328 BOTANY. [en. xvi. 



to Bentham and Oliver approving of my book ; for I had 

 got a sort of nervousness, and doubted whether I had not 

 made an egregious fool of myself, and concocted pleasant 

 little stinging remarks for reviews, such as ' Mr. Darwin's 

 head seems to have been turned by a certain degree of suc- 

 cess, and he thinks that the most trifling observations are 

 worth publication.' " 



He wrote too, to Asa Gray : 



" Your generous sympathy makes you over-estimate 

 what you have read of my Orchid-book. But your letter of 

 May 18th and 26th has given me an almost foolish amount 

 of satisfaction. The subject interested me, I knew, beyond 

 its real value ; but I had lately got to think that I had made 

 myself a complete fool by publishing in a semi-popular 

 form. Now I shall confidently defy the world. . . . No 

 doubt my volume contains much error : how curiously diffi- 

 cult it is to be accurate, though I try my utmost. Your 

 notes have interested me beyond measure. I can now afford 

 to d my critics with ineffable complacency of mind. Cor- 

 dial thanks for this benefit." 



Sir Joseph Hooker reviewed the book in the Gardeners* 

 Chronicle, writing in a successful imitation of the style of 

 Lindley, the Editor. My father wrote to Sir Joseph (Nov. 

 12, 1862) : 



" So you did write the review in the Gardeners' Chroni- 

 cle. Once or twice I doubted whether it was Lindley; but 

 when I came to a little slap at R. Brown, I doubted no 

 longer. You arch-rogue ! I do not wonder you have de- 

 ceived others also. Perhaps I am a conceited dog ; but if 

 so, you have much to answer for ; I never received so much 

 praise, and coming from you I value it much more than 

 from any other." 



With regard to botanical opinion generally, he wrote to 

 Dr. Gray, " I am fairly astonished at the success of my book 

 with botanists." Among naturalists who were not botan- 

 ists, Lyell was pre-eminent in his appreciation of the book. 

 I have no means of knowing when he read it, but in later 

 life, as I learn from Professor Judd, he was enthusiastic in 

 praise of the Fertilisation of Orchids, which he considered 

 " next to the Origin, as the most valuable of all Darwin's 

 works." Among the general public the author did not at 

 first hear of many disciples, thus he wrote to his cousin 

 Fox in September 1862 : " Hardly any one not a botanist, 

 except yourself, as far as I know, has cared for it." 



