More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II

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We return home on Saturday, after three weeks of the most astounding
dullness, doing nothing and thinking of nothing. I hope my Brain likes
it--as for myself, it is dreadful doing nothing. (776/2. Darwin
returned to Down from Sevenoaks on Saturday, October 26th, 1872, which
fixes the date of the letter.)

LETTER 777. TO LADY DERBY.
Down, Saturday [1874?].

If you had called here after I had read the article you would have found
a much perplexed man. (777/1. Probably Sir W. Crookes' "Researches in
the Phenomena of Spiritualism" (reprinted from the "Quarterly Journal of
Science"), London, 1874. Other papers by Crookes are in the "Proceedings
of the Society for Psychical Research.") I cannot disbelieve Mr.
Crooke's statement, nor can I believe in his result. It has removed
some of my difficulty that the supposed power is not an anomaly, but is
common in a lesser degree to various persons. It is also a consolation
to reflect that gravity acts at any distance, in some wholly unknown
manner, and so may nerve-force. Nothing is so difficult to decide as
where to draw a just line between scepticism and credulity. It was a
very long time before scientific men would believe in the fall of
aerolites; and this was chiefly owing to so much bad evidence, as in the
present case, being mixed up with the good. All sorts of objects were
said to have been seen falling from the sky. I very much hope that a
number of men, such as Professor Stokes, will be induced to witness Mr.
Crooke's experiments.

(778/1. The two following extracts may be given in further illustration
of Darwin's guiding principle in weighing evidence. He wrote to Robert
Chambers, April 30th, 1861: "Thanks also for extract out of newspaper
about rooks and crows; I wish I dared trust it. I see in cutting the
pages [of Chambers' book, "Ice and Water"]...that you fulminate against
the scepticism of scientific men. You would not fulminate quite so much
if you had had so many wild-goose chases after facts stated by men not
trained to scientific accuracy. I often vow to myself that I will
utterly disregard every statement made by any one who has not shown the
world he can observe accurately." In a letter to Dr. Dohrn, of Naples,
January 4th, 1870, Darwin wrote: "Forgive me for suggesting one caution;
as Demosthenes said, 'Action, action, action,' was the soul of
eloquence, so is caution almost the soul of science.")

LETTER 778. TO J. BURDON SANDERSON.
Down, July 16th, 1875.

Some little time ago Mr. Simon (778/1. Now Sir John Simon) sent me the
last Report, and your statements about contagion deeply interested me.
By the way, if you see Mr. Simon, and can remember it, will you thank
him for me; I was so busy at the time that I did not write. Having been
in correspondence with Paget lately on another subject, I mentioned to
him an analogy which has struck me much, now that we know that sheep-pox
is fungoid; and this analogy pleased him. It is that of fairy rings,
which are believed to spread from a centre, and when they intersect the
intersecting portion dies out, as the mycelium cannot grow where it has
grown during previous years. So, again, I have never seen a ring within
a ring; this seems to me a parallel case to a man commonly having the
smallpox only once. I imagine that in both cases the mycelium must
consume all the matter on which it can subsist.

LETTER 779. TO A. GAPITCHE.

(779/1. The following letter was written to the author (under the
pseudonym of Gapitche) of a pamphlet entitled "Quelques mots sur
l'Eternite du Corps Humaine" (Nice, 1880). Mr. Gapitche's idea was that
man might, by perfect adaptation to his surroundings, indefinitely
prolong the duration of life. We owe Mr. Darwin's letter to the
kindness of Herr Vetter, editor of the well-known journal "Kosmos.")

Down, February 24th, 1880.

I suppose that no one can prove that death is inevitable, but the
evidence in favour of this belief is overwhelmingly strong from the
evidence of all other living creatures. I do not believe that it is by
any means invariably true that the higher organisms always live longer
than the lower ones. Elephants, parrots, ravens, tortoises, and some
fish live longer than man. As evolution depends on a long succession of
generations, which implies death, it seems to me in the highest degree
improbable that man should cease to follow the general law of evolution,
and this would follow if he were to be immortal.

This is all that I can say.

LETTER 780. TO J. POPPER.

(780/1. Mr. Popper had written about a proposed flying machine in which
birds were to take a part.)

Down, February 15th, 1881.

I am sorry to say that I cannot give you the least aid, as I have never
attended to any mechanical subjects. I should doubt whether it would be
possible to train birds to fly in a certain direction in a body, though
I am aware that they have been taught some tricks. Their mental powers
are probably much below those of mammals. It is said, and I suppose
truly, that an eagle will carry a lamb. This shows that a bird may have
great power for a short distance. I cannot remember your essay with
sufficient distinctness to make any remarks on it. When a man is old
and works hard, one subject drives another out of his head.

LETTER 781. TO T.H. HUXLEY.
Worthing, September 9th, 1881.

(781/1. Mr. Anthony Rich left his house at Worthing as a legacy to Mr.
Huxley. See Huxley's "Life and Letters," II., pages 286, 287.)

We have been paying Mr. Rich a little visit, and he has often spoken of
you, and I think he enjoyed much your and Mrs. Huxley's visit here. But
my object in writing now is to tell you something, which I am very
doubtful whether it is worth while for you to hear, because it is
uncertain. My brother Erasmus has left me half his fortune, which is
very considerable. Therefore, I thought myself bound to tell Mr. Rich
of this, stating the large amount, as far as the executors as yet know
it roughly. I then added that my wife and self thought that, under
these new circumstances, he was most fully justified in altering his
will and leaving his property in some other way. I begged him to take a
week to consider what I had told him, and then by letter to inform me of
the result. But he would not, however, hardly allow me to finish what I
had to say, and expressed a firm determination not to alter his will,
adding that I had five sons to provide for. After a short pause he
implied (but unfortunately he here became very confused and forgot a
word, which on subsequent reflection I think was probably
"reversionary")--he implied that there was a chance, whether good or bad
I know not, of his becoming possessed of some other property, and he
finished by saying distinctly, "I will bequeath this to Huxley." What
the amount may be (I fear not large), and what the chance may be, God
only knows; and one cannot cross-examine a man about his will. He did
not bind me to secrecy, so I think I am justified in telling you what
passed, but whether it is wise on my part to send so vague a story, I am
not at all sure; but as a general rule it is best to tell everything.
As I know that you hate writing letters, do not trouble yourself to
answer this.

P.S.--On further reflection I should like to hear that you receive this
note safely. I have used up all my black-edged paper.

LETTER 782. TO ANTHONY RICH.
Down, February 4th, 1882.

It is always a pleasure to me to receive a letter from you. I am very
sorry to hear that you have been more troubled than usual with your old
complaint. Any one who looked at you would think that you had passed
through life with few evils, and yet you have had an unusual amount of
suffering. As a turnkey remarked in one of Dickens' novels, "Life is a
rum thing." (782/1. This we take to be an incorrect version of Mr.
Roker's remark (in reference to Tom Martin, the Butcher), "What a rum
thing Time is, ain't it, Neddy?" ("Pickwick," Chapter XLII.). A careful
student finds that women are also apostrophised as "rum": see the
remarks of the dirty-faced man ("Pickwick," Chapter XIV.).) As for
myself, I have been better than usual until about a fortnight ago, when
I had a cough, and this pulled me down and made me miserable to a
strange degree; but my dear old wife insisted on my taking quinine, and,
though I have very little faith in medicine, this, I think, has done me
much good. Well, we are both so old that we must expect some troubles:
I shall be seventy-three on Feb. 12th. I have been glad to hear about
the pine-leaves, and you are the first man who has confirmed my account
that they are drawn in by the base, with a very few exceptions. (782/2.
"The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms," 1881,
page 71.) With respect to your Wandsworth case, I think that if I had
heard of it before publishing, I would have said nothing about the
ledges (782/3. "Ledges of Earth on Steep Hill-sides" (ibid., page
278).); for the Grisedale case (782/4. "The steep, grass-covered sides
of a mountainous valley in Westmorland, called Grisedale, were marked in
many places with innumerable, almost horizontal, little ledges...Their
formation was in no way connected with the action of worms (and their
absence is an inexplicable fact)...(ibid., page 282.), mentioned in my
book and observed whilst I was correcting the proof-sheets, made me feel
rather doubtful. Yet the Corniche case (782/5. Ibid., page 281.) shows
that worms at least aid in making the ledges. Nevertheless, I wish I
had said nothing about the confounded ledges. The success of this worm
book has been almost laughable. I have, however, been plagued with an
endless stream of letters on the subject; most of them very foolish and
enthusiastic, but some containing good facts, which I have used in
correcting yesterday the "sixth Thousand."

Your friend George's work about the viscous state of the earth and tides
and the moon has lately been attracting much attention (782/6.
Published in the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,"
1879, 1880, 1881.), and all the great judges think highly of the work.
He intends to try for the Plumian Professorship of Mathematics and
Natural Philosophy at Cambridge, which is a good and honourable post of
about 800 pounds a year. I think that he will get it (782/7. He was
elected Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy in
1883.) when Challis is dead, and he is very near his end. He has all
the great men--Sir W. Thomson, Adams, Stokes, etc.--on his side. He has
lately been chief examiner for the Mathematical Tripos, which was
tremendous work; and the day before yesterday he started for Southampton
for a five-weeks' tour to Jamaica for complete rest, to see the Blue
Mountains, and escape the rigour of the early spring. I believe that
George will some day be a great scientific swell. The War Office has
just offered Leonard a post in the Government Survey at Southampton, and
very civilly told him to go down and inspect the place, and accept or
not as he liked. So he went down, but has decided that it would not be
worth his while to accept, as it would entail his giving up his
expedition (on which he had been ordered) to Queensland, in Australia,
to observe the Transit of Venus. (782/8. Major Leonard Darwin, late
R.E., served in several scientific expeditions, including the Transits
of Venus of 1874 and 1882.) Dear old William at Southampton has not
been very well, but is now better. He has had too much work--a willing
horse is always overworked--and all the arrangements for receiving the
British Association there this summer have been thrown on his shoulders.

But, good Heavens! what a deal I have written about my sons. I have had
some hard work this autumn with the microscope; but this is over, and I
have only to write out the papers for the Linnean Society. (782/9. i.
"The Action of Carbonate of Ammonia on the Roots of Certain plants."
[Read March 16th, 1882.] "Journ. Linn. Soc." Volume XIX., 1882, page
239. ii. "The Action of Carbonate of Ammonia on Chlorophyll-bodies."
[Read March 6th, 1882.] Ibid., page 262.) We have had a good many
visitors; but none who would have interested you, except perhaps Mrs.
Ritchie, the daughter of Thackeray, who is a most amusing and pleasant
person. I have not seen Huxley for some time, but my wife heard this
morning from Mrs. Huxley, who wrote from her bed, with a bad account of
herself and several of her children; but none, I hope, are at all
dangerously ill. Farewell, my kind, good friend.

Many thanks about the picture, which if I survive you, and this I do not
expect, shall be hung in my study as a perpetual memento of you.

(782/10. The concluding chapter of the "Life and Letters" gives some
account of the gradual failure in health which was perceptible in the
last year of Mr. Darwin's life. He died on April 19th, 1882, in his
74th year.)

THE END.

INDEX.

[The German a-, o-, u-diaeresis are treated as a, o, u, not as ae, oe,
ue.]

Aberrant genera, Darwin's work on.

Abich, on Vesuvius.

Abinger, excavations of Roman villa at.
-plants from.

Abinger Hall, Darwin visits.
-Lord Farrer's recollections of Darwin at.

Abiogenesis, Huxley's address on Biogenesis and.

Abortion, Romanes on.

Abrolhos, plants from the.

Abromia.

Abrus precatorius, dispersal of seeds.

Abstract, Darwin's dislike of writing papers in.

Abstract, the name applied by Darwin to the "Origin."

Abutilon, F. Muller's experiments on.

Abyssinia, flora of.

"Academy," Darwin's opinion of the.

Acanthaceae.

Acceleration of development, Cope and Hyatt on retardation and.
-reference in the "Origin" to.

Accumulation, of deposits in relation to earth-movements.
-of specific differences.
-of sterility.
-of varieties.

Accuracy, difficult to attain.
-the soul of Natural History.

Aceras, fertilisation of.
-monstrous flower.

Acineta, Darwin unable to fertilise.

Aconitum, peloria and reversion.

Acropera, atrophy of ovules.
-Darwin's mistake over.
-fertilisation of.
-relation to Gongora.
-J. Scott's work on.

Acropera Loddigesii, abnormal structure of ovary.
-Darwin's account of flower.
-artificial fertilisation.
-relation to A. luteola.
-J. Scott's observations.
-two sexual conditions of.
-A. luteola, Darwin's observations on.
-fertilisation of.
-flowers of.
-structure of ovary.

Adaptation, Darwin's difficulty in understanding.
-hybrids and.
-not the governing law in Geographical Distribution.
-more clearly seen in animals than plants.
-Natural Selection and.
-in orchids.
-resemblances due to.
-in Woodpecker.

Adenanthera pavonina, seed-dispersal by Parrots.

Adenocarpus, a Mediterranean genus in the Cameroons.

Adlumia.

Adoxa, difference in flowers of same plant.

Aecidium elatinum, Witches'-Broom fungus.

Aegialitis Sanctae-helenae.

Aegilops triticoides, hybrids.

Affaiblissement, A. St. Hilaire on.

Africa, connection with Ceylon.
-connection with India.
-continent of Lemuria and.
-considered by Murchison oldest continent.
-plants of equatorial mountains of.

Africa (East,) coral reefs on coast.

Africa (South), plants of.
-relation of floras of Western Europe to.

Africa (West), botanical relation to Java.

Agassiz, Alex., "Three Cruises of the 'Blake.'"
-his belief in evolution the result of F. Muller's writings.
-account of Florida Coral-reefs.
-letters to.
-visits Down.

Agassiz, Louis Jean Rodolphe (1807-73): entered a college at Bienne at the
age of ten, and from 1822 to 1824 he was a student at the Academy of
Lausanne. Agassiz afterwards spent some years as a student in the
Universities of Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich, where he gained a
reputation as a skilled fencer. It was at Heidelberg that his studies took
a definite turn towards Natural History. He took a Ph.D. degree at
Erlangen in 1829. Agassiz published his first paper in "Isis" in 1828, and
for many years devoted himself chiefly to Ichthyology. During a visit to
Paris he became acquainted with Cuvier and Alexander von Humboldt; in 1833,
through the liberality of the latter, he began the publication of his
"Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles," and in 1840 he completed his
"Etudes sur les Glaciers." In 1846 Agassiz went to Boston, where he
lectured in the Lowell Institute, and in the following year became
Professor of Geology and Zoology at Cambridge. During the last
twenty-seven years of his life Agassiz lived in America, and exerted a
great influence on the study of Natural History in the United States. In
1836 he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London,
and in 1861 he was selected for the Copley Medal of the Royal Society. In
1873 Agassiz dictated an article to Mrs. Agassiz on "Evolution and
Permanence of Type," in which he repeated his strong conviction against the
views embodied in the "Origin of Species." See "Life, Letters, and Works
of Louis Agassiz," by Jules Marcou, 2 volumes, New York, 1896; "Louis
Agassiz: his Life and Correspondence," edited by Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, 2
volumes, London, 1885; "Smithsonian Report," 1873, page 198.
-attack on "Origin."
-Darwin's criticism of book on Brazil.
-Darwin's opinion of.
-views on creation of species.
-on geographical distribution.
-"Methods of Study" by.
-misstatement of Darwin's views.
-Walsh on.
-"Etudes sur les Glaciers."
-Darwin on glacier work of.
-on glaciers in Ceara Mts.
-glacier-ice-lake theory of Parallel Roads of Glen Roy.
-on glacier moraines.
-on rock-cavities formed by glacier-cascades.
-on Darwin's theory.
-on Geology of the Amazons.
-doubts recent upheaval of Patagonia.
-mentioned.

Age of the world.

Aggressive plants, introduction of.

Agricultural Society, experiments on potatoes.

Airy, H. letter to.

Albemarle Island, Darwin's collection of plants from.
-volcanoes of.

Aldrovanda.

Alerse ("Alerce"), occurrence in Chiloe.

Algae, movement of male-cells to female organ.

Alisma, F. Muller's observations on.
-submerged flowers of.

Alisma macrophylla, circumnutation of.

Allbutt, Prof. Clifford, on sperm-cells.

Allen, Grant, review by Romanes of his "Physiological Aesthetics."

Allen, J.A., on colours of birds.
-on mammals and birds of Florida.

Allogamy, use of term.

Almond, seedling peaches resembling.

Alopecurus pratensis, fertilisation of.

Alpine floras, Arctic and.
-of Azores, Canaries and Madeira.
-absence of, in southern islands.
-Ball on origin of flora.
-Darwin's work on.
-of United States.
-existence prior to Glacial period.
-Ice-action in New Zealand, and.
-Ball on origin of.

Alpine insects.

Alpine plants.
-change due to transplanting.
-slight change in isolated forms.
-as evidence of continental land at close of Glacial period.

Alps, Australian.
-Murchison on structure of.
-submergence.
-Tyndall's book on.

Alternate generations, in Hydrozoa.

Amazonia, Insects of.

Amazons, L. Agassiz on glacial phenomena in valley of.
-L. Agassiz on geology of.
-Bates on lepidoptera of.
-sedimentation off mouth of.

Amber, extinct plants preserved in.

Amblyopsis, a blind cave-fish, effect of conditions on.

Ameghino, Prof., discovery of Neomylodon Listai.

America (North), are European birds blown to?
-Falconer on elephants.
-fauna and flora of Japan and.
-flora of.
-mammalian fauna.
-introduction of European weeds.
-subsidence during Glacial period.
-western European plants and flora of.
-contrast during Tertiary period between South and.
-former greater distinction between fauna of South and.
-glaciation of South and.
-Rogers on coal-fields.

America (South), Bollaert's "Antiquities" of.
-Araucarian fossil wood from.
-Carabi of.
-elevation of coast.
-fauna of.
-floras of Australia and.
-geology of.
-Darwin's "Geological Observations" on.
-deposition of sediment on coast.
-European plants in.
-frequency of earthquakes.
-D. Forbes on geology of.
-W. Jameson on geology of.
-D'Orbigny on.
-volcanic eruptions.
-Wallace opposed to continent uniting New Zealand, Australia and.

American War.

Ammonia, Darwin's work on effect on roots of carbonate of.

Ammonites, degeneration of.
-reversion.
-of S. America.

Amsinckia.

Amsinckia spectabilis, dimorphism of.

Anacamptis (=Orchis pyramidalis), fertilisation of.

Anacharis (=Elodea Canadensis), spread of.

Analogy, difference between homology and.

Anamorphism, Huxley on.

Anatifera, illustrating difficulty in nomenclature.

Anatomy of Vertebrata, Owen's attack on Darwin and Lyell in.

"Ancient Sea Margins," by R. Chambers.

Anderson-Henry, Isaac (1799?-1884): of Edinburgh, was educated as a
lawyer, but devoted himself to horticulture, more particularly to
experimental work on grafting and hybridisation. As President of the
Botanical Society of Edinburgh he delivered two addresses on
"Hybridisation or Crossing of Plants," of which a full abstract was
published in the "Gardeners' Chronicle," April 13th, 1867, page 379, and
December 21st, 1867, page 1296. See obit. notice in "Gardeners'
Chronicle," September 27th, 1884, page 400.
-letter to.

Andes, Darwin on geology of.
-high-road for European plants.
-comparatively recent origin.

Anemophilous plants, Delpino's work on.

Angiosperms, origin of.

Angraecum sesquipedale, Duke of Argyll on.

Animal Intelligence, Romanes on.

Animals, difference between plants and.
-resemblance to plants.

Annuals, adapted to short seasons.
-Hildebrand on percentages of.

Anoplotherium, occurrence in Eocene of S. America.

Ansted, David Thomas, F.R.S. (1814-80): Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge,
Professor of Geology at King's College, London, author of several papers
and books on geological subjects (see "Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc." Volume
XXXVII., page 43.)
-letter to.

Antarctic continent, Darwin on existence of Tertiary.
-hypothetical.

"Antarctic Flora," Sir J.D. Hooker's.

Antarctic floras.
-Darwin at work on.

Antarctic islands, plants of.

Antarctic Land.

"Anti-Jacobin," quiz on Erasmus Darwin in.

"Antiquity of Man," Sir Charles Lyell's.
-cautious views on species.
-Darwin's criticism of.
-Extract on Natural Selection from.
-Falconer on.
-Owen's criticism on.

Antirrhinum, peloric flowers.

Ants, account in "Origin" of Slave-.
-Forel's work on.
-Moggridge on Harvesting-.
-F. Muller's observations on neuter.
-storing leaves for plant-culture.

Apathus, living in nests of Bombus.

Apes, comparison as regards advance in intellect between man and.
-ears of anthropoid.

Aphides, absence of wings in viviparous.

Aphis, Huxley on.

Apostasia, morphology of flowers.

Appalachian chain, Rogers on cleavage of.

Apteryx, Owen on.
-wings of.

Aquilegia, Hooker and Thomson on.
-variation in.
-peloria and reversion.

Arachis hypogaea, Darwin on.

Arachnidae.

Araucaria, abundant in Secondary period.

Araucarian wood, fossil in S. America.

Arca, Morse on.

Archaeopteryx.

Archer-Hind, R.D., translation of passage from Plato by.

Archetype, Owen's book on.
-Owen's term.

d'Archiac's "Histoire des Progres de la Geologie."
-candidate for Royal Society Foreign list.

Arctic animals, protective colours.

Arctic climate, cause of present.

Arctic expeditions, Darwin on.

Arctic floras.
-relation between Alpine and.
-relation between Antarctic and.
-Hooker's Essay on.
-Darwin's admiration of Hooker's Essay.
-migration of.

Arctic regions, few plants common to Europe and N. America not ranging
to.
-range of plants.
-northern limit of vegetation formerly lower.
-ice piled up in.
-previous existence of plants in.

Arenaria verna, range.

Argus pheasant, colour.
-unadorned head.

Argyll, Duke of, attack on Romanes in "Nature."
-rejoinder by Romanes in "Nature."
-Hooker on.
-letter to.
-"Reign of Law" by.

Aristolochia, fertilisation of.

Aristotle, reference to.

Ark, Fitz-Roy on extinction of Mastodon owing to construction of.

Armadillo.

Army, measurement of soldiers of U.S.A.

Artemia, Schmankewitsch's experiments on.

Ascension Island, plants of.
-earth-movements.
-volcanic rocks.

Ascidians, budding of.

Asclepiadeae, fertilisation of.

Ash, comparison of peat and coal.

Asher, Dr., sends Russian wheat to Darwin.

Ashley.

Ashley Heath, Mackintosh on boulders of.

Askenasy, E., on Darwinism.

Aspicarpa.

Ass, hybrids between mare and.

Asterias.

Astragalus hypoglottis, range of.

Astronomical causes, crust-movements due to.

Asturian plants in Ireland.

Atavism, use of term by Duchesne.
-Kollmann on.

Athenaeum Club, Huxley's election.

"Athenaeum," correspondence on Darwin's statements on rate of increase
of elephants.
-Darwin's opinion of.
-abuse of Darwin.

Atlantic islands, peculiar genera and their origin.

Atlantis, America and.
-Canary I. and.
-Darwin's disbelief in.
-Heer's map.
-Wollaston's.

Atolls, Darwin's wish for investigation by boring of coral.
-Darwin on Murray's theory.
-Darwin's work on.

Atomogenesis, term suggested as substitute for pangenesis.

Atriplex, buried seeds found in sandpit near Melrose.

Attica, Gaudry on fossil animals.

Auckland Island, flora.

Audubon, J.J., on antics of birds during courtship.
-"Ornithological Biography."