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To Francis Darwin   26 June [1881]1

[Glenridding House, Patterdale.]

My dear F.

I have had a letter from Hackel, who asks me how I like the new microscope.2 I have said that you have found it excellent, & I hope that I spoke the truth.3 He says that Zeiss took especial pains with it, & that Prof. Abbe (a great authority) examined all the glasses, so I have sent my thanks to him also.—4 Häckel wants to go to Ceylon for 6 months to examine Medusæ & Radiolariæ: he applied to Berlin for the Humboldt fund, & was refused in the coarsest manner that he was a Darwinian & had done no good work.!5

H. wants help from our R. Soc. or B. Assoc.n.— I have written to Huxley, but doubt whether he will get help enough.— I have offered to subscribe 100£.6

At last flood of Revises of worm-book have come, so I shall have no more of the curse of idleness.7

I have seen quite close today a British bird new to me, the Pied Flycatcher, & a very conspicuous & pretty bird it is.— But Abba-dubba is even prettier.—8

Your affectionate Father | C. D.

June 26th—

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Ernst Haeckel, 21 June 1881.
4
Ernst Abbe was a partner of Carl Zeiss in his optical firm at Jena.
6
See letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 June 1881. Thomas Henry Huxley was a secretary of the Royal Society of London; the society administered a Government Grant for scientific research (see letter to Ernst Haeckel, 25 June 1881 and n. 2). The British Association for the Advancement of Science also provided funding for projects (see, for example, Report of the 51st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1881), pp. lxiii–lxvi). CD had offered £100 in his letter to Haeckel of 25 June 1881.
7
CD and Francis were revising proof-sheets of Earthworms.
8
The pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) is a summer visitor, found in mature woodlands mainly in the west of Britain. It is a sparrow-sized bird, mostly black above with white underparts. Abba-dubba was a nickname for Francis’s son, Bernard Darwin.

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

Ernst Haeckel wants to go to Ceylon to examine Medusae and Radiolariae, CD has offered him £100.

Is working on revises of Earthworms.

Has seen a pied flycatcher for the first time.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13220
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Francis Darwin
Sent from
Patterdale
Source of text
DAR 211: 83
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13220,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13220.xml

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