^66 THE UNFINISHED BOOK. [1857. 



You say that you have been somewhat surprised at no notice 

 having been taken of your paper in the Annals.* I cannot 

 say that I am, for so very few naturalists care for anything 

 beyond the mere description of species. But you must not 

 suppose that your paper has not been attended to : two very 

 good men, Sir C. Lyell, and Mr. E. Blyth at Calcutta, spe- 

 cially called my attention to it. Though agreeing with you on 

 your conclusions in that paper, I believe I go much further 

 than you ; but it is too long a subject to enter on my specu- 

 lative notions. I have not yet seen your paper on the distri- 

 bution of animals in the Aru Islands. I shall read it with the 

 utmost interest ; for I think that the most interesting quarter 

 of the whole globe in respect to distribution, and I have long 

 been very imperfectly trying to collect data for the Malay 

 Archipelago. I shall be quite prepared to subscribe to your 

 doctrine of subsidence ; indeed, from the quite independent 

 evidence of the Coral Reefs I coloured my original map (in 

 my Coral volume) of the Aru Islands as one of subsidence, 

 but got frightened and left it uncoloured. But I can see 

 that you are inclined to go much further than I am in re- 

 gard to the former connection of oceanic islands with con- 

 tinents. Ever since poor E. Forbes propounded this doc- 

 trine it has been eagerly followed ; and Hooker elaborately 

 discusses the former connection of all the Antarctic Islands 

 and New Zealand and South America. About a year ago 

 I discussed this subject much with Lyell and Hooker (for 

 I shall have to treat of it), and wrote out my arguments in 

 opposition ; but you will be glad to hear that neither Lyell 

 nor Hooker thought much of my arguments. Nevertheless, 

 for once in my life, I dare withstand the almost preter- 

 natural sagacity of Lyell. 



You ask about land-shells on islands far distant from con- 

 tinents : Madeira has a few identical with those of Europe, 

 and here the evidence is really good, as some of them are 



* ' On the law that has regulated the introduction of New Species.. 

 Ann. Nat. Hist., 1S55. 



