Dear Sir

I am sorry you are not coming to the Meeting to-night—as I have a paper on the highly popular subject of Orthocerata!—¹ Poor Mr Sharpe—the loss is great to the Societies—but greater still to those individual members who like myself enjoyed his friendship & relied upon his aid. He had recovered so far as to sit up & chip fossils! And then relapsed.²

You honour me greatly—but the credit belongs to those whose opinions I have collected—Waterhouse, Forbes, Hooker &c³ I am glad you do not object to having been yourself brought in to testify to heterodox theories.⁴

If you will send me the written memoranda you refer to (ie. if it does not give you the trouble of writing them out afresh for the purpose)—I will give them my best attention—⁵ I fear I am very slow— I seldom see the force of a joke in less than 48 hours— But I might come to some conclusion by the period of your visit, a fortnight hence.

After the rec^t. of your last letter⁶ I consulted with Mr Waterhouse again about the Island Faunas—& we agreed that the doctrine might be maintained against all comers. Sir Chas. Lyell is coming to the same opinion—tho’ he would account for it metaphysically. We can start with a good case in Tasmania—an island which must have been separated from Australia since the creation of Thylacinus & Dasyurus (which occur fossil in the mainland) & before the arrival of those species peculiar to the continent. In the north of Australia additional groups occur, & faint Asiatic symptoms appear— and we cannot doubt that if a land way from India to Australia had remained since the epoch of the Felidæ, some of that wandering tribe would have found their way & made sad havoc with the poor Opossums— The “stream of migration” has been from Asia towards Tasmania—but has been arrested periodically, so that Tasmania represents the oldest condition—Australia the next—New Guinea & Timor next—& then there is a vast interval between them & Borneo.

Respecting the Falklands—Fuegia & Chiloe—my impression is that they have been drowned at no very remote period, & so lost all symptoms of the ancient Fauna of S. America— Their present isolation cannot date so further back than the Newer Tertiary period, in which the modern vulgar Foxes took the lead in repeopling them.

Some years ago I had a gossip with Mr Whewell in Combination-room,⁷ when he cordially agreed to this view, as more probable than the Lyellian doctrine.

I should think Dr Pickering must hold something like the same notion—from his chapter on the Probable scene of the Creation of Man.⁸ He hesitates between the Area of the Orangs, & that of the Chimpanzees & seems inclined to make the first man black!

I am strongly impressed with a conviction of the oneness of the scheme of Creation— But collecting data is a serious matter! Mr Waterhouse advises me not to abandon the project of a general exposition of my theory, & promises to supply the Mammalian & Insect facts. I want chiefly a monster-map (on the conical projection)—so as to map out the data & put them to the test of discussion— If I live another six years I may do it— Meanwhile I look eagerly for the publication of your specific researches!

Yours sincerely | S. P. Woodward Cha^s. Darwin Esq^r.