From T. H. Huxley 5 June 1875
31 Royal Terrace | Edinburgh
June 5th 1875
My dear Darwin
I see I have forgotten to return Playfairs letter—which I inclose— He sent me a copy of his last letter to you—but it did not reach me until some days after my return from London In the meanwhile I saw him & Lord Cardwell at the House of Commons on Friday (last week)1
Playfair seems rather disgusted at our pronunciamento against the Bill & he declares that both Sanderson & Sharpey assented to it— What they were dreaming about I cannot imagine— To say that no man shall experiment except for purpose of original discovery is about as reasonable as to ordain that no man shall swim unless he means to go from Dover to Calais—2
However the Commission is to be issued and it is everything to gain time & let the present madness subside a little— I vowed I would never be a member of another Commission if I could help it, but I suppose I shall have to serve on this—3
I am very busy with my lectures and am nearly half through—4 I shall not be sorry when they are over as I have been grinding away now since last October
With kindest regards to Mrs Darwin | Ever | Yours very faithfully | T H Huxley
Footnotes
Bibliography
French, Richard D. 1975. Antivivisection and medical science in Victorian society. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Summary
Playfair "disgusted at our pronunciamentos against the Bill". Burdon Sanderson and William Sharpey agreed to it. THH feels he must serve on Vivisection Commission.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10010
- From
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Edinburgh
- Source of text
- DAR 166: 341
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10010,” accessed on 22 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10010.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23