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From Raphael Meldola   6 February 1882

21, John Street, | Bedford Row. W.C.

Feb. 6/82

My dear Mr. Darwin,

I return the form for admission into the R.S. filled in as fully as the space will permit.1 I enclose also a list of F.R.S. friends to whom I am more or less known & most of whom would probably sign my certificate. I am well aware that I shall have to wait for a few years, but I can “bide my time” & in the meanwhile hope to go on adding to my list of discoveries.2 I am indeed grateful to you for your kindness in this matter. I have not given a detailed list of my papers, but can supply titles if necessary.

I have also to thank you on behalf of the “Essex Field Club” for your kind donation to our Library.3 Our Librarian will acknowledge formally shortly.4

In great haste, | Yours very truly, | R. Meldola.

1
Meldola refers to the ‘Certificate of a candidate for election’ for his application for fellowship of the Royal Society of London. Candidates filled in a section of the form listing their qualifications and publications. The form was then signed by the proposer and sent round to other supporters before being submitted to the Council of the Royal Society. If a candidate was not successful, the form could be resuspended (that is, resubmitted) in subsequent years.
2
The list of friends has not been found, but see the letter to Raphael Meldola, 5 February 1882 and n. 3. Meldola’s form was resuspended four times and he was elected in June 1886 (Royal Society Archives GB 117, EC/1886/10).
3
See letter to Raphael Meldola, 5 February 1882 and n. 1. The donation was a copy of Earthworms.
4
No letter from Alfred Lockyer, the librarian of the Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ Field Club, has been found.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13664,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13664