From:
Alpheus Hyatt
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
8 Dec 1872
Source of text:
DAR 145: 365
Summary:
Discusses his theory of acceleration and retardation of development.
Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
Showing 1–2 of 2 items
Discusses his theory of acceleration and retardation of development.
If decapod does not pass through zoea stage, is this acceleration? If hypothetical adult retained zoea characters, would this be retardation? Believes obliteration of growth stages frequently due to natural selection. Most interesting points in AH’s letter deal with senile characters. CD attributes them to laws of growth not selection. Explains degraded characters as result of readaptation to simpler conditions. Believes no innate tendency to progressive development exists.
Hopes AH visits F. Hilgendorf’s famous deposit [at Steinheim]. A. Weismann [Einfluss der Isolierung (1872)] makes good use of Hilgendorf’s observations.