To J. D. Caton 24 May 1869
Down— Beckenham Kent— S. E.
May 24 1869.
Dear Sir—
I thank you very sincerely for your long letter, the whole of which has interested me much, & for the extremely kind manner in which you offer to give me any further assistance1
I have been extremely glad to read your various details, almost all of which will be of more or less use to me—
With respect to the prong-horned Antelope, the absence of secondary hoofs is given as a generic character by Dr J E Gray;2 & from this circumstance I suppose these hoofs are present in most other genera—
They are present throughout the whole deer family. I am surprised to read what you say about the rarity of the tuft of hair in the turkey hen; for Audubon expressly states that this is always acquired by the hen, tho in a less degree at a greater age than in the male—3 Please to give my best thanks to Dr Paul. The sympathy of a brother naturalist is the highest reward which any one can wish for Will you tell him that I will not trouble him to send me the fossils as I cd not at present make any use of them4
With my sincere thanks for all your kindness, I remain, dear sir | With much respect yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin—
Footnotes
Bibliography
Birds of the world: Handbook of the birds of the world. By Josep del Hoyo et al. 17 vols. Barcelona: Lynx editions. 1991–2013.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Discusses secondary hoofs in antelope and deer.
Mentions tuft of hair on turkey hen.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6757
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Dean Caton
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 143: 255
- Physical description
- C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6757,” accessed on 19 October 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6757.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17