To Roland Trimen   12 February [1868]1

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

Feb 12

My dear Mr Trimen

I shall be very happy to put my name down for your brother’s book & he can hand over the enclosed paper to Hardwick—2

Since you were here I have become much interested on the relative numbers of the males & females of all animals.3 I am particularly anxious for other cases like that from Wallace which you gave me of females in excess;4 or to know that such cases are rare. If you can, I am sure you will aid me.

Do you give many instances in your book on S. African butterflies, of males in excess. I remember writing down one or 2 cases which you gave me—5

Believe me | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Roland Trimen, 10 February 1868.
2
See letter from Roland Trimen, 10 February 1868. Robert Hardwicke was the publisher of Flora of Middlesex by Henry Trimen and William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (H. Trimen and Thiselton-Dyer 1869). CD’s copy is in the Darwin Library–Down (see Marginalia 1: 808).
3
Trimen had visited CD at Down on 28 and 29 December 1867 (see Correspondence vol. 15, letter to Roland Trimen, 24 December [1867] and n. 1).
5
CD refers to R. Trimen 1862–6. See letter to H. W. Bates, 11 February [1868] and n. 4.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5867,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5867