IhavejustheardfromMurray;hesayshesold700copiesathissale，andthathehasnothalfthenumbertosupply;sothatImustbeginatonce（Onthethirdeditionofthe’OriginofSpecies，’publishedinApril1861。）……

　　P。S。——Imusttellyouonelittlefactwhichhaspleasedme。YoumayrememberthatIadduceelectricalorgansoffishasoneofthegreatestdifficultieswhichhaveoccurredtome，and——noticesthepassageinasingularlydisingenuousspirit。Well，McDonnell，ofDublin（afirst—rateman），writestomethathefeltthedifficultyofthewholecaseasoverwhelmingagainstme。Notonlyarethefisheswhichhaveelectricorgansveryremoteinscale，buttheorganisneartheheadinsome，andnearthetailinothers，andsuppliedbywhollydifferentnerves。Itseemsimpossiblethattherecouldbeanytransition。Somefriend，whoismuchopposedtome，seemstohavecrowedoverMcDonnell，whoreportsthathesaidtohimself，thatifDarwinisright，theremustbehomologousorgansbothneartheheadandtailinothernon—electricfish。Hesettowork，and，byJove，hehasfoundthem！（’OnanorganintheSkate，whichappearstobethehomologueoftheelectricalorganoftheTorpedo，’byR。

　　McDonnell，’Nat。Hist。Review，’1861，page57。）sothatsomeofthedifficultyisremoved;andisitnotsatisfactorythatmyhypotheticalnotionsshouldhaveledtoprettydiscoveries？McDonnellseemsverycautious;hesays，yearsmustpassbeforehewillventuretocallhimselfabelieverinmydoctrine，butthatonthesubjectswhichheknowswell，viz。，MorphologyandEmbryology，myviewsaccordwell，andthrowlightonthewholesubject。

　　CHARLESDARWINTOASAGRAY。

　　Down，November26th，1860。

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