My dear old Gulielmus

I was very glad to get this morning your note forwarded here from Down.— Your expedition to Kensington seems to have been rather a failure: I wish I had asked you to look out whether there were in the Museum specimens of Papers for Walls; there used to be at Marlborough House.—²

I see at the last meeting of the Royal Soc., Claudet brought forward a wonderful new invention of throwing a pair of stereoscopic figures into a single, magnified one on ground glass, & this image, without any instrument stands out in relief & several people can view it at once.—³

I sent off by today’s post a draft for 50 guines to M^r. Wilson.—⁴

I have been here since Tuesday: it has not done me so much good hitherto as before, but yet has much rested me: with 2 or 3 exceptions they are a horrid dull set here; but I amuse myself by loitering about the Park, which is very wild & lonely, so just suits me; & everything looks quite beautiful with this lovely weather. There is an exquisite mixture of ancient Scotch Firs & very old mag-nificent Birches.—⁵ I pass my time chiefly in watching the ants, & I find that though many thousands inhabit each hillock, each seems to know all its comrades, for they pitch unmercifully into a stranger brought from another ant-hill.⁶

I shall be extremely curious to hear about the Belgiman:⁷ by wonderful luck there is here an Hungarian exile, who is going back to his country soon, & he promises to observe about stripes in Hungary & to write to me.— I am very tired & stupid, so good night my dear old fellow

Yours affect^y | C. Darwin

If you have opportunity read the “Three Chances”— it is very clever, & part very amusing.—⁸