1886.05.29 English

[1] JMC:Handwritten letter to Japetus Steenstrup (1813-1897), a Danish zoologist, biologist and a professor of the University of Copenhagen. He carried out research in a large variety of subjects, including cephalopods, but also in genetics, where he discovered the principle of the alternation of generations in some parasitic worms (1842). At the same time he discovered the possibility of using subfossils of the Postglacial period as a means of interpreting climate changes and correlated vegetation change, which he called ‘succession in the recent past’. Steenstrup was the driving force behind the establishment of the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen in 1862.  From 1876 he was on the board of directors of the Carlsberg Foundation. Between 1849 and 1885 he was president of the Danish Natural History Society (founded in 1833, today affiliated with the University of Copenhagen and hosted by the Zoological Museum. He was the giant of natural history in Denmark during the latter half of the 19^th century and left lasting contributions to zoology, biology, geology as well as archeology. We do not know what attachment  RMH sent to Steenstrup, but this was a period in which RMH was intensely occupied with his research about periodicity of the growth of children and other living species, as related to solar heat. It is very likely that the attached material of that nature. It would also make sense to send it to Professor Steenstrup, since he himself as a scientist had done research concerning climate change.

[2] JMC: RMH uses the title ‘Councillor of State’ (Danish: ‘Etatsraad’). For linguistic reasons, the translation uses the other important title of Mr Steenstrup

[3] JMC: RMH uses the word “standpunkt”, which can mean 1) Stage, level, 2) Standpoint, point of view, 3) Attitude, position, 4) Standard – all depending on the context. Since we don’t have the attachment, we cannot be sure about the intended meaning. It is my guess that RMH’s intention is to show the quality of his research work into periodicity and also to demonstrate the extent of it and how much he has achieved in terms of collecting and analyzing the material.