364 MISCELLANEA. [1874. 



ken. I am greatly pleased that you uphold my views to a 

 certain extent. Your criticism of the rasping noise made by 

 insects being necessarily rhythmical is very good ; but though 

 not made intentionally, it may be pleasing to the females 

 from the nerve cells being nearly similar in function through- 

 out the animal kingdom. With respect to your letter, I be- 

 lieve that I understand your meaning, and agree with you. I 

 never supposed that the different degrees and kinds of pleas- 

 ure derived from different music could be explained by the 

 musical powers of our semi-human progenitors. Does not 

 the fact that different people belonging to the same civilized 

 nation are very differently affected by the same music, almost 

 show that these diversities of taste and pleasure have been 

 acquired during their individual lives ? Your simile of archi- 

 tecture seems to me particularly good ; for in this case the 

 appreciation almost must be individual, though possibly the 

 sense of sublimity excited by a grand cathedral, may have 

 some connection with the vague feelings of terror and super- 

 stition in our savage ancestors, when they entered a great 

 cavern or gloomy forest. I wish some one could analyse the 

 feeling of sublimity. It amuses me to think how horrified 

 some high flying aesthetic men will be at your encouraging 

 such low degraded views as mine. 



Believe me, yours very sincerely, 



Charles Darwin. 



[The letters which follow are of a miscellaneous inter- 

 est. The first extract (from a letter, Jan. 18, 1874) refers 

 to a spiritualistic seance, held at Erasmus Darwin's house, 6 

 Queen Anne Street, under the auspices of a well-known 

 medium :] 



" . . . We had grand fun, one afternoon, for George hired a 

 medium, who made the chairs, a flute, a bell, and candle- 

 stick, and fiery points jump about in my brother's dining- 

 room, in a manner that astounded every one, and took away 

 all their breaths. It was in the dark, but George and Hens- 



