CHAPTER VIII. 



MISCELLANEA, INCLUDING SECOND EDITIONS OF *' CORAL 

 REEFS,' THE 'DESCENT OF MAN,' AND THE 'VARIA- 

 TIONS OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS.' 



1874 AND 1875. 



[THE year 1874 was given up to ' Insectivorous Plants,' 

 with the exception of the months (see vol. ii, p. 353) devoted 

 to the second edition of the 'Descent of Man,' and with the 

 further exception of the time given to a second edition of his 

 'Coral Reefs ' (1874). The Preface to the latter states that 

 new facts have been added, the whole book revised, and " the 

 latter chapters almost rewritten." In the Appendix some ac- 

 count is given of Professor Semper's objections, and this was 

 the occasion of correspondence between that naturalist and 

 my father. In Professor Semper's volume, ' Animal Life ' 

 (one of the International Series), the author calls attention 

 to the subject in the following passage which I give in Ger- 

 man, the published English translation being, as it seems to 

 me, incorrect : " Es scheint mir als ob er in der zweiten 

 Ausgabe seines allgemein bekannten Werks iiber Korallenriffe 

 einem Irrthume iiber meine Beobachtungen zum Opfer gefal- 

 len ist, indem er die Angaben, die ich allerdings bisher immer 

 nur sehr kurz gehalten hatte, vollstandig falsch wiedergegeben 

 hat." 



The proof-sheets containing this passage were sent by 

 Professor Semper to my father before ' Animal Life ' was pub- 

 lished, and this was the occasion for the following letter, 

 which was afterwards published in Professor Semper's book.] 



