Arranges meeting with JDH at Thatched House Tavern.
Eager for JDH’s reaction to MS on large and small genera.
CD’s health has been poor owing to hard work [on Natural selection]. He has to treat of every branch of natural history, which is beyond his strength.
Arrangements for JDH to visit Down for weekend.
Has come to heavy grief about bees’ cells, unless Huber is wrong [François Huber, New observations on the natural history of bees, new ed. (1841)].
Discusses cart-horses and stripes on a Belgiman [Belgian?].
Will return Benjamin Jowett’s Epistles of St Paul (Jowett 1855) and requests several books, of which the latest is Hugh Miller’s Cruise of the Betsey (Miller 1858).
CD’s receipt of diploma from Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolina Academy [Dresden].
Hopes to begin pigeon MS in a week.
Has lately been working on bees’ cells and wishes very much to examine a cylindrical one.
Pleased with JDH’s reaction to MS on large and small genera.
Confident of soundness of principle of divergence.
CD experimenting on pollination mechanism of Leguminosae. Asks JDH to investigate Fumariaceae.
Discusses bees’ cells. Wants hive and swarm; would be glad to have WBT’s box with commenced cells. "I am partly a disciple of Waterhouse, but not wholly."
Acknowledges receipt of £242 11s. 10d.
No summary available.
Encloses MS by A. R. Wallace. CD has been forestalled. " . . . if Wallace had my MS sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short abstract!" Wallace does not say if he wishes CD to publish MS, but CD will offer to send it to journal.
There is much weight in what RIM says about not breaking up the natural history collection of the British Museum. The botanical collection might be moved to Kew, but CD thinks "it would be the greatest evil which could possibly happen to natural science in this country if the other collections were ever to be removed from the British Museum and Library".
Relates domestic affairs.
Thinks his bees’ cell theory will hold good.
Thanks for hive.
Has started [writing up] pigeons and hopes to have finished with them in a week or two.
Etty [Henrietta Darwin] very ill with diphtheria.
Gives his opinion of the charges against E. W. Lane.
Extremely sorry for trouble he has given about his signature.
One child dangerously ill with diphtheria, another with much fever.
No summary available.
Everything in Wallace’s sketch also appears in CD’s sketch of 1844. A year ago CD sent a short sketch of his views to Asa Gray. Can CD honourably publish his sketch now that Wallace has sent outline of his views? "I would far rather burn my whole book than that he or any man shd. think that I had behaved in a paltry spirit." Does not believe Wallace originated his views from anything CD wrote to him.