Ɛpsilon

To H. A. Pitman   17 June 1879

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

June 17th 1879

Dear Sir

I have not been very well of late & fear that I could not sit out the Harveian oration on the 26th.1 Would there be any objection to my coming in quietly a little before 6 oclock & sitting down at the end of the Hall near the entrance, & when the President is ready to confer the great honour of handing me the medal, advancing to receive it? Ought I to return thanks for the medal in a few words, for I am quite incapable of making a speech, or ought I to receive it silently, as is (or at least was) the fashion at the Royal Socy.—2

Living in the country & seeing few persons, I am ashamed to say that I do not know who your President is, & should be much obliged if you would inform me.3

Pray excuse me for asking so many questions & I remain Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin

P.S. I may possibly be prevented from attending by giddiness to which I am liable, & without the possibility of giving notice; but I trust that this may not occur.

1
The Harveian oration, established by William Harvey in 1656, was an annual lecture held at the Royal College of Physicians of London; it was delivered on 26 June 1879 by Samuel Wilks, and the topic was searching out the secrets of nature by experiment. For the text of the oration, see Wilks 1879a.
2
CD was awarded the Baly medal, a biennial award in physiology, on the occasion of the Harveian oration (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). See letter from H. A. Pitman, 9 May 1879.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.5 to] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12112,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12112