LETTER TO HAECKEL 



5^7 



My " Sanimlung " ! ! * My dear friend, my cabin on board 

 H.M.S. Rattlcsnukc was 7 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet 6 

 inches high. When my bed and my clothes were in it, there 

 was not much room for any collection, except the voluntary 

 one made by some thousands of specimens of Blatta OricHtalis,-f 

 with whose presence I should have been very glad to dispense. 



My Mcduscr were never published. I have heaps of notes 

 and drawings and half-a-dozen engraved plates. But after the 

 publication of the Oceanic Hydrozoa I was obliged to take to 

 quite other occupations, and all that material is like the " full 

 many a flower, born to blush unseen," of our poet. 



If you would pay us a visit you should look through the 

 whole mass, if you liked, and you might find something in- 

 teresting. 



At present, I am very busy about Crayfishes (Flusskrebse) 

 working out the relations between their structure and their 

 Geographical Distribution, which are very curious and inter- 

 esting. 



I have also nearly finished the anatomy of Spirilla for the 

 Challenger. It is essentially a cuttlefish, and the shell is really 

 internal. With only one specimen, is has been a long and 

 troublesome job — but I shall establish all the essential points 

 and give half-a-dozen plates of anatomy. 



You will recollect my eldest little daughter? She is going 

 to be married next Saturday. It is the first break in our family, 

 and we are very sad to lose her — though well satisfied with 

 her prospects. She is but just twenty and a charming girl, 

 though you may put that down to fatherly partiality if 

 you like. 



The second daughter has taken to art, and will make a 

 painter if she be wise enough not to marry for some years. 



My eldest son who comes next is taller than I am. He has 

 been at one of the Scotch Universities for the last six months ; 

 and one of these fine days, next month, you will see a fair-haired 

 stripling asking for Herr Professor Haeckel. 



I am going to send him to Jena for three months to pick up 

 your noble vernacular; and in the meanwhile to continue his 

 Greek and Mathematics, in which the young gentleman is fairly 

 proficient. If you can recommend any Professor under whom 

 he can carry on his studies, it will be a great kindness. 



I will give him a letter to you, and while I beg you not to 



* Collection. t The cockroach. 



