i860.] REV. L. BLOMEFIELD. 263 



into the West Indies change colour ? I have had detailed in- 

 formation about the loss of wool ; but my accounts made the 

 change slower than you describe. 



With most cordial thanks and respect, believe me, my dear 

 Carpenter, yours very sincerely, 



CH. DARWIN. 



C. Darwin to L. Jenyns.* 



Down, January 7th, 1860. 



MY DEAR JENYNS, I am very much obliged for your 

 letter. It is of great use and interest to me to know what 

 impression my book produces on philosophical and instructed 

 minds. I thank you for the kind things which you say ; and 

 you go with me much further than I expected. You will 

 think it presumptuous, but I am convinced, if circumstances 

 lead you to keep the subject in mind, that you will go further. 

 No one has yet cast doubts on my explanation of the sub- 

 ordination of group to group, on homologies, embryology, 

 and rudimentary organs ; and if my explanation of these 

 classes of facts be at all right, whole classes of organic beings 

 must be included in one line of descent 



The imperfection of the Geological Record is one of the 



greatest difficulties During the earliest period the 



record would be most imperfect, and this seems to me 

 sufficiently to account for our not finding intermediate forms 

 between the classes in the same great kingdoms. It was 

 certainly rash in me putting in my belief of the probability of 

 .all beings having descended from one primordial form ; but 

 -as this seems yet to me probable, I am not willing to strike 

 it out. Huxley alone supports me in this, and something 

 could be said in its favour. With respect to man, I am very 

 far from wishing to obtrude my belief; but I thought it 

 dishonest to quite conceal my opinion. Of course it is 



* Rev. L. Blomefield. 



