Ɛpsilon

To Francis Darwin   [17 April 1873]

There are some vars. of vipers, but only 1 sp. in England.—1 I am nearly sure that the Bournemouth snake was not a venemous kind.—2 I fear seeds are all dead—they are not mouldy, as generally happens with dead seeds, but then the vapour may have stopped mould. Do not take much trouble about spawn. I shall try seeds with less vapour of F. acid.3

C. D.

ApcS

Postmark: AP 17 | 73

1
The only species of viper native to England is Vipera berus, the common European adder.
2
Only two snakes other than Vipera berus are native to England, Natrix natrix (the grass snake) and Coronella austriaca (the smooth snake). Neither of these is venomous.
3
CD and Francis had been performing experiments to determine the effect of formic acid on the germination of seeds and had probably extended the experiment to include the effect of the acid on the spawn of aquatic animals (see letter to Francis Darwin, [before 15 April 1873] and n. 3).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8866,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8866