1913] BOWER—SIR JOSEPH HOOKER 385 
Before we trace the part which Hooker himself played in the 
drama of evolutionary theory, it will be well to glance at his personal 
relations with DARWIN himself. It has been seen how he read the 
proof-sheets of the Voyage of the Beagle while still in his last year 
of medical study. But before he started for the Antarctic he was 
introduced to its author. It was in Trafalgar Square, and the 
interview was brief but cordial. On returning from the Antarctic, 
correspondence was opened in 1843. In January 1844 HooKER 
received the memorable letter confiding to him the germ of the 
theory of descent. Darwin wrote thus: ‘At last gleams of light 
have come, and I am almost convinced that species are not (it is 
like confessing a murder) immutable: I think I have found (here’s 
presumption!) the simple way by which species become exquisitely 
adapted to various ends.” This was probably the first communi- 
cation by Darwin of his species theory to any scientific colleague. 
The correspondence thus happily initiated between Darwin 
and Hooker is preserved in the Life and letters of Charles Darwin, 
and in the two volumes of Letters subsequently published. They 
show,on the one hand, the rapid growth of a deep friendship between | 
these two potent minds, which ended only beside the grave of Dar- 
WIN in Westminster Abbey. But what is more important is that 
these letters reveal, in a way that none of the published work of 
either could have done, the steps in the growth of the great generali- 
zation. We read of the doubts of one or the other; the gradual 
accumulation of material facts; the criticisms and amendments 
in face of new evidence; and the slow progress from tentative hy- 
pothesis to assured belief. We ourselves have grown up since 
the clash of opinion for and against the mutability of species died 
down. It is hard for us to understand the strength of the feelings 
aroused, the bitterness of the attack by the opponents of the theory, 
and the fortitude demanded from its adherents. It is best to obtain 
evidence on such matters at first hand, and this is what is supplied 
by the correspondence between Darwin and Hooker. 
How complete the understanding between the friends soon 
became is shown by the provisions made by Darwin for the pub- 
lication of his manuscripts in case of sudden death. He wrote in 
August 1854 the definite direction “‘HooKER by far the best man 
