_Butler arrived in New Zealand in October_, 1859, _and about the same time Charles Darwin’s_ ORIGIN OF SPECIES _was published_. _Shortly afterwards the book came into Butler’s hands_. _He seems to have read it carefully_, _and meditated upon it_. _The result of his meditations took the shape of the following dialogue_, _which was published on_ 20 _December_, 1862, _in the_ PRESS _which had been started in the town of Christ Church in May_, 1861. _The dialogue did not by any means pass unnoticed_. _On the_ 17_th of January_, 1863, _a leading article_ (_of course unsigned_) _appeared in the_ PRESS, _under the title_ “_Barrel-Organs_,” _discussing Darwin’s theories_, _and incidentally referring to Butler’s dialogue_. _A reply to this article_, _signed A.M._, _appeared on the_ 21_st of February_, _and the correspondence was continued until the_ 22_nd of June_, 1863. _The dialogue itself_, _which was unearthed from the early files of the_ PRESS, _mainly owing to the exertions of Mr. Henry Festing Jones_, _was reprinted_, _together with the correspondence that followed its publication_, _in the_ PRESS _of June_ 8 _and_ 15, 1912. _Soon after the original appearance of Butler’s dialogue a copy of it fell into the hands of Charles Darwin_, _possibly sent to him by a friend in New Zealand_. _Darwin was sufficiently struck by it to forward it to the editor of some magazine_, _which has not been identified_, _with the following letter_:— _Down_, _Bromley_, _Kent_, _S.E._ _March_ 24 [1863]. (Private). _Mr. Darwin takes the liberty to send by this post to the Editor a New Zealand newspaper for the very improbable chance of the Editor having some spare space to reprint a Dialogue on Species_. _This Dialogue_, _written by some_ [_sic_] _quite unknown to Mr. Darwin_, _is remarkable from its spirit and from giving so clear and accurate a view of Mr. D._ [_sic_] _theory_. _It is also remarkable from being published in a colony exactly_ 12 _years old_, _in which it might have_ [_sic_] _thought only material interests would have been regarded_.