Ɛpsilon

To Jules Barrois   [after 6 March 1882]1

Down.

Dear Sir—

I am very glad to hear of the proposed establishment of a Biological Lab. at V. F.. The great scientific results already obtained & the number of Naturalists who have gained experience, in Dohrn’s Institute at Naples & in the Laboratories founded by your Lacaze-Duthiers on the shores of France, shows beyond a shadow of doubt how important an aid to Natural Science are these establishments.—2

A

Foreigners of every country ought to be grateful for the liberality of the French Government, which is willing that all shd profit by their new foundation.

Nor is there is any danger of too many Laboratories being founded; for the amount of Scientific Work which has to be done in the several great Invertebrate classes is almost infinite.—

Permit me to add that I am convinced that the the Laboratory of V. F is eminently fortunate in having acquired your services as Director— —

With cordial good wishes for your success in all ways I remain, | Dear Sir, with much respect | yours f. | C. D.

ADraftS

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Jules Barrois, 6 March [1882].
2
On the founding of the laboratory at Villefranche-sur-Mer, see letter from Jules Barrois, 6 March [1882] and n. 3. Anton Dohrn had founded the Marine Zoological Station at Naples in 1872. On CD’s support for the station, see, for example, Correspondence vol. 20, letter to Anton Dohrn, 24 August [1872]. Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers had founded the Roscoff Biological Station on the northern coast of Brittany in 1872, and the Laboratoire Arago (Oceanological Observatory at Banyuls-sur-Mer) on the Mediterranean coast of France in 1881 (Science, 9 July 1886, pp. 27–8).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 very] interl
1.2 great] above interl & del ‘important’
1.2 scientific] interl
1.2 already] interl
1.3 Dohrn’s] above del ‘the’
1.3 the Laboratories] above del ‘those’
1.4 your] interl
2.1 A] circled and interl, probably to mark insertion of paras 3 & 4 on the verso, before paras 5 & 6 on the recto
3.1 be] after interl ink, del pencil ‘honour &’
3.1 for] after del ‘& to honour’
3.2 profit by] above del ‘use’
3.2 new] interl
4.2 Scientific] interl
4.2 several] interl
4.3 almost] above del ‘almos’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13719,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13719