Ɛpsilon

From W. E. Darwin   23 July [1863]1

Southampton

July 23

My Dear Father,

I am disgusted to say that I went to look for the Anchusa last Sunday and they are all utterly out seed and disappeared, I suppose it is on account of this very hot weather.2

They are fine big plants and I could easily go over in the afternoon before coming home and dig up a dozen plants or so on chance, I feel almost certain from what I remember of the position of the plants that I could get some of each kind; I could put them in a hamper and bring them home with me.

Mr. Atherley is unwell and quite unfit for work so that I don’t suppose I shall get away till the end of the month.3

Your affect son | W. E Darwin

When do the boys go back to school4

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to W. E. Darwin, [10 May 1863] (Correspondence vol. 11).
2
William had sent CD some specimens of what he supposed to be Anchusa officinalis in May; the specimens were subsequently discovered to be Pulmonaria angustifolia (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter to W. E. Darwin, [4 May 1863] and n. 3). Anchusa officinalis (alkanet or bugloss) and Pulmonaria angustifolia (blue lungwort or blue cowslip) are both heterostyled and both in the same section of the family Boraginaceae.
3
George Atherley was William’s partner in the Southampton and Hampshire Bank.
4
Leonard, Francis, and George Howard Darwin were pupils at Clapham Grammar School in South London; they were due to go back to school on 12 August (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter to W. E. Darwin, [25 July 1863] and n. 4).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4251F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4251F