To Francis Darwin 2 October [1876]
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
Oct 2d
My dear Boy
Your last corrections gave me a fearful grind, & this was owing to their goodness, for I had to accept all; and now they are all despatched to the Printers.1
I find in Bechstein’s “Der Gemeine Iltis” is the Mustala putorius Linn. Fitchet of Pennant (or polecat)2
Das “Frett oder der Kaninchen-iltis” is the M. furo Linn. or Ferret.3
I thought that the paper about crossing rats was more curious than that on the Iltis; & that on monkey’s rumps interested me most & George thought it very curious—4 I intend before very long to write a letter to Nature on the latter head, & I think I will get you to return the numbers on this subject,—that is if you do not translate it. (I find that I have copious notes).—5 But I hope that you may be able to begin your paper on the teazle, as this I think will compel your attention better than anything else.6
If you read Wiesner I shd very much like to hear anything which bears on the protection of protoplasm or chlorophyll from water, as this wd have a most direct bearing on my observations, if I ever continue them.7 I will give orders about the Daffodils.
Goodbye my very dear son, | Your affect. Father | C. Darwin
We go to L. H. Pl. on the 4th. & leave early on the 7th for W. where we shall probably stay a fortnight—8 such are your mother’s orders. If I finish Revises then, I shd. be glad for the paper on monkeys, as I shall have nothing to do.—
The Grapes for you were despatched on Saturday evening
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bechstein, Johann Matthäus. 1801–9. Gemeinnützige Naturgeschichte Deutschlands nach allen drey Reichen: ein Handbuch zu deutlichern und vollständigern Selbstbelehrung besonders für Forstmänner, Jugendlehrer und Oekonomen. 2d edition. 4 vols. Leipzig: Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius.
Cross and self fertilisation: The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1876.
Fischer, Johann von. 1873. Iltis (Mustela putorius) und Frett (Mustela furo). Der Zoologische Garten. Zeitschrift für Beobachtung, Pflege und Zucht der Tiere 14: 108–12.
Freeman, Richard Broke. 1978. Charles Darwin: a companion. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.
Wiesner, Julius. 1876. Die natürliche Einrichtungen zum Schutze des Chlorophylls der lebenden Pflanze. In Festshrift zur Feier des funfundzwanzigjährigen Bestehens der k. k. zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Vienna: W. Braumüller. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus.
Summary
Thanks FD for corrections [to Orchids (1877)].
Thinks Johann von Fischer’s paper on monkeys’ rumps [Der Zoologische Garten 17 (1876): 116–27, 174–9] worth translating, and he intends to write a letter on it to Nature [Collected papers 2: 207–11].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10629
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Francis Darwin
- Sent from
- Down
- Postmark
- OC 2 76
- Source of text
- DAR 211: 15
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10629,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10629.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 24