Ch. XIV.] 1861—1871. 271 



dress ' of all animals. The subject has begun to interest me 

 in an extraordinary degree ; but I must try not to fall into my 

 common error of being too speculative. But a drunkard might 

 as well say he would drink a little and not too much ! My 

 essay, as far as fishes, batrachians and reptiles are concerned, 

 will be in fact yours, only written by me." 



The last revise of the Descent of Man was corrected on 

 January 15th, 1871, so that the book occupied him for about 

 three years. He wroto to Sir J. Hooker : " I finished the last 

 proofs of my book a few days ago ; the work half- killed me, 

 and I have not the most remoto idea whether the book is worth 

 publishing." 



He also wrote to Dr. Gray : — 



" I have finished my book on the Descent of Man, &c, and its 

 publication is delayed only by the Index : when published, I 

 will send you a copy, but I do not know that you will care 

 about it. Parts, as on the moral sense, will, I dare say, 

 aggravate you, and if I hear from you, I shall probably receive 

 a few stabs from your polished stiletto of a pen." 



The book was published on February 24, 1871. 2500 

 copies were printed at first, and 5000 more before the end of 

 the year. My father notes that he received for this edition 

 £1470. 



Nothing can give a better idea (in a small compass) of the 

 growth of Evolutionism, and its position at this time, than a 

 quotation from Mr. Huxley * : — 



" The gradual lapse of time has now separated us by more 

 than a decade from the date of the publication of the Origin 

 of Species ; and whatever may be thought or said about Mr. 

 Darwin's doctrines, or the manner in which he has propounded 

 them, this much is certain, that in a dozen years the Origin of 

 Species has worked as complete a revolution in Biological 

 Science as the Principia did in Astronomy ; " and it had done 

 so, " because in the words of Helmholtz, it contains ■ an 

 essentially new creative thought.' And, as time has slipped 

 by, a happy change has come over Mr. Darwin's critics. The 

 mixture of ignorance and insolence which at first characterised 

 a large proportion of the attacks with which he was assailed, 

 is no longer the sad distinction of anti-Darwinian criticism." 



A passage in the Introduction to the Descent of Man shows 

 that the author recognised clearly this improvement in the 

 position of Evolutionism. " When a naturalist like Carl Vogt 

 ventures to say in his address, as President of the National 



* Contemporary Heview, 1871. 



