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Letter 5436

Darwin, C. R. to Paget, James

11 Mar [1863]

    Summary Add

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    Sends a sentence, quoting JP, on inherited peculiarities in eye-brows. Asks whether he may use it in his chapter on inheritance [Variation, ch. 12].

Transcription

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

March 11th

Dear Paget

I shd. be very glad to insert in my Chapt. on inheritance the following sentence, as it comes in well after some other facts. Do you object? And have I quoted the facts accurately? If I receive no answer I will assume that it is accurate, & that I have your permission.—

``Many persons, as I hear from Mr Paget, have two or three hairs in their eye-brows (apparently corresponding with the vibrissœ of the lower animals) much longer than the others; and even so trifling a peculiarity as this runs in families.''—

I wish I could hear of any case of inherited peculiarities in eye-lashes.—

Pray believe me | Dear Paget | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

    Footnotes Add

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    f1 5436.f1
    CD wrote drafts of the chapters on inheritance for Variation (Variation 2: 1--84) between 23 January and 1 April 1863 (see `Journal' (Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II)); the sentence appears in Variation 2: 8.
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    f2 5436.f2
    No earlier correspondence on this subject has been found; CD apparently discussed it with Paget while he was in London in February (see letter from James Paget, 7 February 1863). See also letter from James Paget, 16 March 1863.
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