32 SCIENTIFIC WOEK, 1860-1865 



would not be out before Christmas, which means, not till an 

 indefinite period after it. He will have a pretty job to 

 reconcile all his old Geology and Biology to the new state of 

 things brought about by the discoveries relative to the early 

 condition of man, and the Darwinian controversy, theory, 

 heresy, truth, or whatever else it be hight. Lyell accepts 

 both and will be pitched into accordingly ; he has the ear 

 of the public, however, and the sale of his work will be 

 prodigious. It will be followed by a very clever and most 

 amusing one by Huxley, on the relations of men to the lower 

 animals, of which I have seen some sheets ; it is amazingly 

 clever. This polemical Philosopher is resting on his spear 

 at present, and giving Owen a little time to commit himself 

 again. I heard a fraction of Owen's paper on the Grypho- 

 saurus at the R.S. ; it was very interesting but too verbose 

 and minute, reading out all the measurements of minute 

 parts to inches and lines, etc. The general opinion was that 

 Owen demonstrated its ornithic affinity and proved it to be 

 a bird with the tail-feathers set on a jointed tail instead of the 

 truculent hump that most birds have, but some say that 

 there are peculiar bones or organs amongst the bones that 

 may yet prove it to be Reptilian. The most curious part of 

 its history is its confirmation of Darwin's much disputed 

 dogma, the * imperfection of the geological record.' This 

 animal is only now found in the identical quarries that have 

 been worked for all the lithographic stones used all over 

 Europe, ever since lithography was an art ! 



Darwin still works away at his experiments and his 

 theory, and startles us by the surprising discoveries he now 

 makes in Botany ; his work on the fertilisation of orchids 

 is quite unique — there is nothing in the whole range of 

 Botanical Literature to compare with it, and this, with his 

 other works, * Journal,' ' Coral Reefs,' ' Volcanic Islands/ 

 ' Geology of Beagle,' ' Anatomy, etc., of Cirripedes ' and 

 * Origin,' raise him without doubt to the position of the 

 first Naturalist in Europe, indeed I question if he will not 

 be regarded as great as any that ever lived ; his powers of 

 observation, memory and judgement seem prodigious, his 

 industry indefatigable and his sagacity in planning experi- 

 ments, fertility of resources and care in conducting them are 

 unrivalled, and all this with health so detestable that his 



