Ɛpsilon

From J. V. Carus   6 December 1881

Leipzig

Decbr 6. 1881

My dear Sir,

I have to thank you very much for the corrected sheets. I made use of the corrections as far as the book was not yet printed off, and I have added the new parts of text as “Additions”.1

In exchange I give you a few Errata:

p 4. line 1 from bottom—Von Hensen read Victor Hensen (von is the particle indicating nobility, but Hensen is a gentleman, but no nobleman)

p 6 line 1 from bottom, the same.2

p 13. line 4 " "“De Lumbrici terrestris” Would it not

(15. be better to add “hist. nat.”? The latin preposition “De”

with the genitive

(16.) looks so odd.3

p 18. line 2 from bottom. (Fig.) “Soc.” read “Sc.” (Science)4

p 19. " 4 from top: “typhosolis” read “typhlosolis.”5

p 32. " 4 " bottom: Ampelopis read “Ampelopsis’.6

p 37 " 1 " top: Frédéricq read “Fredericq” (without the accents)

p 42. " 5 " " : while they, read “while it” (the starch)

" " 1 " bottom: Frédéricq read “Fredericq”.7

" 44 " 3 " top: Urochtaea read “Urochaeta”.8

" 71. " 12 " " : a perfect chevaux de frise” read a perfect cheval de frise9

p 182. line 6 from top: “(F)’, read (E).10

p 194. " 12 " " : ‘Buccleuch’. As far as I have seen this name written or printed, it was always spelt “Buccleugh’.11

p. 262." 9 from top: “Knowle Park.’ In all the other places you have spelt the name Knole, without the w.12

p. 310 " 1 from bottom: Von Hensen read Victor13

p 319. Index. adde: Fredericq, Léon. 37

p 321 " dele: Léon; that is the Christian name. (38 ought to be 37)14

p 325." Typhosolis read Typhlosolis.15

May I ask you what difference you make between mould and humus? In the most places you use both terms promiscue; on p 103, l.6 you add (in the proof sheets), to the word “mould”, “or humus”, and on the very same page you insert (line 14), ‘humus’ instead of mould.16 This puzzles me.

The translation will be printed off very soon. I enjoyed the work immensely, although, or rather because I had to do under some difficulty, arising from other work.

Believe me My dear Sir, | Yours ever gratefully, | J. Victor Carus

CD annotations

15.1 p 194 … Buccleugh.’ 15.3] del pencil; ‘wrong’ Francis Darwin pencil
1
See letter to J. V. Carus, 26 November 1881. CD had sent corrected proof-sheets and manuscript additions for the printing of the fifth thousand of Earthworms. In the German edition, a section of additions (Zusätze) followed the main text (Carus trans. 1882, pp. 178–9).
2
The change to Hensen’s name was made in Earthworms (1882), pp. 4, 6, 240, and 313.
3
The title appeared as ‘De Lumbrici terrestris Hist. Nat. &c.’ (Morren 1829) in Earthworms (1882), pp. 13, 15. The Latin preposition ‘de’ should be followed by a noun in the ablative case, but ‘lumbrici’ is in the genitive case because it modifies ‘historia naturali’. Carus evidently found the shortened title sounded ungrammatical.
4
The suggested change was made in Earthworms (1882), p. 18.
5
The suggested change was made in Earthworms (1882), pp. 19 and 327.
6
The suggested change was made in Earthworms (1882), p. 33.
7
The word ‘Frédéricq’ appears on pp. 37 and 43 of Earthworms (fifth thousand). The suggested change was made in Earthworms (1882), pp. 38 and 44. The change from ‘they were’ to ‘it was’ was made in ibid., p. 43. The reference was to Léon Fredericq.
8
The suggested change was made in Earthworms (1882), p. 45.
9
The suggested change was not made in Earthworms (1882), p. 73. ‘Chevaux de frise’ (French for ‘Frisian horses’) were medieval spiked anti-cavalry obstacles. CD had used the term in the phrase ‘each tuft forms a perfect chevaux de frise’; Carus correctly pointed out that the singular cheval ought to have been used.
10
The suggested change was made in Earthworms (1882), p. 184.
11
The suggested change was not made in Earthworms (1882), p. 196. ‘Buccleugh’ was an older variant spelling of ‘Buccleuch’, but the individual referred to by CD (Walter Francis Montagu-Douglas-Scott, fifth duke of Buccleuch and seventh duke of Queensberry) used the latter form.
12
This correction had already been made in Earthworms (fifth thousand), p. 262.
13
See n. 2, above.
14
Léon Fredericq’s name was added to the index under the heading ‘Fredericq, Léon’ in Earthworms (1882), p. 321.
15
See n. 5, above.
16
In both Earthworms (fifth thousand), p. 103, and Earthworms (1882), p. 105, the phrase ‘mould or humus’ is used. The word ‘mould’ in the phrase ‘dark-coloured mould’ has not been changed to ‘humus’ in either of these printings.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13533,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13533