Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Hooker   11 [September 1859]1

Down.

11th

My dear Hooker

I corrected last proof—yesterday; & I have now only Revises, index &c, which will take me to near end of month.— So that the neck of my work, thank God, is broken.—

I write now to say that I am uneasy in my conscience about hesitating to look over your proofs; but I was feeling miserably unwell & shattered when I wrote.—2 I do not suppose I could be of hardly any use, but if I could pray send me any proofs.— I shd be (& fear I was) the most ungrateful man to hesitate to do anything for you after some 15 or more years help from you.—

As soon as ever I have fairly finished, I shall be off to Ilkley or some other Hydropathic Establishment. But I shall be some time yet, as my proofs have been so utterly obscured with corrections, that I have to correct heavily on Revises.—

Murray proposes to publish in first week of November.—3 Oh good Heavens, the relief to my mind & body to banish whole subject from my mind.—

I hope to God you do not think me a brute about your proof-sheets.—

Farewell | Yours affecty | C. Darwin

100 Head of Trifolium pratense protected from Bees did not produce one single seed; another Hundred visited by Humble-bees produced nearly 3000 seeds! Melilotus officinalis produced 30 or 40 fold as much after I let the Bees in.—4

1
Dated by CD’s expectation that his work on the revised proof-sheets and index to Origin would be finished by the end of the month. CD recorded finishing his proofs on 1 October 1859 (‘Journal’; Appendix II).
3
Origin was included in John Murray’s list of publications for November (Publishers’ Circular, 1 November 1859, p. 546). For the actual date of publication, see letter to John Murray, [3 November 1859], and Freeman 1977, p. 75.
4
The results of CD’s experiments are given in his Experimental book, pp. 46–7 (DAR 157a). The Trifolium pratense entry is dated 13 August 1859; that for Melilotus officinalis, 10 September. CD calculated that 2720 seeds were produced when T. pratense was uncovered.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 yesterday] ‘yes’ over illeg
2.4 (& fear I was)] interl
2.4 fear] ‘e’ over illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2490,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2490