Ɛpsilon

From J. D. Hooker   11 April 1873

Kew

April 11/73

Dear Darwin

G. Henslow has become so rapidly worse, that we have given up all intentions of going abroad—1 He has become very suddenly blind of one eye, & they seem to think that the disease is a fatty degeneration of the nervous tissues, causing paralysis. His mind is perfectly clear. Paget2 has seen him & considers the case hopeless & that under the present symptoms it may rapidly terminate.

I enclose Pagets answers which destroy. I have not heard from Bowman.3

Ever yours affec | J D Hooker

1
George Henslow was Hooker’s brother-in-law.
3
The enclosure has not been found. William Bowman’s letter to Hooker informing him that he had donated £100 had evidently not yet arrived (letter from William Bowman to J. D. Hooker, 11 April 1873 (DAR 160: 270)). The donation was for the subscription for Thomas Henry Huxley (see letter to J. D. Hooker, [6 April 1873] and n. 2).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8857,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8857