The Wallace-Darwin Correspondence 



the Glacial period and the extinction of large mammals, 

 but I much hope that you are right. I think you will have 

 to modify your belief about the diflaculty of dispersal of 

 land molluscs; I was interrupted when beginning to ex- 

 perimentise on the just-hatched young adhering to the feet 

 of ground-roosting birds. I differ on one other point, viz. 

 in the belief that there must have existed a Tertiary Ant- 

 arctic continent, from which various forms radiated to the 

 southern extremities of our present continents. But I 

 could go on scribbling for ever. You have written, as I 

 believe, a grand and memorable work, which will last 

 for years as the foundation for all future treatises on 

 Geographical Distribution. — ;My dear Wallace, yours very 

 sincerely, Charles Darwin. 



P.S. — Yon have paid me the highest conceivable compli- 

 ment by what you say of your work in relation to my 

 chapters on Distribution in the ^' Origin,'' and I heartily 

 thank you for it. 



The Dell, Grays, Essex. June 7, 1876. 



Dear Darwin, — Many thanks for your very kind letter. 

 So few people will read my book at all regularly, that a 

 criticism from one who does so will be very welcome. 



If, as I suppose, it is only to p. 184 of Vol. I. that 

 you have read, you cannot yet quite see my conclusions 

 on the points you refer to (land molluscs and Antarctic 

 continent). My own conclusions fluctuated during the 

 progress of the book, and I have, I know, occasionally 

 used expressions (the relics of earlier ideas) which are not 

 quite consistent with what I say further on. I am posi- 

 tively against any Southern continent as tiniting South 

 America with Australia or Xew Zealand, as you will see at 

 Vol. I., pp. 398-403 and 459-46G. My general conclusions 



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