2 
INTRODUCTION. 
natural history of the Malay archipelago, has arrived 
at almost exactly the same general conclusions that I 
have on the origin of species. Last year he sent me a 
memoir on this subject, with a request that I would 
forward it to Sir Charles Lyell, who sent it to the Lin- 
nean Society, and it is published in the third volume 
of the Journal of that Society. Sir C. Lyell and Dr. 
Hooker, who both knew of my work—the latter having 
read my sketch of 1844—honoured me by thinking it 
advisable to publish, with Mr. Wallace’s excellent me¬ 
moir, some brief extracts from my manuscripts. _ 
This Abstract, which I now publish, must necessarily 
be imperfect. I cannot here give references and autho¬ 
rities for my several statements; and I must trust to 
the reader reposing some confidence in my accuracy. 
'No doubt errors will have crept in, though I hope I have 
always been cautious in trusting to good authorities 
alone. I can here give only the general conclusions at 
which I have arrived, with a few facts in illustration, 
but which, I hope, in most cases will suffice. No one 
can feel more sensible than I do of the necessity of here¬ 
after publishing in detail all the facts, with references, 
on which my conclusions have been grounded; and I 
hope in a future work to do this. For I am well aware 
that scarcely a single point is discussed in this volume 
on which facts cannot be adduced, often apparently 
leading to conclusions directly opposite to those at which 
I have arrived. A fair result can be obtained only by 
fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on 
both sides of each question; and this cannot possibly be 
here done. 
I much regret that want of space prevents my having 
the satisfaction of acknowledging the generous assistance 
which I have received from very many naturalists, some 
of them personally unknown to me, I cannot, however, 
DSI 
