My dear Darwin

I am afraid I have omitted thanking you for your great kindness in lending me the very things I wanted to see¹   I have been so very busy the last week the printer having almost got up to me in the flora Australiensis that I have not had a moment for anything else—² I now hope to send him the last words of the Preface tomorrow—and will then immediately go through these pamphlets and return them to you—³ I trust you do not expect anything to come of it of value to you or any one else   I do not feel up to a thorough discussion of your views founded upon such a vast amount of undeniable facts and wonderful observations which you have made. For though I do not go so far as Jos. Hooker in the thorough adoption of all your hypotheses, and though I fully agree with John Mill and other such experienced logicians in the appreciation of your arguments still I do not feel competent to enter into the lists and argue upon the very limited observations I have myself made.⁴ All I want is to make myself as well acquainted as I can with the present state of the question with the view perhaps of saying a few words in my anniversary address.—⁵ and this I knew I could not do without your assistance in telling me which of the unmanageable mass of criticisms it was worth looking into.

I have nearly got through Sir C. Lyell’s book which is admirable as to the Geological as main portion—⁶ I wish there had been a little more method in the early part—and I should rather he had left the brain question in Huxley’s hands who is fully equal to holding his own with Owen⁷—but I cannot understand D^r Falconer’s attack which seems to me quite unwarrantable.⁸

I will return the pamphlets as soon as possible—⁹ may I keep them a fortnight?

Yours very sincerely | George Bentham