From T. M. Reade 7 December 1880
Decr 7th 80
My dear Sir
Will you kindly read the letter of Topley’s in the Geo. Mag I send you. p—573— You are quoted by him as an authority in favor of the views of the permanence of the positions of Oceans & Continents through all geological time—1
It appears to me after reading what you say in the 4th Edition of your “Origin of Species” that the words Mr Topley quotes, mostly the qualifying “if”. scarcely bear out the inference he wishes drawn—2 You put the views forward distinctly as an hypothesis to meet certain difficulties in the evidence of geology with respect to evolution— The question is a very important one and can scarcely be settled by quoting authority— it is a matter of evidence.
Faithfully Yours | T. Mellard Reade
Dr. Chas Darwin FRS. &c
Will you kindly return the Magazine.—
Footnotes
Bibliography
Origin 3d ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 3d edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1861.
Origin 4th ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 4th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1866.
Reade, Thomas Mellard. 1880. Oceans and continents. Geological Magazine n.s. 2d decade 7: 385–91.
Summary
Recommends letters by William Topley in Geological Magazine. WT discusses past distribution of oceans and continents.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12894
- From
- Thomas Mellard Reade
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- University of Liverpool Library (TMR2.D.1.3)
- Physical description
- ACCS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12894,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12894.xml