Ɛpsilon

To Frederick Smith   12 March 1878

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

March 12 1878

My dear Mr Smith,

I have thought that the enclosed specimens might interest you. As far as my ignorance permits me to judge, the great difference in the casts of workers seems very curious; & some of Mrs Treats observations on their habits.1 She has done some good work with plants.2 I do not want either the specimens or note returned. Should the facts be sufficiently new, I do not doubt that she would be much gratified by your mentioning the fact before the Entomological Society.3

Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin

LS

1
No letter from Mary Treat about the ant specimens has been found. Treat later wrote on the anatomy and behaviour of harvesting ants (Treat 1879).
2
CD had corresponded with Treat about insectivorous plants (see Correspondence vols. 19–24); he cited her published work on Drosera filiformis (thread-leaved sundew) and Utricularia (bladderwort) in Insectivorous plants, pp. 281 and 408.
3
Smith was a member of the Entomological Society of London.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11418A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11418A