CHAPTER XXIII 



LETTERS TO DARWIN, 1843-1859 



In one of his letters Darwin makes special mention of pre- 

 serving his friend's letters. The answers to scientific questions 

 are detached and placed among the memoranda of that subject ; 

 the other parts are put among his general correspondence, so 

 that it would only be a matter of half an hour to rearrange 

 them in case of need. In spite of his care, however, a large 

 number of the earlier letters from Hooker have disappeared 

 wholly or in part. From the remainder I give a selection to 

 illustrate their correspondence before the appearance of the 

 • Origin.' 



Darwin's first letter to Hooker (December 1843) is printed 

 in the * Life of Charles Darwin,' ii. 21. He had then sent his 

 Galapagos collections to Hooker through Henslow, who had 

 had them in keeping (see * More Letters of Charles Darwin,' 

 i. 400) ; the next in sequence, which answers the following 

 of Hooker's, is given in *More Letters of Charles Darwin,' 

 i. 39. 



J. D. Hooker to C. Darmn 



December 1843. 



The Galapagos plants are far more extensive in number 

 of species than I could have supposed, and are the foundation 

 of an excellent Flora of that group : Mr. Henslow has sent 

 with them those of Macrae which hardly differ from yours. 

 I was quite prepared to see the extraordinary difference 

 between the plants of the separate Islands from your 

 Journal, a most strange fact, and one which quite overturns 

 all our preconceived notions of species radiating from a 



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