WCP4316

Letter (WCP4316.4457)

[1]

Down,

Beckenham, Kent

July 9th [1873]1

My dear Wallace

Dr. G. Krefft2 has sent me the enclosed from Sydney.3 A nurseryman saw a caterpillar feeding on a plant & covered the whole up, but when he searched for the cocoon, was long before he c[oul]d. find it, so good was its imitation in colour & form to the leaf to which it was attached. I hope that the World goes well with you. — Do not trouble yourself by acknowledging this.

Ever yours | Ch. Darwin [signature]

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and one from Gerard Krefft to CD, 3 May 1873. See Darwin Correspondence Project, <https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-8895.xml> [accessed 6 Jan. 2020].
Krefft, Johann Ludwig Gerard ("Louis", also "Gerard") (1830-1881). German-born zoologist and museum curator working in Australia.
Gerard Krefft had enclosed a chrysalis with his letter to CD. See note 1.

Published letter (WCP4316.6639)

[1] [p. 316]

Down, Beckenham, Kent

July 9

My dear Wallace,—Dr. G. Krefft has sent me the enclosed from Sydney. A nurseryman saw a caterpillar feeding on a plant and covered the whole up, but, when he searched for the cocoon [pupa], was long before he could find it, so good was its imitation, in colour and form, of the leaf to which it was attached.

I hope that the world goes well with you. Do not trouble yourself by acknowledging this.—Ever yours,

Ch.[arles] Darwin

Please cite as “WCP4316,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4316