Letter of 1833 December 14

              Page 1
rough draft	before the Bridgewater Treatise/

{copy [crossed out]} of the letter of Dec. 14. 1833 {say 1835 [crossed out]}/
{
 [crossed out]}My dear Sir/

	As, in common with the rest of the world I am very/
 impatient for the publication of your {Part of the [crossed out]} Bridgewater Treatise/
 I {should [crossed out]} have lost no {more time [crossed out]} time {to [crossed out]} in repeating your experiments/
 on the ?shell of the Nautilus, and {if [crossed out]} in making a sketch from the preparation/
 of the Pericardium &c illustrative of the out & inlets of that/
 cavity./

Our best shell has {its edges [crossed out]} the lip apparently perfect &/
 measures 7 inches in the diameter drawn in your letter, which/
 is the largest.  It weighed 6 oz 4 drams in air./
  The weight necessary to sink it in water ?leaden shots being used,/
 was 1 oz 6 drams & a half.  The hole of the syphuncle being/
 previously closed with a small peice[sic] of wax./

The source of error in my {statement [crossed out]} first expt. arose from my fixing/
 into the shell the msucular mass of the Nautilus which/
 surrounded the beak &c and which weighed out of water/
 5 oz. {and then adding weight to it to make the [crossed out]}/
 {shell sink [crossed out]}, and {afterwards adding the [crossed out]} then to this addition 5 oz to/
 the additional weight required to sink the shell,/
 which was really more than is required to sink the/
 shell alone, for this muscular mass, {although it is [crossed out]}/
 ?I now find is actually specifically lighter than water and therefore/
 required more weight to sink it with the shell/
 than the shell alone.  It is however more than/
 counterbalanced by the viscera, especially the {loaded [crossed out]}/
 crop, gizzard and intestines [?] with dense calcareous fragments, and again it must/
 be remembered that the ?soft parts are ?permeated & saturated with/
 spirits of wine which of course must make them/
 specifically lighter than in their natural state for I find that a Sepia/
 {I now re [crossed out]} a Loligo & an Octopus, taken out of/
 spirits all float in ?fresh water./

I now regret that I did not pay more attention to this/
 experiments; but with the uncertainty which prevailed respecting/
 the real contents of the chambers & syphons; the testimony/
 of Mr. Bennett being adverse to my own internal convictions/