Dear Sir

I thank you sincerely for your very courteous letter of the 18^th, received only yesterday, & for your kind present of a whole series of Essays.¹ Many of the points which you have discussed are very interesting & bear directly on the descent-theory.— I am particularly glad that you have investigated the ‘ligamentum teres’ for its absence in the anthropoid apes has long appeared to me a most perplexing circumstance.² Broca has advanced, & perhaps justly, this case as one in which natural selection could not have come into play.³ I hope before long to read your essays. I am also much interested by what you say about the feet of the Chinese; but we should remember that people always wish to exaggerate any character which they already possess to an unusual degree.⁴

If on further reflexion you still wish to dedicate your forthcoming book to me, I shall certainly esteem it a very great honour.⁵

With all good wishes I remain, Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin