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
Von Baer writes to me thus:--Et outre cela, je trouve que vous ecrivez
encore des redactions. Vous avez ecrit sur l'ouvrage de M. Darwin une
critique dont je n'ai trouve que des debris dans un journal allemand.
J'ai oublie le nom terrible du journal anglais dans lequel se trouve
votre recension. En tout cas aussi je ne peux pas trouver le journal
ici. Comme je m'interesse beaucoup pour les idees de M. Darwin, sur
lesquelles j'ai parle publiquement et sur lesquelles je ferai peut-etre
imprimer quelque chose--vous m'obligeriez infiniment si vous pourriez me
faire parvenir ce que vous avez ecrit sur ces idees.
"J'ai enonce les memes idees sur la transformation des types ou origine
d'especes que M. Darwin. (See Vol. I.) Mais c'est seulement sur la
geographie zoologique que je m'appuie. Vous trouverez, dans le dernier
chapitre du traite 'Ueber Papuas und Alfuren,' que j'en parle tres
decidement sans savoir que M. Darwin s'occupait de cet objet."
The treatise to which Von Baer refers he gave me when over here, but I
have not been able to lay hands on it since this letter reached me two
days ago. When I find it I will let you know what there is in it.
Ever yours faithfully, T.H. HUXLEY.
CHARLES DARWIN TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, August 8 [1860].
My dear Huxley,
Your note contained magnificent news, and thank you heartily for sending
it me. Von Baer weighs down with a vengeance all the virulence of [the
'Edinburgh' reviewer] and weak arguments of Agassiz. If you write to
Von Baer, for heaven's sake tell him that we should think one nod of
approbation on our side, of the greatest value; and if he does write
anything, beg him to send us a copy, for I would try and get it
translated and published in the "Athenaeum" and in 'Silliman' to touch
up Agassiz... Have you seen Agassiz's weak metaphysical and theological
attack on the 'Origin' in the last 'Silliman'? (The 'American Journal
of Science and Arts' (commonly called 'Silliman's Journal'), July 1860.
Printed from advanced sheets of vol. iii. of 'Contributions to the Nat.
Hist. of the U.S.' My father's copy has a pencilled "Truly" opposite the
following passage:--"Unless Darwin and his followers succeed in showing
that the struggle for life tends to something beyond favouring the
existence of certain individuals over that of other individuals, they
will soon find that they are following a shadow.") I would send it you,
but apprehend it would be less trouble for you to look at it in London
than return it to me. R. Wagner has sent me a German pamphlet ('Louis
Agassiz's Prinzipien der Classification, etc., mit Rucksicht auf Darwins
Ansichten. Separat-Abdruck aus den Gottingischen gelehrten Anzeigen,'
1860.), giving an abstract of Agassiz's 'Essay on Classification,' "mit
Rucksicht auf Darwins Ansichten," etc. etc. He won't go very "dangerous
lengths," but thinks the truth lies half-way between Agassiz and
the 'Origin.' As he goes thus far he will, nolens volens, have to go
further.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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