'Of Down, Bromley, Kent' written at top of page [letter written from Leith Hill Place, Dorking, Surrey; location determined from Emma Darwin's diary]. Manuscript
On receiving Maw's letter he wrote to Sir C. Lyell [Charles Lyell], who is grateful to Maw for the offer [of a human skull from Gibraltar] but does not know enough of human osteology to appreciate it; bones from Gibraltar must be of doubtful age; he suggests that if Maw were to acquire such a specimen it should not be neglected; Maw should write to Mr Busk [George Busk], the secretary of the Linnean Society at Burlington House, or to Dr Falconer [Hugh Falconer] at 21 Park Crescent, to offer it for examination [both were palaeontology specialists]; Maw should collect as many shells as possible from the Drift [glacial deposit] sections he is examining [at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire], and look out for any bones; Mr Prestwich of the Geological Society at Somerset House would be interested in a collection of shells from the Drift; he and others have found glacial shells near Shrewsbury. Dated 12 May, no year [annotated 1863]. With envelope
For a photocopy of a letter from George Maw to Charles Darwin written on 25 Apr 1863 see MAW/Z1/1-13