Frank Chance (1826–1897)
Enclosure of beard and scalp hair
London, [before 25 April 1871]
MS DAR 142:59–60

The former physician and Hebrew scholar Frank Chance was not known to Darwin before he wrote in response to Descent of man in 1871. Through meticulous self-observation, Chance held himself up as an exception to Darwin’s statement that just as in some monkeys, human beards were invariably lighter than scalp hair. He enclosed these samples of his beard and scalp hair as evidence.