My dear Farrer

Many thanks for your note. The parallelism is new to me & certainly seems to hold good.² I was aware of the view as propounded by Maine, but never thought of its application or extension to morals.—³ With savages at the present day, as far as what may be called their real property is concerned the communal view I believe generally holds good, but I cannot avoid thinking that personal property, such as flint tools &c, must from the earliest period have strictly belonged to the individual, as much as a bone to a dog or a nest to a bird—

We are off to the quietude of Down from the tremendous uproar of this great place in the course of a few minutes.—⁴

Yours very sincerely | Ch Darwin