From William Boyd Dawkins   31 January 1868

Temple Mount, Belvedere, Kent

31. January. 1868.

My dear Sir,

I cannot adequately express my thanks to you for the copy of your last great work which you were so kind as to send me.1 I value it most highly not only for its own sake, but because you sent it.

The views advocated in the origin are becoming cosmopolitan. Dr. Middendorf (Sibirische Reise) in Russia, is a convert,2 M. Gaudry (Fauna animaux foss. de l’Attique) in France,3 and Dr. Rutimeyer in Switzerland;4 the second sorely against his will. M. Gaudry’s book is the most important monograph on late Meiocene mammals yet printed. Many of the missing links are found, and especially those binding Mustela and Viverra to Hyæna.5

I am | My dear Sir | Yours truly | W. Boyd Dawkins

Charles Darwin Esq F.R.S.

1
The reference is to Variation. Dawkins’s name appears on the presentation list for the book (see Correspondence vol. 16, Appendix IV). Dawkins had corresponded with CD in 1867 about the relationship between extinct and living forms of oxen and rhinoceros (see Correspondence vol. 15).
2
Dawkins refers to Aleksandr Fedorovich Middendorf and to the account of his travels in northern and eastern Siberia (Middendorf 1848–75). The reception of CD’s work in Russia is discussed in Vucinich 1988 and Todes 1989.
3
Dawkins refers to Albert Gaudry and Gaudry 1862–7. See letter from Albert Gaudry, 11 January 1868.
4
Ludwig Rütimeyer. CD believed Rütimeyer was supportive of his theory (see Correspondence vol. 14, letter to Fritz Müller, 23 May 1866).
5
See Gaudry 1862–7, pp. 347–8.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5823,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5823