From R. V. Taylor
It is not quite true that Darwin was the first to recognise the merits of earthworms in 1881 (14 September, p 49). Gilbert White’s Natural History of Selborne (1789) contains a letter White sent in 1777 to Daines Barrington which outlines all the main points Darwin was to make, even recommending a “good monography” to be written. It had to wait for over 90 years, but when it came, Darwin indeed altered public opinion for good.
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
