Ɛpsilon

To R. F. Albrecht   16 October [1871]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Oct 16

Dear Sir

I am much indebted to you for your kindness in writing to me & sending me the extracts.2 I formerly collected a good many facts bearing on the subject to which you refer, & have briefly touched on the subject in my Variation of Animals under Domestication Vol. 2. Chapt 22. p. 264.—3 I have there just alluded to my reasons for not believing that actual resemblances can thus originate, though of course I do not wish to deny that a strong mental shock, like any bodily injury, may cause an arrest of development in the embryo & thus induce various monstrosities.

With my thanks | I beg leave to remain | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from R. F. Albrecht, 13 October 1871.
3
CD discussed the effects of maternal imagination on the foetus in Variation 2: 264.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8014,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8014