30 GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN.' [1845. 



ication, and having studied all that is known about domestic- 

 ation. I was very glad to hear your criticism on island-floras 

 and on non-diffusion of plants : the subject is too long for a 

 letter : I could defend myself to some considerable extent, 

 but I doubt whether successfully in your eyes, or indeed in 

 my own. . . . 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker. 



Down, [July, 1844.] 



... I am now reading a wonderful book for facts on 

 variation Bronn, 'Geschichte der Natur.' It is stiff German : 

 it forestalls me, sometimes I think delightfully, and some- 

 times cruelly. You will be ten times hereafter more horrified 

 at me than at H. Watson. I hate arguments from results, 

 but on my views of descent, really Natural History becomes 

 a sublimely grand result-giving subject (now you may quiz 

 me for so foolish an escape of mouth). ... I must leave this 

 letter till to-morrow, for I am tired ; but I so enjoy writing 

 to you, that I must inflict a little more on you. 



Have you any good evidence for absence of insects in small 

 islands ? I found thirteen species in Keeling Atoll. Flies 

 are good fertilizers, and I have seen a microscopic Thrips 

 and a Cecidomya take flight from a flower in the direction 

 of another with pollen adhering to them. In Arctic countries 

 a bee seems to go as far N. as any flower 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker. 



Shrewsbury [September, 1845]. 

 My DEAR HOOKER, I write a line to say that Cosmos * 

 arrived quite safely (N.B. One sheet came loose in Pt. I.), and 

 to thank you for your nice note. I have just begun the intro- 

 duction, and groan over the style, which in such parts is full 

 half the battle. How true many of the remarks are {i.e. as 

 far as I can understand the wretched English) on the scenery ; 

 it is an exact expression of one's own thoughts. 



* A translation of Humboldt's ' Kosmos.' 



