To James Paget 29 January [1873?]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Jan. 29
My dear Paget
I would not have written to thank you, had I not received a letter yesterday from Mr Newman (lately of Guy’s) telling me of a case, which he had seen, of a child without any prepuce, whose father was a renegade uncircumcised Jew, but whose ancestors had all been Jews; & Mr Newman very naturally thought this a good case of inheritance with reversion.2 And now your letter shows how rash any such conclusion wd. be.3 Yet the case must happen not very rarely in Jew families, for they have in Germany a special term for children born circumcised.4
Yours most sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Medical directory: The London medical directory … every physician, surgeon, and general practitioner resident in London. London: C. Mitchell. 1845. The London and provincial medical directory. London: John Churchill. 1848–60. The London & provincial medical directory, inclusive of the medical directory for Scotland, and the medical directory for Ireland, and general medical register. London: John Churchill. 1861–9. The medical directory … including the London and provincial medical directory, the medical directory for Scotland, the medical directory for Ireland. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1870–1905.
Variation 2d ed.: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1875.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Has heard from Ashwin Conway Newman of Guy’s Hospital of a case of a child without any prepuce whose father was a renegade, uncircumcised Jew, but whose ancestors had all been Jews. Newman thinks this a good case of inheritance with reversion. JP’s letter [missing] now shows how rash such a conclusion would be.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8752
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- James Paget, 1st baronet
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Wellcome Collection (MS.5703/37)
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8752,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8752.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21
