From Richard Frean 17 February 1863
Plymouth
Feb 17th 1863.
(Copy)
Dr Sir
I am much interested in the subject of your book on the “Origin of Species”1 & this must be my apology for addressing you At the time of its appearance I was a Medical Student in London, & much attached to the study of Geology, general Natural History &c, & more particularly at that time—Animal and Vegetable Morphology.2
It is not surprising therefore that I was obliged to accept your Hypothesis as the only satisfactory explanation of all that is so perplexing & mysterious in these latter subjects. Of course other considerations,—especially the inhabitants of the Galapagos Archipelago & other facts in the Geographical distribution of Animals & Plants contributed to this result.
The remarkable unsymmetrical structure of the Sole, Turbot & other Fishes of the Pleuronectidæ had attracted my attention & appeared a strong argument in its favor.3
The Teats & Lacteal glands of the Mammalia present a difficulty I cannot imagine how these can have been developed by ‘Natural selection’ I am anxious to know the views of others on the subject.
The degeneration of civilized man appears to be a necessary consequence of your hypothesis—if the following reasoning is correct. Man’s organs of locomotion, hearing smell, taste & sight were modified & maintained by natural selection when the life of the individual & the existence of the species depended upon their efficientcy. After a time his more perfect hand & superior reasoning powers gave him ascendancy over kindred forms in the struggle for life.
Civilization ensues; the strong protect the weak, machinery is used for locomotion, for defence against natural enemies, for preparing food &c &c, & robust health & acute senses are no longer the conditions of the life of the individual & the perpetuation of the species. They must therefore necessarily decay. The consideration of cultivated plants & domesticated animals will prove that variations of scructure are greatest when the plant or animal is placed under unnatural conditions. Civilized Man is thus placed. His various organs &c. will be liable to great variations & since natural selection cannot act in preserving the good & eliminating the bad, They must all ultimately be injurious for those which at first are beneficial, will by exaggeration become so.
This process of degeneration may have a limit for it may be supposed that natural selection will act when variations of structure interfere with a prolific reproduction, yet it is difficult to see how this principle can do so when variations are large & frequent. If these deductions are correct they are of practical importance. The future object of Medical Science will be the prevention rather than the cure of disease; & this will be accomplished by subjecting the body as far as practicable to its former conditions. A more natural diet, thin clothing, a large amount of exercise &c will be some of the conditions of health & physical enjoyment. Extremes will meet for the highest civilization will approximate the savage state.
I am | Dr Sir &c | R F
C. H. Darwin Esq. M.A
Footnotes
Summary
Discusses his reading and understanding of Origin.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3993F
- From
- Richard Frean
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Plymouth
- Source of text
- Launceston Library (State Library of Tasmania): Local Studies Collection – Manuscripts (Robert Norman Smith Diaries and correspondence LMSS 0020)
- Physical description
- CC 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3993F,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3993F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18 (Supplement)