118 EARLY DAYS OF DARWINISM 



con6lusion worth anything. Then when I was with you 



you showed me that marvellous collection of Larks and 



Chats, including so many "Desert forms," something 



like which (in the way of local variation) poor Baird had 



shown me the year before in Washington, I was wholly 



bewildered. Towards the end of the month appeared 



that part of the Linnean Jowmal, and behold all to me 



became as clear as possible ! Such a revelation never 



was before nor will be, I think, again to me. I want to 



work all this into a paper I have to do for Macmillan 



d fropos of Darwin's " Life and Letters " ; but it has to 



be done at once, and therefore please let me have any 



letters you can find showing my frame of mind at that 



time, or at least before the publication of the " Origin," 



which was not until Nov. (or perhaps Dec), 1859. To the 



best of my belief I took in the whole thing, details apart, 



from the first ; but I find I cannot trust my memory, 



and the letters would be a great help to me.* 



In November, 1859, the ever-celebrated " Origin of 

 Species " was published. " Its contents I devoured and 

 felt happier than ever, for now I began to see that Natural 

 History possessed an interest far beyond that which it 

 had entered into my mind to perceive." The various 

 reviews of the book, most of them unfavourable to 

 Darwin's views, were read by Newton, but produced 

 little or no efEect on him except to lower his estimate of 

 the general run of critics. In the following year he was 

 present at the memorable meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion at Oxford — 



In the Nat. Hist. Section we had another hot Dar- 

 winian debate. Mr. F. 0. Morris had a paper on the list 

 to be read " On the Permanence of Species," but in the 

 committee we decided it should not be produced (he was 

 not there himself), Babington treating us to some selec- 

 tions from it and remarking that it would, of course, 



* Letter to H. B. Tristram, February 2, 1888. 



