Ɛpsilon

To Henry Edwards   1 March [1876]

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

March 1st —

My dear Sir

I did receive the Photograph, which you so kindly sent me & have often admired it. Also your interesting paper.1 It was a mere oversight that I did not specially thank you for them.2 But in truth I am so overwhelmed with letters on many days that I am often forced to be very brief in my answers, & I may appear ungrateful when this is not my frame of mind.

with my apologies & renewed thanks, I remain | My dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

P.S. I have lately read your interesting discussion on Prof Weismann’s reviews on Dimorphism in butterflies, & was particularly glad to see that you approve of the essay, which struck me much.—3

Endorsement: ‘/76’

1
See Correspondence vol. 23, letter from Henry Edwards, 26 December 1875. Edwards sent his paper on the pitcher-plant Darlingtonia californica (H. Edwards 1875) accompanied by dried specimens and a coloured photograph of the plant. A copy of the paper is in DAR 86: B26. The photograph has not been found.
2
In his letter to Henry Edwards, [after 26 December 1875] (Correspondence vol. 23), CD acknowledged Edwards’s offer to supply information and thanked him for a specimen of Darlingtonia.
3
CD evidently mistook Henry Edwards for William Henry Edwards, who had discussed August Weismann’s essay on the seasonal dimorphism of butterflies (Weismann 1875a) in W. H. Edwards 1875. A copy is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10411,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10411