Accepts AC’s offer to conduct hybridisation experiments, and offers suggestions.

Sends book [Journal of researches, 2d ed. (1845)].

CD’s gardener says not to sow onion seeds until middle of March. Should he risk sowing them at once?

Does not believe that nature of milk can affect character of child.

Facts about starling very curious, but CD now absorbed by vegetable physiology. Not likely to attend to animal minds again.

Discusses loan of cirripede specimens from the British Museum.

Sympathises with GJR on dreadful loss [of his sister, Georgina].

Can GJR visit Down?

Onions not yet up.

Bones in goose’s wing perfectly normal. Malformation probably due to want of balance in muscles; analogous to club-foot. Injury of the parent not reproduced in offspring, but may have led to disturbance in functions of nerves which control muscles. Would like further study.

Monstrosity of fuchsia sent by GD not uncommon.

Does not recall bats at Galapagos.

Encloses report by W. H. Flower on goose’s wing.

Asks RAB to obtain wings from young birds and broken wing from old one. Asks about details of injury.

CD asks if he may have the use of the cirripedes JS collected in Portugal. He will need to break up or make a section of at least one of each species.

Expresses admiration for JS’s paper on Malta ["On recent depressions in the land", Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 3 (1847): 234–40], with its striking demonstration of the change of level between land and water there discovered.

Invites GJR to visit on the 18th.

Invites GRW to a dinner party with other scientists.

Asks questions about earthworms.

Discusses loan of cirripede specimens from the British Museum and problems of classification. Encloses a note of thanks to be laid before the Trustees [see 1153].

Sends two pages from MS chapter on instinct. Presumes it is too late for chapter to be of use to GJR.

After train ride Baby [Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin] calls every vehicle "boo boo".

CD cannot find the lagoon-island mud that WCW asked about, but he sends other geological specimens he hopes will be interesting.

GJR may have CD’s MS chapter on instinct. It was abstracted for Origin, but CD probably will not prepare it for publication.

Thanks RAB for kindness. Says W. H. Flower will examine wings [of geese].

Discusses "highly expressive" speech of young children.

Explains difficulties in supplying wings of geese. Describes injury of old gander that sired the abnormal geese.

Encloses letters from Blair on inheritance of injured wing in geese. Says specimens have been sent.

Mentions case of pigeon born without eyes.