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Darwin Correspondence Project

To T. H. Farrer   10 October [1880]1

From Mr. C. Darwin, Down, Beckenham.

Oct. 10th.

Many thanks: as you say you will send copy of notes made at time, I will keep all the documents & return all together.2 From the section, which I made with measurements, it is certain that the eastern trench was outside the E. boundary wall of the Atrium, & therefore within the next room to the East, marked “never completely excavated:” the other trench was parallel & at W. end of Atrium.3

C. D.

I shd. be very grateful for more castings from walk.

Castings have come, but alas contained only one particle of brick, [nor any] of mortar.4

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from T. H. Farrer, 9 October 1880.
2
Farrer had promised to send a copy of his notes made at the time of the initial excavations of a Roman villa on his estate at Abinger (see letter from T. H. Farrer, 9 October 1880).
3
CD was determining the location of the two trenches that were cut for him at the time of the initial excavation. He had asked Farrer to mark the position of the trenches on both plans of the excavation site he had sent to CD (see letter to T. H. Farrer, 8 October 1880). A diagram of a section through the foundations of the villa, indicating the location of one of these trenches, was published in Earthworms, p. 180.
4
CD had asked to be sent wormcasts from a brick and mortar path at Abinger to see whether the small fragments of stone swallowed by worms acted like millstones to grind their food (letter to T. H. Farrer, 1 October 1880 and n. 5).

Bibliography

Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.

Summary

Thanks THF for notes on Abinger excavation. Asks for more castings.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-12749
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/36)
Physical description
ApcS

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12749,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12749.xml

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