1880 COMING OF AGE OF THE 'ORIGIN' 279 



Mammalia" (Proc. Z. S. 1880, pp. 649-662). In 

 reply to Darwin's letter thanking him for the 

 " Coming of Age " (Life and Letters, iii. 24), he wrote 

 on May 10 : 



MY DEAR DARWIN You are the cheeriest letter- writer 

 I know, and always help a man to think the best of his 

 doings. 



I hope you do not imagine because I had nothing to 

 say about " Natural Selection," that I am at all weak of 

 faith on that article. On the contrary, I live in hope 

 that as palaeontologists work more and more in the 

 manner of that " second Daniel come to judgment," that 

 wise young man M. Filhal, we shall arrive at a crushing 

 accumulation of evidence in that direction also. But 

 the first thing seems to me to be to drive the fact of 

 evolution into people's heads ; when that is once safe, 

 the rest will come easy. 



I hear that ce cher X. is yelping about again ; but in 

 spite of your provocative messages (which Eachel retailed 

 with great glee), I am not going to attack him nor 

 anybody else. 



Another popular lecture on a zoological subject 

 was that of July 1 on " Cuttlefish and Squids," the 

 last of the "Davis" lectures given by him at the 

 Zoological Gardens. 



More important were two other essays delivered 

 this year. The " Method of Zadig " (Coll. Ess. iv. 1), 

 an address at the Working Men's College, takes for 

 its text Voltaire's story of the philosopher at the 

 Oriental court, who, by taking note of trivial indica- 

 tions, obtains a perilous knowledge of things which 

 his neighbours ascribe either to thievery or magic. 



