Royal Horticultural Society, | South Kensington, W.
3 March 1861
My dear Sir
Your letter of the 23d has followed me from Edinb. to London,1 where I have come to reside—having been appointed Acting Secretary to this Society—Dr. Lindley assuming the Honorary duties2
I shall have great pleasure in noticing the paper by Dr. Gray & procuring my remarks to be inserted in the Edinb. Phil: Journal if my friend Balfour shall not have previously done it himself—3 So far from demurring to it I feel myself highly honoured that you should ask me—and am greatly obliged by your promising me a copy of your New Edition—
I had not heard of the Anophthalmus Reymondi being found in the cellars of a deserted Monastery near Toulon—4 You know its natural habitat is a grotto near Toulon—& it is only what one might expect that on a dark night it might wander out— Indeed that is one of the things that always puzzled me why these blind insects were never found out of the Caverns—
The Anillus Cœcus is perhaps even a more interesting case—first found under some large stones which lay at the bottom of a great heap of manure or decaying thatch wh. had lain untouched for years near Bourdeaux.— Unfortunately for the marvellous of the story it has since been found in other dark places—altho very rarely—
Yours sincerely | Andw. Murray
Is the copy of Dr. Grays paper for myself—or to be returned—5
Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3077,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on