Ɛpsilon

From Joseph Fayrer   22 July 1874

16 Granville Place

22 July 1874

Dear Sir

Many thanks for the book which has reached me safely. I am gratified to know that you approve of it.1

I only hope it may help to fulfil the object for which it was written, & help to save life in India, & also aid in dispelling some of the absurd notions about Snakes, & their poison.

I have not been able to do any more experiments with the Snake poison since I wrote last but I will carefully note your suggestion & do what you recommend when opportunity offers.2

I should like to be permitted to pay my respects to you in person when you are in Town.

Where may I do so?

Believe me | Your’s truly | J. Fayrer

C Darwin Esqre F.R.S

CD annotations

Top of letter: ‘(Promised to call)’3 ink
1
CD had returned Fayrer’s book on poisonous snakes of India (either Fayrer 1872 or Fayrer 1874; see letter from Joseph Fayrer, 6 July 1874 and n. 3). CD evidently commented on the book, but no letter to Fayrer on the subject has been found.
2
CD had suggested some changes to Fayrer’s experimental protocol for his work on the action of cobra venom (see letter to Joseph Fayrer, 4 July [1874] and n. 2). Results of experiments that had been suggested by CD were included in a later paper, written in collaboration with Thomas Lauder Brunton (see Brunton and Fayrer 1875, pp. 272–3).
3
CD was in London briefly for the wedding of Francis Darwin and Amy Ruck on 23 July 1874, but no record of a visit to or from Fayrer has been found.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9559,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9559