From H. T. Stainton   15 January 1874

15.1.74

Charles Darwin Esq

Mr R. McLachlan having determined to put up for the Royal Society I enclose his Certificate in hopes you may be willing to sign it.1

He is by far the most philosophic Member of the Entomological Socy that has appeared in our ranks for many years.2

Kindly return the Certificate to

Robert McLachlan’s nomination certificate of 1874 was recorded in the minutes of an ordinary meeting of the Royal Society of London held on 29 January 1874; CD was listed as having signed ‘from general knowledge’. The certificate itself has not been found. A later certificate dated 10 February 1876, also signed by CD but this time ‘from personal knowledge’, is in the archives of the Royal Society (Royal Society, GB 117, EC/1877/11). McLachlan was elected as a fellow on 7 June 1877.
McLachlan had been a member of the Entomological Society of London since 1858, and served as treasurer for the society between 1873 and 1875. He was also the first editor of the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine (ODNB).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9243,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9243