ingwood, I
thought of your explanation; but I drove it from my mind, for I felt
that I had not knowledge to judge one way or the other." (The letter is
dated Sept. 25, 1861: "More Letters", I. page 197.)

Bates read his paper before the Linnean Society, Nov. 21, 1861, and
Darwin's impressions on hearing it were conveyed in a letter to
the author dated Dec. 3: "Under a general point of view, I am quite
convinced (Hooker and Huxley took the same view some months ago) that
a philosophic view of nature can solely be driven into naturalists by
treating special subjects as you have done. Under a special point of
view, I think you have solved one of the most perplexing problems which
could be given to solve." ("Life and Letters", II. page 378.) The memoir
appeared in the following year, and after reading it Darwin wrote
as follows, Nov. 20, 1862: "... In my opinion it is one of the most
remarkable and admirable papers I ever read in my life... I am rejoiced
that I passed over the whole subject in the "Origin", for I should have
made a precious mess of it. You have most clearly stated and solved a
wonderful problem... Your paper is too good to be largely appreciated by
the mob of naturalists without souls; but, rely on it, that it will
have LASTING value, and I cordially congratulate you on your first great
work. You will find, I should think, that Wallace will fully appreciate
it." ("Life and Letters", II. pages 391-393.) Four days later, Nov. 24,
Darwin wrote to Hooker on the same subject: "I have now finished his
paper...' it seems to me admirable. To my mind the act of segregation of
varieties into species was never so plainly brought forward, and there
are heaps of capital miscellaneous observations." ("More Letters", I.
page 214.)

Darwin was here referring to the tendency of similar varieties of the
same species to pair together, and on Nov. 25 he wrote to Bates asking
for fuller information on this subject. ("More Letters", I. page 215.
See also parts of Darwin's letter to Bates in "Life and Letters", II.
page 392.) If Bates's opinion were well founded, sexual selection would
bear a most important part in the establishment of such species. (See
Poulton, "Essays on Evolution", 1908, pages 65, 85-88.) It must be
admitted, however, that the evidence is as yet quite insufficient to
establish this conclusion. It is interesting to observe how Darwin
at once fixed on the part of Bates's memoir which seemed to bear upon
sexua