Ɛpsilon

To Henry Lee   17 December [1871]

London

Dec 17th

My dear Sir

I must have expressed myself very stupidly. I did not mean to express any opinion on what the species was, but merely referred to the range of L. australis.1 On my return home in a few days, I suppose that I shall find the specimens & will look at them; but the subject has gone much out of my mind; & my health is so weak, & I am so overwhelmed with proof-sheets & other work, that I hope you will excuse me not investigating the specimens closely.2

My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully| Ch. Darwin

Postmark: DE 18 71

1
The letter from Lee has not been found, but see the letter to Henry Lee, 26 November 1871 and n. 2. CD refers to Lepas australis.
2
Lee evidently sent specimens to Down for CD to identify. CD was correcting proof-sheets of Origin 6th ed. (see ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8108A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8108A