Talk:Charles Darwin

This is the main article for a group of subpages, all of which were written carefully by an amateur but based on one of the references (Desmond) and taking its style. It needs to be therefore rewritten, with other sources in mind. DavidGoodman 23:37, 21 November 2006 (CST) There has been considerable rewriting since the last comment, & it would probably be advisable to wait a few weeksDavidGoodman 01:08, 25 November 2006 (CST)

Darwin's health

Friends/Colleagues, When I have the time, I hope to add some important info about Darwin's health to this article. I have written extensively about this subject. You can read about this here: http://www.homeopathic.com/articles/view,128

The above link also links to specific letters by Darwin to confirm everything. Although many people may be skeptical about water-cure and homeopathic medicine, the results that Darwin experienced are significant and undeniable. Dana Ullman 20:03, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Nobody previously commented upon my thoughts above, so I have inserted a summary of them, and I welcome dialogue. I hope that my references provide readers with some hard evidence for everything that was written. If you choose to comment here and/or do some editing of what I've written, could you please alert me so that we can collaborate? Dana Ullman 04:10, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Dana Ullman 04:10, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

I didn't notice your comment when i cleaned up the article earlier. I have just removed the last section as it does not seem to flow very well and also appears to be a little speculative. Will try comment more later. For the record the part I cut is below. Chris Day 05:55, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Section removed from end

Removed from Darwin's health section, in its current form it seems too speculative.

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Despite the benefits that Darwin seemed to experience, he remained skeptical about homeopathy. Three months after leaving Dr. Gully’s clinic, he wrote:

"You speak about Homœopathy; which is a subject which makes me more wrath, even than does Clairvoyance: clairvoyance so transcends belief, that one's ordinary faculties are put out of question, but in Homœopathy common sense & common observation come into play, & both these must go to the Dogs, if the infinitesimal doses have any effect whatever. How true is a remark I saw the other day by Quetelet, in respect to evidence of curative processes, viz that no one knows in disease what is the simple result of nothing being done, as a standard with which to compare Homœopathy & all other such things. It is a sad flaw, I cannot but think in my beloved Dr Gully, that he believes in everything when his daughter was very ill, he had a clairvoyant girl to report on internal changes, a mesmerist to put her to sleep, an homœopathist, viz Dr. Chapman; & himself as Hydropathist! & the girl recovered.”

Even though Darwin was skeptical of homeopathy, he acknowledged above another case in which the care that Dr. Gully provide led to recovery.

Darwin’s health history played an important role in his life. When one considers that Charles Darwin was extremely sick in 1849 and expecting to die, it would not be until 1859 that Darwin finished his seminal book, The Origin of Species. Dr. Gully may have played an important role in helping Charles Darwin survive long enough to enable him to finish the important scientific work.

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