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 7 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
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