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Darwin Correspondence Project

From G. H. Darwin   [after 6 April 1864?]1

1 milligramme = .0154 English grains 1 English grain = 1/.0154 milligrammes

= 64.9 milligrammes2

For .0154) 1.000 (64.93

924

760

616

1440

1386 3 4 —

540

462

78

To Mama

Could you send a large fruit tart. I should rather like 12 napkins, I’ll see that they are brought back Safe.—3

CD annotations

64.93] ‘say 65’4
Bottom of first page: ‘Decigramme is [found thus] in [end] to be 1.543’ ink, crossed ink; ‘gramme = 15.432’ ink, crossed ink

Footnotes

The date is conjectured from the relationship between this letter and the letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 5 April 1864?].
For his work with Clematis, CD had asked George how many milligrams were in one English grain (see letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 5 April 1864?] and n. 3).
The note to Emma Darwin, written on the back of the calculations, could have been written by George, or by one of the Darwins’ other sons, Leonard or Francis, who were also attending Clapham school.
In his discussion of Clematis species in ‘Climbing plants’, p. 27 n., CD wrote: ‘Our English grain equals nearly 65 milligrammes.’

Bibliography

‘Climbing plants’: On the movements and habits of climbing plants. By Charles Darwin. [Read 2 February 1865.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 9 (1867): 1–118.

Summary

Calculates the relationship between grains and milligrams; asks his mother for a fruit tart and twelve napkins.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-4453F
From
George Howard Darwin
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Source of text
DAR 157.2: 100
Physical description
ALS

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4453F,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4453F.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 12

letter