An autograph letter signed by Karl Pearson to an acquaintance, discussing the subject of telegony
Duodecimo, 4 pages on 2 conjugate leaves, Hampstead, 29 March 1899.
Folded for posting; a few light smudges; paper a little unevenly tanned; in very good condition.
The letter, addressed to a Dr Williams, begins with a declaration: 'I hasten to say, that I personally am not a believer in telegony' (a theory of heredity claiming that offspring can inherit the characteristics of a previous mate of the female parent). He corrects a misunderstanding that may have arisen from something he said regarding dog and horse breeders; 'It is also attested of negresses that have born to a white man that they will bear afterwards partially white children to a black man.... some years ago I investigated the matter by testing for some five hundred pairs of sons & daughters whether the younger were more like the Father than the Mother, but I could find no trace of it. Francis Galton at the discussion which followed the paper spoke of telegony as a superstition, and Lankester, Poulton & others had nothing to say in favour of it'. He refers to Charles Darwin's account in '"Origin of Species" ... of Lord Morton's quagga', and notes that Ewart has been trying to repeat the experiment, without success. 'I should say that telegony, like the inheritance of acquired characters may have an element of truth in it, but all the arguments in favour of it so far deduced are from the scientific standpoint worthless. It is a widespread superstition'. Karl Pearson 'has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university statistics department at University College London in 1911, and contributed significantly to the field of biometrics and meteorology. Pearson was also a proponent of Social Darwinism and eugenics, and his thought is an example of what is today described as scientific racism' (Wikipedia). He was the first Galton Professor of Eugenics, holding the chair from 1911 to 1933.
Item #144231
Price (AUD):
$2,000.00