To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer   27 September [1877]1

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

Sept. 27th

My dear Dyer

You have sent us a most magnificent supply of Australian leaves, & Frank was hard at work all yesterday in removing bloom & weighing lots of leaves in our grand new chemical balance. The poor mertensia looks very bad & I fear will never revive, & this goes to my heart, as it seems to have splendid bloom.2

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 22 September 1877.
2
CD had requested leaves from Eucalyptus globulus and an Australian acacia in his letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 22 September 1877. He also accepted Thiselton-Dyer’s offer of an oysterleaf plant (Mertensia maritima). He was conducting experiments with Francis Darwin into the function of bloom.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 have] interl
1.1 a] after del ‘yester’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11156,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11156