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



[Ten days later he wrote to Sir J. D. Hooker : 



"... I write one word to say that I shall return on 

 Saturday, and if you have any proof-sheets to send, I shall 

 be glad to do my best in any criticisms. 



I had . . . great prostration of mind and body, but entire 

 rest, and the douche, and ' Adam Bede,' have together done 

 me a world of good."] 



C. Darwin to J. Murray. 



Down, June I4th [1859]. 



MY" DEAR SIR, The diagram will do very well, and I 

 will send it shortly to Mr. West to have a few trifling 

 corrections made. 



I get on very slowly with proofs. I remember writing to 

 you that I thought there would be not much correction. I 

 honestly wrote what I thought, but was most grievously 

 mistaken. I find the style incredibly bad, and most difficult 

 to make clear and smooth. I am extremely sorry to say, on 

 account of expense, and loss of time for me, that the cor- 

 rections are very heavy, as heavy as possible. But from 

 casual glances, I still hope that later chapters are not so 

 badly written. How I could have written so badly is quite 

 inconceivable, but I suppose it was owing to my whole 

 attention being fixed on the general line of argument, and 

 not on details. All I can say is, that I am very sorry. 



Yours very sincerely, 



C. DARWIN. 



P.S. I have been looking at the corrections, and consider- 

 ing them. It seems to me that I shall put you to a quite unfair 

 expense. If you please I should like to enter into some 

 such arrangement as the following : When work completed, 

 you to allow in the account a fairly moderately heavy charge 

 for corrections, and all excess over that to be deducted from 

 my profits, or paid by me individually. 





