. 1858. 



.... I had vowed not to mention my everlasting 

 Abstract to you again, for I am sure I have bothered you 

 far more than enough about it ; but, as you allude to its 

 publication, I may say that I have the chapters on Instinct 

 and Hybridism to abstract, which may take a fortnight each ; 

 and my materials for Palaeontology, Geographical Distribution, 



