From William Jenner   24 November 1864

8 Harley St. W

Novr. 24th. | 1864

My dear Sir

You may take carbonate of ammonia with Horseradish.1 But had better not take any other alkali till I have again had the urine analysed— You are not to take any magnesia—2 With reference to the ph. of Ir. & ph. acid I would advise you not to resume them at present—3 remain without medicine till we see how you are ie how far you are able to digest—sleep—&c—unaided by drugs— Do not resume the evil habit of drinking great quantity of fluid—4 Keep all rules but leave off medicine—

Yours very truly | Wm. Jenner.

1
No letter from CD to Jenner on this subject has been found. Carbonate of ammonia was among the antacids prescribed by Jenner in March 1864 (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] and n. 6); he recommended spirits of horseradish in his letter to CD of 15 October 1864.
2
See letter from William Jenner, 21 November 1864 and n. 1. Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) records that on 23 November 1864 ‘C. left off alkali’.
3
See letters from William Jenner, 9 November 1864 and n. 1, and 21 November 1864.
4
In addition to prescribing antacids and purgatives, Jenner had advised CD to drink little water (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] and n. 6, and letter from William Jenner, 9 November 1864).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4679,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4679