Ɛpsilon

To Henri de Saussure   17 March 1881

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

March 17 1881

My dear Sir

It has been very kind of you to send me the pebbles of Roman bricks; & when I go over my M.S. again, I shall be particularly glad to compare the smaller ones, with those which appear to have undergone attrition in the gizzard of worms.—1 I received the book, which you kindly sent me, & I am ashamed at not having written to thank you, but I sometimes receive so many letters & books that I have hardly time to acknowledge their receipt.—2

I have much pleasure in sending you the best photograph which was made of me, by my son, Leonard, an Enginner Officer.—3

If you would honour me by sending your photograph I should much like to add it to my collection.—

Pray believe me | my dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin

1
See letter from Henri de Saussure, 14 March 1881. In Earthworms, p. 254, CD referred to the pebbles sent by Saussure and compared their appearance to those extracted from the gizzards of worms.
2
Saussure had sent a copy of La Question du lac (Saussure 1880; see letter from Henri de Saussure, 14 March 1881 and n. 4).
3
Leonard Darwin was an officer in the Royal Engineers; he had been appointed instructor in chemistry and photography at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham, in 1877 (ODNB).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13088F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13088F