My dear Sir!

Many and sincere thanks for Your kind letter and the generous present You promise for the Library of the Station.¹

Messrs. Williams & Norgate are ready to act as my Agents for this Country,²—so whenever You may be disposed to favour the Zoological Station with Your books, they will forward them to Naples. I have even got free transport for everything through the kindness of Admiral Tchichatchoff, the Director of the Russian Steamship-Line in Odessa.³ You see I use every opportunity, which offers itself.

Meanwhile I have been paying a short visit to Scarborough, as there is an opportunity for getting up a Second Zoological Station, Mr. Woodall, a banker, being inclined to lay out some 3 or 4000£. for it, and content himself with a moderate return of the money, leaving the surplus to the Scientific work to be done there.⁴ I hope the scheme may be carried, though I am sure the coals want still a little blowing for fear they might burn away. I don’t know whether Zephyrus or Boreas might be in his place there,—⁵ I shall try my powers at any rate.

I got a letter from Prof. Huxley⁶ the other day, so full of good spirits and of his usual vigour that I hope, if he only would not work to hard he might restore himself completely.

I thank You very heartily for Your kind invitation, which I will accept as soon, as I have to tell You anything settled about that Problem of homologies and genealogical relations between Annelids Arthropod and Vertebrates, which I, against the views of my Jena masters consider to be very close.⁷ I hope, when returning to Your country next year after having carefully worked out the Embryology of Amphioxus, I may be able to prove, that this animal by no means is a primitive but in the contrary a very degraded and degenerate form of fish, and that the true ancestors of Vertebrates are Annelids. It is a long story to tell, but I believe that after all it is the true story of the past and will upset all the Ascidians, and reduce them to still further degraded forms than Amphioxus.⁸ Their relations to Vertebrates I don’t question at all, but instead of placing them at the root, I put them on one end of the tree, whose branches tend as well upright to the sky, as down to the lowest ranks. And I believe, that is very much the tendency in all the other tribes, or so-called types.⁹ But I am talking to much.

Once more, my dear Sir, my hearty thanks. Your kindness stirs me always mightily up, and I hope I may succeed in my ends, if I meet similar assistance in other quarters.

Yours very sincerely | Anton Dohrn