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
... It is perfectly true that I owe nearly all the corrections (The
second edition of 3000 copies of the 'Origin' was published on January
7th.) to you, and several verbal ones to you and others; I am heartily
glad you approve of them, as yet only two things have annoyed me;
those confounded millions (This refers to the passage in the 'Origin of
Species' (2nd edition, page 285), in which the lapse of time implied by
the denudation of the Weald is discussed. The discussion closes with the
sentence: "So that it is not improbable that a longer period than
300 million years has elapsed since the latter part of the Secondary
period." This passage is omitted in the later editions of the 'Origin,'
against the advice of some of his friends, as appears from the pencil
notes in my father's copy of the second edition.) of years (not that
I think it is probably wrong), and my not having (by inadvertance)
mentioned Wallace towards the close of the book in the summary, not that
any one has noticed this to me. I have now put in Wallace's name at page
484 in a conspicuous place. I cannot refer you to tables of mortality
of children, etc. etc. I have notes somewhere, but I have not the LEAST
idea where to hunt, and my notes would now be old. I shall be truly
glad to read carefully any MS. on man, and give my opinion. You used to
caution me to be cautious about man. I suspect I shall have to return
the caution a hundred fold! Yours will, no doubt, be a grand discussion;
but it will horrify the world at first more than my whole volume;
although by the sentence (page 489, new edition (First edition, page
488.)) I show that I believe man is in the same predicament with other
animals. It is, in fact, impossible to doubt it. I have thought (only
vaguely) on man. With respect to the races, one of my best chances of
truth has broken down from the impossibility of getting facts. I have
one good speculative line, but a man must have entire credence in
Natural Selection before he will even listen to it. Psychologically, I
have done scarcely anything. Unless, indeed, expression of countenance
can be included, and on that subject I have collected a good many facts,
and speculated, but I do not suppose I shall ever publish, but it is an
uncommonly curious subject. By the way, I sent off a lot of questions
the day before yesterday to Tierra del Fuego on expression! I suspect
(for I have never read it) that Spencer's 'Psychology' has a bearing on
Psychology as we should look at it. By all means read the Preface, in
about 20 pages, of Hensleigh Wedgwood's new Dictionary on the first
origin of Language; Erasmus would lend it. I agree about Carpenter,
a very good article, but with not much original... Andrew Murray has
criticised, in an address to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, the
notice in the 'Linnean Journal,' and "has disposed of" the whole theory
by an ingenious difficulty, which I was very stupid not to have thought
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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