From Thomas Rivers 14 October 1866
Bonks Hill, | Sawbridgeworth.
Oct 14/66
My Dear Sir/
When looking over some grass a species of Bromus from the North Western coast of America—with a friend & botanist we noticed some oats that were producing ears of barley this led to the assertion made by Elihu Burritt in his “Walk through the Eastern Counties” that a farmer at St. Ives Hunts had for years “transmuted” oats into barley.1 doubting this I wrote to the writer of the enclosed2 a farmer of 1600 acres a Member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society & above all a good & truthful gentleman. The subject may possibly be an old one with you but to me so curious & well authenticated as to tempt me to trouble you.3 The writer’s name is Mr. Jno. Claydon4
I am My Dr. Sir | Yrs. very truly | Thos. Rivers
Footnotes
Bibliography
Burritt, Elihu. 1864. A walk from London to John O’Groat’s, with notes by the way. 2d edition. London: Sampson, Low, Son, & Marston.
Summary
Sends CD a letter from Mr Claydon responding to TR’s doubts and confirming the truth of a report that a farmer had "transmuted" oats into barley.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5242
- From
- Thomas Rivers
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Sawbridgeworth
- Source of text
- DAR 176: 169
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5242,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5242.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14