i860.] 



ANDREW MURRAY. 



26l 



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 * 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. 



C. Darwin to C. Lyell. 



Down [January 4th ? i860]. 



I have had a brief note from Keyserling,f 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.^ 



* Dr. Whewell wrote (Jan. 2, 

 i860) : "... 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. Whe- 

 well 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. 



f Count Keyserling, geologist, 

 joint author with Murchison of the 

 1 Geology of Russia,' 1845 ; and 

 mentioned in Prof. Geikie's ' Life 

 of Murchison.' 



X The late Andrew Murray 

 wrote two papers on the ' Origin ' 

 in the Proc. R. Soc. Edin. i860. 

 The one referred to here is dated 

 Jan. 16, i860. The following is 



quoted from p. 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. Dar- 

 win), is the instinctive inclination 

 which induces individuals of the 

 same species by preference to inter- 

 cross 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." 



