176 Life and Letters of Fnairis (lalttni 



l>owx, Hkckeniiam, Kkst. Dec. 30 [1872]. 



My dbak Galtos, A young Mr Balfour, a friend of my sons, is HtAying hero. He is very 

 clover and full of zeal for [Biology]. He has lx>en transplanting bits of skins between brown 

 and white rat-s, in relation to Pangeno-sis ! He wants to try for several successive generations 

 the sanM! experiment with rabbits. Hence ho wants to know which colours breed truest. I have, 

 of course, reconimendwl silver greys. What other colour breiids true? Can you tell niel I think 

 white or albinos had Ixjtter be avt)ided. Do any grey broe<ls, of nearly the colour of the wild 

 kind, bnt-d true? Will you be .so very kind as to let me hear? I much enjoyed my short glimpse 

 of you in London. Ever yours, C. Dakwin. 



Down, Bkckbniiah, Kknt. Jan. 4th [1873]. 



My dkak Galton, Very many thanks for Fraser': I have been greatly interested by your 

 article. The idea of ca.st-e« lieing spontanouusly formed and leading to intermarriage is quite 

 new to ine, and I should supjMjse to others. I am not, however, so hopi-ful as you. Your pro- 

 posed See' would have awfully laliorious work, and I doubt whether you could ever get efficient 

 workers. As it is, there is much of insanity and wickedne-ss in families; and there would l)e 

 more if there was a register. But the gi-eatest ditliculty, I think, would Ik? in deciding whodeserved 

 to Ihj on the register. How few are alK)ve mediocrity in health, strengtii, nwrals and intellect; 

 and how difficult to judge on the.se latter heod.s. As far as I see within (he same large superior 

 family, only a few of the children would des«>rve to Ih- on the register ; and those wouUl naturally 

 stick to their own fan)ilies, so that the su|>erior children of distinct families would have a good 

 chance of associating most and forming a cast*'. Though I see so much difficulty, the object 

 seems a grand one; and you have poinU-<l out the sole fea,siblo, yet I fear Utopian, plan of 

 procedure in improving the hunuiu race. I should lie inclined to trust more (and this is part 

 of your plan) to experimenting and insisting on the importance of the all-important principle 

 of Inheritanw. I will make one or two minor criticisms. Is it not proliable that the inhabitants 

 of malarious countries owe their degraded and miserable appearance to the bad atmosphere, 

 though this does not kill theui ; rather than to ''economy of structure"? I do not set< that an 

 orthognathous face would cost more than a prognathous face ; or a g«M>d morale than a ba<l one. 

 That is a tine simile (p. 119) about the chip of a statue: but surely nature does not moi-e care- 

 fully regard races than individuals, as [I lj«'lievo 1 have misunderstood what you mean] evidenced 

 by the multitude of races and sp<H'ies which have liecome extinct. Would it not lie truer to say 

 that nature cai-es only for the superior individuals and then makes her new and l>etter races. 

 But we ought both to shudder using so freely the word 'Nature' after what De Candolle ha.s 

 said. 



Again let me thank you for the interest received in reading your essay. 



Yours very sincerely, Cii. Dakwin. 



Many thanks about the rabbits: your letter has been sent to Balfour: he is a very clever 

 young man, and I lieliove owes his cleverness to Salisbury blood. 



This letter will not be worth your deciphering. I have almost finished Greg's Enigmas. It is 

 grand poetry, but too Utopian and too full of faith for me: .so that I have been rather dis- 

 appointed. What do you think about it? He must b«' a delightful man. 



I doubt whether you have made clear how the families on the Register are to Ije kept pure 

 and superior, and how they are in course of time to be still further improved. 



I do not know whether Francis Balfour's exjieri merits were ever pushed 

 to their final conclusion, but if so, I have small doubt what that conclusion 

 would be: A change of somatic character would not affect in a highly 

 developed mammal the gametic characters, whatever arguments may l)e 

 advanced from graft-hybrids': Galton's own blootl-tranafusion experiments 

 came to an end at this time. There are oidy two references that I have been 

 able to find to the results of the second series, so much of which was 



' Thii is the "Hereditary Improvement"; see our p. 117. 



* AnhnaU and J'laitU under Domestication, Vol. I, pp. 413—24, Vol. ii, p. 360, 2nd Edn. 

 1875. 



