Dear Romanes

Pray thank M^r Grant Allen for his kindness in having sent me his Work. The subject is a very difficult & interesting one, & I shall be very glad to read the passages which you have so kindly marked, & indeed, if I can find time, other parts.¹ But good Heavens what a lot of books there is to read.—

I have heard nothing about the “rub” at the R. Soc; & I wish you had told me more. I suppose it refers to “spontaneous Generation” & I shall be glad of anything which helps to settle that question for the present. Huxley recently told me that he thought Tyndall’s recent work about old germs withstanding long-continued boiling was most important & apparently decisive.² The Council have refused to print Frank’s paper on the Teazle glands—on what grounds I know not. I have not been so much mortified for many a year; but he does not care much, all such things being mere trifles to him. My opinion about the value of his work remains quite unchanged & I care not who the referees may have been. But it is foolish in me to speak thus.—³

I wish that any of my sons could have attended your lecture, but it is not possible.⁴ When I last saw you I remember I wished you all good luck with your grafting experiment, & ill-luck with spiritualism; & in one sense my wishes seem to have come true, though in another sense your negative results are highly pleasing,—delightful to me, for I felt convinced that Williams was a very clever rogue.—⁵

Many thanks for your pleasant letter | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin