My dear Sir

As you might possibly be surprised at not receiving the promised sheets of my Worm book, I write to say that there has been an extraordinary delay by the Printers in correcting the last sheets, & now my Publisher begs me to defer the publication (though the book is as good as ready) till the end of October, which is called the publishing season; & I have been compelled to accede to his desire.—¹ I will,, however, send you clean sheets, as soon as I receive them, & then you can judge about extracts. I still think that a review of the whole book w^d. be your best plan, but whatever you decide will please me.—

Many thanks for “Die Gegenwart”, which you were so kind as to send me.— I read it with great interest. The “instinct” of plants is a most puzzling problem. I do not see, how mind is to be defined, if we substract consciousness … Nor can I doubt that consciousness is somehow a stage in the natural development of the mental faculties, though philosophers may urge that it belongs to a wholly different category of things.²

My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

What interesting numbers the several latter ones of Kosmos have been.—

By the way I must thank you for honouring my two sons by giving their essays.—³