Ɛpsilon

From A. C. Ramsay   3 January 1872

London

3 Jany 1872

My dear Mr Darwin

There are 4 stones down the midle 16 inches square.

3 at the sides 18 in x 8, 1, 12 x 8 in

1, 17 x 2 in, 1, 18 x 14 in 2 24 x 14 in

besides the 2 sides & top & bottom of the paved space, each 7 ft 2 by 3 ft 2.

But perhaps the best mode of estimate is as follows. I measured all the lines of the junction of the stones with the walls that bound the pavement, & of the stones with each other. The result is 39 feet 2 inches of narrow interspaces through which worms could come to the surface taking the whole 7 ft 2 in by 3 ft 2 in into account.1

I am sorry I have delayed a little & hope I am not too late for you. Daylight at this time of the year is rather scarce with me at home except on Sundays & Sir John Lubbocks holidays.2

Yours very sincerely | Andw C Ramsay

1
Ramsay describes a pavement running from his house to his garden; the pavement had subsided apparently as a result of the action of earthworms (see Earthworms, pp. 192–3, and Correspondence vol. 19, letter to A. C. Ramsay, 21 December [1871], and letter from A. C. Ramsay, 27 December 1871). Ramsay lived at 29 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington (Post Office London directory 1871).
2
John Lubbock had drafted the Bank Holiday Bill, which was passed in 1871 (ODNB).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8141,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8141