Ɛpsilon

To Raphael Meldola   28 January [1871]

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Jan 28

Dear Sir

I am much obliged for your kindness in informing me of the hexadactylon case; but so many have been recorded that I do not think, except under very special circumstances, it wd. be worth your while further to investigate it.—1

With my thanks, | Yours faithfully & obliged | Ch. Darwin

Postmark: JA 29 71

1
Meldola’s letter to CD has not been found, but apparently he had written to CD about a case of polydactylism in a woman at Turnham Green, London. CD discussed polydactyly as a possible instance of reversion to a remote ancestral state in Variation 2: 12–17, but expressed reservations about his argument in Descent 1: 125–6, n. 38. Descent had not yet been published. Meldola published on the case in Land and Water, 11 March 1871, p. 179.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Beckenham] before del ‘Bromley.’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7462,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7462