Septembeb 3, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



303 



relatively warm stratum was found to extend 

 from 12,900 meters to the enormous height of 

 29,000 meters, or 18 miles, where there was 

 still no indication of its diminution. 



A. Lawrence Kotoh 



LETTERS FROM CHARLES DARWIN 

 In 1882 I published in a history of Pettis 

 County, Missouri, the following: 



A flock of geese, belonging to ex-Marshall Kelly, 

 of Sedalia, presents an interesting feature of 

 malformations. In 1873 a gander had one of its 

 wings so injured that it hung horizontally at 

 right angles to the body, in the same manner as 

 is not infrequently seen in other flocks, a result 

 of injuries received. In 1874, one of the young 

 of the flock presented a wing similarly affected; 

 the following year its offspring showed the same 

 features, and this has been continued to the 

 present time. As many as two thirds of the flock 

 have at one time presented this peculiarity, some 

 in both wings. Believing that it was a case of 

 " the inheritance of effects of injuries," Mr. R. A. 

 Blair published an account of it, and sent a copy 

 to Mr. Charles Darwin, and received from him 

 the following letter: 



Dear Sir: I am much obliged to you for kindly 

 informing me of the case of the goose. It seems 

 to be a remarkable case of inheritance of effects 

 of injury, and as such cases are very rare, it 

 would be quite worth while to have the facts 

 carefully examined. If you could obtain a wing, 

 and would send it to me, I should be much ob- 

 liged. The wing might be cut off at the joint 

 with the body, and dried with feathers on, before 

 a hot fire. To make the case of more value, it 

 would be very advisable to ascertain whether the 

 goose had any offspring before the injury, and if 

 so, whether they were normal, and not malformed 

 in any way. 



Dear sir, yours faithfully, 



Chaeles Darwin 



Mr. Blair then sent a wing of one of the 

 geese, and received the following answer: 



Dear Sir: You will think that I have been 

 very neglectful in not having sooner thanked you 

 for the wing of the goose, the photograph, and 

 your last interesting letter; but I thought it best 

 to wait until receiving Professor Flower's report, 

 and you will see by the enclosed the cause of his 

 delay. If you are willing to take the trouble to 

 get your interesting case thoroughly investigated, 



it will be necessary to procure from tlie owner the 

 wings of a half dozen birds, some of them quite 

 young; and, if possible, the old one which had hia 

 wing broken. They ought to be sent in spirits, 

 and they had better be addressed to Professor 

 Flower, Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn 

 Fields, London, and I had better be informed 

 when they are dispatched. Should you be inclined 

 to take so much trouble, I hope you will allow me 

 to say that I should be very glad to pay for the 

 geese, and for the several other contingent ex- 

 penses. Your first letter and Professor Flower's 

 had better be returned to me hereafter. There is 

 one other point which ought, if possible, to be 

 ascertained, viz: when the old gander had his 

 wing broken, was it wounded so that blood was 

 discharged? If wounded, did the wound sup- 

 purate? Did the wing heal quickly or slowly? 

 These are important points in relation to the in- 

 heritance of mutilations. Pray accept my beat 

 tnanks for your kindness, and I remain. Dear Sir, 

 Yours faithfully, 



Chables Dabwin 



A number of wings were then sent to Dr. 

 Flower, who made a report to Mr. Darwin, in 

 which he says: 



The bones, muscles, and 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. 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 thing is that the wing of the old gander, 

 the supposed fors et origo of all the mischief, is 

 perfectly normal, and presents no trace of ever 

 having been injured in any way discoverable after 

 the closest examination. It has certainly never 

 been broken or dislocated, though, of course, we 

 can not be sure whether it may not have had a 

 partial twist from which it has now recovered. 



With this letter and with the full and de- 

 tailed report of Dr. Flower's assistant, Mr. 

 Darwin wrote as follows: 



Dear Sir: Professor Flower has suffered from a 

 long illness, and this has caused much delay in 

 the examination of the wings of the geese. But 

 I received yesterday his report and letter which 

 I enclose, as you may like to see them. I fear 

 there is no connection between the deformity and 

 the injury. The owner when he saw several gos- 

 lings thus deformed, a not uncommon form of 



