To W. D. Crick   25 February 1882

Dear Sir

I am much obliged for your clear & distinct answers to my questions.—¹ I am sorry to trouble you, but there is one point which I do not fully understand: Did the shell remain attached to the beetle’s leg from the 18^th to the 23^d. & was the beetle kept during this time in the air?

Do I understand rightly that after the shell had dropped off, both being in water, that the beetle’s antenna was again temporarily caught by the shell?

I presume that I may keep the specimen till I go to London, which will be about the middle of next month.—²

I have placed the shell in fresh water to see if the valves will open & whether it is still alive, for this seems to me a very interesting point. As the wretched beetle was still fully alive I have put it in a bottle with chopped Laurel leaves, that it may die an easy & quicker death. I hope that I shall meet with your approval in doing so.—³

One of my sons tells me that on the coast of N. Wales, the bone fishing hooks often bring up young mussels, which have seized hold of the points; but I must make further enquiries on this head.—⁴

Dear Sir | yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin