Ɛpsilon

To F. S. B. François de Chaumont   30 April 1874

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Ap 30 1874

Dear Dr de Chaumont

I shall have great pleasure in signing your certificate for the Royal Soc. You must not be disappointed if you do not get in at once, as the candidates are so numerous & the admissions so few.1

Your letter has amused & interested me much. I always like to hear of cases of inheritance, & whenever there is a new ed. of Expression I will introduce the additional case of shrugging &c.2 Accuracy & truth are often very inconvenient, & I was quite sorry to find the P.S. destroying the connection of early weeping & whooping cough

Pray believe me | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
See letter from F. S. B. François de Chaumont, 29 April 1874. The certificate, with CD’s signature, is in the Royal Society archives (GB 117, EC/1879/15). François de Chaumont was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1879 (Record of the Royal Society of London)
2
See letter from F. S. B. François de Chaumont, 29 April 1874 and n. 10. CD’s discussion of shrugging was unchanged in Expression 2d ed.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9434,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9434