Ɛpsilon

From James Murphy   10 May 1876

The Infirmary | Sunderland

Dear Sir

Having just read yr. “Descent of Man” with so much pleasure I trust you will excuse the liberty I take in mentioning two points which may have escaped yr. notice.

The first is under the head of “Rudiments”.1

Marshall has described (“On the development of Man & Mammalia” Philosoph. Trans. 1850) “a vestgial fold of the pericardium which is a vestige of a left superior vena cava that exists in early embryonic life” and also in the Elephant the Edentata & the Rodents.2

The second point may seem far-fetched but it is this.

The Uterus in woman points downwards & backwards. Now when man went on all fours and the penis was without a frænum—as most of the Mammalia) copulation took place vis-a-dos but when man became erect and copulation took place vis-a-vis it was necessary to have a fraenum to direct the meatus of the penis backwards, towards the mouth of the womb.3

Respectfully submitting those points to yr. notice & trusting you will excuse the liberty I have taken in doing so | I am | Faithfully yours | James Murphy

10.5.76.

1
Descent 2d ed., pp. 11–25.
2
John Marshall’s description occurs in Marshall 1849; however, Marshall refers to ‘Marsupials and some other Mammalia’ (J. Marshall 1849, p. 160), not Edentata (a former order comprised of armadillos, anteaters, and sloths).
3
The fraenum or frenulum is a membrane that connects the foreskin to the shaft of the penis; the meatus is the opening of the glans at the head of the penis.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10503,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10503