My _Descent of Man_ was published in February, 1871. As soon as I had
become, in the year 1837 or 1838, convinced that species were mutable
productions, I could not avoid the belief that man must come under the
same law. Accordingly I collected notes on the subject for my own
satisfaction, but not, for a long time, with any intention of
publishing. Although in the _Origin of Species_ the derivation of any
particular species is never discussed, yet I thought it best, in order
that no honorable man should accuse me of concealing my views, to add
that by the work "light would be thrown on the origin of man and his
history." It would have been useless and injurious to the success of the
book to parade, without giving any evidence, my conviction with respect
to his origin.
But when I found that many naturalists fully accepted the doctrine of
the evolution of species, it seemed to me advisable to work up such
notes as I possessed, and to publish a special treatise on the origin of
man.
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