From James Croll   2 December 1868

Edinburgh

Decr. 2d. 1868.

Dear Sir,

Under another cover I send you a rough abstract of my views on change of climate   Along with that I enclose a copy of my paper on the subject, so that you can refer to some points that I could not well explain in the M.S without extending it to an unsuitable length.1

I am sorry I cannot make you a present of the small vol. You may however keep it beside you as long as you wish, for I have another copy to which I can refer.2

Should you find any points not clearly stated I shall be delighted to afford you further explanations.

And if you find, as no doubt you will, some points where you have reason to believe I am in error, I shall take it kindly indeed if at your leisure you will drop me a note on the subject expressing your opinion freely. In a subject like this, so new and so complicated, one always feels anxious lest they may go off the path.

I am, | Yours very truly, | James Croll.

Charles Darwin Esq. m.a.

1
In his letter of 24 November 1868, CD had asked for clarification of Croll’s views on climate change during ice ages. For Croll’s abstract, see the letter from James Croll, [2 December 1868]. The ‘paper’ Croll enclosed was probably a collection of earlier published papers, possibly with the addition of some unpublished material (see n. 2, below). Croll later published a book, Climate and time (Croll 1875), in which he drew together all the material that had appeared in his earlier papers on the topic.
2
CD returned the volume, which evidently contained all of Croll’s papers up to that time, in February 1869 (see letter to G. H. Darwin, [9 December 1868], and Correspondence vol. 17, letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6489,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6489