To T. B. Leffen 7 May 1873
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
May 7 1873
Dear Sir
I write merely to thank you for your note & information, & to express a hope that you may receive benefit from your present residence. I had previously heard of the Australian caterpillars; but no one knows how they cause such severe pain.1 In Africa there is a species believed to belong to the same genus, which is so venomous that if a hand touches a surface previously touched by the caterpillar, dreadful inflammation follows over nearly the whole surface of the body.
With my thanks & hopes for your recovery I remain | dear Sir | yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Thanks for note and information.
Mentions venomous caterpillars in Africa and Australia.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8903
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Bray Leffen
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- State Library Victoria, Melbourne (MS 6219, Box 231/3. Diary of G. F. Belcher vol. 3)
- Physical description
- LS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8903,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8903.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21