From W. B. Tegetmeier 17 February 1874
Finchley | London | N
Feby 17/74
My dear Sir
I have delayed writing to answer your last until I could consult some of the best authorities on the subject.1
I have spoken to two of highest, namely the gentlemen who write under the signatures of “Stonehenge” and “Robin Hood”2 they have both been extensive breeders and have a great practical acquaintance with the subject Their answers correspond
If first rate parents are bred from, foster mothers are procured and all the litter preserved
If any are destroyed it is those that are the least promising irrespective of sex.—
If the necessity arose for destroying some of the litter and all were equal in character then possibly or probably the females would be sacrificed males being less troublesome but as a rule it is the strongest and best that are kept irrespective of sex3 They both agree that it is impossible to answer your question more definitely and that your query as to the two females producing one 4 males & 2 females the other 2 males & 4 females does not admit of being replied to with any greater degree of exactness—
I hope you are well. I have been suffering for 3 months from my head, the result of anxiety and trouble—and have done little or no work, until last week when I tried to recommence. I send you an article which may interest you4
Believe me very truly yours | W B Tegetmeier
C Darwin Esq—
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent 2d ed.: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874.
Lee, Rawdon Briggs. 1894. A history and description of the modern dogs of Great Britain and Ireland. (The terriers.) London: Horace Cox.
Summary
Gives the answers of two of the best dog breeders to CD’s queries.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9298
- From
- William Bernhard Tegetmeier
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Finchley
- Source of text
- DAR 90: 98–9
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9298,” accessed on 19 October 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9298.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22