13. An objection derived from cases like male fish, which seem to
require protection, yet having brighter colours, seems to me of no more
weight than is that of the existence of many white and unprotected
species of Leptalis to Bates's theory of mimicry, that only one or two
species of butterflies perfectly resemble leaves, or that the instincts
or habits or colours that seem essential to the preservation of one
animal are often totally absent in an allied species.
* * * * *
_Down, Bromley, Kent. September 23, 1868._
My dear Wallace,--I am very much obliged for all your trouble in writing
me your long letter, which I will keep by me and ponder over. To answer
it would require at least 200 folio pages! If you could see how often I
have rewritten some pages, you would know how anxious I am to arrive as
near as I can to the truth. We differ, I think, chiefly from fixing our
minds perhaps too closely on different points, on which we agree: I lay
great stress on what I know takes place under domestication: I think we
start with different fundamental notions on inheritance.
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