Ɛpsilon

To ?   21 August [1862]1

1 Carlton Terrace, Southampton.

Aug. 21

Dear Sir,

Severe illness in my family on a journey has prevented me from sooner thanking you for your very obliging note.2 I did not receive the specimen, which followed me from place to place, until it was quite withered; but the monstrosity is a common one. I should not expect this fusion of two flowers to be inherited, but it would be worth trial; nor indeed should I expect that the flower would set seed, but both these points would be worth ascertaining. Such facts, as I have collected, lead me quite to disbelieve in “jumps of any size”, but I have no objection to them on any other score.3

I am pleased that any of my works shd. have interested you & with my best thanks, I remain | Dear Sir | Your obliged & obet sert | Ch. Darwin | (of Down, Bromley Kent)

1
The year is established by the reference to CD and his family’s being detained in Southampton owing to illness (see n. 2, below).
2
The note has not been found. In August 1862, CD and his family set out for Bournemouth for the sake of Leonard Darwin, who had scarlet fever; however, Emma Darwin was herself taken ill with scarlet fever at Southampton, where she, CD, and Leonard remained from 13 August to 1 September (see Correspondence vol. 10, Appendix II). One Carlton Terrace was the home of William Erasmus Darwin, CD and Emma’s eldest son (ibid., letter to John Lubbock, 21 August [1862]).
3
The specimen has not been identified. The sender evidently speculated that a dramatic monstrosity could engender a new species; CD, however, did not believe in the possiblity of sudden change of this sort (see, for example, Origin, p. 206).
4
The text down to ‘ascertaining.’ is from the dealer’s transcription; the rest is from an image of the letter.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.6 quite] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3693F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3693F