I864-] ILLNESS. 211 



conscientiously declare that I never feel surprised at any one 

 sticking to the belief of immutability ; though I am often not 

 a little surprised at the arguments advanced on this side. I 

 remember too well my endless oscillations of doubt and diffi- 

 culty. It is to me really laughable when I thing of the years 

 which elapsed before I saw what I believe to be the explana- 

 tion of some parts of the case ; I believe it was fifteen years 

 after I began before I saw the meaning and cause of the di- 

 vergence of the descendants of any one pair. You pay me 

 some most elegant and pleasing compliments. There is much 

 in your address which has pleased me much, especially your 

 remarks on various naturalists. I am so glad that you have 

 alluded so honourably to Pasteur. I have just read over this 

 note ; it does not express strongly enough the interest which 

 I have felt in reading your address. You have done, I be- 

 lieve, a real good turn to the right side. Believe me, dear 

 Bentham, 



Yours very sincerely, 



Ch. Darwin. 



1864. 



[In my father's diary for 1864 is the entry, " 111 all Janu- 

 ary, February, March." About the middle of April (seven 

 months after the beginning of the illness in the previous 

 autumn) his health took a turn for the better. As soon as he 

 was able to do any work, he began to write his papers on 

 Lythrum, and on Climbing Plants, so that the work which 

 now concerns us did not begin until September, when he 

 again set to work on 'Animals and Plants.' A letter to Sir 

 J. D. Hooker gives some account of the re-commencement 

 of the work : " I have begun looking over my old MS., and 

 it is as fresh as if I had never written it ; parts are astonish- 

 ingly dull, but yet worth printing, I think ; and other parts 

 strike me as very good. I am a complete millionaire in odd 

 and curious little facts, and I have been really astounded at 

 my own industry whilst reading my chapters on Inheritance 

 and Selection. God knows when the book will ever be com- 



