Ch. XL] 1858—1859. 195 



C. D. to A. B. 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 mo 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 bo. 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 [Origin of Species] 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 pro- 

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

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

 address as this note, a copy of tho Journal of the Linnean 

 Society, and subsequently I have sent some half-dozen copies 

 of the paper. I have many other copies at your disposal. . . . 



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 selection 

 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 valuable for measurements 

 and examination. Their edges should be well protected against 

 abrasion. 



Every one whom I have seen has thought your paper very 

 well written and interesting. It puts my extracts (written in 

 1839,* now just twenty years ago !), which I must say in 

 apology were never for an instant intended for publication, 

 into the shade. 



* See a discussion on the date of the earliest sketch of the Origin 

 in the Life and Letters, ii. p. 10. 



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