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
"Gardeners' Chronicle" returned safe. Thanks for note. I am beyond
measure glad that you get more and more roused on the subject of
species, for, as I have always said, I am well convinced that your
opinions and writings will do far more to convince the world than mine.
You will make a grand discussion on man. You are very bold in this,
and I honour you. I have been, like you, quite surprised at the want
of originality in opposed arguments and in favour too. Gwyn Jeffreys
attacks me justly in his letter about strictly littoral shells not being
often embedded at least in Tertiary deposits. I was in a muddle, for I
was thinking of Secondary, yet Chthamalus applied to Tertiary...
Possibly you might like to see the enclosed note (Dr. Whewell wrote
(January 2, 1860): "... I cannot, yet at least, become a convert. But
there is so much of thought and of fact in what you have written that
it is not to be contradicted without careful selection of the ground and
manner of the dissent." Dr. Whewell dissented in a practical manner for
some years, by refusing to allow a copy of the 'Origin of Species' to
be placed in the Library of Trinity College.) from Whewell, merely as
showing that he is not horrified with us. You can return it whenever you
have occasion to write, so as not to waste your time.
C.D.
CHARLES DARWIN TO C. LYELL. Down, [January 4th? 1860].
... I have had a brief note from Keyserling (Joint author with Murchison
of the 'Geology of Russia,' 1845.), but not worth sending you. He
believes in change of species, grants that natural selection explains
well adaptation of form, but thinks species change too regularly, as
if by some chemical law, for natural selection to be the sole cause of
change. I can hardly understand his brief note, but this is I think the
upshot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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