512 THE WRITING OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' [1859. 



looked over my chapter, except the third part returned. I 

 am very sorry Mrs. Hooker took the trouble of copying the 

 two pages." 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker. 



[April or May, 1859] 

 . . . Please do not say to any one that I thought my book 

 on Species would be fairly popular, and have a fairly remu- 

 nerative sale (which was the height of my ambition), for if it 

 prove a dead failure, it would make me the more ridiculous. 

 I enclose a criticism, a taste of the future — 



Rev. S. Haughtoris Address to the Geological Society, Dublin* 

 " This speculation of Messrs. Darwin and Wallace would 

 not be worthy of notice were it not for the weight of authority 

 of the names (i. e. Lyell's and yours), under whose auspices it 

 has been brought forward. If it means what it says, it is a 

 truism ; if it means anything more, it is contrary to fact." 



Q. E. D. 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker. 



Down, May nth [1859], 

 My dear Hooker, — Thank you for telling me about 

 obscurity of style. But on my life no nigger with lash over 

 him could have worked harder at clearness than I have done. 

 But the very difficulty to me, of itself leads to the probability 

 that I fail. Yet one lady who has read all my MS. has found 

 only two or three obscure sentences, but Mrs. Hooker having 

 so found it, makes me tremble. I will do my best in proofs. 

 You are a good man to take the trouble to write about it. 

 With respect to our mutual muddle, f I never for a moment 



* Feb. 9, 1S59. 



f " When I go over the chapter I will see what I can do, but I hardly 

 know how I am obscure, and I think we are somehow in a mutual muddle 

 with respect to each other, from starting from some fundamentally differ- 

 ent notions." — Letter of May 6, 1859. 



