Letter from Charles Darwin to [W. W. Baxter], 11314

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882

1878-00-06
[1878]-01-06
2014-12-08

Darwin asks about the composition of a spermaceti ointment which he has been buying for some years “because I blackened some young shoots of plants with this ointment mixed with Lamp-black & it produced an extraordinary effect on the shoots, which I think cannot be accounted for merely by the exclusion of light”. Transcription: "Jan 6" Down, Beckenham, Kent. Railway Station Orpington.S.E.R. Dear Sir you have supplied me for some years with "vy soft [] ointment." Will you kindly inform me exactly of what it is composed; [] what kind of oil + whether any []. I want to know because I blackened some young shoots of plants with this ointment mixed with []. black + it produced an [] effect on the shoots, which I think cannot be accounted for merely by the exclusion of Light. Forgive me for troubling you + I remain Dear Sir yours faithfully Ch. Darwin"

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The Robert M. Stecher Collection of Charles Darwin Books and Manuscripts