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To Patrick Geddes   27 March 1882

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Mar 27 1882

Dear Sir

I have read several of your biological papers with very great interest, and I have formed, if you will permit me to say so, a high opinion of your abilities. I can entertain no doubt that you will continue to do excellent service in advancing our knowledge in several branches of science Therefore I believe that you are well fitted to occupy any chair of natural history, for I am convinced that example is fully as important as precept to students1

I remain, dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin

LS

1
The position that Geddes was applying for was probably the Edinburgh chair of natural history, as the previous holder, Charles Wyville Thomson, had died on 10 March 1882 (ODNB). At this time, Geddes was a demonstrator in zoology at Edinburgh; he became professor of botany at Dundee in 1889 (ODNB).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13746,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13746