Ɛpsilon

From A. W. Malm   21 December 1877

Göteborg. Naturhist. Museum

21 Dec. 77

D:r Charles Darwin.

My dear Sir. | My most estimated Friend and Collega!

I thank you for your most kind dedication accompanied with a copy of your sixth edition of “the Origin of Species” &ct., hoc est liber librorum, seu Biblia hodierna; both dated 30 Januar 1877.1 My Fauna Bahusid is just printed, and I send to you a copy of the same, my last work.2 You will have it in 8 days from the library of the British Museum.

In the introduction, pag. 12–17, you will find some lines on the origin of man and several domesticated animals and kultivated, hoc est domesticated plants. I think that jour Son, D:r Darwin j:or will translated that memory for You.3

From R. Hartmann in Berlin here I that a other Memory (“on the migration &c” (See l.c., p. 26–491) will be translated, in germany language, in Archiv für Zoology by Troschel.4 This paper is the result of my studies, in the nature, in more as 40 jear. My selfcritic said my, that this paper is one of my best. Ther have I relate my observations not only by the migrations of the Birds. The animals in generaly are ther objects for my remarks. The fenomena are arranged sub the rubriks:

1) Winter-cubatorys, pg. 31.
2) Verticaly-migratory. pg. 31.
3) Obliquely-migratory. pg. 33.
4) Horizontaly migrations, pg. 35
A) Continuals p. 35
B) Periodicals 36.
a: from Nord to Syd, or vice versa . 36.
b): at every where direction. 41
C) Accidentals. 44.
And, pag. 47–49: Conclusions.5

My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | A. W. Malm.

Compliments from my Son!6

1
See letter from A. W. Malm, 26 January 1877 and n. 3. Malm had asked CD where CD had referred to Malm’s paper on the Pleuronectidae (the family of righteye flounders; Malm 1867). In response, CD evidently sent a copy of Origin 6th ed., in which he cited Malm 1867 (Origin 6th ed., pp. 186–7). Hoc est liber librorum, seu Biblia hodierna: This is the book of books, or the bible of today (Latin). Malm’s copy of Origin 6th ed. belongs to Torbjörn Lindell FLS. It has a slip pasted in that reads, ‘From the Author | with much respect | and kind regards, — | Jan. 30th. 1877.—’
2
CD’s copy of Göteborgs och Bohusläns fauna, ryggradsdjuren (Gothenburg and Bohuslän fauna, vertebrates; Malm 1877) is in the Darwin Library–Down.
3
In this section, Malm refers to CD’s theory (see Malm 1877, pp. 13–14). CD’s son George Howard Darwin had translated substantial extracts from Malm 1867; the manuscript translation is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.
4
Franz Hermann Troschel, the editor of Archiv für Naturgeschichte, published a section of Malm’s book (Malm 1877, pp. 26–49) in German translation as ‘Die Erscheinung des Wanderns oder Ziehen in der Thierwelt im Allgemeinen und der Vögel im Besonderen’ (The phenomenon of migration or movement in the animal world in general and birds in particular; Malm 1878).
5
The pagination is from the original Swedish version (Malm 1877, pp. 31–44; see also Malm 1878, pp. 136–46). ‘Winter-cubatorys’: animals that do not migrate; ‘verticaly-migratory’: animals that overwinter underground; ‘obliquely-migratory’: animals that spend some of their life in water; ‘horizontaly migrations’: animals (and also some plants) that move within a specified range, either frequently or at specified periods, either north to south or in several directions, or by chance.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11285,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11285