From G. H. Darwin   [before 11 July 1878]1

6 Q. A. St | Cav. Sq.

Dear Father,

I have seen the Belgian Bulletin— it is only a short report of the referees on the paper. I can see that Lagrange (who they speak of as a young man) is tackling the subject in a fundamentally different way from me— in fact his work is very different but yet sufficiently on the same subject for me to be glad to finish off my work.2

I think from the way he is attacking it that my problem will be solved infinitely more precisely & thoroughly than his & I think it exceedingly unlikely that he will have found out all that I have done.

I daresay however he’ll find out some of what I miss. His work appears to be much more one of theoretical dynamics. I’m delighted at this.

Yrs affec | G H Darwin

Uncle Ras brisk3

Good acct. of At. Fanny4

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to G. H. Darwin, 11 [July 1878].
2
George had been alarmed to discover that Charles Henri Lagrange was doing similar astronomical work to his (see letter from G. H. Darwin, [30 June 1878] and n. 2). Reports on Lagrange’s paper on the origin of astronomical movements (Lagrange 1877–8) were given at a meeting of the Royal Academy of Belgium on 2 March 1878, and printed in Bulletins de l’Academie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique 2d ser. 45 (1878): 148–54.
3
George was staying with Erasmus Alvey Darwin at 6 Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, London; Erasmus had attributed his recent bout of ill health to eating green peas (letter from G. H. Darwin, [30 June 1878]).
4
Frances Emma Elizabeth Wedgwood.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11600,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11600