To Charles Henry Middleton 20 [1867?]1
Down Bromley Kent
20th
Dear Sir
I am very sorry that I can give you no information. I cannot remember where S. Filippe is & have no good charts of coast of Chile.2 Guano might be accumulated in extreme N. part of coast of Chile, but I never heard of any.—3
I confess that I cannot believe that the bones of the ox, sheep & Horse could have been deposited in Guano.—
Nevertheless the Bones would of course be worth examination.— I am sorry that I can give no information & beg leave to remain | Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | C. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
EB: The Encyclopædia Britannica. A dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information. 11th edition. 29 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1910–11.
Journal of researches: Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain FitzRoy, RN, from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839.
Mathew, William M. 1981. The house of Gibbs and the Peruvian guano monopoly. London: Royal Historical Society.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
South America: Geological observations on South America. Being the third part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN, during the years 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1846.
Summary
Sorry he cannot remember where S. Filippe [San Felipe?] is.
Doubts that bones of ox, sheep, and horse could have been deposited in guano [on coast of Chile], but they would be worth examination.
[Tipped in copy of Origin (1866) with CHM’s bookplate.]
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5341
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Charles Henry Middleton
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (in Middleton’s copy of Origin 4th ed., BB.5.6)
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5341,” accessed on 29 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5341.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15