Congratulates Horace on passing his "Little Go".
Congratulates Horace on passing his "Little Go".
Pleased to hear from CD. Sends more facts about the life and habits of the inhabitants of the Seychelles.
Cannot come to lunch to meet Sir Henry Holland. Holland may have seen Robert Lowe [Lord Sherbrooke] already. Will CD let him know his views?
Apologises for expressing himself stupidly [see 8086a]. He did not mean to give an opinion on what the species was, but merely referred to the range of L. australis. CD will look at specimens, but "the subject has gone much out of my mind; & my health is so weak, & I am so overwhelmed with proof-sheets & other work" that he hopes to be excused if he does not investigate the specimens closely.
H. Holland keeps strongly to the opinion that Kew be under the Treasury, and will recommend this to Lowe.
Can ADB allow T. W. Wood to sketch one of his dogs in hostile and friendly positions?
Do elephants in the Zoological Gardens carry tails aloft when excited?
Asks to borrow AG’s paper on denudation of flat or nearly flat surfaces ["On modern denudation", Trans. Geol. Soc. of Glasgow 3: 153-90]. CD has recently been making some observations he thinks throw a little light on the subject.
Comments on Die Kalkschwämme [1872].
A Franciscan prior, Padre Buona-Grazia, agrees with human descent.
His trip to Dalmatia.
German reception of Descent.
Mentions current work.
Thanks WO for a paper and for information about platysma. Has asked several persons to observe the muscle during a shivering fit, but all have failed.
Requests further information on subsidence of flagstones because of action of worms.
Philosophical Club dinner.
Lyell contradicts W. B. Carpenter on current in Straits of Gibraltar.
James Orton’s report on fossil shells found by L. Agassiz 2000 miles up the Amazon. Their identification disposes of the glacial hypothesis.
No news yet from Gladstone on Ayrton affair.
Encloses "account of Dr H. M. Butler’s hereditary odd habit".
Is unable to accept invitation to Shrewsbury. Is grateful for offer of assistance at Wroxeter.
The weight of dry earth cast up by worms is 161/10 tons per acre annually.
"I have now looked at both lots of specimens, & I think both are the variable L. anatifera.–– I have disarticulated the right-hand scutal valve in both & the umbonal teeth are plain in both … I have hardly any doubt that both are L. anatifera.––"
Sends a paper on denudation ["On modern denudation", Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasgow 3 (1871): 153–90].
Sends notes on left- and right-handedness from observations made on his eldest son as an infant.
Open letter with multiple signatories pleading with the President of France not to exile Élisée Reclus.
Refers to priest who believes in "our ape-like progenitors".
EH’s work on sponges.
Pangenesis.
Describes new edition of Origin [6th]
and his work on plant crossing.
Sends description and measurements of the 18th century courtyard pavement of his house, the stones of which have sunk as a result of earthworm action [see Earthworms, pp. 192–3].
His admiration for the papers of AG [see 8119].
Relates his recent discovery that earthworms have brought to surface no less than 161 tons of dry earth over an area of 10 acres, thus creating the conditions for significant denudation. Would welcome information about the persistence of ridges and furrows in old pasture lands ploughed centuries ago. Do they run down the slopes or transversely? Refers to [A. C.] Ramsay, [James] Croll, Elie de Beaumont, and [Henry] Johnson.