From Edward Frankland 9 October 1874
Royal College of Chemistry | South Kensington Museum
9th. October 1874.
My dear Mr. Darwin
I am quite ashamed of myself for not having answered your letters,1 but the fact is that they followed me about Europe for several weeks before I received them, & then I had no books to refer to.
The phosphate of ammonia which you obtained from Messrs Hopkin & Williams would be, I imagine, the Diammonic Phosphate the sp. gr. of which is 1.678.2
The nitrogenous substances produced during the putrefaction of animal matters have been little if at all investigated & I am unaware of any material which occupies such a relation as urea to the original substance. The decay of flesh skin &c. in contact with air & water is attended with the rapid production of nitrate & carbonate of ammonia.3
I fear this information comes too late to be of any use. I have just returned to England after an absence of 3 months.
Yours very sincerely | E. Frankland
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Post Office London directory: Post-Office annual directory. … A list of the principal merchants, traders of eminence, &c. in the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent … general and special information relating to the Post Office. Post Office London directory. London: His Majesty’s Postmaster-General [and others]. 1802–1967.
Summary
Sends information CD requested on phosphate of ammonia and on nitrogenous substances produced during putrefaction of animal matter.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9671
- From
- Edward Frankland
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- R. Coll. Chem.
- Source of text
- DAR 58.1: 97–8
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9671,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9671.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22