2 MY LIFE 



dally in " More- Letters " I 1903) ; while several <>f the nn 

 interesting of these were contained in the one-volume life, 

 entitled, "Charles Darwin/' which appeared In [892. As 

 many of my readers, however, may no1 have these works to 

 refer to, 1 will here give a few of his letters to myself which 

 have not yet been published, together with some of my own, 

 and also occasional extracts from some of Darwin's that have 

 already appeared, in order to make clear the nature of our 

 discussions, and also, perhaps, to throw a little light upon our 

 respective characters. 



In a letter entirely without date, but which was evidently 

 written in 1863, he gives me some information for which I had 

 asked about reviews of the " Origin of Species." 



"Down, Bromley, Kent (1863). 

 " My Dear Mr. Wallace, 



" I write one line to thank you for your note, and 

 to say that the B. of Oxford wrote the Quarterly R. (paid 

 £60), aided by Owen. In the Edinburgh, Owen no doubt 

 praised himself. Mr. Maw's review in Zoologist is one of the 

 best, and staggered me in parts, for I did not see the sophistry 

 of (those) parts. I could lend you any which you might wish 

 to see, but you would soon be tired. Hopkins in Fraser and 

 Pictet are two of the best. 



" I am glad you like the little orchid book ; but it has not 

 been worth the ten months it has cost me ; it was a hobby horse, 

 and so beguiled me. 



" How puzzled you must be to know what to begin at ! You 

 will do grand work, I do not doubt. My health is, and always 

 will be, very poor; I am that miserable animal, a regular 

 valetudinarian. 



"Yours very sincerely, 



"C. Darwin/' 



In March, 1864, he wrote me from Malvern Wells that he 

 had been very ill at home, having fits of vomiting every day 

 for two months, and been able to do nothing. These attacks 

 were brought on by the least mental excitement, which often 



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