502 THE MAKING OF THE ' OEIGIN ' 



such different points of view, that I do not think we shall 

 injure the originaHty of our respective books. 



[In short,] You may say what you hke, but you will 

 never convince me that I do not owe you ten times as much 

 as you can owe me (Dec. 30, 1858, M.L. i. 114). 



But Hooker would never admit this, and five years later, 

 when Lyell, in his forthcoming ' Antiquity of Man,' proceeded 

 to give him large credit for his services to the Darwinian 

 theory, his native impulse was to send Darwin a flat disclaimer 

 (March 15, 1863) : 



He has written to me also about the date of publication 

 of the Austrahan Essay, as preceding your * Origin ' — in 

 this matter he has got into a fix by giving said Essay a 

 prominence which in the history of the discussion it (and 

 its author) do not deserve. I have such an extreme aversion 

 to intrude myself personally into such matters, and such an 

 abomination of reclamations, that I cannot set him right, 

 even did the plan of his book now admit of his giving the 

 Essay less prominence. As it is, I am ashamed of seeing 

 it paraded with an itahcised heading, just as you and the 

 * Origin ' are, and an importance given to its priority of 

 pubhcation which it never dreamt of claiming. Had I 

 really beheved that your * Origin ' would have been out so 

 soon after it I really think I should have delayed the Fl. 

 Tasmanica rather than antedate you ; but though I knew 

 you were actually printing the * Origin,' I knew how long 

 it had been delayed, I knew how uncertain your health w^as, 

 and I was working myself to death to get the Tasmanian 

 Flora and its (for me) gigantic expenses off my hands. As 

 it is Lyell seems to think me entitled to a goodly share of 

 the credit of establishing, though not originating. 



1. Because of your over-generous acknowledgment of 

 assistance from me in the ' Origin.' x 



2. Because it was my making him eat the leek of varia— 

 tion, that so stupefied his senses that he was enabled to 

 swallow Origin and apply Selection (as gastric juices). 



3. Because I forced the card of non-reversion of varieties. 



4. Because I first applied many of your results to the 

 class and district of one Flora and country, in a way intelli- 

 gible to him. 



