From T. H. Huxley 18 January 1875
4 Marlborough Place
Jny 18th 1875
My dear Darwin
I quite agree with your letter about vivisection as a matter of right & justice in the first place, & secondly as the best method of taking the wind out of the enemy’s sails1 I will communicate with Burdon Sanderson2 & see what can be done.
My reliance as against that ‘foolish fat scullion’3 & her fanatical following is not in the wisdom & justice of the House of Commons but in the large number of Fox-hunters therein— If Physiological Experimentation is put down by law—hunting fishing & shooting against which a much better case can be made out will soon follow
Have you seen Mivarts wriggle?4 Of course he could be easily exposed but I doubt if he is worth more powder & shot— What say you?
I have had a horrid influenza & gone deaf in one ear—I am afraid permanently—but I am picking up again
The Litchfields5 were with us last night & I was glad to hear good news of all at Down
Ever | Yours very faithy | T H Huxley
Footnotes
Bibliography
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Sterne, Laurence. 1760–7. The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman. 2d edition. 9 vols. London: R. and J. Dodsley.
Summary
Agrees with CD on vivisection. Will communicate with Burdon Sanderson and see what can be done.
Mivart’s wriggle.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9823
- From
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Marlborough Place, 4
- Source of text
- DAR 166: 338
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9823,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9823.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23