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Darwin Correspondence Project

From George King   21 November 1881

Government Cinchona Plantation, | Mungpoo, near Darjeeling,

21 Novem 1881.

My dear Sir,

I beg to offer you my best thanks for the copy of your delightful book on Earthworms which you were so kind as to send me.1 The reading of it has set me to observe worms here. And, as they may still be of interest to you, I am now collecting specimens of the kinds that occur in this part of the Himalaya (Sikkim). These I hope to despatch to you after I return to Calcutta (a week or two hence) as I have not the means of packing them properly here. I shall also send you a few notes about the specimens.

I am delighted to find, from your kind letter of 21st October, just received, that the drawing of dischidia interested you so much. I am sure the specimen itself must interest you more, & I trust it reached you in good condition.2 I wish I could see Dischidia growing wild & so have an opportunity of observing its habits & those of the insects that frequent the pitchers. Poor J Scott & I did our best to keep alive a plant sent from Eastern Bengal to the Bot Garden Calcutta, but we utterly failed.3

Believe me to be | Yrs very sincerely | George King

Charles Darwin Esq

Footnotes

King evidently refers to CD’s letter of 24 October 1881; see also letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 October 1881. King had sent a figure and description of Dischidia rafflesiana (a synonym of D. major), as well as a specimen of the plant; see letter from George King, 13 September 1881 and n. 3.
John Scott had been the curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta (Kolkata) until 1879, when he had to leave India due to an illness from which he never recovered.

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 for Earthworms.

Glad CD liked the Dischidia drawing. GK wishes he could see it in the wild to study its habits and those of the insects that visit it.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13498
From
George King
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Government Cinchona Plantation, Darjeeling
Source of text
DAR 169: 24
Physical description
ALS 4pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13498,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13498.xml

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