Ɛpsilon

To T. H. Farrer   13 October [1880]1

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

Oct 13th

My dear Farrer

Since I wrote this morning to you a horrid fear has crossed my mind.2 It is possible, though not probable, that the rounded particles of brick in the castings, may have been rolled about by wind & rain, & afterwards been swallowed by the worms.—3 This possible source of error would be avoided if you could send me some castings from a gravel-walk with underlying brick rubbish; for the rubbish will thus have been protected from being rolled or rounded.

For Heaven sake forgive me if you can & believe me | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to T. H. Farrer, 13 October 1880.
3
CD was trying to determine whether the fragments of brick rubble or similar material swallowed by worms acted like millstones to crush their food; he had assumed that this would be confirmed if the small particles found in wormcasts were smooth and rounded (letter to T. H. Farrer, 1 October 1880 and n. 5).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.3 afterwards] above del ‘then’
1.4 error] above del ‘error’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12756,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12756