To William Erasmus Darwin   [24 January 1861]

Down

Thursday | 12o oclock

My dear William

The vomiting continued all yesterday till night, when it stopped & has not returned.1 But she has taken gigantic dose of Calomel which has not acted, so we continue uneasy; but Mr Williams who has been just here, considers her better.2 She eats absolutely nothing.—

I hope that your journey was prosperous & that you will, my dearest old fellow, enjoy yourself.—3 We shall be glad of a note.

Your affect | C. Darwin

Postmark: JA 24 61

1
After having experienced a period of good health (see letters to W. D. Fox, 9 January [1861], and to J. D. Hooker, 15 January [1861]), Henrietta Emma Darwin had again fallen seriously ill.
2
Edward Augustus Williams, a surgeon in Bromley, Kent, was the Darwins’ local physician. Emma Darwin’s diary records that he visited Down House on 2 January and again on 19 January 1861.
3
The cover of the letter is addressed to William in care of “Mrs Skipworth, Rothwell House Caistor, Lincolnshire”. Lucy Skipworth was the widowed mother of a friend of William’s from Christ’s College, Septimus Patrick Skipworth, whom he may have visited the previous summer (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to W. E. Darwin, [30 July 1860]).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 12ooclock] added
1.3 just] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3051,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3051