To W. D. Fox 18 June [1860]
Down Bromley Kent
June 18th
My dear Fox
I have been looking over old letters of yours, & I want to ask a question: but I do so on condition, that you just answer it, at your leisure as briefly as possible.— Dixon says that his Musk Ducks often took to roost & perch on high places or ridge of Barn, or perch along side Hens &c.—1 I see you used to keep Musk ducks—did you ever observe this or any tendency to lay eggs on high places? Case bears on retention of aboriginal habits— I see in your letter capital case of a cross between white & some other var. of Musk-duck reverting to black & white or aboriginal colour of Musk Duck.—2
Can you give me any authoritive case with exact dates of period of gestation of any breeds of Dog?3 How I wish I knew for instance about Blood Hounds— I suppose no chance of Galton’s knowing; indeed I do not know whether Mr H. Galton is alive.—4
Poor Etty has now been in bed for exactly 7 weeks with low fever; but at last, thank God, she is beginning to gain little strength.—5
Yours affect. | C. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Dixon, Edmund Saul. 1848. Ornamental and domestic poultry: their history and management. London: Office of the “Gardeners’ Chronicle”.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Has WDF ever observed musk ducks laying eggs in high places? The case bears on retention of aboriginal habits.
Also wants data on period of gestation of dog breeds. [See Variation 1: 30.]
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2836
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Darwin Fox
- Sent from
- Down
- Postmark
- JU 18 60
- Source of text
- Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 129)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2836,” accessed on 19 October 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2836.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 8