To E. J. Pfeiffer 26 April [1871]1
Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.
April 26
Madam
I am much obliged for your kindness in writing to me.2 I think it wd. have been an advantage if I had used the word fascination, but I intended to express some such idea when I join to charm admire &c, the word excite.—3
I fear that it wd. be very rash to use the illustration of the snake, as very few naturalists believe in snakes having any such power; though I myself am inclined to be a believer.4
Madam | Your obliged servant | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Summary
Thanks for EJP’s suggestion that it is fascination rather than aesthetic appreciation that drives sexual selection.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7719F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Emily Jane Pfeiffer
- Source of text
- Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (Misc. 14)
- Physical description
- 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7719F,” accessed on 23 July 2017, http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/DCP-LETT-7719F
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19
