From William Ogle   [after 7 July 1869]1

34 Clarges St. | Piccadilly

My dear Sir,

I was very much gratified by receiving your kind letter, and reading the complimentary terms in which you speak of my article on Salvia.2 I am so utterly ignorant of most botanical literature, and have such a limited smattering of botany that I could not but fear that any observations I might make would turn out either erroneous, or, if correct, mere feeble repetitions of what others had described already & better.

One however of the benefits which your works have conferred is that those who are little skilled in systematic botany can yet examine flowers with the certainty of rational enjoyment, and a fair chance of hitting upon some unnoticed adaptation of structure—

I am on the point of starting myself to spend my summer holiday at Barmouth & Dolgelley,3 and trust you will pardon me if I give myself the pleasure of calling upon you.

Believe me | Yrs. sincerely | W. Ogle.

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to William Ogle, 7 July [1869].
3
CD was holidaying at Barmouth, Wales (see ‘Journal’ (Correspondence vol. 17, Appendix II)). The small market and resort town of Dolgellau is within ten miles of Barmouth.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6821,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6821