Ɛpsilon

To Otto Kratz   8 September [1871]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Sept. 8th

Dear Sir

I thank you sincerely for your kindness in writing to me & sending me the curious photographs.2 I had heard of a family of hairy persons at the Burmese court, & have given full details about them in my work (Vol 2) on the Variation of Animals & Plants under Domestication.3 Judging from the Photographs your photographs were taken from this […] & it is an exaggeration that a race is thus characterised

incomplete4

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Otto Kratz, 12 July 1871.
2
See letter from Otto Kratz, 12 July 1871 and n. 1. Three cartes de visite of abnormally hairy people, printed in New Orleans, and one signed carte de visite of CD, by George Charles Wallich were offered for sale with this letter. According to the catalogue description, CD enclosed a signed portrait photograph of himself as a ‘very poor return’ for the favour.
4
The original letter is complete and is described in the sale catalogue as being two pages long.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

the Burmese] after del ‘Siamese’
(Vol. 2)] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7926F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7926F