To Henry Bence Jones 3 January [1866]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Jan 3.
My dear Dr Bence Jones
I have a good report to make.2 I am able now to walk daily on an average 3 miles & often one mile at a stretch.3
My weight now with slight fluctuations keeps steady at the lowest point to which it has sunk.4 I feel altogether much more vigorous & active. I read more, & what is delightful, I am able to write easy work for about 1 hours every day.5 The only drawback is that on most days 3 hours after luncheon or dinner, I have a sharpish headache on one side, & with bad flatulence lasting to the next meal.6 I forgot to say that taking the whole day, the flatulence is somewhat diminished especially on my better days. One day when my head & stomach were extra bad, in despair I took a cup of coffee without sugar, & it acted really like a charm & has continued to do so; for I now take a cup of coffee each day with luncheon or dinner, & I believe I have never once had headache and flatulence after the meal with coffee.7 I have transposed luncheon & dinner & made other changes, but as far as I can discover it is the coffee which is effectual. Under these circumstances may I try coffee with both luncheon & dinner. I have not yet much taste for common meat, but eat a little game or fowl twice a day & eggs, omelet or maccaroni or cheese at the other meals & these I think suit me best. I have not taken to [2 words illeg] much starch for I have such horror about acid.8
There is an odd change in my stomach, for the last 20 years coffee & cheese have disagreed with me, now they suit me eminently well.9 I took 10g oxyde of Iron for a fortnight but did not miss it when I left it off 10 days ago: I will do as you like about retaking it.10 I have taken 10 drops of Muriatic acid twice a day (with Cayenne & ginger) for above 3 weeks & it suits me excellently. 11 May I continue it longer? I hope you will be pleased with my report. I shall be grateful for any further advice
yours very faithfully with | cordial thanks | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Atkins, Hedley J. B. 1974. Down, the home of the Darwins: the story of a house and the people who lived there. London: Royal College of Surgeons.
Beasley, Henry. 1865. The book of prescriptions, containing more than 3000 prescriptions, collected from the practice of the most eminent physicians and surgeons, English and foreign. 3d edition. London: John Churchill and Sons.
Bowlby, John. 1990. Charles Darwin: a biography. London: Hutchinson.
Browne, Janet. 1998. I could have retched all night. Darwin and his body. In Science incarnate. Historical embodiments of natural knowledge, edited by Christopher Lawrence and Steven Shapin. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Browne, Janet. 2002. Charles Darwin. The power of place. Volume II of a biography. London: Pimlico.
Calendar: A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882. With supplement. 2d edition. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994.
Colp, Ralph, Jr. 1998. To be an invalid, redux. Journal of the History of Biology 31: 211–40.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
LL: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
A report on his somewhat improved health.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4968A
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Henry Bence Jones
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 249: 86
- Physical description
- LS(A) 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4968A,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4968A.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14