Ɛpsilon

To Ernst Haeckel   12 February 1879

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

Feb. 12th 1879

My dear Häckel

I thank you most cordially for your most kind letter.1 But your expressions are so strong that they make me feel almost ashamed of myself, as not deserving them.

I have received the number of Kosmos which is a wonderful honour to me, & I have seen in it the article by you, but I have not yet had time to read any of it.2 For many years I have marvelled at the amount of first-rate work which you manage in some inexplicable way to get through; & I rejoice to hear that your health is still good.

The Virchow affair was a lamentable one, & I grieved over the narrow views of so distinguished a man, whom I formerly greatly respected.3 His conduct is to me quite inexplicable, except by suspecting low motives & thus suspecting is to degrade oneself.—

I keep on working,—endeavouring to add a few bricks for building up the noble temple of Science—but not on subjects which would interest you or anyone greatly.—

With hearty wishes for the prosperity in every way of yourself & family, believe me | My dear Häckel | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

2
See letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 and n. 2. Haeckel had written an essay on monophyletic and polyphyletic origin (Haeckel 1879a) for a special issue of Kosmos to mark CD’s 70th birthday.
3
See letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 and n. 3. Rudolf Carl Virchow had given a speech in which he argued that CD’s theory of descent should not be taught in German schools.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.2 the article] ‘the’ over ‘an’
3.3 thus] after del ‘by’
3.4 oneself] ‘one’ above del ‘on’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11872,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11872