From G. H. Darwin   [1 October 1873]1

6 Qu. A. St

Wedn. p. m

My dear Father,

I have seen Dr. C & made an appointment for you at 10 oc’lk on Wedn. but he says he will see you at any time immediately without making you wait your turn. He wishes you to bring some of your water.—

He took my present very well & thanked me very nicely for it; but altho’ I tried my best he wd’nt let me fee him nor will he for the future but says I am to come as often as ever I like.—2

He says that I have got on quicker than he expected & that I shall be liable to attacks for many years—wh. justifies my giving up the bar3—but feels sure that I shall go on getting better & thinks that 6 mos will see me much better. He says that I’ve not much to fear from the cold if I take tol. but not too much care of myself. When I have an attack I’m to starve sweat & purge it away—but his instructions are very difficult to follow.

I forgot to bring my screw corks & so will you bring one up of Farrow & Jacksons patent on Wedn. & leave it at Qu. A. for Henrietta & I shall run off with one of hers, also I shd. like to have my little screw cork with the crockery top sent me by post4   I hope my knives & forks will come safe—but I forgot them in consequence of the aged being unwell.

Uncle R seems very fairly well & F. has gone off to Pantlludw.5

Just been lunching with Hen: & L. Steele came he seems a nice boy6

Yours affly | G H Darwin

1
The date is established by the reference to a visit to Andrew Clark. The visit took place on Wednesday 8 October 1873 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)); the preceding Wednesday was 1 October.
2
Clark was treating George; in a letter to Horace Darwin, [10 June 1873] (DAR 258: 579), Emma Darwin wrote: ‘Dr Clarke says he must go on just the same— He has added raw eggs to his diet & that is very nourishing. Dr C. speaks confidently of curing him—’
3
George was called to the bar in 1872, but never practised (Men-at-the-bar, ODNB).
4
George refers to his sister Henrietta Emma Litchfield and to Erasmus Alvey Darwin’s house at 6 Queen Anne Street, London. George took up residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1873 (ODNB).
5
George refers to Erasmus (Ras). Francis Darwin was engaged to Amy Ruck, who lived at Pantlludw in Wales.
6
Lawrence Litchfield Steele was a nephew of Richard Buckley Litchfield, Henrietta’s husband.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8702,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8702