1*876.] AND SELF-FERTILISATION.' 293 



very dull. Chapters II. to VL, inclusive, are simply a record 

 of experiments. Nevertheless, I believe (though a man can 

 never judge his own books) that the book is valuable. You 

 will have to decide whether it is worth translating. I hope 

 so. It has cost me very great labour, and the results seem 

 to me remarkable and well established. 



If you translate it, you could easily get aid for Chapters 

 II. to VL, as there is here endless, but, I have thought, 

 necessary repetition. I shall be anxious to hear what you 

 decide 



I most sincerely hope that your health has been fairly 

 good this summer. 



My dear Sir, yours very truly, 



CH. DARWIN. 



C. Darwin to Asa Gray. 



Down, October 28, 1876. 



MY DEAR GRAY, I send by this post all the clean sheets 

 as yet printed, and I hope to send the remainder within a 

 fortnight. Please observe that the first six chapters are not 

 readable, and the six last very dull. Still I believe that the 

 results are valuable. If you review the book, I shall be very 

 curious to see what you think of it, for I care more for your 

 judgment than for that of almost any one else. I know also 

 that you will speak the truth, whether you approve or dis- 

 approve. Very few will take the trouble to read the book, 

 and I do not expect you to read the whole, but I hope you 

 will read the latter chapters. 



... I am so sick of correcting the press and licking my 

 horrid bad style into intelligible English. 



[The ' Effects of Cross and Self- Fertilisation ' was published 

 on November 10, 1876, and 1500 copies were sold before the 

 <end of the year. The following letter refers to a review in 

 'Nature:'*] 



* February 15, 1877. 



