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From W. E. Darwin   20 October [1881]1

Basset

Oct 20th

My dear Father,

In writing to Mother I had intended asking her to thank you for the copy of the “Worms” which I was very glad to find here.2 I am now well into it and am very much interested, and I think Sara will enjoy reading it, though she is Mother’s daughter in her love of science.3

I was very glad to hear that Hooker found it so interesting.4

We have a British Assoc: Meeting tomorrow to try & squeeze more money out of the Hampshire Hogs; we have £1000 and want £2000.5

But we mean to carry it through successfully somehow.

I hope you will enjoy your visit.6 | I am dear Father | Your affect son | W E Darwin

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the reference to Earthworms, which was published on 10 October 1881 (Freeman 1977).
2
William’s name is on CD’s presentation list for Earthworms (see Appendix IV).
3
Sara Darwin was William’s wife.
4
No letter from CD mentioning Joseph Dalton Hooker’s opinion of Earthworms has been found.
5
The reference to Hampshire Hogs alludes to the fact that the 1882 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was to be held at Southampton; the people of Hampshire had been referred to as ‘Hampshire Hogs’ since the late eighteenth century, on account of the prevalence of boars in the county (Amanda Moore, 2012, ‘What is a Hampshire hog?’, https://www.hampshire-history.com/what-is-a-hampshire-hog/ (accessed 15 June 2021)). William, a local banker, was probably involved with fundraising for the event.
6
The Darwins visited Cambridge from 20 to 27 October 1881 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II).

Bibliography

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

Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.

Summary

Thanks for Worms.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13416F
From
William Erasmus Darwin
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Southampton
Source of text
Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 94)
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13416F,” accessed on 27 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13416F.xml

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