INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO CHAPTER II 21 



in which he speaks of its being the twentieth year since he 

 " opened his first note-book on the question how and in what 

 way do species and varieties differ from each other," and after ' 

 referring to oceanic islands, the means of distribution of land- 

 shells, etc., added : " My work, on which I have now been at 

 work more or less for twenty years, will not fix or settle any- 

 thing ; but I hope it will aid by giving a large collection of 

 facts, with one definite end." The words I have italicised, 

 and the whole tone of his letters, led me to conclude that he 

 had arrived at no definite view as to the origin of species, and 

 I fully anticipated that my theory would be new to him, 

 because it seemed to me to settle a great deal. The imme- 

 diate result of my paper was that Darwin was induced at 

 once to prepare for publication his book on the Origin of 

 Species in the condensed form in which it appeared, instead of 

 waiting an indefinite number of years to complete a work on 

 a much larger scale which he had partly written, but which 

 in all probability would not have carried conviction to so 

 many persons in so short a time. I feel much satisfaction in 

 having thus aided in bringing about the publication of this 

 celebrated book, and with the ample recognition by Darwin 

 himself of my independent discovery of " natural selection." 

 (See Origin of Species, 6th ed., introduction, p. 1, and Life and 

 Letters, vol. ii. chap, iv., pp. 115-129 and 145.) 



