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To J. S. Bowerbank   [8 March 1850]1

Down Farnborough Kent

Friday Even.

My dear Sir

Your letter having been directed Farnham made an astonishing tour & arrived here only yesterday.— I am particularly obliged for loan of the Pollicipes cornucopia 2 (common species) for with it, there is, as I believe, a new Chthamalus3 & Balanus cranchii,4 the southern range of which I was very curious to know about.— I will retain the specimen as a loan, or pay you what you gave Eling5 for it, if you so choose.—

I was very glad indeed to hear that the Palæont. Soc. accepted my proposal;6 in a few weeks, when I have got all my drawings & M.S. ready I will communicate again with you for your advice on some points— The drawings must be on copper for all depends on lines of growth:—7 James de C. Sowerby is making my drawings, & wd. undoubtedly engrave them best.—

I am particularly much obliged to you for speaking to Mr. Hanley;8 will you forgive me asking you to write his address on slip of paper & enclose it to me; for I know not how else to find it out.

I suppose I was admitted a member of the Palæont. Soc. & shall sometime hear when & where I can pay my Subscriptions &c.

Yours very sincerely | C. Darwin

Footnotes

1
The date, a Friday, is conjectured from the relationship of this letter to CD’s letter to Bowerbank, 17 March [1850], in which CD sends thanks for information requested here. Friday the 15th would probably not have allowed sufficient time for Bowerbank’s response.
2
Pollicipes cornucopia is described in Living Cirripedia (1851): 298–303.
3
Eight species of the genus Chthamalus are described in Living Cirripedia (1854): 447–69, but none that is new or described as attached to a specimen supplied by Bowerbank.
4
Balanus cranchii is recorded as one of the synonyms for B. perforatus (Living Cirripedia (1854): 231).
5
William Eling was a dealer in shells living in Deptford High Street, London (Post Office London directory 1848).
7
For CD’s opinion on the inadequacy of lithography for figuring natural history specimens, see letter to J. de C. Sowerby, [13 April 1850].
8
Sylvanus Charles Thorpe Hanley. CD thanked him in both Living Cirripedia (1854): 277 n. and Fossil Cirripedia (1854): 25 n. for providing a reference to a work by Ascanius that established the priority of the name Balanus hameri.

Bibliography

Fossil Cirripedia (1854): A monograph of the fossil Balanidæ and Verrucidæ of Great Britain. By Charles Darwin. London: Palaeontographical Society. 1854.

Living Cirripedia (1851): A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia, with figures of all the species. The Lepadidæ; or, pedunculated cirripedes. By Charles Darwin. London: Ray Society. 1851.

Living Cirripedia (1854): A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia, with figures of all the species. The Balanidæ (or sessile cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc. By Charles Darwin. London: Ray Society. 1854.

Post Office London directory: Post-Office annual directory. … A list of the principal merchants, traders of eminence, &c. in the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent … general and special information relating to the Post Office. Post Office London directory. London: His Majesty’s Postmaster-General [and others]. 1802–1967.

Summary

Thanks JSB for cirripede specimens. Discusses publication [of Fossil Cirripedia].

Discusses his membership in Palaeontographical Society.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-1310
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
James Scott Bowerbank
Sent from
Down
Source of text
University of London, Senate House Library (AL 44a)
Physical description
ALS 4pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1310,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1310.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 4

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