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 and noble was his disposition. Neither
the extract from my manuscript nor the letter to Gray had been intended
for publication, and they were badly written. Mr. Wallace's essay, on
the other hand, was admirably expressed and quite clear. Nevertheless,
our joint productions excited very little attention, and the only
published notice of them which I can remember was by Professor Haughton,
of Dublin, whose verdict was that all that was new in them was false,
and 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.
In September, 1858, I set to work by the strong advice of Lyell and
Hooker to prepare a volume on the transmutation of species, but was
often interrupted by ill-health and short visits to Doctor Lane's
delightful hydropathic establishment at Moor Park.
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