Ɛpsilon

To John Lubbock   5 September [1856]1

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Sept 5

Dear Lubbock

In a wretched Brochure by Gerard2 I find the following, but he is not to be trusted & he does not give authority “Le Lycus miniatus, Lepidopt. des parties boréales de l’Europe, se trouve sur le Cantal,3 et l’on a decouvert en Suisse le Prionus depsacarius de la Suède. On retrouve sous notre climat a une élévation de 12 a 1,500 metres l’Apollon qui est commun dans les montagnes de Suède.”4

Ever yours | C. D.

Please do not forget acreage of Larch Wood

Georgy wd. delight to see your insects, but do not send them, without you can quite safely.—5

I forgot to ask after the Railway,6 my invariable question.—

1
The year is provided by CD’s reference to the geographical distribution of alpine butterflies, which was relevant for his work on chapter 11 of his species book (see n. 4, below).
2
CD refers to Frédéric Gérard’s pamphlet, an extract from the Dictionnaire universel d’histoire naturelle, on ‘Géographie zoologique’ (Gérard 1845). CD first read the work in 1845 (Correspondence vol. 4, Appendix IV, 119: 16a). His copy of the pamphlet is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.
3
A region of south central France.
4
Quoted, with some minor errors, from Gérard 1845, p. 136 (p. 27 of CD’s reprint). The passage is marked in CD’s copy. CD was interested in these beetles and butterflies as evidence that northern species had migrated south during the cold period and remained behind at higher altitudes when the ice retreated toward the pole. The information from Gérard 1845 is cited in Natural selection, p. 535 n. 2, without attribution.
5
George Howard Darwin, aged 11, was an ardent Lepidopterist.
6
John Lubbock’s father, John William Lubbock, was chairman of the railway company set up to build an extension to Beckenham (see Correspondence vol. 5, letter to W. E. Darwin, [25 April 1855]). CD was a stock holder in the venture.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.4 climat] altered from ‘climate’
3.1 of] over ‘—’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1949,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1949