DARWIN'S DEBT TO ASA GRAY 23 



the points about which I should feel curious. But on my 

 life it is sublimely ridiculous, my making suggestions to 

 such a man.' ' 



The friendship ripened very quickly, so that on 

 July 20, 1856, Darwin gave Asa Gray an account 

 of his views on evolution, 2 and on Sept. 5 of 

 the following year, a tolerably full description of 

 Natural Selection. 3 From this last letter Darwin 

 chose the extracts which formed part of his 

 section of the joint essay published July 1, 1858. 



Asa Gray's opinion on first reading the Origin 

 was expressed not to Darwin but to Hooker in a 

 letter written Jan. 5, 1860 : 



' It is done in a masterly manner. It might well have 

 taken twenty years to produce it. It is crammed full of 

 most interesting matter thoroughly digested well ex- 

 pressed close, cogent, and taken as a system it makes out 

 a better case than I had supposed possible. . . .' 



After referring to Agassiz's unfavourable 

 opinion of the book he continues : ' Tell Darwin 

 all this. I will write to him when I get a chance. 

 As I have promised, he and you shall have 

 fair-play here. . . .'* A little later, when on 

 Jan. 23 he wrote to Darwin himself, Asa 

 Gray concluded : ' I am free to say that I never 

 learnt so much from one book as I have from 

 yours. There remain a thousand things I long 

 to say about it.' 5 



1 More Letters, i. 418. Asa Gray's generous reply appears on 

 p. 421. 



2 Life and Letters, ii. 78. 3 Ibid., 120-5. 

 4 Ibid., 268. R Ibid., 272. 



