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Darwin Correspondence Project

From J. V. Carus   17 April 1875

Leipzig,

17th. April | 1875

My dear Sir

Within the next few days you will receive the concluding part of my Zoology, for which I ask a kind acceptance1

I am now busily engaged in translating a new your Journal.2 I need scarcely to say that the work gives me again an extraordinary delight, and I think I never enjoyed a work more than this   Will you kindly excuse my asking you two questions? On p. 148 (about the middle of the page) you say: “Hence it is very hazardous to attempt to drive cattle at this season of the year; for when jaded enough to face the thistles, they rush among them.” Should this perhaps be “goaded”? For, when they are “jaded”, they would not “rush”. Then again p. 173. l. 13–14 from top: “This relationship is shown wonderfully—as wonderfully as between the fossil and extinct Marsupial animals.” Of course it must be “fossil and living” or “recent and extinct.”

Then, please look on p. 346 and read that betting affair. The miners must have overheard what the owner was talking with his friend   But even then I cannot make out, what you mean by: “the miner by this means watched the very point”. Of course the betting on the race was sham    But, if the miner brought the silver ore to his master, this would have lost his bet, as he would not have been robbed.3 I beg your pardon for being perhaps too scrupulous; but although this place reads quite easily, if one reads the book only, yet it becomes exceedingly hard, if one tries to translate it.

It gave me great pleasure to hear that you have delivered a public lecture during the last weeks   I conclude therefore that your health is pretty fair now.4

Believe me | My dear Sir | Yours most truly, | J. Victor Carus

CD annotations

End of letter: ‘Carnivorous Plants & Climbing Plants’ ink

Footnotes

Carus refers to the second part of the first volume of Handbuch der Zoologie (Carus and Gerstaecker 1863–75); see letter from J. V. Carus, 5 February 1875 and n. 6. CD’s copy of the first volume is in the Darwin Library–Down.
Carus was translating CD’s Journal of researches into German (Carus trans. 1875b); see letter from J. V. Carus, 5 February 1875.
The page references for the quotations are from Journal of researches (1860). No further editions of Journal of researches were produced in CD’s lifetime.
Carus was mistaken about CD’s giving a lecture; see letter to J. V. Carus, 19 April [1875].

Bibliography

Journal of researches (1860): Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of HMS Beagle around the world, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN. By Charles Darwin. Reprint edition. London: John Murray. 1860.

Journal of researches: Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain FitzRoy, RN, from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin. London: Henry Colburn. 1839.

Summary

Sends concluding part of his Zoologie [see 8531].

Enjoys translating Journal of researches. Questions several passages.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-9937
From
Julius Victor Carus
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Leipzig
Source of text
DAR 161: 100
Physical description
ALS 3pp †

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9937,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9937.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23

letter