To G. J. Romanes   27–8 May [1877]¹

My dear Romanes

I must thank you most cordially for your letter.² It has been a greater relief to me than you would easily believe.— I did not know what the referees may have thought or said about Frank’s paper.³ Whether the moving filaments are protoplasm or not seems to me an open question, but that they are there is a new & surprising phenomenon, seen by Ray Lankester & Balfour.⁴ The latter by the way said he could not conceive any one who had seen them doubting that they ought to be called protoplasm.— It is terribly discouraging to a young worker to have his work rejected because the facts are quite new. But again I thank you heartily for your letter, which I will show to Frank when he comes home.—

Your letter has interested me much in other ways. I shall be delighted to read your Lecture when it appears in Nature.⁵

If any friend has been deceiving you in your sceances, how wicked & scandalous such a proceeding is.—⁶

I am soon going away from home for a month for I want rest & a change.⁷

Farewell | Yours | Ch. Darwin

I have read through about a $\frac{1}{3}$ of M^r Grant Allen’s book.— it seems to me wonderfully clever, but is rather too much in the deductive strain for me,—though I know this is very illiberal.—⁸

I cannot but think that he neglects too much the effects of habits, in modifying tastes of all kinds, but perhaps I shall come to this hereafter.

P.S. 28^th.

Can you spare time to come down any day this week, except Saturday, to dine & sleep here?⁹ We sh^d. be very glad indeed if you can come. If so, I w^d. suggest your leaving Charing X by the 4^o 12^’ train, & we w^d. send a carriage to Orpington to meet you, & send you back next morning. In this case let me have a line fixing your day. It will be dull for you, for none of my sons except Frank are at home.—