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Darwin Correspondence Project

To G. E. Dobson   12 April 1878

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

April 12th 1878

Dear Dr. Dobson.

The monstrosity of Fuchsia, which you have been so good as to send me is not of an uncommon order.—1

With respect to Bats at the Galapagos I shd. assuredly recorded their presence & earnestly endeavoured to shoot one, had any been seen.— Of course it does not follow from this that there are none; yet as I never collected in any place with so few insects. it is probable that Bats are really absent.2

Believe me | yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

Dobson had asked CD about the presence of bats in the Galápagos Islands (see letter from G. E. Dobson, 12 April 1878); he included the information in this paragraph in his Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the collection of the British Museum (Dobson 1878, p. xxx n.). CD had visited the Galápagos Islands in 1835 (see Journal of researches, pp. 453–78).

Bibliography

Dobson, G. E. 1878. Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the collection of the British Museum. London: The Trustees.

Journal of researches: Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain FitzRoy, RN, from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839.

Summary

Monstrosity of fuchsia sent by GD not uncommon.

Does not recall bats at Galapagos.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11473
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
George Edward Dobson
Sent from
Down
Source of text
American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.)
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11473,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11473.xml

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