T86-3.] SIR J. VON IIAAST. j^ r 



my life read anything more spirited and interesting than your 

 address. The progress of your colony makes one proud, and 

 it is really admirable to see a scientific institution founded in 

 so young a nation. I thank you for the very honorable 

 notice of my ' Origin of Species.' You will easily believe 

 how much I have been interested by your striking facts on 

 the old glacial period, and I suppose the world might be 

 searched in vain for so grand a display of terraces. You 

 have, indeed, a noble field for scientific research and dis- 

 covery. I have been extremely much interested by what you 

 say about the tracks of supposed [living] mammalia. Might 

 I ask, if you succeed in discovering what the creatures are, 

 you would have the great kindness to inform me ? Perhaps 

 they may turn out something like the Solenhofen bird 

 creature, with its long tail and fingers, with claws to its 

 wings ! I may mention that in South America, in com- 

 pletely uninhabited regions, I found spring rat-traps, baited 

 with cheese, were very successful in catching the smaller 

 mammals. I would venture to suggest to you to urge on 

 some of the capable members of your institution to observe 

 annually the rate and manner of spreading of European 

 weeds and insects, and especially to observe what native 

 plants most fail ; this latter point has never been attended to. 

 Do the introduced hive-bees replace any other insect ? &c. 

 All such points are, in my opinion, great desiderata in 

 science. What an interesting discovery that of the remains 

 of prehistoric man ! 



Believe me, dear Sir, 



With the most cordial respect and thanks, 

 Yours very faithfully, 



CHARLES DARWIN. 



" Report " is given in The New Zealand Government Gazette, Province of 

 Canterbury, Oct. 1862. 



