Possibly I ought not to have mentioned statements made in
private conversation, so please do not repeat them.
I quite agree about the extreme importance of such men as Cohn
[illegible] and Carter having observed apparent cases of heterogenesis.
At present I should prefer any mad hypothesis, such as that every
disintegrated molecule of the lowest forms can reproduce the
parent-form, and that the molecules are universally distributed, and
that they do not lose their vital power until heated to such a
temperature that they decompose like dead organic particles.
I am extremely grieved to hear about the Museum: it is a great
misfortune.--Yours most sincerely,
C. DARWIN.
I have taken up old botanical work and have given up all theories.
I quite agree about Howorth's paper: he wrote to me and I told him that
we differed so widely it was of no use our discussing any point.
As for Galton's paper, I have never yet been able to fully digest it: as
far as I have, it has not cleared my ideas, and has only aided in
bringing more prominently forward the large proportion of the latent
characters.
Pages:
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433