To Gaston de Saporta   4 February [1878]1

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

Feb 4

My dear Sir,

Your Permian fossil has stirred up the botanists at Kew, and I received this morning a letter from Mr. Dyer, Secretary to Sir J. Hooker, on the subject.

Sir J. Hooker suggested that the fossil was a Ceratopteris. I enclose the part (with a drawing) of the letter, relating to the submerged frond.2

I remain with the highest respect. | Yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin.

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Gaston de Saporta, 31 January 1878.
2
The enclosure and drawing have not been found. For Joseph Dalton Hooker’s identification, see the letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [before 3 February 1878] and n. 5. Saporta had sent CD a tracing of a Permian leaf with his letter of 16 December 1877 (Correspondence vol. 25). William Turner Thiselton-Dyer was assistant director at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Hooker was director.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11347,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11347