To Frederick Smith   9 November [1869]1

Down. | Beckenham. | Kent. S.E.

Nov 9th

My dear Sir

On my return home I found your note on Scolytus, for which many thanks.2

Mr Janson did not send to 6. Queen Anne St the Papilio feronia, (so I suppose he has not specimens) & consequently I did not receive the Mutillas, which you so very kindly offered me.—3

My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S | Whenever the last lot of woodcuts are all completed will you ask your Son to be so good as to send me proofs together with my paper of instructions, by Post.—4

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Frederick Smith, 5 November 1869.
3
CD refers to the natural history dealer Edward Westey Janson. In his letter to Fritz Müller of 8 September [1869], CD had asked about stridulation in Papilio feronia. Smith earlier wrote to CD about stridulation in Mutilla, a genus of wasps (letter from Frederick Smith, 14 September 1869). CD had stayed with his brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin, at 6 Queen Anne Street, London, from 1 to 9 November (see ‘Journal’ (Correspondence vol. 17, Appendix II)).
4
CD refers to Edward A. Smith. In his letter to E. A. Smith of 30 June [1869], thanking him for completed woodcuts of insects for Descent, CD mentioned he would probably need more woodcuts later.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham.] before del ‘Bromley.’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6979,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6979