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Darwin Correspondence Project

To G. J. Romanes   4 July [1881]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R. [Glenridding House, Patterdale.]

July 4th

My dear Romanes

We are off for Penrith in a few hours, where we sleep. & tomorrow night, thank all the powers, shall be at Down.—2 I write merely to say that we have heard from Collier & my wife has arranged everything.3 I rejoice to hear about your book & am astonished at your progress.4 I shall be very curious to hear at some future period what you think about the German Physiologico-Evolution book & about the Creed of Science.—5 The latter I have read almost through with much interest, though often doubting, sometimes disagreeing, sometimes not at all understanding his conclusions.— I rejoice for my own private eating that you have taken to review & write so much in Nature, & if it does not waste too much of your time you thus do a public service.— Nature seems to me an excellent Journal, & I look forward weekly with pleasure to reading or skimming the whole.

But I must pack up | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from G. J. Romanes, 1 July [1881].
The Darwins were in the Lake District from 2 June, arriving back at Down on 5 July (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II), Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
The letter from John Collier, who was to paint a portrait of CD, has not been found.
Romanes was working on his Animal intelligence (G. J. Romanes 1882).

Bibliography

Graham, William. 1881. The creed of science: religious, moral, and social. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co.

Romanes, George John. 1882a. Animal intelligence. International Scientific Series, vol. 41. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co.

Roux, Wilhelm. 1881. Der Kampf der Theile im Organismus. Ein Beitrag zur Vervollständigung der mechanischen Zweckmässigkeitslehre. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann.

Summary

Is returning to Down.

Rejoices that GJR writes so much in Nature.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13232
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
George John Romanes
Sent from
Down
Source of text
American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.594)
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13232,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13232.xml

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