130 GEOEGE JOHN EOMANES issi- 



subject. I know that words like a joke on this sub- 

 ject have quite disgusted some persons not at all 

 inimical to physiology. One person lamented to me 

 that Mr. Simon, in his truly admirable address at the 

 Medical Congress (by far the best thing which I have 

 read), spoke of the i fantastic sensuality' 1 (or some such 

 term) of the many mistaken, but honest men and 

 women who are half mad on the subject. 



Do pray try and let me escape, and quote my letter, 

 which in some respects is more valuable, as giving my 

 independent judgment before the Medical Congress. 

 I really cannot imagine what I could say. 



I will" now turn to another subject : my little book 

 on Worms has been long finished, but Murray was so 

 strongly opposed to publishing it at the dead season, 

 that I yielded. I have told the printers to send you 

 a set of clean sheets, which you can afterwards have 

 stitched together. There is hardly anything in it 

 which can interest you. 



Two or three papers by Hermann Miiller have just 

 appeared in ' Kosmos,' which seem to me interesting, as 

 showing how soon, i.e. after how many attempts, bees 

 learn how best to suck a new flower ; there is also a 

 good and laudatory review of Dr. Eoux. I could lend 

 you ' Kosmos ' if you think fit. 



You will perhaps have seen that my poor dear 

 brother Erasmus has just died, and he was buried 

 yesterday here at Down. 



Garvock, Bridge of Earn, Perthshire : September 4. 



My dear Mr. Darwin, I hasten to relieve your 

 mind about writing on vivisection, as I am sure that 



1 See ' Life &c. of C. Darwin,' vol. iii. p. 210. 



