1859-1 MR - WALLACE. 501 



C. Darwin to A. R. Wallace. 



Down, Jan. 25th [1859]. 



MY DEAR SIR, I was extremely much pleased at receiving 

 three days ago your letter to me and that to Dr. Hooker. 

 Permit me to say how heartily I admire the spirit in which 

 they are written. Though I had absolutely nothing whatever 

 to do in leading Lyell and Hooker to what they thought a 

 fair course of action, yet I naturally could not but feel anxious 

 to hear what your impression would be. I owe indirectly 

 much to you and them ; for I almost think that Lyell would 

 have proved right, and I should never have completed my 

 larger work, for I have found my Abstract hard enough with 

 my poor health, but now, thank God, I am in my last chapter 

 but one. My Abstract will make a small volume of 400 or 

 500 pages. Whenever published, I will, of course, send you 

 a copy, and then you will see what I mean about the part 

 which I believe selection has played with domestic produc- 

 tions. It is a very different part, as you suppose, from that 

 played by " Natural Selection." I sent off, by the same ad- 

 dress as this note, a copy of the ' Journal of the Linnean So- 

 ciety/ and subsequently I have sent some half-dozen copies 

 of the paper. I have many other copies at your dis- 

 posal. . . . 



I am glad to hear that you have been attending to birds' 

 nests. I have done so, though almost exclusively under one 

 point of view, viz., to show that instincts vary, so that selec- 

 tion could work on and improve them. Few other instincts, 

 so to speak, can be preserved in a Museum. 



Many thanks for your offer to look after horses' stripes ; 

 if there are any donkeys, pray add them. I am delighted to 



hear that you have collected bees' combs This is an 



especial hobby of mine, and I think I can throw a light on 

 the subject. If you can collect duplicates, at no very great 

 expense, I should be glad of some specimens for myself with 

 some bees of each kind. Young, growing, and irregular 

 combs, and those which have not had pupae, are most valua- 



