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CHAPTER X. 



THB GROWTH OF THE ■ ORIGIN OP SPECIES.' 



1843-1858. 



The history of the years 1843-1858 is here related in an 

 extremely abbreviated fashion. It was a period of minute 

 labour on a variety of subjects, and the letters accordingly 

 abound in detail. They are in many ways extremely interest- 

 ing, more especially so to professed naturalists, and the 

 picture of patient research which they convey is of great value 

 from a biographical point of view. But such a picture must 

 either be given in a complete series of unabridged letters, or 

 omitted altogether. The limits of space compel me to the 

 latter choice. The reader must imagine my father corre- 

 sponding on problems in geology, geographical distribution, and 

 classification ; at the same time collecting facts on such varied 

 points as the 6tripes on horses' legs, the floating of seeds, 

 the breeding of pigeons, the form of bees' cells and the innu- 

 merable other questions to which his gigantic task demanded 

 answers. 



The concluding letter of the last chapter has shown how 

 strong was his conviction of the value of his work. It is 

 impressive evidence of the condition of the scientific atmo- 

 sphere, to discover, as in the following letters to Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, how small was the amount of encouragement that he 

 dared to hope for from his brother-naturalists. 



[January 11th, 1844.] 



... I have been now ever since my return engaged in a 

 very presumptuous work, and I know no one individual who 

 would not say a very foolish one. I was so struck with the 

 distribution of the Galapagos organisms, &c. &c, and with the 

 character of the American fossil mammifers, &c. &c, that I 

 determined to collect blindly every sort of fact, which could 

 bear any way on what are species. I have read heaps of 

 agricultural and horticultural books, and have never ceased 

 collecting facts. At last gleams of light have come, and I am 



