two ago the work which you and Prof. Marion have
been so kind as to send me. (304/1. Probably "L'Evolution du Regne
vegetal," I. "Cryptogames," Saporta & Marion, Paris, 1881.) When it
arrived I was much engaged, and this must be my excuse for not having
sooner thanked you for it, and it will likewise account for my having as
yet read only the preface.

But I now look forward with great pleasure to reading the whole
immediately. If I then have any remarks worth sending, which is not very
probable, I will write again. I am greatly pleased to see how boldly
you express your belief in evolution, in the preface. I have sometimes
thought that some of your countrymen have been a little timid in
publishing their belief on this head, and have thus failed in aiding a
good cause.

LETTER 305. TO R.G. WHITEMAN. Down, May 5th, 1881.

In the first edition of the "Origin," after the sentence ending with the
words "...insects in the water," I added the following sentence:--

"Even in so extreme a case as this, if the supply of insects were
constant, and if better adapted competitors did not already exist in the
country, I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered by
Natural Selection more and more aquatic in their structures and habits,
with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous
as a whale." (305/1. See Letters 110 and 120.)

This sentence was omitted in the subsequent editions, owing to the
advice of Prof. Owen, as it was liable to be misinterpreted; but I have
always regretted that I followed this advice, for I still think the view
quite reasonable.

LETTER 306. TO A. HYATT. Down, May 8th, 1881.

I am much obliged for your kind gift of "The Genesis, etc." (306/1. "The
Genesis of the Tertiary Species of Planorbis," in the "Boston Soc. Nat.
Hist. Anniversary Mem." 1880.), which I shall be glad to read, as the
case has always seemed to me a very curious one. It is all the kinder in
you to send me this book, as I am aware that you think that I have done
nothing to advance the good cause of the Descent-theory. (306/2. The
above caused me to write a letter expressing a feeling of regret and
humiliation, which I hope is still preserved, for certainly such a
feeling, caused undoubtedly by my writings, which dealt too exclusively
with disagreements upon special points, needed a strong denial. I have
used the Darwinian theory in many cases, especially in explaining the
preservation of di