From Hubert Airy 9 December 1871
Flamsted House | Greenwich S.E.
1871. Dec. 9
My dear Sir
⟨ ⟩ your letter ⟨ ⟩ April 5th (if it ⟨ ⟩ ago as to⟨ ⟩) gave me spirit ⟨ ⟩ writing to you again, by asking me to observe whe⟨ther⟩ the platysma myoides contracts
(1) during extreme terror, or
(2) during a shivering fit.1
The nearest approach to extreme terror that I have felt since then, has been caused by the sight of a ⟨pages damaged⟩
be present) I heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer deliver a capital speech, the greater part of which ⟨I⟩ should describe, to any one but yourself, as a Darwinian manifesto—2 There were no reporters in the room, and I cannot be ⟨sure⟩ of his exact words, but he ⟨several words missing⟩ to the hopefulness ⟨2 or 3 words missing⟩ he looked forward to ⟨the⟩ time when the general ⟨ ⟩ recognition of the truth ⟨ ⟩ great doctrine of evolution ⟨ ⟩ lead to the general de⟨velop⟩ment of a spirit of uni⟨versal⟩ charity towards all things ⟨ ⟩ on the earth. ⟨On⟩ the other hand, at a ⟨meet⟩ing of a Literary Society at a ⟨ ⟩ town in the north, one ⟨ ⟩nth, I heard a paper ⟨pages damaged⟩
but I take advantage of the occasion to ask if you know of any paper or treatise dealing with the facts of leaf arrangement by your theory— ⟨ ⟩ scrutable marvels of ⟨ ⟩ (!) are the pleasure-grounds ⟨ ⟩ ⟨evo⟩lutionists, and they revel ⟨to their hear⟩ts’ content in their ⟨ ⟩ries of arithmetic ⟨several words missing⟩ they carry far ⟨ ⟩ limits found in nature, ⟨ ⟩ mystery of ⟨ ⟩ angle, between one-half ⟨and⟩ one-third of 360o, which has no representative at all in nature. But I am presuaded that all the facts are to be explained by reference ⟨ ⟩ to the geometrical necessities ⟨of m⟩utual accommodation in the bud.3
Footnotes
Bibliography
Airy, Hubert. 1873. On leaf-arrangement. Abstract. Communicated by Charles Darwin. [Read 27 February 1873.] Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 21 (1872–3): 176–9.
Summary
Reply to CD’s letter of 5 Apr 1871 [7659], in which he asked HA for further details on when and how platysma myoides contracts.
Replies to CD’s questions about sources on leaf arrangement.
Gives news of speech and paper about CD.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8101
- From
- Hubert Airy
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Greenwich
- Source of text
- DAR 159: 13
- Physical description
- ALS 10pp damaged
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8101,” accessed on 13 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8101.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19
