My dear Sir

I am doubtful whether speculations in a letter ought to be published, especially after a long interval of time.¹ Any fact which he states, I feel pretty sure he w^d. not at all object being used by anyone.— Pray do the best you can.— I sh^d. grieve beyond measure to be accused of a breach of confidence.— He has lately, as I mentioned, thrown much light on the first steps in mimickry.—²

With respect to dimorphic Butterflies, those about which I have read appear at different seasons, & have been the subject of an admirable essay by Prof. Weismann. It is some little time since I read the essay & one subject drives another out of my head, but I think he explains all such cases by the direct inherited effects of temperature.³ He tried experiments. If you read German, I believe I c^d find Weismanns essays & lend them to you.

In your present interesting case I really do not know what to think: it seems rather bold to attribute the 2 coloured forms to nat selection, before some advantage can be pointed out.— May not the female revert in some cases?? I do not doubt that the intermediate form c^d. be eliminated as you suggest.

I wish that my opinion c^d. have been of any value.—

I remain | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin