Ɛpsilon

To W. E. Darwin   2 December [1880]

[Down.]

Dec. 2d.—

My dear William.

When you go to Brading take a measure with you & if the land is nearly level, so that fine earth cd. not have been washed down over the remains—measure how thick the vegetable mould is over them.1 The floor & walls will probably be covered by layer of rubbish which ought to be measured.—

If floors have been uncovered, see whether they have sagged in middle.2 It is not likely that foundations of any wall will have been displayed but if this shd. have been done, look for burrows beneath wall—& for any recent casting on tops of broken-down walls or on floors.—

By all means collect any castings from over the ruins, especially where soil happens not to be very thick.—

James Geikie has sent me a grand & excellent book (containing my notions about gravel near Southampton) which when I have read I can lend you.—3 I wish you or I cd make out the relation of the brick-earth to the angular gravel. I suspect the former is the washings of the latter. I have much to write.

your affect. | C. D.—

Postmark: DE 2 80

1
William planned to visit the ruins of a Roman villa at Brading on the Isle of Wight on 3 December 1880 (see letter from W. E. Darwin, 1 December [1880] and n. 4).
2
For more on the parts of the villa uncovered by this time, see Nicholson 1881; particularly noted were the mosaic pavements.
3
James Geikie had quoted from several of CD’s letters about gravel drift near Southampton in Prehistoric Europe: a geological sketch (see Geikie 1881, pp. 141–2, and letter from James Geikie, 22 July 1880 and nn. 1 and 2).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.3 &] over ‘or’
2.2 displayed] after del ‘un’
2.3 any recent] added
4.1 & excellent] interl
4.2 gravel] above del ‘gravel’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12882,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12882