ther than
to achieve immediate personal fame[117].'

And when he referred to the respective shares of Darwin and himself to
the credit of having brought forward the theory of natural selection, he
actually suggests as a fair proportion '_twenty years to one
week_'--those being the periods each had devoted to the subject[118]!

Never surely was such a noble example of personal abnegation! We admire
the generosity, though we cannot accept the estimate, for do we not know
that, for at least half the period of Darwin's patient quest, Wallace
had spent in deeply pondering upon the same great question?

CHAPTER X

THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

In the preceding chapter I have endeavoured to show how the hypothesis
of Natural Selection originated in the minds of its authors, and must
now invite attention to the way in which it was introduced to the world.
What has been said earlier with respect to the labours and writings of
Hutton, Scrope and Lyell may serve to indicate the great importance of
the _manner_ of presentment of new ideas--the logical force and literary
skill with which they are brought to the notice of scientific
contemporaries and the world at large.

There are some striking passages in Darwin's naive 'autobiography and
letters' which indicate the beginnings of his ambition for literary
distinction. It must always be borne in mind in reading this
autobiography, however, that it was not intended by Darwin for
publication, but only for the amusement of the members of his own
family. But the charming and unsophisticated self-revelations in it will
always be a source of delight to the world.

When making his first original observations among the volcanic cones and
craters of St Jago in the Cape-de-Verde Islands, he says 'It then first
dawned on me that I might perhaps write a book on the geology of the
different countries visited, and this made me thrill with delight[119].'
He tells us concerning his regular occupations on board the _Beagle_,
that 'during some part of the day, I wrote my Journal and took much
pains in describing carefully and vividly all that I had seen: and this
was good practice[120].'

'Later in the voyage' he says 'FitzRoy' (the Captain of the _Beagle_)
'asked me to read some of my Journal and declared it would be worth
publishing, so here was a second book in prospect[121]!'

Darwin's first published writings were the extracts from his letters
which Henslow read to the Philosophi