To Ray Society1   [14–18 January 1865]2

1146. Read a letter from Mr Darwin expressing his regret that the state of his health would not permit of his writing an Introductory Chapter to the Translation of Gaertner’s work.3

1
The letter has not been found. The text given here is taken from the minutes of the special council meeting of the Ray Society, 3 February 1865.
2
The date range is established by the minutes of the special council of the Ray Society, 13 January 1865 (see letter to Ray Society, [before 7 January 1865]), and the relationship between this letter and the letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 January [1865].
3
CD had recommended that the Society undertake a translation of Karl Friedrich von Gärtner’s Versuche und Beobachtungen über die Bastarderzeugung im Pflanzenreich (Gärtner 1849). See letter from J. D. Hooker, 1 January 1865 and n. 1, and letter to Ray Society, [before 7 January 1865]; see also letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 January [1865].

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4764,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4764