To W. B. Tegetmeier 6 December [1855]
Down Bromley Kent
Dec. 6th.
My dear Sir
Thank you much for taking the trouble of sending me the canines, & which I hope will arrive safely, & for answering so fully my queries. I was interested by stumbling on 4 variations in the Cat, within the course of six weeks, viz long tails in W. Indies,—curiously backward sloping tails,—tufted ears, & your case.—1
When I asked for the Ghoondok bird,2 I stupidly quite forgot that you would of course want it for your own work.— Pray do not think of troubling yourself to send me a M.S. account, for it will do exactly as well, or better, whenever you print.—3 At some future time, when I have got several skeletons together I daresay you would lend me the skeleton for a few days to compare with such others as I may have got together. Would you like to examine the head of my wild Jungle Fowl from India?4 But it would require a little cleaning.— I could send it in Box by Post, & you could return it same way, or leave it at my Brothers House at any time near Cavendish Square.— But I do not know whether it would aid you or not.— You could if you liked see whole skeleton, but this is too large for Post.—
With many thanks | Your’s very truly | C. Darwin
I sometimes send little notices to Gardeners’ Chronicle, but I have never communicated anything but trifles.—
Footnotes
Bibliography
Tegetmeier, William Bernhard. 1856. On the remarkable peculiarities existing in the skulls of the feather-crested variety of the domestic fowl, now known as the Polish. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 24: 366–8.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Variation in cats.
Is comparing skeletons of poultry.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1791
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Bernhard Tegetmeier
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1791,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1791.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 5