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From W. E. Darwin   10 February [1880]1

Basset

Feb 10th

My dear Father,

We got back v. comfortably & S. is quite fresh today comparatively speaking.2 dia in composition means through, across, as diabainō to go across— diaballō to throw across.3

I send the small Greek dictionary by rail.

My love to mother— I hope she is better.

Your affect Son | W. E. Darwin

The next time you have the Huxleys give us a chance of meeting them—4 S. is very anxious to meet him

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the reference to returning home (see n. 2, below).
2
William and Sara Darwin had visited Down from 7 to 9 February 1880 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
3
Diabainō: transliteration of Greek διαβαίνω (cross, pass through); diaballō: transliteration of Greek διαβάλλω (throw across). CD used the term ‘diaheliotropism’ to refer to a movement more or less transverse to the light and induced by it (Movement in plants, p. 5). The term was probably chosen by CD to replace the German term ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’, which had been introduced by Albert Bernhard Frank (see Frank 1870, p. 77).

Bibliography

Frank, Albert Bernhard. 1870. Die natürliche wagerechte Richtung von Pflanzentheilen und ihre Abhängigkeit vom Lichte und von der Gravitation. Leipzig: Weissbach.

Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.

Summary

"Dia" [as a prefix] means "through, across".

WED’s wife would like to meet the Huxleys.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11352
From
William Erasmus Darwin
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Bassett
Source of text
DAR 209.7: 159
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11352,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11352.xml

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