WCP1954

Letter (WCP1954.1844)

[1]

Down,

Beckenham, Kent.

Aug[ust] 28. [1872]1

My dear Wallace,

I have at last finished the gigantic job of reading Dr. Bastian's book2, & have been deeply interested by it. You wished to hear my impression, but it is not worth sending.

He seems to me an extremely able man, as indeed I thought when I read his first essay.3 His general argument in favour of Archebiosis4 is wonderfully strong, tho' I cannot think much of some few of his arguments. The result is that I am bewildered & astonished by his statements, but am not convinced; tho' on the whole it seems [2] to me probable that Archebiosis is true. I am not convinced partly I think owing to the deductive cast of much of his reasoning; & I know not why but I never feel convinced by deduction even in the case of H[erbert]. Spencer's5 writings.

If Dr. B[astian]'s book had been turned upside down, & he had begun with the various cases of Heterogenesis, & then gone on to organic & afterwards, to saline solutions, & [one word illeg. crossed out] had then given his general arguments, I sh[oul]d. have been I believe much more influenced. I suspect however that my chief difficulty is the effect of old convictions being stereotyped on my brain. I must have [3] more evidence that germs or the minutest fragments of the lowest forms are always killed by 212° of Fahr[enhei]t. Perhaps the mere reiteration of the statements given by Dr. B[astian], by other men whose judgment I respect & who have worked long on the lower organisms, w[oul]d. suffice to convince me.

Here is a fine confession of intellectual weakness; but what an inexplicable frame of mind is that of belief.

As for Rotifers & Tardigrades being spontaneously generated, my mind can no more digest such statements, whether true or false, than my stomach can digest a lump of lead.

[4] Dr. B[astian]. is always comparing Archebiosis as well as growth to crystallization but on this view a Rotifer or Tardigrade is adapted to its humble conditions of life by a happy accident; & this I cannot believe. That observations of the above nature may easily be altogether wrong is well shewn6 by Dr. B[astian]. having declared to Huxley7 that he had watched the entire developement of a leaf of Sphagnum. He must have worked with very impure materials in some cases, as plenty of organisms appeared in a saline solution not containing an atom of Nitrogen.

[5]8 I wholly disagree with Dr. B[astian]. about many points in his latter chapters. Thus the frequency of generalised forms in the older strata seem to me clearly to indicate the common descent with divergence of more recent forms. Notwithstanding all his sneers I do not strike my colours as yet about Pangenesis. I sh[oul]d. like to live to see Archebiosis proved true, for it w[oul]d. be a discovery of transcendent importance; or if false I sh[oul]d like to see it disproved, & the facts otherwise explained; but I shall not live to see all this. If ever proved [6] Dr. B[astian]. will have taken a prominent part in the work. How grand is the onward rush of Science; it is enough to console us for the [one letter illeg. crossed out] many errors which we have committed & for our efforts being overlaid & forgotten in the mass of new facts & new views which are daily turning up.

This is all I have to say about Dr B[astian].'s book, & it certainly has not been worth saying. Nevertheless reward me whenever you can by giving me any news about your appointment to the Bethnal Green [7] Museum[.]9

My dear Wallace | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]

1
A later annotation in the upper right-hand corner of page adds '[18]'72'. The Darwin Correspondence Project has established the year 1872 as the correct date for this letter. See DCP-LETT-8488.
2
Bastian, H. C. 1872. The Beginnings of Life. 2 vols. London, UK: Macmillan and Co.
3
Bastian, H. C. 1864. Monograph on the Anguillulidae or Free Nematoids, Marine, Land, and Freshwater: with Descriptions of 100 New Species. Transactions of the Linnean Society, Vol 25. 73-184.
4
Henry Charlton Bastian coined the term 'archeobiosis' to refer to the origin of living matter from inorganic starting materials. The process of archeobiosis was distinguished from 'heterogensis', the formation of living things from previous living organic matter. (Strick, J. E. 2000. Sparks of Life: Darwinism and the Victorian Debates Over Spontaneous Generation. Cambridge: Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp.90-93).
5
Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903). British philosopher, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist.
6
Archaic form of shown.
7
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist known as "Darwin's Bulldog".
8
A later annotation adds '2' at the top right-hand corner of page 5.
9
On the 24th of June 1872 a branch of the South Kensington museum opened in East London as the Bethnal Green Museum. The museum attempted to compete with the public house by offering specially arranged exhibits that provided "an excellent antidote" to the "peculiar temptations" of the bank holiday. In 1974 the museum was re-launched as the Museum of Childhood, and it was reopened after extensive renovations in 2006. (Black, B. J. 2000. On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. p.33).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1954.1844)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Darwin Correspondence Project [2012-11-20] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Published letter (WCP1954.6052)

[1] [p. 274]

Down, Beckenham, Kent. August 28, 1872.

My dear Wallace, I have at last finished the gigantic job of reading Dr. Bastian's1 book,2 and have been deeply interested in it. You wished to hear my impression, but it is not worth sending.

He seems to me an extremely able man, as indeed I thought when I read his first essay. His general argument in favour of archebiosis3 is wonderfully strong; though I cannot think much of some few of his arguments. The result is that I am bewildered and astonished by his statements, but am not convinced; though on the whole it seems to me probable that archebiosis is true. I am not convinced partly I think owing to the deductive [2] [p. 275] cast of much of his reasoning; and I know not why, but I never feel convinced by deduction, even in the case of H. Spencer's4 writings. If Dr. B.'s book had been turned upside down, and he had begun with the various cases of heterogenesis, and then gone on to organic and afterwards to saline solutions, and had then given his general arguments, I should have been, I believe, much more influenced. I suspect, however, that my chief difficulty is the effect of old convictions being stereotyped on my brain. I must have more evidence that germs or the minutest fragments of the lowest forms are always killed by 212° of Fahr[enheit]. Perhaps the mere reiteration of the statements given by Dr. B. by other men whose judgment I respect and who have worked long on the lower organisms would suffice to convince me. Here is a fine confession of intellectual weakness; but what an inexplicable frame of mind is that of belief.

As for Rotifers and Tardigrades5 being spontaneously generated, my mind can no more digest such statements, whether true or false, than my stomach can digest a lump of lead.

Dr. B. is always comparing archebiosis as well as growth to crystallisation; but on this view a Rotifer or Tardigrade is adapted to its humble conditions of life by a happy accident; and this I cannot believe. That observations of the above nature may easily be altogether wrong is well shown by Dr. B. having declared to Huxley6 that he had watched the entire development of a leaf of Sphagnum. He must have worked with very impure materials in some cases, as plenty of organisms appeared

in a saline solution not containing an atom of nitrogen.

I wholly disagree with Dr. B. about many points in his latter chapters. Thus the frequency of generalised forms in the older strata seems to me clearly to indicate the common descent with divergence of more recent forms. [3] [p. 276]

Notwithstanding all his sneers, I do not strike my colours as yet about pangenesis.7 I should like to live to see archebiosis proved true, for it would be a discovery of transcendent importance; or if false I should like to see it disproved, and the facts otherwise explained; but I shall not live to see all this. If ever proved, Dr. B. will have taken a prominent part in the work. How grand is the onward rush of science; it is enough to console us for the many errors which we have committed and for our efforts being overlaid and forgotten in the mass of new facts and new views which are daily turning up.

This is all I have to say about Dr. B.'s book, and it certainly has not been worth saying. Nevertheless, reward me whenever you can by giving me any news about your appointment to the Bethnal Green Museum.8 — My dear Wallace | yours very sincerely, | CH. DARWIN.

1
Bastian, Henry Charlton (1837-1915). English physiologist and neurologist.
2
Bastian, H.C. (1872) 'The beginnings of life: being some account of the nature, modes of origin and transformation of lower organisms', 2 vols. London, UK: Macmillan and co.
3
At this point a footnote is inserted: "That is to say, spontaneous generation. For the distinction between archebiosis and heterogenesis, see Bastian, Chap. VI. See also "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," lli. 168."
4
Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903). British philosopher, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist.
5
Microscopic, water-dwelling animals.
6
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist known as "Darwin's Bulldog".
7
Darwin's hypothetical mechanism for heredity.
8
See WCP1952_P6049.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1954.6052)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Paterson, Gavin [2019-12-17]

Please cite as “WCP1954,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 April 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1954