Ɛpsilon

From W. E. Darwin   31 December [1880]1

Basset, | Southampton.

Dec 31

My dear Father,

I send you the diagrams as to Teg Down, and there is another on the back of Rifle Valley.2

I cannot read your pencil notes on the back.3 It seems to me that all one can say in each case is that there is always more in the valleys, and that in case of slopes the thickness of mould diminishes with the angle of slope.

I suppose if the worms cast up earth in inverse ratio to the steepness of slope, and hardly worked at all where the mould was only just enough to support grass, you might have a constant thickness of mould in any place continuing the same for centuries.

I think the diagrams explain themselves— if you wanted any points cleared up I could easily go there. I am looking again into the St Catherine Hill notes & will write soon.4

I hope Mother is better and downstairs, please give her my love and say what a pleasant Christmas we had.5

Your affect son | W. E D

CD annotations

2.3 thickness] ‘thickness’ added pencil
1
The year is established by the reference to the Christmas visit (see n. 5, below).
2
Teg Down and the Rifle valley are two valleys near Winchester, Hampshire.
3
William had made diagrams and notes on the thickness of mould in Teg Down and the Rifle valley in 1872; CD added his own notes on the back and wrote several pages of additional notes. The notes, dated from 27 March to 6 April 1872, are in DAR 63: 112–15.
4
William’s notes on St Catherine Hill (a chalk hill near Winchester with the remains of an Iron Age fort) have not been found, but see Earthworms, pp. 302–4.
5
William and Sara Darwin visited Down from 23 to 29 December 1880 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12957,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12957