From V. O. Kovalevsky 12 December [1870]1
Berlin 7. Georgienstrasse.—
12 Dec.—
Dear Sir
Excuse me for not writing You immediately to thank for the large parcel of clean sheets You had the kindness to send me, I am busy translating them, the first are already in the press, so that I hope to be not very much behind the original;2 the reason why I did not write immediately lay in the hope I had to have a letter from You, but either You did not send it (and in this case it is all right) or it is lost in transmission which will be a pity. Mr. Murray sent the casts directly to Russia and made a very moderate charge 14£; though I do not know what quantity of copper cast there is for the 2 volumes.—3 I wrote You in my last that my brother is gone to the Red Sea, I have letters from him weekly, Suez did not satisfy him much so he is gone a little farther to Tor, a place wher Ehrenberg has been in 1827.—4 I hope he will return about the 25 of February, when I’ll go to meet him at Naples and we shall try together to procure ourselves scalpellums for the verification of Your old discovery.5 I hope Your health got better from Your autumnal visits.6
Pray remember me and Mrs. Kovalevksy to Mrs. Darwin and the ladies.—7
Your very truly | W. Kowalevsky
P.S. Have You seen the new book of Häckel “Biologische Studien” it is very interesting, especially his discovery that the Radiolaria contain in their body 40[percent] amylum; such a fact may overtrow much of our prejudices about the dependence of animal life from vegetation an explain the economy of the deep sea inhabitants.—8
W. K.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Brehm, Alfred Edmund, et al. 1864–9. Illustrirtes Thierleben. Eine allgemeine Kunde des Thierreichs, etc. 6 vols. Hildburghausen: Bibliographisches Institut.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
DSB: Dictionary of scientific biography. Edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie and Frederic L. Holmes. 18 vols. including index and supplements. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1970–90.
Haeckel, Ernst. 1870–7. Biologische Studien. 2 vols. Vol. 1: Studien über Moneren und andere Protisten. Vol. 2: Studien zur Gastraea-theorie. Leipzig: Engelmann. Jena: H. Dufft.
Summary
Progress on his Russian translation of Descent.
Alexander Kovalevsky is at Tor in Sinai, where C. G. Ehrenberg was in 1827.
Has CD seen Ernst Haeckel’s new book [Biologische Studien (1870–7)]?
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7389
- From
- Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский)
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Berlin
- Source of text
- DAR 169: 68
- Physical description
- SLS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7389,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7389.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18