To Francis Darwin [before 1 August 1880]1
[Down.]
My dear F.
I have just been reading a notice (& must refer to several original German papers) on very ancient furrowed fields in Germany & Scandinavia & Scotland—believed to be prehistoric.2 They are on mountain sides & apparently at a considerable elevation.— Did you not tell me of some such old furrowed land in N. Wales. I wish you wd. enquire & have a look at any such place. It is a bad time of year, & too soon for many castings. Could you take a light spade & see if you can find worms? If such places are not distant wd. Mrs Atkins3 look in Autumn at them & see if there are castings on the old furrowed land? If there are many, it is a most serious difficulty in the way of my belief of the smoothing power of worms.— I see in my notes I cd. see no castings where there is much Heath growing: Is this true? I have been miserably compelled to take up my worm-notes.
C. D.—
Are there more castings at the bottom of the furrows than on the summits or convex part?
Thanks for today’s pleasant acct4 | ED
Footnotes
Bibliography
Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.
Tylor, Edward Burnett. 1880. President’s address. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 9: 443–58.
Summary
Are there old furrowed fields on hillsides in N. Wales, if so can FD look for earthworm activity?
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12645
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Francis Darwin
- Sent from
- [Down]
- Source of text
- DAR 211: 64
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12645,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12645.xml