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Darwin Correspondence Project

To Walter Baily   28 December 1881

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

December 28th 1881

Dear Sir

I am much obliged for your letter. The statement about the beetle, probably a Staphylinus, hunting a worm by scent is quite new to me.—1

I have received another account of the noise made by worms, whilst dragging leaves into their burrows—2 —

Dear Sir | Yours faithfully & obliged | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1
Baily’s letter has not been found. Although CD did not mention Baily’s observation, in Earthworms (1882), p. 65, he did add that members of the beetle genera Staphylinus and Carabus attacked worms ferociously.
2
CD had added information from James Frederick Simpson on the rustling noise made by worms to the printing of the fifth thousand of Earthworms, p. 58 (see letters from J. F. Simpson, 4 November 1881 and 8 November 1881).

Bibliography

Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. Seventh thousand (corrected by Francis Darwin). London: John Murray. 1882.

Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.

Summary

Statement about a beetle-hunting worm is new to CD.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13584
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Walter Baily
Sent from
Down
Source of text
The British Library (Add MS 50957 f. 44)
Physical description
ALS 1p

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13584,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13584.xml

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Darwin Correspondence Project
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