To J. D. Hooker [21 May 1867]1
Down
Tuesday
My dear Hooker
I suppose you are now in France. I am very sorry you cd not come here, but remember that you are bound by honour to two visits here.2
We intend to be in London in the early part of June for a week & shall perhaps see you but that must not count.3 I am very glad to hear about Wallace & the gold medal. Every thing that I have read of his gives me the highest idea of his extraordinary talents. I cannot of course judge about Müller, but he must have done much good work if he is to beat Wallace.4 Thanks for the enclosed letter; I am glad to see that Barkely takes the same view that I did about the bones of the deer. I remember distinctly in one of the old voyages the express statement that no quadruped inhabited the island. With respect to Barkly’s belief in continental extensions, the argument which always brings me round to my old belief again is that you must extend the continental theory to every single island, as far as I know, in every ocean.5
I am getting on very slowly with my book for I have unparalleled power of expressing myself badly, so that I doubt whether it will be finished by Nov. & this half breaks my heart & injures my stomach6
yours affectly | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Glad to hear Wallace is contender for Gold Medal. Has highest esteem for his extraordinary talents.
Thanks for H. Barkly’s letter from Mauritius.
Glad to see HB takes same view as CD about bones of deer [see 5395].
Objections to continental extension theory.
Progress [on Variation] very slow.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5543
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 94: 26–7
- Physical description
- LS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5543,” accessed on 21 October 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5543.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15