Ɛpsilon

To Enrico Morselli   10 April 1874

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Ap 10 1874

Dear Sir

I have received the Essay which you have been so kind as to send me, & have had parts translated to me.1 As far as I understand the discussion, I am inclined to agree with you.2 Atavism strictly means the return of a character possessed by some former progenitor, & I cannot understand how new modifications can thus arise. The more I study nature, the more I feel convinced that species generally change by extremely slight modifications.

As I am much engaged I hope that you will excuse the brevity of this letter, & with my best thanks I remain | dear Sir | yours faithfully | Charles Darwin

LS

1
A lightly annotated copy of Morselli’s paper ‘Sopra una rara anomalia dell’osso malare’ (On a rare anomaly of malar bone; Morselli 1872) is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.
2
CD cited Morselli’s paper in Descent 2d ed., p. 39 n. 40, in a discussion of how the malar bone was fused in adult humans, but in two parts in the human embryo, most lower animals, and ‘lower prognathous races’.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9403,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9403