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Darwin Correspondence Project

To G. H. Darwin   27 April [1876]1

Ap. 27

My dear old George—

I am very very glad of your news about your attacking so difficult a problem with a strong hope of success.2 I confess that I was alarmed when I heard that you cd not get the subject out of your head until I came to your last sentence that you wd be careful.— Do not be too much disappointed if your idea breaks down. It seems a capital idea consulting Adams.3

I am sure some mathematical discussions will be valued greatly by geologists who thought tremendously & it now appears overrated the value of Hopkins work about elevation.—4 There certainly have been enormous changes of level where our continents now stand, & great subsidence in the Pacific. Most geologists now believe that continents have existed nearly where continents now are at all known times— I shall be very glad to help in expence of paid calculation.—5

My dear old f. | Your affect. Father | C. Darwin6

I have just been arranging for a Spanish Translat of Origin!7

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from G. H. Darwin, 25 April 1876.
2
See letter from G. H. Darwin, 25 April 1876; George was working on the problem of whether upheaval and subsidence of the continents influenced the position of the polar axis.
4
William Hopkins produced several papers on continental elevation, including Hopkins 1836, which CD cited in his paper ‘Volcanic phenomena and the formation of mountain chains’, p. 624.
5
In his letter of 25 April 1876, George had suggested employing people to do the mathematical calculations required for his paper (G. H. Darwin 1876b).
6
This letter was written in pencil. Another person subsequently inked in the whole letter, except the salutation and part of the signature, in a fair imitation of CD’s hand.

Bibliography

Hopkins, William. 1836. An abstract of a memoir on physical geology; with a further exposition of certain points connected with the subject. London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 8: 227–36, 272–81, 357–66.

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.

‘Volcanic phenomena and the formation of mountain chains’: On the connexion of certain volcanic phenomena in South America; and on the formation of mountain chains and volcanos, as the effect of the same power by which continents are elevated. By Charles Darwin. [Read 7 March 1838.] Transactions of the Geological Society of London 2d ser. 5 (1840): 601–31. [Shorter publications, pp. 97–124.]

Summary

Is sure mathematical discussion of elevation of continents will be valued by geologists.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-10480
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
George Howard Darwin
Sent from
unstated
Source of text
DAR 210.1: 51
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10480,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10480.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 24

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