To H. E. Litchfield 16 February [1874?]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Feb 16th.—
My dear Henrietta
The subject is doubtful & obscure. In the marriage of cousins there is obviously danger from evils, possibly latent on both sides, being developed in the offspring. As far as mere consanguinity is concerned, judging from the analogy of animals, I shd. think no direct evil would follow from the marriage of cousins.2 Nevertheless I shd. quite expect that if all the offspring of cousins throughout England could be compared with the offspring from parents not related, that the latter would be somewhat superior in size, & vigour On the other hand, my recent observations lead me to conclude that if two cousins had long lived at some distance from each other, & had consequently been exposed to somewhat different conditions of life, this would counterbalance any slight evil from their consanguinity.—3 I do not know of any reason whatever to lead to the belief that the marriage of cousins on male or female side would be more injurious, one than the other.— Double cousins, (i.e. from 2 brothers marrying 2 sisters) would of course be more nearly related than ordinary cousins, & I shd. expect that their offspring would tend to suffer more.— Under our present state of knowledge the injury from the increase of any bad tendency common to the family seems to me more to be feared than that from mere consanguinity; though the good effects of crossing distinct families I look at as great & undoubted.
Yours affectionately | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Cross and self fertilisation: The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1876.
Emma Darwin (1904): Emma Darwin, wife of Charles Darwin. A century of family letters. Edited by Henrietta Litchfield. 2 vols. Cambridge: privately printed by Cambridge University Press. 1904.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
On the "doubtful & obscure" subject of marriage of cousins, CD believes, that judging from the analogy of animals, no direct evil would follow from their marriage. He would, however, expect the offspring of unrelated parents to be somewhat superior in size and vigour. The injury from the increase of any bad tendency common to the family seems to CD more to be feared than mere consanguinity; "the good effects of crossing distinct families I look at as great & undoubted".
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8207
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Henrietta Emma Darwin/Henrietta Emma Litchfield
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8207,” accessed on 19 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8207.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22