Ɛpsilon

To Richard Owen   25 November [1846]1

Down Farnborough Kent

Nov. 25th

My dear Owen

Having worked out pretty carefully my new articulated Balanus (to be call Arthrobalanus) I have become so much interested in the structure of the sessile Cirripedes, that I am dissecting 5 or 6 of the other genera. I work out mouths & cirri carefully, muscular structure & tunics of the sack, & a some of the structure of the viscera; whether this is worth doing I am not sure, but I have not forgotten your great kindness in acceding to my request of reading over this time my descriptions.— I have, however, strayed from my object, which was to ask, whether you could by any chance supply me with a few specimens in Spirits of any of the Sessile genera, for my specimens are all small & some immature. If the College had any large set of specimens, of any of the genera, perhaps it would be possible to let me have a few; I could return the parts, after having them drawn, preserved & dissected in Spirits

Pray excuse this trouble | Ever yours truly | C. Darwin

P.S. | Most, perhaps all of the shells, about which I more than once tormented you, I have found at Sowerby’s.—2 proh pudor on me.

1
CD worked on Arthrobalanus during October 1846 and began dissecting other cirripedes in November (see ‘Journal’ (Correspondence vol. 3, Appendix II) and letters to J. D. Hooker, [2 October 1846] and [26 October 1846]).
2
Possibly the shells referred to in letters to G. B. Sowerby, [1 December 1845], [3 December 1845], and [9? December 1845].

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 Having] ‘H’ over illeg
1.9 Sessile] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1033,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1033