From W. H. Flower 6 [December] 18781
Royal College of Surgeons of England, | Lincoln’s Inn Fields, | (W.C.)
6th. day of Nov 1878
My dear Mr. Darwin
My assistant Dr. Garson has carefully dissected all the wings sent by Mr. Blair and I have examined them also.2 I send you his report, but as perhaps it is too detailed and technical for your purpose, I will give you a summary in a few words. The deformity is the same in all the wings of the young birds sent which were in condition good enough to make it out. It consists of a rotation outwards of the bones of the part of the wing corresponding to the hand of man, the part which carries the great primary feathers— these feathers are consequently thrown out of their natural position, and give the appearance seen in the photograph. The bones, muscles & ligaments seem quite normal except for this twisting on their axis, which exactly corresponds, as I mentioned before, to talipes or club foot in man.3
The wings of the very little goslings being dried and very small could not be examined with any good result—but the most curious and unsatisfactory part of the whole story is that the wing of the old gander, the supposed fons et origo4 of all the mischief is perfectly normal, and presents no trace of ever having been injured in any way, discernible after the closest examination— It has certainly never been broken or dislocated, though of course we can not now be sure whether it may not have had a partial twist from which it has now recovered. The wing was carefully labelled by Mr. Blair, so I suppose that there is no doubt about its identity. On examining the letters carefully you will find no distinct account of the injury; at all events no evidence with with I think you will be satisfied.
The conclusion that I have come to is, therefore, that as far as the evidence at present before us, tells, we have a case of a similar malformation occurring in many members of one family of geese.
The question arises whether this is a common malformation among these birds. I have not had many opportunities of observing, but as you may remember I told you the last time I had the pleasure of seeing you, I noticed one this summer in which the wing presented exactly the appearance shown in Mr. Blair’s photographs.5
I return the letters & remain, with kind regards | your’s very truly | W. H. Flower
[Enclosure]
Report on the Wings sent by Mr R. Blair of Sedalia Missouri, to the College of Surgeons for Examination
Left wing of Goose 10 months old.
The feathers arising from the manus were turned outwards in the same manner as those of the goose seen in the Photograph.
After removal of the Feathers it was observed that there was a very apparent alteration in the direction of the manus to what is found in the normal wing. The manus was twisted outwards so that the border which lies internally and to which the long terminal feathers are attached was situated externally, consequently the feathers also were directed outwards instead of inwards.
A dissection was made of the wing, and afterwards it was carefully compared with a dissected normal wing of a goose. It was found that the whole limb was similar in all respects to that of the normal one, with the exception of the bones of the manus. Immediately below the carpo-metacarpal joint the conjoined metacarpal bones began to be twisted or rotated upon themselves, so that their inner border, which normally is directed inwards & upwards, was directed outwards & upwards, whilst the thumb was directed inwards. The relation of the manus to the radius & ulna, which in the normal is paralell but on a lower level, is in this wing so altered by the rotation outwards, that, at the carpo phalangeal joint, the metacarpal bones lie at more than a right angle outwards from their normal places, and at the phalangeal joint to a still larger angle. The protuberances on the head of the 1st metacarpal bone which in the normal are situated superiorly are in this case situated internally and the other markings in a similar relation. The muscles which in the normal are situated, on the head of the bone at the joint, externally & inferiorly, are situated inferiorly and internally respectively.
Old Ganders Wing
This was very carefully dissected and examined but no trace of Fracture or dislocation could be found On comparison with a normal wing not the slightest difference could be detected so that it may be safely pronounced to be quite normal. In Mr. Blairs letter this wing of the old Gander sent was said to be the one that was injured and on arrival here was labeled such. In none of Mr. Blairs letters does he mention which wing was injured.6
Footnotes
Bibliography
Cornish, Charles J. 1904. Sir William Henry Flower ... A personal memoir. London: Macmillan and Co.
Summary
Describes findings of examination of geese with abnormal wings. Says old gander that sired geese is without injury or abnormality. Encloses his assistant’s report.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11717
- From
- William Henry Flower
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Royal College of Surgeons
- Source of text
- American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.551)
- Physical description
- ALS 7pp, encl 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11717,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11717.xml
