18591863] GERMAN TRANSLATION 139 



To T. H. Huxley. Letter 93 



Down, [Feb.] 2nd [1860]. 



I have had this morning a letter from old Bronn l (who, 

 to my astonishment, seems slightly staggered by Natural 

 Selection), and he says a publisher in Stuttgart is willing to 

 publish a translation, and that he, Bronn, will to a certain 

 extent superintend. Have you written to Kolliker ? if not, 

 perhaps I had better close with this proposal what do you 

 think ? If you have written, I must wait, and in this case 

 will you kindly let me hear as soon as you hear from 

 Kolliker ? 



My poor dear friend, you will curse the day when you 

 took up the "general agency " line ; but really after this I will 

 not give you any more trouble. 



Do not forget the three tickets for us for your lecture, and 

 the ticket for Baily, the poulterer. 



Old Bronn has published in the Year-book for Mineralogy 

 a notice of the Origin 2 ; and says he has himself published 

 elsewhere a foreboding of the theory ! 



To J. D. Hooker. Letter 94 



Down, Feb. i4th [1860]. 



I succeeded in persuading myself for twenty-four hours 

 that Huxley's lecture 3 was a success. Parts were eloquent 

 and good, and all very bold ; and I heard strangers say, "What 

 a good lecture!" I told Huxley so ; but I demurred much to 

 the time wasted in introductory remarks, especially to his 

 making it appear that sterility was a clear and manifest dis- 

 tinction of species, and to his not having even alluded to the 

 more important parts of the subject. He said that he had 

 much more written out, but time failed. After conversation 

 with others and more reflection, I must confess that as an 

 exposition of the doctrine the lecture seems to me an entire 

 failure. I thank God I did not think so when I saw Huxley; 

 for he spoke so kindly and magnificently of me, that I could 

 hardly have endured to say what I now think. He gave no 

 just idea of Natural Selection. I have always looked at the 



1 See Life and Letter -s, II., p. 277. 



2 Neues Jahrb.fiir Min., 1860, p. 112. 



3 At the Royal Institution. See Life and Letters, II., p. 282. 



