Ɛpsilon

From E. A. Darwin   7 February [1874?]1

7 Feb.

Dear Charles

This is for Tithes.2 I have got a Dionæa keeping for you which George brought from Cambridge—3 It sucks up water from the plate very quickly, should it have as much as it likes?

E.D.

1
The date is conjectured from an archivist’s note on the letter.
2
Erasmus usually sent CD a payment for tithes for the Castle Morton property in November or December; from 1877 to 1879 he paid in February (CD’s Account books–banking account (Down House MS)). For some years, including 1874, no payment was recorded. CD and each of his five siblings had inherited one sixth of a ‘Castle Morton trust’ from their father, Robert Waring Darwin, in 1837. The trust was evidently related to a property of CD’s grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood I, in the parish of Castle Morton, Worcestershire. (Robert Waring Darwin’s Investment book, Down House MS.)
3
Erasmus refers to George Howard Darwin. CD finished working on Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap) in 1874 (see letter to D. F. Nevill, 3 September 1874).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9270,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9270