From John Chapman 19 July 1873
London, | 25, Somerset St., | Portman Square. | W.
19 July 1873
Dear Sir,
Referring to your kindness in the matter of the Westminster Review, on behalf of which you were good enough to join in an appeal to persons interested in the cause of liberal and scientific thought, I beg to enquire whether you can manage to spare a few minutes to see my friend Dr Wild who desires to speak with you respecting the Review, and who would be glad to call upon you at any time you may be good enough to appoint.1
Please to present my respects to Mrs. Darwin and believe me, dear Sir, Very truly yours | John Chapman
Charles Darwin Esq. | F.R.S. &c &c
P.S. The following passage which I have just met with may interest you:—
“The Maories, who are distinguished for the habit of accurately observing the facts of nature, have remarked that some of the small native birds are gradually disappearing, and they allege that those birds are in the habit of gathering their food by dipping their long tongues into the blossoms of native trees, but that since the introduction of bees the latter have likewise sought the same blossoms for honey, and while concealed in the flower have stung the tongues of the birds, and so caused their death.”
New Zealand. By Alexander Kennedy. London: 1873.2
Footnotes
Bibliography
Ashton, Rosemary. 2008. 142 Strand: a radical address in Victorian London. London: Vintage.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Kennedy, Alexander. 1873. New Zealand. London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
Rosenberg, Sheila. 1982. The financing of radical opinion: John Chapman and the Westmister Review. In The Victorian periodical press: samplings and soundings, edited by Joanne Shattock and Michael Wolff. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Summary
Asks CD to meet with Dr Wild to discuss the Westminster Review, which CD has supported.
Quotes from Alexander Kennedy on Maori observations on competition between native New Zealand birds and introduced bees for nectar of tree blossoms.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8983
- From
- John Chapman
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Somerset St, 25
- Source of text
- DAR 161: 132, 132/1
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8983,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8983.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21