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Darwin Correspondence Project

To W. D. Crick   25 February 1882

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

Feb. 25th 1882

Dear Sir

I am much obliged for your clear & distinct answers to my questions.—1 I am sorry to trouble you, but there is one point which I do not fully understand: Did the shell remain attached to the beetle’s leg from the 18th to the 23d. & was the beetle kept during this time in the air?

Do I understand rightly that after the shell had dropped off, both being in water, that the beetle’s antenna was again temporarily caught by the shell?

I presume that I may keep the specimen till I go to London, which will be about the middle of next month.—2

I have placed the shell in fresh water to see if the valves will open & whether it is still alive, for this seems to me a very interesting point. As the wretched beetle was still fully alive I have put it in a bottle with chopped Laurel leaves, that it may die an easy & quicker death. I hope that I shall meet with your approval in doing so.—3

One of my sons tells me that on the coast of N. Wales, the bone fishing hooks often bring up young mussels, which have seized hold of the points; but I must make further enquiries on this head.—4

Dear Sir | yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

In the event, CD did not go to London.
Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) produces prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide; HCN), which inhibits oxygen utilisation in many animals.

Summary

Asks further questions about shell attached to beetle’s leg.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-13707
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Walter Drawbridge Crick
Sent from
Down
Source of text
The Huntington Library (HM 36224)
Physical description
ALS 5pp & Adraft 1p (on 13705)

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13707,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13707.xml

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