To J. D. Hooker   19 April [1876]1

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

Ap. 19th

My dear Hooker

Henrietta is so unwell or rather I fear I shd. say ill, that we do not go to London tomorrow. Probably not till Monday, but I will let you know when, for the chance of your coming to luncheon.2 Dr. Andrew Clarke is coming here this evening, & we shall then know what he thinks about her.

Many thanks for the seed.—3

Yours affect. | C. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to C. S. Wedgwood, 20 April 1876.
2
According to Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), Henrietta Emma Litchfield came to Down on 8 April and was ill with pain and fever from 17 to 21 April 1876. The Darwins had intended to go to London on 20 April 1876 (see letter to G. J. Romanes, 14 April 1876). They stayed with CD’s brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin, from Thursday 27 April until 3 May 1876 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
3
Hooker had sent teasel (Dipsacus) seeds; see letter from J. D. Hooker, [18 April 1876] and n. 2.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 till] after del ‘to Lon’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10457,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10457