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Darwin Correspondence Project

From John Michels   9 December 1877

Box 3838. P.O. New York. U.S.

December 9th. 1877.—

To | Dr. Chs. Darwin. M.A. F.R.S. &c— | England.—

Dear Sir,

You are not likely to remember that in 1870 I sent you sketches of “Pollen” showing distortion of form— I then resided in Barnes England.—1 I have since persumd my Microscopical studies, and during the last six years in this Country.—2

I now forward by this Mail a very correct drawing of the supposed Fossil Man of prehistoric date, found in Colorado—3 You will notice all the soft parts (including the penis not shown in drawing) are fossilized— I may mention that the figure has a tail.—

It is not easy to perceive how any person of ordinary intelligence could be deceived, for a mere glance was sufficient for me to detect the imposture— but I believe so many laws of nature are set aside in this matter, that it is not necessary to view the figure to settle the question— I regret to say that many Physicians and men of that class are in doubt, and I fear much harm to Science will follow, as the ignorant will make it a handle, if the thing is not put down—

I understand the thing was found near a place owned by Barnum in Colorado—and he is handling it here, although others are are put forward.—4

I have no doubt that the subject will reach England, and I thought a drawing of the figure would be useful to you, the sketch was made for an advertisement but I have compared it and find it fairly correct, except the feet, the toes of which are too pointed, and divided— You will of course notice the attempt to carve a figure, to conform with your well known views—A man 712 feet high with, tail, and hand like feet, and arms of extreme length—

I trust the drawing will be useful in the sense I have indicated, to check imposture, if I can be useful at any time, on this side, please make use of me—

Yours Respectfully | John Michels.—

Footnotes

See Correspondence vol. 18, letter from John Michels, 3 May 1870. Barnes is a district in the London borough of Richmond.
Michels worked as a freelance journalist, sometimes writing on microscopy (see Kohlstedt 1980, p. 33).
The drawing has not been found, but was of a supposed fossil man known as the Solid Muldoon or Colorado giant (see also letter from J. P. Chesney, 28 October 1877). The figure had been unearthed near Beulah, Colorado, and although soon revealed not to be a petrified human, it was later thought to be an ancient work of art, before eventually being revealed as a hoax (see Tribble 2009, pp. 199–219).
The land where the figure was found was not owned by Phineas Taylor Barnum, but Barnum had gone to the exhibition of the figure in Colorado and reportedly offered $20,000 for it (see Tribble 2009, pp. 210–11).

Bibliography

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory. 1980. Science: the struggle for survival, 1880 to 1894. Science n.s. 209: 33–42.

Tribble, Scott. 2009. A colossal hoax: the giant from Cardiff that fooled America. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Summary

Sends a drawing [missing] of alleged fossil man found in Colorado. JM is certain it is a hoax perpetrated by P. T. Barnum. It was designed to conform to CD’s well-known views of man’s ancestor.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11272
From
John Michels
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
New York
Source of text
DAR 171: 176
Physical description
ALS 4pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11272,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11272.xml

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