Two letters from Charles Darwin in the epistolary collection of the Geological Commission of the Kingdom (Portugal)

Abstract

During his long scientific life, Darwin established contacts with correspondents around the world. In Portugal, to date, only knew the letters sent to the Azorean naturalist Arruda Furtado, but during the cataloging work in progress, of the documents of the former Geological Commissions, appeared two letters signed by the famous naturalist, likely to be addressed to Carlos Ribeiro, thanking him for sending publications. The fact that Darwin did not mention the works received, leaving just notice that the ones referred to the prehistoric remains and Tertiary formations in Portugal, leaves some doubt in their clear identification, thus allowing the possibility of admitting Ribeiro had present him with the question of the tertiary man, based on the discovery of eoliths’ in the Tagus Valley, in the early 1860s.

Keywords

• Charles Darwin
• correspondence
• Carlos Ribeiro
• tertiary man