To J. S. Henslow [24 January 1840]
Friday Morning
My dear Henslow
I have just received your letter. as the waggon goes tomorrow, I pack up the specimens at once.— I believe you may keep them all.— They all come from the Maldeeve & Chagos lagoon-islands or atolls in the Indian Ocean,—islands precisely like Keeling Island.—
I hope they may be of any use to you.—
I send a couple copy of abstract of my worm Paper useless to me.—
Of course you have thought of Drummonds light.—1 Also of the use put to burn coral, shells, & limestone in the East Indian Archipelago to give a relish to the chewing of Betel.— In S. America, I believe potash is used, in analogous manner in chewing the Cocos leaves—2
I am in a hurry so goods Bye | C. Darwin
Do you recollect our discussion about varieties of same plants not having three primary—3 Surely I have seen pale yellow hyacinth, & certainly blue & pink ones.— pray tell me is it not so.—
Footnotes
Bibliography
Notebook C. See de Beer 1960; de Beer and Rowlands 1961; de Beer, Rowlands, and Skramovsky 1967; Notebooks.
OED: The Oxford English dictionary. Being a corrected re-issue with an introduction, supplement and bibliography of a new English dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970. A supplement to the Oxford English dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1972–86. The Oxford English dictionary. 2d edition. 20 vols. Prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1989. Oxford English dictionary additional series. 3 vols. Edited by John Simpson et al. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993–7.
Summary
Sends specimens from Indian Ocean atolls.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-552
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Stevens Henslow
- Sent from
- London, Upper Gower St, 12
- Source of text
- DAR 93: A3–4
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 552,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-552.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 2