To Louis Bertillon 18 December 1871
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Dec 18. 1871
Dear Sir
I beg leave to thank you sincerely for having sent me yr essay & for the kind words in relation to my works in your letter to Dr Beddoe.1 I have read yr essay with the greatest interest. Your discussion on the nature of the hypotheses, which may be legitimately used in science appears to me the most philosophical which I have ever read. It puts in a clear manner thoughts which had vaguely passed thro’ my head.2 With respect to the second part of your essay, I venture to differ from you on several points; but on so intricate a subject I suppose no two persons wd altogether agree. I should not dare to trust so much as you do in Agassiz’ conclusions, although they are favorable to our general view.3
I am particularly glad that you have published yr essay, as I believe there are but few in France who admit the doctrine of evolution; & this is a strange fact, considering that France has produced Buffon, Lamarck & the two Geoffroys.4
With my best thanks & sincere respect, I remain | dear Sir | yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bertillon, Louis. 1870. Valeur de l’hypothèse du transformisme. [Read 2 June 1870.] Bulletins de la Société d’anthropologie de Paris 2d ser. 5: 488–528.
Summary
Thanks for his article Valeur philosophique de l’hypothèse du transformisme (Bertillon 1870), which is very clear.
Would not himself trust so much in Agassiz’s conclusions.
Glad the essay has been published, as he believes ‘there are but few in France who admit the doctrine of evolution’.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6508F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Louis-Adolf (Louis) Bertillon
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Librairie la 42ème Ligne, Paris (dealers) (2018)
- Physical description
- 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6508F,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6508F.xml