Returns letter mailed by mistake [see 4361].
Hopes CD will accept gift of his Radiolarien [Die Radiolarien, 2 vols. (1862)].
CD’s views go hand-in-hand with those of Ludwig Büchner.
He requests an autograph for a friend.
Criticises the Duke of Argyll’s book [Reign of law (1867)], particularly on sexual selection.
But CD overlooks God’s intention to instruct man by nature’s beauty.
Criticism of anonymous article in North British Review [by Fleeming Jenkin, 46 (1867): 277–318].
CK supports large sports in response to large environmental changes.
Sends portion of his book, Grundlegung von Aesthetik [1869]. Argues that CD’s theory can be reconciled with religion.
Encloses a letter [7617] to be forwarded to the author of the review of Descent in Pall Mall Gazette.
Questions CD’s attribution of a sense of beauty to animals and his use of natural selection to explain phenomena JM feels it more appropriate to describe as social selection.
Suggests aesthetic sense in animals is merely secondary to sexual selection.
Thanks for EJP’s suggestion that it is fascination rather than aesthetic appreciation that drives sexual selection.
Sends sentences from Hermann von Helmholtz about difference between minor and major chords.
Encloses a letter from Lady Bell, which should be burnt when read.
Discusses finances.
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