307).
The truth is that no plea, except that of total ignorance of the
literature of the subject, can excuse the errors cited, and that
the "Reign of Terror" is a purely subjective phenomenon.
(4) The letter in "Nature" for the 17th of November, 1887, to
which I am referred, contains neither substantiation, nor
retractation, of statements 1 and 2. Nevertheless, it repeats
number 3. The Duke of Argyll says of his article that it "has
done what I intended it to do. It has called wide attention to
the influence of mere authority in establishing erroneous
theories and in retarding the progress of scientific truth."
(5) The Duke of Argyll illustrates the influence of his
fictitious "Reign of Terror" by the statement that Mr. John
Murray "was strongly advised against the publication of his
views in derogation of Darwin's long-accepted theory of the
coral islands, and was actually induced to delay it for two
years" (p.307). And in "Nature" for the l7th November, 1887, the
Duke of Argyll states that he has seen a letter from Sir Wyville
Thomson in which he "urged and almost insisted that Mr. Murray
should withdraw the reading of his papers on the subject from
the Royal Society of Edinburgh. This was in February, 1877."
The next paragraph, however, contains the confession:
"No special reason was assigned." The Duke of Argyll proceeds to
give a speculative opinion that "Sir Wyville dreaded some injury
to the scientific reputation of the body of which he was the
chief.
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