To J. D. Hooker   4 August [1873]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Aug. 4th

My dear Hooker,

I shd. so much like to see you, but we start tomorrow morning for Abinger to pay Farrer & Effie a visit of a few days (I have not done such a feat for 25 years) as they have tempted me most kindly by offering me a room to myself. Afterwards we go to William at Southampton & shall not return till 20th or 21st or 22nd;2 So that Sunday 24th is first day possible for you & Gen. Strachey. But I will not hear of a “luncheon”: you must come down to dinner on Saturday & return as early as you like on Monday.3 The common flowers to be named will keep till you come then, or soon afterwards, & if you cannot come at such time, I will most gratefully send them you.—

I am glad to hear so good an account of Huxley.4

Farewell till we meet. | Ever yours | Ch Darwin

I have been half-killing myself over Drosera, which is a never ending job, over which I could spend my life.5

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 August 1873.
2
CD visited Thomas Henry and Katherine Euphemia (Effie) Farrer from 5 to 9 August 1873; he visited William Erasmus Darwin from 9 to 21 August (see ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). Because of his frequent bouts of illness, CD rarely visited anyone other than immediate family.
3
Richard Strachey and Hooker visited Down on 23 August 1873 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
4
Hooker had accompanied Thomas Henry Huxley for part of his recuperative visit to France and Germany (see letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 August 1873 and n. 1).
5
CD had resumed his experiments on the physiology of Drosera from mid-June (see ‘Journal’ (Appendix II) and letter to J. V. Carus, 2 August [1873]).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.5 hear] above del ‘here’
1.6 return] after del illeg
1.7 common] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9000,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9000