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To C. G. Ehrenberg   19 April [1845]1

Down near Bromley | Kent

April 19th

Dear Sir

I send the enclosed small specimens (through Mr Cuming the conchologist) from the great Gypseous formation of the northerly parts of the Cordillera of Chile: it belongs either to the Neocomian period, or probably a little earlier in the Secondary formations.2 I hope you understood that I did not wish to ask you to examine these specimens for my sake, but only if they appear interesting to yourself: should you examine them, would you kindly inform me of the result, referring to my specimens by the numbers which I have sent.

I am exceedingly obliged to you for your last letter on the Atlantic Dust & I will before long send my little paper to the Geological Soc:—3

Should you ever look at the Pampæan mud, perhaps you will kindly take the trouble of informing me of the result.4

I sincerely feel the honour you have conferred on me by your kind communications & I remain, dear Sir | Yours faithfully & obliged | C. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter, the letter from C. G. Ehrenberg, 13 March 1845, and the letter to C. G. Ehrenberg, 21 May [1845] (Correspondence vol. 3). This letter was evidently written before CD received Ehrenberg’s letter of 8 April 1845 (ibid.).
2
Hugh Cuming visited Europe annually in search of specimens to exchange (Melvill 1895, p. 63). CD had offered these specimens in his letter of 23 March [1845] (Correspondence vol. 3). On the gypseous formation of the Chilean Cordillera, see South America, pp. 178ff.
3
See Correspondence vol. 3, letter from C. G. Ehrenberg, 13 March 1845; CD’s paper, ‘Account of the dust which falls on vessels in the Atlantic’, was read on 4 June 1845.
4
See Correspondence vol. 3, letter to C. G. Ehrenberg, 23 January [1845]. Ehrenberg gave the results of his analysis in his letter of 8 April 1845 (ibid.); see also Journal of researches 2d ed., pp. 82, 129–30, and South America, p. 81.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 the Cordillera of] interl
1.4 these] altered from ‘the’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-857F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-857F