Volume I Part 31 (2/2)
Down, July 5th [1866].
I have been much interested by your letter, which is as clear as daylight. I fully agree with all that you say on the advantages of H.
Spencer's excellent expression of ”the survival of the fittest.”
This, however, had not occurred to me till reading your letter. It is, however, a great objection to this term that it cannot be used as a substantive governing a verb; and that this is a real objection I infer from H. Spencer continually using the words Natural Selection. I formerly thought, probably in an exaggerated degree, that it was a great advantage to bring into connection natural and artificial selection; this indeed led me to use a term in common, and I still think it some advantage. I wish I had received your letter two months ago, for I would have worked in ”the survival,” etc., often in the new edition of the ”Origin,” which is now almost printed off, and of which I will of course send you a copy. I will use the term in my next book on domestic animals, etc., from which, by the way, I plainly see that you expect MUCH too much. The term Natural Selection has now been so largely used abroad and at home that I doubt whether it could be given up, and with all its faults I should be sorry to see the attempt made. Whether it will be rejected must now depend ”on the survival of the fittest.” As in time the term must grow intelligible the objections to its use will grow weaker and weaker. I doubt whether the use of any term would have made the subject intelligible to some minds, clear as it is to others; for do we not see even to the present day Malthus on Population absurdly misunderstood? This reflection about Malthus has often comforted me when I have been vexed at this misstatement of my views. As for M. Janet, he is a metaphysician, and such gentlemen are so acute that I think they often misunderstand common folk. Your criticism on the double sense in which I have used Natural Selection is new to me and unanswerable; but my blunder has done no harm, for I do not believe that any one, excepting you, has ever observed it. Again, I agree that I have said too much about ”favourable variations,” but I am inclined to think that you put the opposite side too strongly: if every part of every being varied, I do not think we should see the same end or object gained by such wonderfully diversified means.
I hope you are enjoying the country, and are in good health, and are working hard at your ”Malay Archipelago” book, for I will always put this wish in every note I write to you, as some good people always put in a text. My health keeps much the same, or rather improves, and I am able to work some hours daily.
LETTER 192. TO C. LYELL. Down, October 9th [1866].
One line to say that I have received your note and the proofs safely, and will read them with the greatest pleasure; but I am certain I shall not be able to send any criticism on the astronomical chapter (192/1.
”Principles of Geology,” by Sir Charles Lyell; Edition X., London, 1867.
Chapter XIII. deals with ”Vicissitudes in Climate how far influenced by Astronomical Causes.”), as I am as ignorant as a pig on this head.
I shall require some days to read what has been sent. I have just read Chapter IX. (192/2. Chapter IX., ”Theory of the Progressive Development of Organic Life at Successive Geological Periods.”), and like it extremely; it all seems to me very clear, cautious, and sagacious. You do not allude to one very striking point enough, or at all--viz., the cla.s.ses having been formerly less differentiated than they now are; and this specialisation of cla.s.ses must, we may conclude, fit them for different general habits of life as well as the specialisation of particular organs.
Page 162 (192/3. On page 163 Lyell refers to the absence of Cetacea in Secondary rocks, and expresses the opinion that their absence ”is a negative fact of great significance, which seems more than any other to render it highly improbable that we shall ever find air-breathers of the highest cla.s.s in any of the Primary strata, or in any of the older members of the Secondary series.”) I rather demur to your argument from Cetacea: as they are such greatly modified mammals, they ought to have come in rather later in the series. You will think me rather impudent, but the discussion at the end of Chapter IX. on man (192/4. Loc. cit., pages 167-73, ”Introduction of Man, to what extent a Change of the System.”), who thinks so much of his fine self, seems to me too long, or rather superfluous, and too orthodox, except for the beneficed clergy.
LETTER 193. TO V. CARUS.
(193/1. The following letter refers to the 4th edition of the ”Origin,”
1866, which was translated by Professor Carus, and formed the 3rd German edition. Carus continued to translate Darwin's books, and a strong bond of friends.h.i.+p grew up between author and translator (see ”Life and Letters,” III., page 48). Nageli's pamphlet was first noticed in the 5th English edition.)
Down, November 21st, 1866.
...With respect to a note on Nageli (193/2. ”Entstehung und Begriff der Naturhistorischen Art,” an Address given before the Royal Academy of Sciences at Munich, March 28th, 1865. See ”Life and Letters,” III., page 50, for Mr. Darwin's letter to the late Prof. Nageli.) I find on consideration it would be too long; for so good a pamphlet ought to be discussed at full length or not at all. He makes a mistake in supposing that I say that useful characters are always constant. His view about distinct species converging and acquiring the same identical structure is by implication answered in the discussion which I have given on the endless diversity of means for gaining the same end.
The most important point, as it seems to me, in the pamphlet is that on the morphological characters of plants, and I find I could not answer this without going into much detail.
The answer would be, as it seems to me, that important morphological characters, such as the position of the ovules and the relative position of the stamens to the ovarium (hypogynous, perigynous, etc.) are sometimes variable in the same species, as I incidentally mention when treating of the ray-florets in the Compositae and Umbelliferae; and I do not see how Nageli could maintain that differences in such characters prove an inherent tendency towards perfection. I see that I have forgotten to say that you have my fullest consent to append any discussion which you may think fit to the new edition. As for myself I cannot believe in spontaneous generation, and though I expect that at some future time the principle of life will be rendered intelligible, at present it seems to me beyond the confines of science.
LETTER 194. TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, December 22nd [1866?].
I suppose that you have received Hackel's book (194/1. ”Generelle Morphologie,” 1866.) some time ago, as I have done. Whenever you have had time to read through some of it, enough to judge by, I shall be very curious to hear your judgment. I have been able to read a page or two here and there, and have been interested and instructed by parts. But my vague impression is that too much s.p.a.ce is given to methodical details, and I can find hardly any facts or detailed new views. The number of new words, to a man like myself, weak in his Greek, is something dreadful.
He seems to have a pa.s.sion for defining, I daresay very well, and for coining new words. From my very vague notions on the book, and from its immense size, I should fear a translation was out of the question. I see he often quotes both of us with praise. I am sure I should like the book much, if I could read it straight off instead of groaning and swearing at each sentence. I have not yet had time to read your Physiology (194/2. ”Lessons in Elementary Physiology,” 1866.) book, except one chapter; but I have just re-read your book on ”Man's Place, etc.,” and I think I admire it more this second time even than the first. I doubt whether you will ever have time, but if ever you have, do read the chapter on hybridism in the new edition of the ”Origin” (194/3. Fourth Edition (1866).), for I am very anxious to make you think less seriously on that difficulty. I have improved the chapter a good deal, I think, and have come to more definite views. Asa Gray and Fritz Muller (the latter especially) think that the new facts on illegitimate offspring of dimorphic plants, throw much indirect light on the subject. Now that I have worked up domestic animals, I am convinced of the truth of the Pallasian (194/4. See Letter 80.) view of loss of sterility under domestication, and this seems to me to explain much. But I had no intention, when I began this note, of running on at such length on hybridism; but you have been Objector-General on this head.
LETTER 195. TO T. RIVERS.
(195/1. For another letter of Mr. Darwin's to him see ”Life and Letters,” III., page 57.)
Down, December 23rd [1866?].
I do not know whether you will forgive a stranger addressing you.
My name may possibly be known to you. I am now writing a book on the variation of animals and plants under domestication; and there is one little piece of information which it is more likely that you could give me than any man in the world, if you can spare half an hour from your professional labours, and are inclined to be so kind. I am collecting all accounts of what some call ”sports,” that is, of what I shall call ”bud-variations,” i.e. a moss-rose suddenly appearing on a Provence rose--a nectarine on a peach, etc. Now, what I want to know, and which is not likely to be recorded in print, is whether very slight differences, too slight to be worth propagating, thus appear suddenly by buds. As every one knows, in raising seedlings you may have every gradation from individuals identical with the parent, to slight varieties, to strongly marked varieties. Now, does this occur with buds or do only rather strongly marked varieties thus appear at rare intervals of time by buds? (195/2. Mr. Rivers could not give a decided answer, but he did not remember to have seen slight bud-variations. The question is discussed in ”Variation under Domestication,” Edition II., Volume I., page 443.) I should be most grateful for information. I may add that if you have observed in your enormous experience any remarkable ”bud-variations,” and could spare time to inform me, and allow me to quote them on your authority, it would be the greatest favour. I feel sure that these ”bud-variations” are most interesting to any one endeavouring to make out what little can be made out on the obscure subject of variation.
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