Ɛpsilon

To Francis Darwin   [10 June 1877]1

L. H. Pl.2

Sunday

My dear Frank

Please look in my washing corner in study & on upper shelf, you will find a bottle of dirty salmon-coloured mixture (Waugh) (for eczema) with brush, & little vessel—3

diagram

Please send them by William to Southampton.—4 Remember Carbonate of Ammonia.— Also please look in tin box on floor, beneath a pile of paper portfolios, for a portfolio on Worms & in this there is a paper or bundle of papers by William on covering of earth within Beaulieu Abbey spread by earth-worms over the ancient floor.— Do not waste time in hunting for it, but I shd. rather like to look over the notes, as if I am strong enough I will visit the abbey5

Dear old Backy | Your affect Father | C. Darwin

I sometimes fancy I hear Baby talking & spitting beautifully.—6

1
The date is established by the period of CD’s stay at Leith Hill Place (see n. 2, below), and by the reference to his visit to Beaulieu abbey (see n. 5, below). In 1877, 10 June was a Sunday.
2
CD stayed at Leith Hill Place in Surrey, the home of his sister, Caroline Sarah Wedgwood, and her family, from 8 to 13 June 1877 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
3
CD had received a treatment for eczema from the London chemists George Waugh & Co. in 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 [March 1863]).
4
CD stayed at William Erasmus Darwin’s house in Bassett, Southampton, from 13 June to 4 July 1877 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
5
William had examined earth at the base of stones at the ruined abbey in Beaulieu, Hampshire, on 5 January 1872 (see Correspondence vol. 20, letter from W. E. Darwin, [1 January 1872], and Correspondence vol. 24, Supplement, letter from W. E. Darwin, [4 January 1872]). CD visited Beaulieu on 22 June 1877 (Earthworms, p. 195).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 (Waugh)] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10995,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10995