Sir,

I can only plead having read several of your books as an excuse for addressing you personally— Altho⁠⟨⁠ugh⁠⟩⁠ not by any means a naturalist I have been very much interested in several of your works and it is since reading your remarks on—“movements which are no longer useful but still inherited”—that I have been puzzled about the movement of the arms of man during the act of walking—¹ It has struck me that this may possibly be a vestige of the movement of the four limbs of the lower animals for locomotive purposes— As I said before I am no anatomist and there may therefore be some simple explanation of this movement but I have noticed the swinging of the arms in very young children who could not have had time to acquire the habit—and from my own sensations I do not believe it in any way assists progression— Soldiers march none the less steadily on account of their arms being kept close to the sides and girls when well trained soon overcome the tendency to swing the arms and hereafter certainly appear to walk q⁠⟨⁠uite⁠⟩⁠ as easily and gracefully without ⁠⟨⁠s⁠⟩⁠o doing— After repeated attemp⁠⟨⁠ts⁠⟩⁠ I have found it quite impossible to bring the right arm and leg forward togethe⁠⟨⁠r⁠⟩⁠ & v.v. for any number of steps in succession— This might be used as ⁠⟨⁠an⁠⟩⁠ argument to show that the moveme⁠⟨⁠nt must⁠⟩⁠ be of some use to man but all the lower animals move the two pairs of limbs alternately and not in accordance & therefore if an inherited movement it would take that form. If you can give me any explanation of this movement or direct me where to look for such explanation you ⁠⟨⁠w⁠⟩⁠ill greatly oblige

Yours very truly | Gregory B. Thornbery