My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
—232 MY LIFElittle correspondence with him, as I had no knowledgewhatever of the subjects he was then working on.But he still continued to write to me occasionally,either referring kindly to my own work or sendingme facts or suggestions which he thought would beof interest to me. I will here give only some extractsfrom a few of the latest of the letters I received fromhim.On November 3, 1880, he wrote me the followingvery kind letter upon my " Island Life," on which Ihad asked for his criticism :" I have now read your book, and it has interestedme deeply. It is quite excellent, and seems to methe best book which you have ever published ;butthis may be merely because I have read it last As Iwent on I made a few notes, chiefly where I differedslightly from you ; but God knows whether they areworth your reading. You will be disappointed withmany of them ; but it will show that I had the will,though I did not know the way to do what youwanted." I have said nothing on the infinitely manypassages and views, which I admired and which werenew to me. My notes are badly expressed, but Ithought that you would excuse my taking any painswith my style. I wish my confounded handwritingwas better. I had a note the other day from Hooker,and I can see that he is much pleased with thededication."With this came seven foolscap pages of notes,many giving facts from his extensive reading whichI had not seen.In another letter, two months later,the same subject.he recurs to
LYELL AND DARWIN 233" Down, January 2, 1881."My dear Wallace," The case which you give is a very strikingone, and I had overlooked it in Natiire ; ^ but I remainas great a heretic as ever. Any supposition seems tome more probable than that the seeds of plants shouldhave been blown from the mountains of Abyssinia, orother central mountains of Africa, to the mountains ofMadagascar. It seems to me almost infinitely moreprobable that Madagascar extended far to the southduring the glacial period, and that the S. hemispherewas, according to Croll, then more temperate ;andthat the whole of Africa was then peopled with sometemperate forms, which crossed chiefly by agency ofbirds and sea-currents, and some few by the wind,from the shores of Africa to Madagascar subsequentlyascending to the mountains." How lamentable it is that two men should takesuch widely different views, with the same facts beforethem ; but this seems to be almost regularly our case,I am fairly well, but alwaysand much do I regret it.feel half dead with fatigue.I heard but an indifferentaccount of your health some time ago, but trust thatyou are now somewhat stronger." Believe me, my dear Wallace," Yours very sincerely,"Ch. Darwin."It is really quite pathetic how much he feltdifference of opinion from his friends. I, of course,should have liked to be able to convert him to myviews, but I did not feel it so much as he seemed to* Nature, December 9, 1880. The substance of this article by Mr.Baker, of Kew, is given in " More Letters," vol. iii. p. 25, in a footnote.
- Page 228 and 229: —1 86 MY LIFEin Borneo and Bates'
- Page 230: i88MY LIFEwet in Celebes, while it
- Page 234 and 235: And190 MY LIFEsharp attack of inter
- Page 236 and 237: 192 MY LIFEThe effect of my paper u
- Page 238 and 239: 194 MY LIFEtherefore, that I may ha
- Page 240 and 241: —196 MY LIFEcontinued perseveranc
- Page 242 and 243: 198 MY LIFEbecause they are so much
- Page 244 and 245: —200 MY LIFEwith one or other of
- Page 246 and 247: 202 MY LIFEfor a place to stand the
- Page 248 and 249: 204 MY LIFEbeetles,and land-shells,
- Page 250 and 251: Lombok.
- Page 252 and 253: 208 MY LIFEof the whole lepidoptero
- Page 254 and 255: 210 MY LIFEforms, which in the few
- Page 256 and 257: 212 MY LIFEMany of these had appear
- Page 258 and 259: 214 MY LIFEthus became intimate wit
- Page 260: 2i6MY LIFErocks, among which were t
- Page 263 and 264: SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY WORK 217and
- Page 265 and 266: SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY WORK 219ver
- Page 267 and 268: LYELL AND DARWIN 221manners, his fu
- Page 269 and 270: —LYELL AND DARWIN 223and allied q
- Page 271 and 272: LYELL AND DARWIN 225Sir Charles quo
- Page 273 and 274: LYELL AND DARWIN 227he usually did
- Page 275 and 276: —LYELL AND DARWIN 229" My dear Wa
- Page 277: LYELL AND DARWIN 231I was so anxiou
- Page 281 and 282: LYELL AND DARWIN 235" I am delighte
- Page 283 and 284: LYELL AND DARWIN 237subdued colorat
- Page 285 and 286: "CHAPTER XVIHERBERT SPENCER, HUXLEY
- Page 287 and 288: —SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 241e
- Page 289 and 290: SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 243see
- Page 291 and 292: "SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 245def
- Page 293 and 294: SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 247fanc
- Page 295 and 296: SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 249Lyel
- Page 297 and 298: SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 251Broo
- Page 300: ^^^ 0..^y^ /Uh/i7cA'^[To face p. 25
- Page 305 and 306: SPENCER, HUXLEY, AND OTHERS 253at t
- Page 308 and 309: 77
- Page 310 and 311: 256 MY LIFEas I could not stand the
- Page 312 and 313: 258 MY LIFEAt Glasgow, in 1876, I w
- Page 314: CHAPTER XVIIHOME LIFE AND WORK(187O
- Page 318 and 319: 262 MY LIFEbottom of the well with
- Page 320: 264 MY LIFEsystematic groundwork, a
- Page 324 and 325: 266 MY LIFEdependent on, that of pl
- Page 326: 268 MY LIFEthe occurrence of northe
—232 MY LIFElittle correspondence with him, as I had no knowledgewhatever <strong>of</strong> the subjects he was then working on.But he still continued to write to me occasionally,either referring kindly to my own work or sendingme facts or suggestions which he thought would be<strong>of</strong> interest to me. I will here give only some extractsfrom a few <strong>of</strong> the latest <strong>of</strong> the letters I received fromhim.On November 3, 1880, he wrote me the followingvery kind letter upon my " Isl<strong>and</strong> Life," on which Ihad asked for his criticism :" I have now read your book, <strong>and</strong> it has interestedme deeply. It is quite excellent, <strong>and</strong> seems to methe best book which you have ever published ;butthis may be merely because I have read it last As Iwent on I made a few notes, chiefly where I differedslightly from you ; but God knows whether they areworth your reading. You will be disappointed withmany <strong>of</strong> them ; but it will show that I had the will,though I did not know the way to do what youwanted." I have said nothing on the infinitely manypassages <strong>and</strong> views, which I admired <strong>and</strong> which werenew to me. <strong>My</strong> notes are badly expressed, but Ithought that you would excuse my taking any painswith my style. I wish my confounded h<strong>and</strong>writingwas better. I had a note the other day from Hooker,<strong>and</strong> I can see that he is much pleased with thededication."With this came seven foolscap pages <strong>of</strong> notes,many giving facts from his extensive reading whichI had not seen.In another letter, two months later,the same subject.he recurs to
Change language