A letter by Charles Darwin's father, written when Charles was only one year old, has been discovered in Cambridgeshire Archives.
The letter was written from the Darwins' home in Shrewsbury by Dr Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848) to Mr Robert Baumgartner of Godmanchester.
In the letter, Dr Darwin prescribed a course of arsenic as medicine for Baumgartner's complaint of "chronic inflammation." It is believed that Baumgartner died shortly afterwards.
Dr Darwin's prescribed course was "6 drops of the mineral solution of arsenic three times a day immediately after your meals."
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Front of the letter. The original is held at Cambridgeshire Archives, document reference 17/C32/8
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First page of the letter, mentioning the arsenic prescription
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Last page of the letter, with Robert Darwin's signature
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The letter was written on 14 November 1810 when the young Charles Darwin was only one year old. In his autobiography, Darwin described his father as "the wisest man I ever knew. He was about 6 feet 2 inches in height, with broad shoulders, and very corpulent, so that he was the largest man whom I ever saw... His chief mental characteristics were his powers of observation and his sympathy, neither of which have I ever seen exceeded or even equalled."
It appears that Dr Darwin's knowledge of arsenic left something to be desired, however, as the course of medication may have contributed to Baumgartner's death.
Arsenic was widely prescribed in the 19th century as a cure for skin diseases, malaria, epilepsy, eczema and fever.
Later in life Charles Darwin himself took arsenic to treat skin problems on his hand and his lip.
It is unknown whether Dr Baumgartner actually followed Robert Darwin's advice. Baumgartner is known to have been very ill and he died at the end of the year.
The letter was rediscovered as part of the Archives Service's Big Move project, which aims to barcode all of the boxes and volumes held in the archives, and to make electronic copies of the catalogues.
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Charles as a child, with his sister Catherine. (Cambridgeshire Collection)
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Charles Darwin's rooms in Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was a student. (Cambridgeshire Collection)
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Cover of the 1909 Darwin centenary banquet, held in Cambridge. The dinner included fore-quarter of lamb, veal in fried bread crumbs, and peas; the champagne was a 1900 vintage, while the port was 1861. (Cambridgeshire Collection)
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An invitation to the 1909 centenary banquet. (Cambridgeshire Collection)
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A portrait of Charles Darwin, made in 1881. Darwin was very ill for much of his later life, possibly as a result of illnesses picked up on his voyage on HMS Beagle. He is known to have taken arsenic as a treatment for skin problems.(Cambridgeshire Collection)
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