230 MISCELLANEA (continued'). [1876. 



C. Darwin to A. R. Wallace. 



[Hopedene] *, June 5, 1876. 



MY DEAR WALLACE, I must have the pleasure of ex- 

 pressing to you my unbounded admiration of your book,f 

 tho' I have read only to page 184 my object having been 

 to do as little as possible while resting. I feel sure that you 

 have laid a broad and safe foundation for all future work on 

 Distribution. How interesting it will be to see hereafter 

 plants treated in strict relation to your views ; and then all 

 insects, pulmonate molluscs and fresh-water fishes, in greater 

 detail than I suppose you have given to these lower animals. 

 The point which has interested me most, but I do not say the 

 most valuable point, is your protest against sinking imaginary 

 continents in a quite reckless manner, as was stated by Forbes, 

 followed, alas, by Hooker, and caricatured by Wollaston and 

 [Andrew] Murray ! By the way, the main impression that 

 the latter author has left on my mind is his utter want of all 

 scientific judgment. I have lifted up my voice against the 

 above view with no avail, but I have no doubt that you will 

 succeed, owing to your new arguments and the coloured chart. 

 Of a special value, as it seems to me, is the conclusion that 

 we must determine the areas, chiefly by the nature of the. 

 mammals. When I worked many years ago on this subject, 

 I doubted much whether the now called Palaearctic and 

 Nearctic regions ought to be separated ; and I determined if I 

 made another region that it should be Madagascar. I have, 

 therefore, been able to appreciate your evidence on these 

 points. What progress Palaeontology has made during the 

 last 20 years ; but if it advances at the same rate in the 

 future, our views on the migration and birth-place of the 

 various groups will, I fear, be greatly altered. I cannot feel 

 quite easy about the Glacial period, and the extinction of large 



* Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's f * Geographical Distribution/ 

 house in Surrey. 1876. 



