From Edward Cresy 9 June 1865
Metropolitan Board of Works | Spring Gardens
9 June ’65—
My dear Sir.
Until yesterday I was unable to verify the reference for which Mrs Darwin asked me in her P.S.—1 it is “The Darwinian hypothesis supported by observations on Crustacea by Fritz Muller of Desterro”—contained in the Annals & Magazine of Natural History No 89—May. ’65— P 410. Article 44—2
The article purports to be an abstract of the Bibliotheque Universelle 1865 Bulletin Scientifique, p 154—3 If I can be of service by so doing I will gladly ask Walter White to let me see the article itself as I have no doubt they have it at the Royal Society—4 The argument struck me very much as a piece of circumstantial evidence does in a criminal trial where a hundred little immaterial facts are linked together to demonstrate irresistably the main conclusion—
I was very sorry to hear from Mrs Darwin you have again been so ill—5 I wish your disciples could each club together a fragment of their health to repair yours— It is lamentable to think how much good work we are losing which we should otherwise possess—
I am sorry to say I missed hearing your paper on the climbing plants although looking out for it & never knew it was read till I saw the brief abstract in the papers.6
You would have been amused to have heard Huxley on Friday at the Royal Institution on Ethnology boldly proclaiming his faith in Darwinism & pitching Noahs ark in good set terms to the four winds—7 He never lacks le courage de ses opinions—
With kindest remembrances to Mrs Darwin & your daughter8
I remain | Very truly yours | E Cresy
C Darwin Esq.
How is George getting on—9 I hear of him occasionally from Carpmael—10
Footnotes
Bibliography
Alum. Cantab.: Alumni Cantabrigienses. A biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900. Compiled by John Venn and J. A. Venn. 10 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1922–54.
‘Climbing plants’: On the movements and habits of climbing plants. By Charles Darwin. [Read 2 February 1865.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 9 (1867): 1–118.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
DNB: Dictionary of national biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1912. Dictionary of national biography 1912–90. Edited by H. W. C. Davis et al. 9 vols. London: Oxford University Press. 1927–96.
Summary
Sends Fritz Müller citation as CD requested.
Huxley is boldly proclaiming his Darwinism at Royal Institution ["Methods and results of ethnology", Not. Proc. R. Inst. G. B. 4: 460–3; also Collected essays 7 (1894)].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4856
- From
- Edward Cresy, Jr
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Metropolitan Board of Works
- Source of text
- DAR 161: 244
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4856,” accessed on 21 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4856.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 13