To G. J. Romanes 12 November 1881
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)
Nov. 12th 1881
My dear Romanes
I must write to say how very much I admire your letter in the last “Nature”. I subscribe to every word that you say, & it could not be expressed more clearly or vigorously.— After the Dukes last letter & flourish about me, I thought it paltry not to say that I agreed with what you had said.1 But after writing 2 folio pages, I found I could not say what I wished to say without taking up too much space, & what I had written did not please me at all, so I tore it up, & now by all the Gods I rejoice that I did so, for you have put the case incomparably better that I had done or could do.—
Moreover I hate controversy, & it wastes much time, at least with a man who like myself can work for only a short time in a day.— How in the world you get through all your work astonishes me!—
Now do not make me feel guilty by answering this letter & losing some of your time.—
You ought not to swear at Roux’s book which has led you into this controversy, for I am sure that your last letter was well worth writing—not that it will produce any effect on the Duke.2
Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Roux, Wilhelm. 1881. Der Kampf der Theile im Organismus. Ein Beitrag zur Vervollständigung der mechanischen Zweckmässigkeitslehre. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann.
Summary
Discusses GJR’s controversy with the Duke [of Argyll] concerning Roux’s book [Der Kampf der Theile im Organismus (1881)].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13479
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- George John Romanes
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.601)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13479,” accessed on 17 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13479.xml