To C. G. Semper 21 January [1874]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Jan. 2[1]
My dear Sir
Some years ago I read an Essay by you controverting my views on Coral Formations.2 I believe that I made an abstract at the time, but have mislaid it, & consequently I cannot remember its title or anything about it.— I am now preparing a new Edit. of my Book on Coral Reefs,3 & am bound, as an honest man, to say that you dispute my views— Will you, therefore, be so very kind as to give me the title and date of your essay […] And, if it would not be asking too great a favour, can you tell me what was your chief objection to my views, which have been accepted by several persons who have studied coral reefs.
Footnotes
Bibliography
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.
Semper, Carl. 1863. Reisebericht. Briefliche Mittheilung an A. Kölliker. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie 13: 558–69.
Summary
Asks for information about the title and date of Semper’s essay disputing CD’s theory of coral reefs.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9252G
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Carl Gottfried Semper
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Christie’s (dealers) (8 June 2005)
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9252G,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9252G.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22
