From Edward Blyth [2–30 March 1867]1
⟨ page⟩ which ⟨ line⟩ do so ⟨ line⟩ chanced to meet ⟨two words⟩, and his impression is that neither Chim nor Orang shew anything of the kind, the movements of their very protrusile lips being quite different from those of the human being—2 I have been writing about the yak, & bring to notice some very interesting facts. 1stly, this animal does not lie down or3 ⟨ page⟩ ⟨ ⟩ably to whence the probability of the lláma & alpáca having derived from the guanáco & vicuña respectively.4 You will have seen what I have said of the sheep, but I now incline more than I have there expressed myself to the opinion that the Corsican moufflon answers to the conditions required for it to be considered the true wild origin of the small short-tailed domestic sheep with crescent horns, as the old Highland and Shetland sheep, but certainly not of the various larger races with long tail & double flexure of horn, as the Dorset, &c—5
I had indeed totally forgotten the paper to which you referred me in the old Magazine of Natural History.6
You will see in my remarks on the yak some curious facts on the seasonal shedding or non-shedding of the coat in wild as compared with domestic animals of the same genus, if not species,7
Yours Sincerely, | E. Blyth
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. Walker’s mammals of the world. 6th edition. 2 vols. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Discussion of origin of domestic sheep races. Some comments on the yak and the wild ancestors of the llama and alpaca.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5337
- From
- Edward Blyth
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- DAR 160: 208
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp inc & damaged †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5337,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5337.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15