To F. J. Cohn 8 August 1877
Down. | Beckenham. Kent.
Aug 8. 1877
My dear Sir,
I thank you most cordially for your letter.1 I can declare that I have hardly ever received one in my life which has given me more pleasure. I have reason to know that some of our leading men of science disbelieve in my son’s statements, & this has mortified me not a little.2 Under these circumstances would you permit me to publish in “Nature” those parts of your letter which refer to Dipsacus? I would omit some of your very kind expressions of approbation which it might be more fitting not to publish— It is so clearly written that merely a word or two stands in need of alteration— The publication of this letter would pledge you to nothing beyond the mere statement of what you have duly seen.
I most earnestly beg you to refuse my request without scruple if it is the least disagreeable to you; but if you agree, I should look upon it as the greatest honour to my son
The word “yes” or “no” on a post card would suffice.
I should really be glad to lay your interesting letter before the readers of “Nature” on account of its intrinsic interest, & apart from the pleasure it gives me with reference to my son’s work
Prof. Hofmann of Giessen has kindly called my attention to the presence of apparently similar filiform protrusions from certain hairs on the ring on Agaricus muscarius described by him Bot Zeitung 1853 & figured 1859 Tab XI fig 17—3
With heartfelt thanks, I remain.| Yours, my dear Sir, | very sincerely. | Charles Darwin
My son, since the death of his wife, lives with me.4
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Hoffmann, Hermann. 1853. Ueber contractile Gebilde bei Blätterschwämmen. Botanische Zeitung 11: 857–66.
Hoffmann, Hermann. 1859. Ueber Pilzkeimungen. Botanische Zeitung 17: 209–14, 217–19.
Summary
Asks permission to publish comments by FJC regarding paper by Francis Darwin [see 11073].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11095
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Ferdinand Julius Cohn
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Michael Silverman (dealer) (2003); DAR 143: 267
- Physical description
- LS(A) 4pp C
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11095,” accessed on 9 June 2023, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11095.xml