Ɛpsilon

To W. H. Flower   5 July 1870

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

July 5 1870

My dear Mr Flower

Will you kindly do me a favour & examine the head of the Niata ox which I formerly gave to yr Museum.1 If you will look at the part marked with blue in the 2nd page of the enclosed letter, you will see what is wanted.2 Please to give me a sentence that I may quote to him on your authority; & he is I think quite worthy of your assistance.

I return by this post the book on teeth which I have been glad to see—3

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin | Please to return Dareste’s letter

LS

1
CD refers to a skull from South America, collected by CD while he was on the Beagle voyage, and given to the Hunterian museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London (abstracts of the minutes of the Museum Committee, Archives, Royal College of Surgeons). Flower was the museum curator.
2
CD evidently enclosed the letter from Camille Dareste, 2 July 1870. CD scored in blue a section referring to the position of the vomer in the skull of a monstrous calf that Dareste had examined.
3
The book CD borrowed has not been identified.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7266,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7266