Had thrown Geographical Society’s Proceedings in waste-basket, but as Strachey shows such admirable powers of discrimination he will fish it out and read the whole article.

Comments on 3d ed. of Sachs’s work [Lehrbuch der Botanik (1873)]. Wishes he were more controversial.

Has become wonderfully interested in Drosera and Dionaea.

9000 copies of Expression have been printed and most are sold.

The Drosophyllum goes to Orpington by train this evening.

Is not surprised CD dissents from his criticisms [of Expression?]. Holds to his own interpretation of the expression of astonishment.

Thanks for Expression, which has made him wonder whether his shyness in public until the age of 55 resulted from fear of subjecting his face to ridicule.

Criticises F. Galton’s Hereditary genius [1869] for neglecting environmental influence.

Sends his book [Bhawani (1872)], which is a poem in praise of evolutionary theory and showing its roots in ancient India.

Describes a patient’s ears with peculiar tufts of hair in places where he has never seen them before. Encloses sketch.

Hopes Drosophyllum was all right.

Opinion of Council of Royal Society [on Presidency] is twelve for JDH, five for Duke of Devonshire, and G. B. Airy for William Spottiswoode.

Sends HA’s paper ["On leaf arrangement"] with a supporting note [from CD] to Royal Society.

Has sent phyllotaxy paper to G. G. Stokes with the letter from CD to show credentials.

Will not have time to read new Sachs edition CD offered.

Thanks for CD’s sponsorship of paper [Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 21 (1873): 176–9].

On a correction JVC thinks should be made in Variation on vertebrae of ducks.

Concerned about GHD’s health. Sends a prescription for a cough mixture.

Popular Edition [6th] of Origin has sold out 3000 copies. Asks CD whether he has found any errors that should be corrected.

The Naples Zoological Station and its library are growing fast. His life is a constant battle with the municipality, but has managed to make a little progress on vertebrate ancestry and morphology. His views get further away from what is generally accepted.

A new [German] edition of Expression is to be done. Has CD anything to add or alter?

JVC cites an article on cessation of breathing during mental concentration that supports Gratiolet as quoted in Expression, p. 179.

Sends a paper on evolution by his friend J. D. MacDonald ["Distribution of Invertebrata", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 21 (1872–3): 218–23] for CD’s perusal before dispatching it to the Royal Society.

At Asa Gray’s request, responds to CD’s questions about WMC’s observations on Dionaea and particularly about the size of the insects captured and the excitability of the leaves after an insect is captured.

He does not accept Wallace’s definition of instinct because it excludes "inherited experience", i.e., "knowledge acquired by and transmitted through ancestors".

House-flies do not seem to have an instinctive fear of trap-door spiders.

Miss Forster gives him news of CD.

A letter of recommendation for W. B. Dawkins in his application for the Woodwardian professorship of geology in the university of Cambridge.

Cannot find a publisher for Italian translation of Expression. Gives up the project.

Would like a museum set up illustrating origins, varieties, and uses of domestic animals; seeks CD’s approval of the idea.