From Robert Damon 12 October 1877
4, Pulteney Buildings, | Weymouth.
12 Oct 1877
Dear Sir
You may recollect my name as a correspondent many years since when you were engaged with the Cirripedes—1
A missionary from the S Seas has sent me a shell (Conus geographus) the animal of wh. he says is poisonous to such a degree as to have killed to his knowledge two persons &c2
Further, another missionary Rev W Gill in a volume “Life in the Southern Seas” repeats in substance the same testimony.3 Could you inform me if these testimonies has been corroborated by yourself or other scientific observers as I cannot but think it is an error— We know that many mollusks & other marine animals do under certain conditions poison when eaten, but in the case referred to mere contact always more or less poisons according to my informant
I should feel obliged if you cd. give me your opinion
I am Dear Sir | Yours truly | Robert Damon
Footnotes
Bibliography
Gill, William Wyatt. 1876. Life in the Southern Isles; or, scenes and incidents in the South Pacific and New Guinea. London: Religious Tract Society.
Summary
Asks whether CD considers it possible that a mollusc could poison anyone on contact, as RD has heard from missionaries about a certain South Sea variety.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11182
- From
- Robert Damon
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Weymouth
- Source of text
- DAR 162: 36
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11182,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11182.xml