F. M. Balfour is in Naples. Comments on rate at which sea eats back the land, as given in early editions of Origin.
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The Charles Darwin Collection
The Darwin Correspondence Project is publishing letters written by and to the naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). Complete transcripts of letters are being made available through the Project’s website (www.darwinproject.ac.uk) after publication in the ongoing print edition of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin (Cambridge University Press 1985–). Metadata and summaries of all known letters (c. 15,000) appear in Ɛpsilon, and the full texts of available letters can also be searched, with links to the full texts.
F. M. Balfour is in Naples. Comments on rate at which sea eats back the land, as given in early editions of Origin.
Sends Descent material. Is staggered by CD’s power of marshalling facts and his conciseness and clearness of thought. The only fault he finds is some slight want of conciseness of diction.
He feels CD’s power more now "that I quail before the thought of arranging the few paltry facts I’ve got about those d––d cousins".
The memorial failed last autumn. She asks for CD’s signature again so that it may be presented now that there is a new Government.
Her [Wedgwood] Handbook is now in press.
GHD’s corrections seem very good. Murray hopes there will be few corrections in Descent. CD assured him no changes have been made merely for improving style.
Wants very much to hear about "the terrible cousin affair".
Affirms his belief in an impassable spiritual gulf between man and the lower creatures.
Purpose of experiments was to determine digestive activity of liquids containing pepsin. Gives required amounts of hydrochloric, propionic, butyric and valerianic acids. Describes experiment and gives results. Also experimented on digestive activity of butyric acid at greater temperatures than the termperature of the body.
Sends cherry blossoms damaged by birds in response to CD’s letter in Nature ["Flowers of the primrose", Collected papers 2: 183–4].
Asks CD’s support for his application for the Chair of Geology at Oxford.
Bullfinches’ instinctive capacity for removing nectaries from cowslips.
Further particulars on pea-fowl.
Thanks for recent edition of CD’s Journal of researches.
Observations on early shedding of tears and shrugging of shoulders.
Variation in bullfinches’ instinctive ability to remove nectaries and ovaries from cowslips.
Discusses illustrations for 2d edition of Descent.
"My nephew [Henry Parker] got into the Athenaeum with splendid success."
Is glad to have Descent cheaper and sold more largely, but would be sorry to see it printed like the Origin. "The closeness of the lines is the great fault." Fears book might be very thick. "I hear scores of people complaining of the heavy and thick books which you publish."
Circular requesting recipients to sign an enclosed [missing] statement [relating to appeal for Naples Zoological Station] if they approve of it.