P. Chalmers Mitchell's letters to Morley Roberts are written on letterhead of the Zoological Society of London, of which he was Secretary. In letters of 1916, Mitchell discusses Roberts's essay on heredity, with mention of Lamarck and Darwin; comments on the depiction of surgical shock in Time and Thomas Waring; and addresses Roberts's criticism of his own book Evolution and war. In May 1918, after reading a manuscript version of Roberts's paper The function of pathology in evolution, he writes to say that he has recommended it to the publication committee of the Society, and scheduled it for reading at the June meeting; and includes a quotation from a referee. On the verso of the latter letter are notes in the hand of Roberts, apparently sketching out a response to the criticism of the referee, on the subject of inheritance of acquired characteristics.
