Ɛpsilon

To Francis Darwin   2 October [1876]

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

Oct 2d

My dear Boy

Your last corrections gave me a fearful grind, & this was owing to their goodness, for I had to accept all; and now they are all despatched to the Printers.1

I find in Bechstein’s “Der Gemeine Iltis” is the Mustala putorius Linn. Fitchet of Pennant (or polecat)2

Das “Frett oder der Kaninchen-iltis” is the M. furo Linn. or Ferret.3

I thought that the paper about crossing rats was more curious than that on the Iltis; & that on monkey’s rumps interested me most & George thought it very curious—4 I intend before very long to write a letter to Nature on the latter head, & I think I will get you to return the numbers on this subject,—that is if you do not translate it. (I find that I have copious notes).—5 But I hope that you may be able to begin your paper on the teazle, as this I think will compel your attention better than anything else.6

If you read Wiesner I shd very much like to hear anything which bears on the protection of protoplasm or chlorophyll from water, as this wd have a most direct bearing on my observations, if I ever continue them.7 I will give orders about the Daffodils.

Goodbye my very dear son, | Your affect. Father | C. Darwin

We go to L. H. Pl. on the 4th. & leave early on the 7th for W. where we shall probably stay a fortnight—8 such are your mother’s orders. If I finish Revises then, I shd. be glad for the paper on monkeys, as I shall have nothing to do.—

The Grapes for you were despatched on Saturday evening

Postmark: OC 2 76

1
Francis was correcting the proof-sheets of Cross and self fertilisation (see letter to Francis Darwin, 27 [September 1876] and n. 2).
2
The common or European polecat (Mustela putorius) is described as ‘Der gemeine Iltis’ in Bechstein 1801–9, 1: 779–90, and as the fitchet in Pennant 1793, 2: 37. Copies of these works are in the Darwin Library–CUL.
3
The ferret (now Mustela putorius furo) is described in Bechstein 1801–9, 1: 791–97; and Pennant 1793, 2: 40.
4
CD had suggested that Francis translate several articles from German, including papers by Johann von Fischer on rats (Fischer 1874b) and monkeys (Fischer 1876a; letter to Francis Darwin, 20 September [1876]). The paper on the Iltis (polecat) was Fischer 1873. CD refers to George Howard Darwin.
5
CD discussed Fischer 1876a in an article in Nature, 2 November 1876, pp. 18–19, ‘Sexual selection in relation to monkeys’.
6
On Francis’s experiments with the common or fuller’s teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris, a synonym of D. fullonum), see the letter from Francis Darwin, [1 June 1876] and n. 2. The results were published in F. Darwin 1877b.
7
CD had sent Francis a book by Julius Wiesner in May (see letter from Francis Darwin, 27 May 1876). The book has not been identified, but was possibly a collection of essays published to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Imperial and Royal Zoological-Botanical Society of Vienna; the collection included an essay by Wiesner, ‘Die natürliche Einrichtungen zum Schutze des Chlorophylls der lebenden Pflanze’ (Natural contrivances for the protection of chlorophyll in living plants; Wiesner 1876). CD had been made a member of the society in 1867 (Freeman 1978) and may have received the volume, but it has not been found in the Darwin Library–CUL.
8
CD was at Leith Hill Place in Surrey, the home of Josiah Wedgwood III and Caroline Sarah Wedgwood, from 4 to 7 October, and at William Erasmus Darwin’s house in Southampton from 7 to 20 October (‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.1 find] after del ‘suppose’
4.4 numbers] after del ‘nu’
4.5 (I … notes)] interl after del ‘Or if you do, I could use your translation’; square brackets in ms

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10629,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10629