From J. D. Hooker 20 January 1874
Royal Gardens Kew
Jany 20/74
Dear old Darwin
I was indeed sorry not to see you in London,1 but I am in a whirl of dissipation for the moment—with balls & junketting & sightseeing—the Medium being a charming Swedish girl, who is staying with us, & who I have been escorting about, & who of course leads captivity-captive! We have had too an awful row in the Linnean when Carruthers & Co. packed a meeting to throw out the decision of the Council & we beat him by 1! i.e. by one over & above the majority of a packed meeting.2 I was awfully excited & anxious for 2 days as we only heard of this secret doings by accident 24 hours before the meeting.
We give a ball tonight, which will finish it, thank God, & go to the Cardwells from Friday till Monday— a very quiet house near Godalming.3
What you tell me of your Medium is simply crushing; how is the secret kept? What had you to pay her for her services?— What the d—–l is George about, in consorting with such unholy or at least un-canny people.4
I have your Nephews interest already at the top of my list— though Mrs Archie Smith, & Lyell also told me of him.5 I spent 2 hours with L. yesterday; he is certainly not more feeble than last year; & his intellect is wonderful we had a capital chat over Belts book:— the tropical old Glaciers beat the seance I do think; & Lyell agrees with me that the Glacial Epoch is the great Geological Crux of the day. The lowering of the Ocean-level also is an idea that must now be fully investigated.6
Coral-Reefs is safe back.7
I am curious about Ramsays paper which is coming on at Royal on 29th.8
What do you think of Huxley’s book—9 I am for the moment satisfied with him & his ways, but the Council days at R.S are great pulls.10 1–6 pm continuous— then dinner, followed by the meeting at 8. he is very prudent, I am glad to say.
Ever yr affec | J D Hooker
I hope to run down to you some Sunday soon for peace & quiet & sound sleep.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Belt, Thomas. 1874a. The naturalist in Nicaragua: a narrative of a residence at the gold mines of Chontales; journeys in the savannahs and forests. With observations on animals and plants in reference to the theory of evolution of living forms. London: John Murray.
Coral reefs: The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1842.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Gage, Andrew Thomas and Stearn, William Thomas. 1988. A bicentenary history of the Linnean Society of London. London: Academic Press.
Huxley, Thomas Henry. 1873. Critiques and addresses. London: Macmillan.
Post Office directory of the six home counties: Post Office directory of the six home counties, viz., Essex, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. London: W. Kelly & Co. 1845–78.
Ramsay, Andrew Crombie. 1874. On the comparative value of certain geological ages (or groups of formations) considered as items of geological time. [Read 29 January 1874.] Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 22 (1873–4): 334–43.
Record of the Royal Society of London: The record of the Royal Society of London for the promotion of natural knowledge. 4th edition. London: Royal Society. 1940.
Waugh, Francis Gledstanes. [1888.] Members of the Athenæum Club, 1824 to 1887. N.p.: privately printed.
Summary
An awful row at the Linnean Society. William Carruthers and Co. packed a meeting to throw out a decision of the Council. He was beaten by one vote (more than two-thirds majority needed).
Spent two hours with Lyell talking about Thomas Belt’s book [The naturalist in Nicaragua (1874)]: "the tropical old Glaciers beat the seance I do think".
Lyell agrees that the glacial epoch is the great geological crux of the day. Lowering of the ocean level must also be investigated.
Curious about A. C. Ramsay’s paper coming at Royal Society on 29th ["On the comparative value of certain geological ages", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 22 (1874): 145–8].
Huxley’s new book [? Critiques and addresses (1873)].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9250
- From
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Kew
- Source of text
- DAR 103: 187–8
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9250,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9250.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22