Ɛpsilon

To Rudolph Ludwig   [16 July 1877]1

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

Dear Sir,

I received only this morning your very kind letter of July 4th, together with your essay dedicated to me.2 I thank you sincerely for the great honour thus conferred on me. It is always very interesting to discover in the same ancient form characters which are now present in distinct species or subgroups; & Crocodilus Darwinii seems an excellent illustration of this remarkable fact.3

I remain, dear Sir | Yours faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin

LS

1
The date is established by a note on the letter, probably made by an archivist, recording the address to which it was sent, and the date, presumably from a postmark on the cover.
2
Ludwig’s letter has not been found. There is a copy of his Fossile Crocodiliden aus der Tertiärformation des Mainzer Beckens (Fossil Crocodilia from the Tertiary formation of the Mainz basin; Ludwig 1877) in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.
3
Ludwig had named an alligator for CD: Alligator darwini (a synonym of Diplocynodon darwini).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11055,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11055