The Waliace-Darwin Correspondence 



make me believe in sexual selection as applied to man, but 

 whether I shall convince anyone else is very doubtful. — 

 Dear Wallace, yours very sincerely. Oh. Darwin. 



Letter VIII 

 C. Darwin to A. K. Wallace 



Dovm, Bromley, Kent. May 18, 1860. 



My dear Mr. Wallace, — I received this morning your 

 letter from Amboyna dated Feb. 16th, containing some 

 remarks and your too high approbation of my book. Your 

 letter has pleased me very much, and I most completely 

 agree with you on the parts which are strongest and which 

 are weakest. The imperfection of the geological record is, 

 as you say, the weakest of all ; but yet I am pleased to find 

 that there are almost more geological converts than of pur- 

 suers of other branches of natural science. I may mention 

 Lyell, Ramsay, Jukes, Eogers, Keyerling, all good men and 

 true. Pictet of Geneva is not a convert, but is evidently 

 staggered (as I think is Bronn of Heidelberg), and he has 

 written a perfectly fair review in the Bib, Universelle of 

 Geneva. Old Bronn has translated my book, well done 

 also into German, and his well-known name will give it 

 circulation. I think geologists are more converted than 

 simple naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning. 



Before telling you about the progress of opinion on the 

 subject, you must let me say how I admire the generous 

 manner in which you speak of my book : most persons 

 would in your position have felt bitter envy and jealousy. 

 How nobly free you seem to be of this common failing of 

 mankind. But you speak far too modestly of yourself ; you 

 would, if you had had my leisure, have done the work just 

 as well, perhaps better, than I have done it. Talking of 

 envy, you never read anything more envious and spiteful 



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