From B. P. Brent 15 June 1861
Dallington | nr. Robertsbridge | Sussex.
June 15th. 1861
Dear Sir,
Being in conversation the other day with my Father respecting his crossing the Cacti, he said he found them quite fertile and averaged three seeds to a fruit, but the seeds varied very much in the period of germination, he had crossed some several times—1 the following I took from his dictation as I thought it might interest you
⟨Respe⟩cting the fertility of hybrids:
1 | ||||
The Hybrid Cactus, Jenkensoni, reproduced with one parent viz Epiphyllum Speciosum;— | ||||
2 | ||||
The Hybrid Cereus Cactus, Mallisoni, reproduced, with Epiphyllum Ackermani; | ||||
3— | ||||
Cactus Jenkensoni, itself a hybrid of Epiphyllum Speciosum, and Cereus Speciosissimus—reproduced with the Hybrid Cereus Mallisoni, which was produced between Cereus Speciosissimus and Cereus Flagelliformis— | ||||
or it may be stated thus. | ||||
Epiphyllum Speciosum and Cereus Speciosissimus |
} | produced Jenkensoni. | } |
reproduced a compound hybrid not named— |
Cereus Speciosissimus and Cereus Flagelliformis |
} | produced Mallisoni |
Unfortunately my Father has no memoranda of his crosses nor did he have any of his productions named. but I think you may rely on the the truth of the abo⟨ve⟩
⟨A⟩ second Sow Guinea pig went ⟨to⟩ boar on the 13th. inst. I have ⟨p⟩ut her in a hutch by the fire and shall keep her as warm as I can, the one that went on May 25th. is out of doors in a north aspect and as cold as I can place her, so I hope to see if temperature has any effect.2
Miss Watts in a recent letter wished me to inform you she found the Crested fowls stupid but she puts in a word for her favourite Brahmas— I enclose that part of her letter.3
I am | Dear Sir | Your’s sincerly | B P Brent
To C Darwin Esqr.
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Martin, William Charles Linnaeus. 1855. The poultry yard: comprising the management of fowls, for use and exhibition. New edition revised by Elizabeth Watts. London and New York.
Natural selection: Charles Darwin’s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1975.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
On his father’s crossing experiments with cacti, in which hybrids were found quite fertile.
On his breeding of guinea-pigs.
Sends Miss E. Watts’s message about crested fowls and Brahmas.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3184
- From
- Bernard Peirce Brent
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Dallington, Sussex
- Source of text
- DAR 160.2: 300
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp damaged †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3184,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3184.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 9