To Johan Georg Forchhammer   25 September [1849]

Down Farnborough Kent

Sept 25th.

My dear Sir

You will be surprised to hear so soon from me;1 indeed, perhaps this letter will get to Copenhagen, before you do yourself.— On reflexion, I should be extremely much obliged to you, if you could lend me the Cirripedes, which you with so much kindness, offered me, as soon as you conveniently can. I have now got many valves of fossil Pollicipes in my house, & before returning them, I shd be particularly glad to compare them with Steentrup’s fossil species.—2 I have now almost finished the Pedunculata, & shall soon commence with the Sessile species, so that upon the whole the present time would be the best time for me to examine your specimens.— I could return the fossil & recent Pedunculata first, & afterwards the Sessile species; paying the carriage of course to Copenhagen.— I shd be greatly obliged for any specimens which you could spare, & especially some from any arctic country.—

These specimens will be of the most essential service to my monograph, & I am sure I feel much indebted to your kindness in offering them to me.—

Pray believe me my dear Sir | Your’s very sincerely | C. Darwin

The parcel had better be directed thus (namely to my Brother’s House, & he will inform me of their arrival) C. Darwin Esre 7. Park Stt.— Grosvenor Sqre. London

1
CD had met Johan Georg Forchhammer at the British Association meeting in Birmingham, where Forchhammer had read two papers to section B (chemistry).
2
Forchhammer had evidently offered to send CD specimens from the Geological Museum of Copenhagen University and to ask Johannes Japetus Smith Streenstrup to make his own collection available (Fossil Cirripedia (1851): v).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.4 valves of] interl
1.8 present time] ‘time’ interl
1.12 arctic] altered from ‘artic’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1255,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1255