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on it & on my related works & these amount to 265; but after a time I gave up the attempt in despair. Many separate essays & books were also [illeg] been written on the subject, & in Germany each year or two a Catalogue or Bibliography on Darwinism has appeared.)

The success of the O. may, I think, be attributed to my having written long before 2 condensed sketches one after the other, & to my having finally dictated a much longer manuscript, which was in itself an abstract. By this means I was enabled to select all the more striking facts & conclusions.

I had, also, during very many years followed a golden rule, namely that whenever I came across across a fact, or observation, or thought a thought came across me which was opposed to my general results, I instantly so made a memorandum of it, for I found that such facts & thoughts were far more apt to escape as the many other favorable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed & attempted to answer.— It has often been said, "that the

"The reviews were very numerous; for a time I collected all that appeared on the Origin & on my related books, & these amount (excluding newspaper reviews) to 265; but after a time I gave up the attempt in despair. Many separate essays & books on the subject have appeared; & in Germany a catalogue or bibliography on "Darwinismus" has appeared every year or two.

The success of the Origin may, I think, be attributed in large part to my having long before written two condensed sketches, & to my having finally abstracted a much larger manuscript, which was itself an abstract. By this means I was enabled to select the more striking facts & conclusions. I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail & at once; for I had found by experience that such facts & thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory than favourable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed & attempted to answer. It has sometimes been said that the success of the Origin proved 'that the subject was in the air'" (CUL-DAR26.1-121)

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Mr W. when travelling in the M. A. sent me an Essay "On the t. of v. to depart indefinitely from the Or type, which contained exactly the same theory as mine & with he expressed the wish that if I thought well of it I should shd. forward it to Lyell. The circumstances under which I consented at the request of Lyell & Hooker to allow of cert an extract from my M.S together with a copy of the letter to A. G. dated July 5 1857) to be published at the same time with Wallace's Essay are given in the Journal of the Proc of L. Soc. August 1858 p 45. I was at the time first very unwilling to consent, as I thought that Wallace might think I was taking an [illeg] care of his essay, for I did not then know Wallaces his generous & noble disposition. The extracts from my M.S & sketch were published printed just as they were written & were had never not been intended for publication & were very badly written. Mr Wallace's Essay on the other hand was admirably written & clearly expressed.

Nevertheless our joint productions excited very little attention & the only published notice of it which I can remember was by Prof H. of Dublin, & his verdict was that all that was new in it was false, & what was true was old. This shows how necessary it is that any new view should be explained at some length & elaborated in order to attract public attention.)

"Mr Wallace, who was then in the Malay archipelago, sent me an essay "On the Tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original Type"; & this essay contained exactly the same theory as mine. Mr Wallace expressed the wish that if I thought well of his essay, I should send it to Lyell for perusal. The circumstances under which I consented at the request of Lyell & Hooker to allow of an extract from my MS., together with a letter to Asa Gray, dated September 5, 1857, to be published at the same time with Wallace's Essay, are given in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, 1858, p. 45. I was at first very unwilling to consent, as I thought Mr Wallace might consider my doing so unjustifiable, for I did not then know how generous & noble was his disposition. The extract from my MS. & the letter to Asa Gray had neither been intended for publication, & were badly written. Mr Wallace's essay, on the other hand, was admirably expressed & quite clear. Nevertheless, our joint productions excited very little attention, & the only published notice of them which I can remember was by Prof. Haughton of Dublin, whose verdict was that all that was new in them was false, & what was true was old. This shows how necessary it is that any new view should be explained at considerable length in order to arouse public attention." (CUL-DAR26.1-121)

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it is astonishing to me except on the principle of Columbus & his egg how the fr how I could have overlooked it & its solution. This is what I have called the tendency in organic forms beings to diverge in character, as they become modified, that / is when all the organic beings within the same class & derived from the same progenitor, have diverged / they have diverged is obvious from the manner in which they can be classed in species under genera, & genera under families, & these under sub-orders & so forth; & I [excised]

spot in the road when [illeg] which by any  [excised]

"But at that time I overlooked one problem of great importance; & it is astonishing to me, except on the principle of Columbus & his egg, how I could have overlooked it & its solution. This problem is the tendency in organic beings descended from the same stock to diverge in character as they become modified. That they have diverged greatly is obvious from the manner in which species of all kinds can be classed under genera, genera under families, families under sub-orders, & so forth; & I can remember the very spot in the road, whilst in my carriage, when to my joy the solution occurred to me" (CUL-DAR26.1-121)

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[excised] struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be steadily preserved, & unfavourable ones to be destroyed; & that the result would be the formation of new species

Here then I had at last got a theory by which to work; But I was so anxious not to become avoid prejudiced, that I determined not to write out for some time even the shortest sketch of it.

At last In June 1842 I wrote the shortest a very short sketch in pencil in 35 pages, & this during the summer of 1844 I enlarged into one of 230 pages, which I had fairly copied. But I did not then see overlooked at that time & until a much later period, one very important point problem; &   [excised]

"I happened to read for amusement 'Malthus on Population,' & being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on from long-continued observation of the habits of animals & plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, & unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of new species.

Here, then, I had at last got a theory by which to work; but I was so anxious to avoid prejudice, that I determined not for some time to write even the briefest sketch of it. In June 1842 I first allowed myself the satisfaction of writing a very brief abstract of my theory in pencil in 35 pages; & this was enlarged during the summer of 1844 into one of 230 pages, which I had fairly copied out & still possess. But at that time I overlooked one problem of great importance;" (CUL-DAR26.1-121)