To Ludwig Rütimeyer 25 February [1868]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Feb 25
My dear Sir
I am very glad that you have sent to England your memoir for the Earl of Tankerville. He is so much interested about his wild Cattle that I do not doubt he will like to have a copy in his library.2 As soon as I receive it from Messrs Williams,3 I will forward it to him. You say that you have added a pamphlet “zur Darwin lehre”; but I received a copy of this 2 or 3 weeks ago.4 I have been very tardy in thanking you for it & for your Herkunft unserer Thierwelt, & for your Nat. Geschichte des Rindes.5 All of which I owe to your great kindness. My only excuse is that I have lately been much engaged.
As there is no man in Europe whose opinion on the modification of species I value more than yours, I was extremely anxious to read your pamphlet. But your style is very difficult for me to understand, so that I despatched it immediately to a young German lady whom I sometimes employ to translate for me, & as she has not much spare time, I do not suppose I shall receive the translation for a month, when I shall read it eagerly.6
I am very sorry to disagree with you on any point, but I cannot agree that there is any innate principle of progressive perfection;7 it seems to me that this will inevitably follow from natural selection.
With sincere thanks for all your kindness believe me | my dear Sir | yours very faithfully | 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–.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Will forward LR’s memoir to Earl of Tankerville. Has sent LR’s pamphlet on "Darwin Lehre" [Die Grenzen der Thierwelt (1868)] to a German lady he employs as a translator. Cannot agree that there is an innate principle of perfection.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5930
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Karl Ludwig (Ludwig) Rütimeyer
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Universitätsbibliothek Basel, Handschriften (G IV 91, 5)
- Physical description
- LS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5930,” accessed on 28 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5930.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16