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CHAPTER XXV. 



LETTERS FROM DARWIN TO PROFESSOR MELDOLA 



(1871-82). 



By the kindness of my friend Professor Meldola, and 

 the courtesy of Mr. Francis Darwin, I am enabled 

 to pubHsh for the first time a series of letters written 

 by Charles Darwin to the former. The whole series 

 consists of 33 letters, written between January 28th, 

 1871, and February 2nd, 1882, only a few weeks 

 before his death. 



When we remember the immense amount of cor- 

 respondence with which Darwin had to cope, the 

 constant attention required by his investigations and 

 publications, and the state of his health, it is deeply 

 interesting to read these letters, written with such 

 unfailing courtesy, to a younger worker in the lines 

 that he had suggested, and who was thereby stimu- 

 lated and encouraged to undertake the researches 

 which are now so well known. 



Reading these letters and remembering the cir- 

 cumstances of the writer, we can understand how it 

 is that, although ill-health prevented his presence on 

 occasions at which the younger scientific men are 

 wont to meet — although he was known to but few 

 of them — nevertheless the charm of his noble and 



