From S. A. Merrell 28 October 1870
US | Council Bluffs Iowa
Oct 28/1870
Mr Darwin
Dear Sir
Your kind note of reply to the one I sent you regarding the American Cuckoo, came duly to hand—1 I did not deem it needful to carry the correspondence farther at the time, as I supposed you had no time to spend on irrelavant matters—and have not.
Since that time however I have prepared a short article on the “Unity of Generation” designed to show that the principle is one and the same throughout the entire natural world—also as bearing upon physical progress—2
It is in direct relation and support of the Development Theory which I had in view in preparing the paper—
If it does not seem to be an act of presumption on my part to offer you for your inspection the crude reflections of a homunculus3—one who has devoted his time mainly to other pursuits, I should be happy to send you the article at some future time
In conversing with an old friend not long since, Major Hoffman,4 he stated to me he had been observant of the peculiar habits of our cuckoo on two or three distinct occasions
Have not had the pleasure of seeing your new edition of the Origin of Species5
With profound respect I remain | Most Truly Yours | S A Merrell MD | Box 325. Council Bluffs | Iowa | US
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Origin 2d US ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. From the fifth London edition, with additions and corrections. New York: D. Appleton. 1870.
Summary
Offers to send his short article on the "Unity of generation" which supports the developmental hypothesis.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7352
- From
- Stephen Augustine Merrell
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Council Bluffs, Iowa
- Source of text
- DAR 171: 158
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7352,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7352.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18