Ɛpsilon

To W. H. Flower   4 [August] 18781

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

July 4th. 1878

My dear Flower

You will remember the dried wings of the goose & your wish for other wings in spirits. I have this day heard from Mr R. A. Blair of Sedalia, Missouri that he has sent to the C. of Surgeons several specimens,—the nature of which is explained in enclosed letter.2 I hope that you will think the case worth investigation; as since Brown-Sequards observations all cases of inheritance from injury seem to me well worthy of study.—3 I enclose Mr Blairs three letters to me, numbered in order. The second corrects some errors in the first. I also return your note to me, as it may serve to refresh your mind on subject.—4

Whenever you have arrived at any conclusion, I hope that you will kindly inform me, so that I may write to Mr. Blair, who has been extraordinarily kind.—

Believe me | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S. A man at Leeds offered to send me a living pigeon born without eyes, & as he says without sockets in the skull: I asked him to send it to you, dead, as I thought that the skull might be curious: whether he has done so or will do so, I do not of course know.—5

1
The month is established by the date of the enclosure (see n. 2, below). CD evidently wrote ‘July’ in error.
2
CD enclosed the letter from R. A. Blair, 17 July 1878. Flower was curator of the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
4
Blair’s letters, other than the one of 17 July 1878, have not been found. CD responded to the first two in his letters of 27 December 1877 (Correspondence vol. 25) and 14 April 1878 (this volume). Flower’s letter of 12 April 1878 was returned to him as well.
5
No letter to CD mentioning the pigeon without eyes has been found.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.3 is] interl
1.4 as] after del ‘for’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11640,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11640