118 EAELY DAYS OF DARWINISM 



conclusion worth anything. Then when I was with you 

 you showed nie that marvellous collection of Larks and 

 Chats, including so many '' Desert forms," something 

 like which (in the way of local variation) poor Baird had 

 shown me the year before in Washington. I was wholly 

 bewildered. Towards the end of the month appeared 

 that part of the Linneayi Journal, and behold all to me 

 became as clear as possible ! Such a revelation never 

 was before nor will be, I think, again to me. I want to 

 work all this into a paper I have to do for Macmillan 

 a propos of Darwin's " Life and Letters " ; but it has to 

 be done at once, and therefore please let me have any 

 letters you can find showing my frame of mind at that 

 time, or at least before the publication of the " Origin," 

 which was not until Nov. (or perhaps Dec.) , 1 859. To the 

 best of my belief I took in the whole thing, details apart, 

 from the first ; but I find I cannot trust my memory, 

 and the letters would be a great help to me.* 



In November, 1859, the ever-celebrated " Origin of 

 Species " was published. " Its contents I devoured and 

 felt happier than ever, for now I began to see that Natural 

 History possessed an interest far beyond that which it 

 had entered into my mind to perceive." The various 

 reviews of the book, most of them unfavourable to 

 Darwin's views, were read by Newton, but produced 

 little or no effect on him except to lower his estiuiate of 

 the general run of critics. In the following year he was 

 present at the memorable meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion at Oxford — 



In the Nat. Hist. Section we had another hot Dar- 

 winian debate. Mr. F. 0. Morris had a paper on the list 

 to be read " On the Permanence of Species,'' but in the 

 committee we decided it should not be produced (he was 

 not there himself), Babington treating us to some selec- 

 tions from it and remarking that it would, of course, 



* Letter to H. B. Tristram, February 2. 1888. 



