All the merit I claim is the having been the means of
inducing _you_ to write and publish at once.
I may possibly some day go a little more into this subject (of Man),
and, if I do, will accept the kind offer of your notes. I am now,
however, beginning to write the "Narrative of my Travels" which will
occupy me a long time, as I hate writing narrative, and after Bates's
brilliant success rather fear to fail. I shall introduce a few chapters
on geographical distribution and other such topics.
Sir C. Lyell, while agreeing with my main argument on Man, thinks I am
wrong in wanting to put him back into Miocene times, and thinks I do not
appreciate the immense interval even to the later Pliocene. But I still
maintain my view, which in fact is a logical result of my theory, for if
man originated in later Pliocene times, when almost all mammalia were of
closely allied species to those now living, and many even identical,
then man has _not_ been stationary in bodily structure while animals
have been varying, and my theory will be proved to be all wrong.
In Murchison's address to the Geographical Society just delivered he
points out Africa, as being the _oldest_ existing land.
Pages:
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254