CHAPTER VIII. 



Miscellanea, including Second Editions of * Coral 

 Reefs,* the ' Descent of Man,' and the ' Varia- 

 tions OF Animals and Plants.' 



1874 and 1875. 



[The year 1874 was given up to * Insectivorous Plants,' 

 with the exception of the months (see vol. ii, p. 353) devoted 

 to the second edition of the ' Descent of Man,' and with the 

 further exception of the time given to a second edition of his 

 'Coral Reefs ' (1874). The Preface to the latter states that 

 new facts have been added, the whole book revised, and "the 

 latter chapters almost rewritten." In the Appendix some ac- 

 count is given of Professor Semper's objections, and this was 

 the occasion of correspondence between that naturalist and 

 my father. In Professor Semper's volume, ' Animal Life ' 

 (one of the International Series), the author calls attention 

 to the subject in the following passage which I give in Ger- 

 man, the published English translation being, as it seems to 

 me, incorrect : " Es scheint mir als ob er in der zweiten 

 Ausgabe seines allgemein bekannten Werks iiber Korallenriffe 

 einem Irrthume iiber meine Beobachtungen zum Opfer gefal- 

 len ist, indem er die Angaben, die ich allerdings bisher immer 

 nur sehr kurz gehalten hatte, vollstandig falsch wiedergegeben 

 hat." 



The proof-sheets containing this passage were sent by 

 Professor Semper to my father before ^ Animal Life ' was pub- 

 lished, and this was the occasion for the following letter, 

 which was afterwards published in Professor Semper's book.] 



