18671882] SCEPTICISM 44 



went in for honours. You speak of another resolution " in Letter 776 

 the interest of the anti-letter-writing association ' -but alas, 

 this never arrived ! I should like a society formed so that 

 every one might receive pleasant letters and never answer them. 

 We return home on Saturday, after three weeks of the 

 most astounding dullness, doing nothing and thinking of 

 nothing. I hope my Brain likes it -as for myself, it is 

 dreadful doing nothing. 1 



To Lady Derby. Letter 777 



Down, Saturday [1874?]. 



If you had called here after I had read the article 2 you 

 would have found a much perplexed man. I cannot disbelieve 

 Mr. Crooke's statement, nor can I believe in his result. It 

 has removed some of my difficulty that the supposed power 

 is not an anomaly, but is common in a lesser degree to 

 various persons. It is also a consolation to reflect that 

 gravity acts at any distance, in some wholly unknown 

 manner, and so may nerve-force. Nothing is so difficult to 

 decide as where to draw a just line between scepticism and 

 credulity. It was a very long time before scientific men 

 would believe in the fall of aerolites ; and this was chiefly 

 owing to so much bad evidence, as in the present case, being 

 mixed up with the good. All sorts of objects were said to 

 have been seen falling from the sky. I very much hope that 

 a number of men, such as Professor Stokes, will be induced to 

 witness Mr. Crooke's experiments. 



The two following extracts may be given in further illustration of 

 Darwin's guiding principle in -weighing evidence. He wrote to Robert 

 Chambers, April 3oth, 1861 : "Thanks also for extract out of newspaper 

 about rooks and crows ; I wish I dared trust it. I see in cutting the pages 

 [of Chambers' book, Ice and Water'} . . . that you fulminate against the 

 scepticism of scientific men. You would not fulminate quite so much if 

 you had had so many wild-goose chases after facts stated by men not 

 trained to scientific accuracy. I often vow to myself that I will utterly 

 disregard every statement made by any one who has not shown the 



1 Darwin returned to Down from Sevenoaks on Saturday, Oct. 26th, 

 1872, which fixes the date of the letter. 



3 Probably Sir W. Crookes 5 Researches i?i the Phenomena of Spirit- 

 ualism (reprinted from the Quarterly Journal of Science\ London, 1874. 

 Other papers by Crookes are in the Proceedings of the Society for 

 Psychical Research* 



