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To Anton Dohrn   27 February 1880

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

Feb 27 1880

My dear Dr Dohrn,

Your very kind letter has pleased me much.1 You are so incomparably a better judge how best to use my small gift of £100 that I should greatly prefer leaving it entirely to your decision.2 As the sum is small it appears to me that it would be prudent in you not to speak of the use to which you propose to put it until you are assured of receiving considerable additions   You are at perfect liberty to use my name on this subject as you may think fit, and I hope that your generous wish to assist poor English naturalists may be successful. I enclose a cheque but should there be any difficulty in cashing it I could find some other means of sending the sum to you & I repeat that I beg you to do whatever you think best with it.3

I remain, with all good wishes | Yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin

LS

2
CD had suggested using the money to buy a piece of equipment (see letter to Anton Dohrn, 15 February 1880). In his reply Dohrn suggested using the money for travelling expenses for English naturalists (see letter from Anton Dohrn, 21 February 1880 and n. 3).
3
CD recorded a payment of £100 under the heading ‘Dohrn’ on 27 February 1880 in his Account books–banking account (Down House MS).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12501,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12501