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To Edward Frankland   4 January [1879]

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

Jan. 4th

My dear Dr Frankland

About a month ago you were so very kind as to say that you would give us a Bottle of pure water to proceed with our experiment on the exudation of alkaline matter from leaves on growing plants.— You said that the water wd. be sent in about a week’s time, & now a horrid fear has seized me that perhaps the water has been despatched & stolen under the impression that the Bottle contained Spirits.— I hope that they may merely have been forgotten or delayed—1

Forgive me for troubling you on this to me important matter & believe me | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Endorsement: ‘/79’

1
See Correspondence vol. 26, letter to Edward Frankland, 2 December [1878]; see also ibid., letter to Francis Darwin, [22 November 1878]. Evidently the water arrived or was re-sent; see letter to Edward Frankland, 8 February 1879. Neither Francis nor CD published on this subject.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11820A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11820A