458 THE UNFINISHED BOOK. [1857. 



Hooker is going to Yarmouth ; I trust that the health of your 

 children is not the motive. Good-bye. 



My dear Hooker, ever yours, 



C. DARWIN. 



P. S. I believe you are afraid to send me a ripe Edwardsia 

 pod, for fear I should float it from New Zealand to Chile ! ! ! 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker. 



Down, June 5 [1857]. 



MY DEAR HOOKER, I honour your conscientious care 

 about the medals.* Thank God ! I am only an amateur (but 

 a much interested one) on the subject. 



It is an old notion of mine that more good is done by 

 giving medals to younger men in the early part of their 

 career, than as a mere reward to men whose scientific career 

 is nearly finished. Whether medals ever do any good is a 

 question which does not concern us, as there the medals are. 

 I am almost inclined to think that I would rather lower the 

 standard, and give medals to young workers than to old 

 ones with no especial claims. With regard to especial claims, 

 I think it just deserving your attention, that if general claims 

 are once admitted, it opens the door to great laxity in giving 

 them. Think of the case of a very rich man, who aided solely 

 with his money, but to a grand extent or such an inconceiv- 

 able prodigy as a minister of the Crown who really cared for 

 science. Would you give such men medals? Perhaps 

 medals could not be better applied than exclusively to such 

 men. I confess at present I incline to stick to especial claims 

 which can be put down on paper. . . . 



I am much confounded by your showing that there are 

 not obvious instances of my (or rather Waterhouse's) law of 

 abnormal developments being highly variable. I have been 

 thinking more of your remark about the difficulty of judging 



* The Royal Society's medals. 



