Ɛpsilon

To George Fraser   14 April [1871]1

Down, Beckenham

April 14th

Private

Dear Sir

I am very much obliged for your letter and the interesting facts which it contains, and which are new to me.2 But I am at present so much engaged with other subjects that I cannot fully consider them; and even if I had time, I do not suppose that I should have anything to say worth printing in a scientific Journal. It would obviously be absurd in me to allow a mere note of thanks from me to be printed. Whenever I have to bring out a corrected edition of my book, I will well consider your remarks (which I hope that you will send to Nature)3 but the difficulty will be that my friends tell me that I have already introduced too many facts, and that I ought to prune, rather than to introduce more.4

With my best thanks, I remain | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

P.S. I have received your second note with its ingenious suggestion for which many thanks. You will of course include this with any notice which you may send to Nature.5

Copy

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from George Fraser, 12 April 1871.
3
Fraser published the observations he recorded in his letter of 12 April 1871 in Nature, 20 April 1871 (G. Fraser 1871). There was no additional note from CD.
4
CD incorporated two observations from Fraser 1871 in Descent 2d ed.; see letter from George Fraser, 12 April 1871 and n. 14.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7684,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7684