Early Letters 



and yet it is perfectly original. The reasoning is close and 

 clear, and although so brief an essay, it is quite complete, 

 embraces the whole difficulty, and anticipates and annihilates 

 all objections. 



Few men will be in a condition to comprehend and 

 appreciate the paper, but it will infallibly create for you 

 a high and sound reputation. The theory I quite assent 

 to, and, you know, was conceived by me also, but I profess 

 that I could not have propounded it with so much force 

 and completeness. 



Many details I could supply, in fact a great deal remains 

 to be done to illustrate and confirm the theory : a new 

 method of investigating and propounding zoology and botany 

 inductively is necessitated, and new libraries will have to 

 be written ; in part of this task I hope to be a labourer for 

 many happy and profitable years. What a noble subject 

 would be that of a monograph of a group of beings peculiar 

 to one region but offering different species in each province 

 of it — tracing the laws which connect together the modifica- 

 tions of forms and colour with the local circumstances of a 

 province or station — tracing as far as possible the actual 

 affiliation of the species. 



Two of such groups occur to me at once, in entomology, 

 in Heliconiidse and Erotylidge of South America; the latter 

 I think more interesting than the former for one reason — 

 the species are more local, having feebler means of locomo- 

 tion than the Heliconiidae. . . . — Yours very truly, 



Henry Walter Bates. 



To H. W. Bates 



Amhoyna. January 4t/18i)S. 

 My dear Bates, — My delay of six months in answering 

 your very interesting and most acceptable letter dated 

 F 65 



