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Summary
Hugh Falconer’s death great loss to science.
His own health has been especially bad this last week.
Transcription
Down
Feby 2d.
My dear Hooker
I heard this morning of Falconer’s death.f2 Poor fellow I am much grieved; It will be a great loss to science. What a lot of knowledge of all kinds has perished with him. He was always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—
But I write to ask you to write me ever so short a note to tell me when you are well.—f3 I got pretty well on Monday & had bad day again yesterday.— Whenever you can come here for a Sunday do pray come. I must take my chance of being well or ill; for I can rarely tell even a day before hand; but last week I had an extra bad time.—f4 I hope you have got over that horrid influenza, which makes a man feel so wretchedly ill.
Farewell | Yours affectionately | C. Darwin
Footnotes
- f1
- The year is established by the reference to Hugh Falconer’s death (see n. 2, below).
- f2
- After a short illness, Falconer died of heart-failure on 31 January 1865 (see letter from F. H. Hooker, [27 January 1865], and DNB).
- f3
- Hooker was recovering from an attack of influenza; before becoming ill, he had planned to visit Down House (see letter from F. H. Hooker, [27 January 1865]).
- f4
- Emma Darwin reported CD’s sickness in her diary on 24, 25, and 27 January (DAR 242).