Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Hooker   1 July [1873]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

July 1

My dear H.

I think you cd. not do better than propose Allman & what you say of his high merits I believe to be perfectly true.— I judge, however, only second hand, having never worked at his groups.— I observe that he is quoted with highest respect by foreign naturalists; but I cannot give you names; but I am sure that I have seen this.— You must know better than I do, but I am much surprised to see you put Algæ before his Hydroids.— I do not think that a word in your proposal is too strong.2

I shall be really proud to see Gen. Strachey here, for from all that I have heard I believe he is a truly great man.—3

Specimens of Drosera are waiting,—in fact in a passion to be examined—so good bye my dear old fellow | C. Darwin

By an accident, not thinking what I was doing, I tore off the blank half of your Proposal.

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 June 1873.
2
Hooker had proposed George James Allman for a Royal Society of London medal (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 30 June 1873 and n. 8). Allman had published major works on polyzoa (Allman 1856) and tubularian hydroids (Allman 1871–2), but not on algae.
3
Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) records that Hooker and Richard Strachey visited Down on 23 August 1873.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 of … merits] interl
2.1 here,] interl
2.1 from] ‘om’ added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8960,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8960