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Darwin Correspondence Project

From J. T. Moggridge   24 July 1873

2 Montague Villas | Richmond | (Surrey)

24 July | 1873

My dear Sir

I am most truly obliged to you for your letter received this morning; for I now clearly understand how to set about making the proposed experiments—1

I am quite eager to begin, & shall probably make a commencement shortly.

With me, & I fancy with many others, the uncertainty as to the best method of conducting an experiment is very often the cause of shirking it altogether.

Here the training of an experimental school of physiology might I think prove of use—.

The question “how am I to set about it” often meets with the reply “I’m sure I dont know”; or, if the questioner is more determined, it results in “I dont know, but I’ll try first this way, then that”.

Believe me, with renewed thanks, | yrs. most truly | J. Traherne Moggridge

Footnotes

CD’s letter has not been found. Moggridge planned to repeat CD’s experiments on the action of formic acid on seeds (see letter from J. T. Moggridge, 22 July 1873).

Summary

CD has clarified the way to conduct the formic acid experiment.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-8986
From
John Traherne Moggridge
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Richmond
Source of text
DAR 171: 220
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8986,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8986.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21

letter