1890 LETTEES TO PEOFESSOE LE CONTE 237 



than any other, those of the Pelargonium scarcely 

 at all. 



I hope that at some time you vrill be able to get 

 sent to me seeds of species peculiar to oceanic islands, 

 should you hear of any botanists who are visiting 

 such islands. 



G. J. KOMAXES. 



I note that you have been good enough to pass 

 my questions on to Mr. G-reene, whose great kindness 

 (already experienced by me) will, I trust, prevent 

 him from thinking that the failure of the seeds to 

 flower here was due to any neghgence on my part. 



Yes, it is the same Rev. Mr. Guhck whom you 

 describe that wrote the paperon 'Divergent Evolution' 

 to which I alluded, and which is a most remarkable 

 paper in every way, though not at aU easy to master. 

 Wallace completely misunderstood it in his letter to 

 ' Xature.' It was his work in shells that first led Mr. 

 Guhck to study Isolation, and he has been at work 

 upon the subject ever since. To the best of my 

 judgment, he has demonstrated the necessity of what 

 he caUs ' segregate breeding ' for ' poljiiypic evolu- 

 tion,' and in this connection has worked out the idea 

 of physiological selection (which he calls segregate 

 fecundity) much more fully than I have. 



It is most astonishing to me with what a storm 

 of opposition this idea has been met in England, and 

 how persistent is the misunderstanding. In Ger- 

 many and America it is being much more fairly 

 treated, but meanwhile I intend to keep it as quiet as 

 possible, till I shall be in a position to pubHsh a large 



