Ɛpsilon

To G. H. Darwin   21 October [1876]1

Oct. 21

My dear G.

See Nature of yesterday p. 553 where Mr George Darwin is “energetically” contradicted by a Russian Doctor in respect to deaf mutes not being closely interrelated2

C. D.

1
The year is established by the reference to the 19 October 1876 issue of Nature (see n. 2, below).
2
The 19 October 1876 issue of Nature, p. 553, reported a meeting of Russian naturalists in Warsaw at which the director of the Warsaw Institute for Deaf-Mutes and the Blind (Jan Papłoński), asserted that marriage between near relations was a leading cause of deaf-muteness, thus challenging George Howard Darwin’s conclusion that marriage between first cousins did not increase the likelihood of offspring contracting various hereditary diseases (see G. H. Darwin 1875).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 by] after del illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10647,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10647