Ɛpsilon

To Gardeners’ Chronicle   [before 26 May 1855]

If any of your readers could obtain for me some eggs of the Lacerta agilis,1 I should be greatly obliged. Lizards are most widely distributed, and I want to ascertain whether the eggs will float in sea-water, and, if so, whether they will retain their vitality. A reward of a few shillings (which I would gladly repay as well as postage) offered to schoolboys, would perhaps get these eggs in the proper districts collected. Ch. Darwin, Downe, 2 Farnborough, Kent.

1
One of the three species of lizards found in Britain. It inhabits the south of England and is very scarce.
2
The spelling of the village name was variable. ‘Down’ was the commonest form up to the 1870s and ‘Downe’ thereafter. CD nearly always used ‘Down’.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1686A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1686A