To E. R. Lankester 13 October [1881]1
Down
Oct. 13.
My dear Dr. Lankester
I have been much pleased and interested by your note.2 I never actually tried sea-water, but I was very fond of angling when a boy, and as I could not bear to see the worms wriggling on the hook, I dipped them always first in salt water, and this killed them very quickly. I remember, though not very distinctly, seeing several earth-worms dead on the beach close to where a little brook entered, and I assumed that they had been brought down by the brook, killed by the sea-water and cast on shore. With your skill and great knowledge, I have no doubt that you will make out much new about the anatomy of worms, whenever you take up the subject again—3
Believe me, | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Frank is in N. Wales.4
Footnotes
Bibliography
Lankester, Edwin Ray. 1864–5. The anatomy of the earthworm. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science n.s. 4: 258–68; 5: 7–18, 99–116.
Summary
Says that salt water kills earthworms.
Interested in ERL’s study of worm anatomy.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13396
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Edwin Ray Lankester
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 146: 33
- Physical description
- C 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13396,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13396.xml