To T. L. Brunton 27 June 1879
Down | Beckenham— Kent. [6 Queen Anne Street, London.]
June 27./79
My dear Sir
I wished to see you to-day to tell you that I have just received a very long & interesting letter from Sir R. Christison, & I am truly obliged to you for all your kind assistance.1 Sir R. C. says that Dr. Brown, he believes, preceded Dr. Darwin, but as he recommended alcohol for all the diseases under the sun (as Sir J. Paget tells me) his precedence does not seem to me so important as it would otherwise have been—2 Could you inform me of the date of Dr. Brown’s work— that is if it will not cause you much trouble—3 Sir R. C. (to whom I have written to thank) seems to think that it would be a most difficult labour & perhaps impossible task to discover who first recommended alcohol in fever.
Pray believe me with many thanks | yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Brown, John. 1780. Elementa medicinae. Edinburgh: C. Elliot.
Bynum, William F. and Porter, Roy, eds. 1988. Brunonianism in Britain and Europe. Medical History Supplement 8. London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.
Erasmus Darwin. By Ernst Krause. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1879.
Summary
Sir Robert Christison says Dr Darwin not the first to recommend alcohol for fever.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12126
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 143: 168
- Physical description
- C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12126,” accessed on