To J. D. Hooker 21 November [1860]
Down Bromley Kent
Nov. 21.
My dear Hooker
I heard yesterday & today of your safe arrival & that you are rosy, jolly & fat; & most heartily do I rejoice at it. I wish I were a despot, for I would punish you most severely if ever you again worked so hard as you did for months previous to your Expedition.—1 In a week or two’s time you must be a good man & write to me; for some time you will of course have much to do.— Will you give enclosed scrap to Oliver:2 He has been extraordinarily kind & has helped me in all manner of ways.—
Since your absence we have had a miserable time & poor Etty has been fearfully ill; but she is now rallying very slowly. I have nothing to say & I need not have written; only I could not resist saying how heartily glad I am of your safe & prosperous return.—
Yours affectionately | C. Darwin
I have been working like a madman at Drosera.
Here is a fact for you, which is as certain as you stand where you are, though you wont believe it, that a bit of Hair 1/78,000 of one grain in weight placed on gland will cause one of the gland-bearing hairs of Drosera to curve inwards, & will alter the condition of contents of every cell in the footstalk of the gland.3
P.S. I have just received your most kind note. I send the enclosed note though not worth sending, as I am very busy this morning. Hearty thanks about Donkeys.4 Etty had bad night. My wife very poorly, so not up to write another word. It is somehow a real pleasure to me to know you are at Kew.—
God Bless you.—
Footnotes
Summary
Welcomes JDH home from Middle Eastern expedition.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2991
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 115: 75
- Physical description
- ALS 5pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2991,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2991.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 8