Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R.
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Sends "squib" he has written exposing the folly of some of Louis Agassiz's ideas. AG cannot "fire off [his] cracker" in U. S. so sends it to amuse CD. If it is sent to Nature, CD must not give AG's name. [See "Survival of the fittest", Nature 7 (1873): 404].
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Feb. 25, 1873
Dear Darwin
Some of Agassiz's sayings and doings are of such a sort that they can only be met and exposed in a squib.
I happen to know that he puts a high value on his argument from the survival of the dwarfed trees on the mountain side, having repeated it before scientific people. Can you conceive such a state of mind.
I can't fire off my cracker here, for obvious reasons,—nor anywhere with my initials appended. So I send it to amuse you.
Consign it to the fire,—or if you choose to send it to Nature—don't give my name with it. A pretty person to talk about ``hasty generalising''!
Ever Yours | A. G.