ch. xi.] 18581859. 207 



copy of the Journal of the Linnean Society, and subse- 

 quently I have sent some half-dozen copies of the paper. 

 I have many other copies at your disposal. . . . 



I am glad to hear that you have been attending to birds' 

 nests. I have done so, though almost exclusively under one 

 point of view, viz. to show that instincts vary, so that selec- 

 tion could work on and improve them. Few other instincts, 

 so to speak, can be preserved in a Museum. 



Many thanks for your offer to look after horses' stripes ; 

 if there are any donkeys, pray add them. I am delighted to 



hear that you have collected bees' combs This is an 



especial hobby of mine, and I think I can throw a light on 

 the subject. If you can collect duplicates at no very great 

 expense, 1 should be glad of some specimens for myself with 

 some bees of each kind. Young, growing, and irregular 

 combs, and those which have not had pupae, are most valu- 

 able for measurements and examination. Their edges should 

 be well protected against abrasion. 



Every one whom I have seen has thought your paper 

 very well written and interesting. It puts my extracts 

 (written in 1839,* now just twenty years ago !), which I 

 must say in apology were never for an instant intended 

 for publication, into the shade. 



You ask about LvelPs frame of mind. I think he is 

 somewhat staggered, but does not give in, and speaks with 

 horror, often to me, of what a thing it would be, and what a 

 job it would be for the next edition of The Principles, if he 

 " were perverted." But he is most candid and honest, and 

 I think will end by being perverted. Dr. Hooker has be- 

 come almost as heterodox as vou or I, and I look at Hooker 

 as by far the most capable judge in Europe. 



Most cordially do I wish you health and entire success in 

 all your pursuits, and, G-od knows, if admirable zeal and 

 energy deserve success, most amply do you deserve it. I 

 look at my own career as nearly run out. If I can publish 

 my Abstract and perhaps my greater work on the same sub- 

 ject, I shall look at my course as done. 



Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very sincerely. 



In March 1859 the work was telling heavily on him. He 

 wrote to Fox : 



* See a discussion on the date of the earliest sketch of the Origin in the 

 Life and Letters, ii. p. 10. 



