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From W. E. Darwin   13 January [1881]1

Basset, | Southampton.

Jan 13th

My dear Father,

I am getting one of these London Brigade Portable Fire Engines price £3.10 cover 7s/6d— Fan spread is 7s/6d— I should think it would be well worth the expense to have one ar two at Down.2 With several men on the premises who could keep filling it with water, I think it would be a considerable safe guard.

I do not want the advertisements again. It is now set in very cold, & we are looking for skating. I think, if it not absurd for one with no pretensions, I should like to join the Geological Society.3 What steps should I take?

I am very anxious to hear what L. Stephens says.4

I will look at the acacias soon—5

Your affect son | W. E. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Leslie Stephen, 11 January 1881 (see n. 4, below).
2
The ‘London Brigade’ fire-pump, a portable hand-operated device, was sold by Merryweather and Sons, Greenwich Road, London.
3
CD had been a member of the Geological Society of London since 1836 and had served as secretary from 1838 to 1841 (Freeman 1978).
5
CD had asked William to examine worm burrows for the petioles of Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust or false acacia; see Correspondence vol. 28, letter to W. E. Darwin, 23 [November 1880], and Earthworms, pp. 81–2).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13010F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13010F