Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2Darwin, Charles
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Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2
Darwin, Charles
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882; Naturalists -- Great Britain -- Biography; Naturalists -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
was bound to say that the resemblance of the jaw to that of the dog
is superficial; the number and correspondence and development of teeth
being widely different. I think again when speaking of the necessity of
altering a number of characters together, he ought to have thought
of man having power by selection to modify simultaneously or almost
simultaneously many points, as in making a greyhound or racehorse--as
enlarged upon in my 'Domestic Animals.' Mivart is savage or contemptuous
about my "moral sense," and so probably will you be. I am extremely
pleased that he agrees with my position, AS FAR AS ANIMAL NATURE IS
CONCERNED, of man in the series; or if anything, thinks I have erred in
making him too distinct.
Forgive me for scribbling at such length. You have put me quite in good
spirits; I did so dread having been unintentionally unfair towards your
views. I hope earnestly the second volume will escape as well. I care
now very little what others say. As for our not quite agreeing, really
in such complex subjects, it is almost impossible for two men who arrive
independently at their conclusions to agree fully, it would be unnatural
for them to do so.
Yours ever, very sincerely, CH. DARWIN.
[Professor Haeckel seems to have been one of the first to write to my
father about the 'Descent of Man.' I quote from his reply:--
"I must send you a few words to thank you for your interesting, and I
may truly say, charming letter. I am delighted that you approve of my
book, as far as you have read it. I felt very great difficulty and
doubt how often I ought to allude to what you have published; strictly
speaking every idea, although occurring independently to me, if
published by you previously ought to have appeared as if taken from your
works, but this would have made my book very dull reading; and I hoped
that a full acknowledgment at the beginning would suffice. (In the
introduction to the 'Descent of Man' the author wrote:--
"This last naturalist [Haeckel]... has recently... published his
'Naturliche Schopfungs-geschichte,' in which he fully discusses the
genealogy of man. If this work had appeared before my essay had been
written, I should probably never have completed it. Almost all
the conclusions at which I have arrived, I find confirmed by this
naturalist, whose knowledge on many points is much fuller than mine.")
I cannot tell you how glad I am to find that I have expressed my high
admiration of your labours with sufficient clearness; I am sure that I
have not expressed it too strongly."]
CHARLES DARWIN TO A.R. WALLACE. Down, March 16, 1871.
My dear Wallace,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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