Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Hooker   20 June [1881]1

Glenrhydding House | Patterdale, Penrith

June 20th

My dear Hooker.

Your letter has cheered me, & the world does not look a quarter so black this morning, as it did when I wrote before.2 Your friendly words are worth their weight in gold.—

I daresay you have got Ox. acetosella by this time; if not, despatch the enclosed card & you will receive specimens.—3 I do not believe Ox. acetosella will ever grow long except in rather dense shade,—a fact which agrees with Batalin’s experiments on the movement of the leaflets, given in my last book.—4 Tear up card, if plants not wanted, & do not acknowledge receipt.—

I am very sorry to hear about Rolleston & Greg— The former is a horrid case.5 I liked much the little I ever saw of him. This morning we heard of the death (a blessed release from suffering) of McLennan, who has left uncompleted a book more valuable, probably, than Primitive Marriage.6

Your address must be a horrid bore.— The whole subject of Geographical Distribution has become a frightfully big one.—7 I wish I cd be of any use to you; but this out of the question, as the subject has gone much out of my mind.

You ought to keep steadily before your mind, what a splendid amount of grand work you have done.

Ever yours affectionately | Charles Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. D. Hooker, 18 June 1881.
3
CD had evidently written to his gardener, Henry Lettington, to ask for plants of Oxalis acetosella (common wood sorrel) to be sent to Hooker. The card has not been found.
4
Alexander Fedorovich Batalin, in ‘Neue Beobachtungen über die Bewegungen der Blätter bei Oxalis’ (New observations on the movement of leaves in Oxalis; Batalin 1871, p. 242), had noted that leaves of Oxalis acetosella moved to their night-time position if placed in direct sunlight. CD had been informed of this fact in a letter from Batalin of 28 February 1879 (Correspondence vol. 27), and noted it in Movement in plants, p. 447.
6
John Ferguson McLennan died at Hayes Common, Kent, on 16 June 1881 (ODNB); the uncompleted book, Studies in ancient history … comprising an inquiry into the origin of exogamy, was published in 1896 (McLennan 1896).
7
Hooker was president of the geography section of the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held at York, 31 August to 7 September 1881 (for his address, see Hooker 1881).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Penrith] above del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
2.4 Tear … receipt.— 2.5] added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13211,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13211