Ɛpsilon

To H. M. Westropp   26 May 1881

Down | Beckenham

May 26. 1881

Dear Sir.

My time is so fully occupied that I cannot spare the time to discuss your essay.1 The comparison of the stages of the life of an individual animal with those of a species or whole nation seems to me far fetched.

I do not believe that there has been progress in the case of all organisms; on the contrary much degradation during many generations, as with parasitic crustaceans and probably with parasitic worms.2

The belief in much degradation is spreading amongst many naturalists, as may be seen in Ray Lankesters recent (little?) book.3 On the other hand, I know of no evidence opposed to the belief in continuous progress in many lines of descent.

I am sorry that my note must be so short, and remain | yours faithfully | Ch Darwin

Copy

1
Westropp had recently published his work, The cycle of development (Westropp 1881); no copy has been found in the Darwin Library–CUL.
2
CD had noted the abortion of several organs in parasitic barnacles and complemental males of some barnacle species (Living Cirripedia (1854), pp. 26–30).
3
CD’s annotated copy of Edwin Ray Lankester’s Degeneration. A chapter in Darwinism (Lankester 1880) is in the Darwin Library–CUL.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13175,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13175