Has written to Royal College of Surgeons, exactly as RO recommended, concerning disposition of his South American fossil bones. He fixed on the British Museum, rather than Paris, to receive plaster casts, because he was on board a King’s ship. Suggests RO propose another set for Paris, where they would be more useful than at BM. Has scarcely begun unpacking his cases.

Would like to arrange a meeting about CD’s collection of shells [from the Beagle voyage].

Asks for volumes of F. W. Beechey’s work [Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Bering Strait (1831)] and Nautical magazine and an order on [John] Arrowsmith for atlas of Dumont d’Urville’s Voyage in the "Astrolabe".

Urgently needs a Spanish map of the Cordilleras of central Chile near St Jago [Santiago].

Inquires whether "a Devonshire Bee-keeper" [T. W. Woodbury] who reported a common drone entering a hive of Ligurian bees [Cottage Gard. 24 (1860): 94] believes, with Andrew Knight, that queen bees are seldom fertilised by their own blood-relations. Asks how far a hive of common bees was from that of the Ligurians.

Orders a copy of September number of Silliman’s Journal. A friend has recommended an article in it [A. Gray and D. Treadwell, "Discussion between two readers of Darwin’s treatise on the origin of species", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 30 (1860): 226–39].

Returns HH’s essay.

Asks her to send some specimens of Dr Erasmus Darwin’s handwriting for the Autographic Mirror.

Orders Richard Owen’s Anatomy of vertebrates [1866–8],

subscribes to Annals and Magazine of Natural History,

and orders three back numbers of Medical Times and Gazette.

Returns proofs of GH’s paper ["On hybridization among plants", Pop. Sci. Rev. 5 (1866): 304–13] with his criticisms. Prefers that GH not state that CD has read the proofs.

Does C. V. Naudin really say that ovules (not seed) of hybrid Luffa and Cucumis are imperfect?

CD must decline his correspondent’s kind offer [unspecified], but he is out of health and has passed the part about dogs in a work now at the printer’s [Variation].

Thanks SS for present of Life of a Scotch naturalist [1876]. Has read every one of his biographies with "extreme pleasure".

Refers EJC to papers by G. J. Romanes ["Animal intelligence", Nineteenth Century 4 (1878): 653–72] and William James ["Brute and human intellect", J. Speculative Philos. 12 (1878): 236–76] on the mind of animals.

No summary available.

No summary available.

No summary available.