Ɛpsilon

To Lawson Tait   28 March 1876

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

March 28. 76

My dear Sir

Sir J. Paget has not published on the subject, but took extraordinary trouble in corresponding with various eminent surgeons & writing to me.1 He gave me particulars of some degree of regrowth especially of the humerus in children, but disbelieves in a digit being ever reproduced. He goes so far as to suspect that when even a nail is reproduced part of the matrix has been left; but I cannot avoid thinking that he is in this respect over sceptical. I sent him full particulars & tracings of the two cases which had been communicated to me.2

I send by this post Dr Rudinger’s essay which I advise you to read3

I think your intention of amputating the extra digit of a kitten is an excellent idea. Could not you try also on a Dorking fowl. I suppose that you would keep the amputated little toe in spirits; and then if there were re-growth, you could give drawings of the bones of the first digit & of the regrowth   I would suggest your amputating one of the ordinary toes at the same time as a control experiment.4

I am glad you are examining tail-less animals, but it would not be worth while to send me the specimens, as I have not sufficient knowledge & am much engaged with other subjects.5

I fear that you will fail about regrowth, but if you can prove it the discovery will be an interesting one.

My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
In his letter of 27 March [1876], Tait had asked about James Paget’s evidence for doubting the regrowth of human supernumerary digits after amputation; see also letter to Lawson Tait, 25 March [1876] and n. 3.
2
CD’s letter to Paget has not been found; see, however, Correspondence vol. 23, letter from James Paget, 14 August 1875.
3
Nicolaus Rüdinger’s essay on polydactylism was published in Rüdinger 1876, pp. 25–35; see letter to Lawson Tait, 25 March [1876] and n. 3.
4
See letter from Lawson Tait, 27 March [1876]. In Variation 2d ed. 2: 70, CD observed: ‘When Dorking fowls with five toes are crossed with other breeds, the chickens often have five toes on one foot and four on the other.’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10434,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10434