Ɛpsilon

To Frank Buckland   21 March [1865]1

Down, | Bromley, | Kent. S.E.

Mar 21

My dear Sir

I have heard from Mr Pennell who enclosed your note, & have written to him to say that the state of my health rendered it impossible for me to meet him in London, but that I wd attend to any written communication.2 Whenever you can spare time, I hope you will have the great kindness to let me hear about the skin between the toes of otter hounds in comparison with other hounds.3 I can only repeat what I said before that I shd be delighted to see you here, but at the same time I am bound to state that on some days I can see no one & can never talk with any one more than for a quarter or half an hour.4

Believe me | My dear Mr Buckland | yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin.

Shall you think me very unreasonable if I ask you to give me your Photograph [on] a Carte de V.?

LS(A)

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Frank Buckland, 18 March 1865 (Correspondence vol. 13).
2
The correspondence with Henry Cholmondeley Pennell has not been found, but the note CD refers to is the letter from Buckland of 18 March 1865 (Correspondence vol. 13).
3
CD had first questioned Buckland about the skin between the toes of otter-hounds in his letter to Buckland of 11 December [1864] (Correspondence vol. 12). Buckland inserted a query by CD on the subject in the 6 October 1866 issue of Land and Water, a magazine edited by him (see Correspondence vol. 14, letter to Frank Buckland, 2 October 1866). In Variation 1: 39–40, CD noted that English otter-hounds had more skin between their toes than did other hounds.
4
CD had invited Buckland to visit in his letter of 15 December [1864] (Correspondence vol. 12).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.8 for] interl in CD’s hand
3.1 Shall … V.? 3.2] in CD’s hand

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4790F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4790F