From James Sinclair 21 January 1882
Farmers Gazette | Dublin | 23 Bachelors Walk, | Dublin.
January 21, 1882.
Dear Sir,
I hope you will pardon the liberty I take in addressing you. You may perhaps remember that in the month of May last year I sent you a copy of a little pamphlet of mine on Polled Cattle receipt of which you were pleased to acknowledge with an intimation that you would read it on your return from the country for which you were then about to start.1
Since that time I have removed from Scotland to Ireland. In conjunction with Mr. Macdonald, Editor of the “Irish Farmers Gazette,” I purpose writing a detailed history of the Polled Aberdeen or Angus breed of cattle.2 We have considerable difficulty in satisfactorily accounting for the origination of the peculiarity of wanting horns which characterises the breed & can find no better explanation of it than that given by you in Animals & Plants under Domestication—viz—“spontaneous variation”.3 I have thought however that in your wide & minute investigations into the subject of natural history you have have come across more examples of the occurrence of the peculiarity than we are aware of and I know that in your desire to assist scientific truth you will not consider it too great a presumption if I humbly prefer the request for aid in our attempted solution of the difficulty. I would therefore esteem it a very great favour if you would kindly write a few lines informing me of the instances you have met of live stock being hornless & your opinion as to the cause of the peculiarity. I need not say that we would be honoured by having your permission to acknowledge in our forthcoming volume the gratitude of ourselves & of the breeders of this variety of cattle for your aid & for giving us the benefit of your unique experience.
I have again to apologise for troubling you and my only excuse is the consideration to which I have already referred.
Yours with much respect | James Sinclair.
Dr. Charles Darwin F.R.S. &c.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Macdonald, James and Sinclair, James. 1882. History of polled Aberdeen or Angus cattle, giving an account of the origin, improvement, and characteristics of the breed. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
JS is proposing to write a detailed history of the polled Aberdeen breed of cattle [James Macdonald and James Sinclair, History of polled Aberdeen or Angus cattle (1882)] and would be grateful for any instances of hornless breeds known to CD; in particular asks his opinion on the cause of the peculiarity.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13634
- From
- James Sinclair
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Farmers’ Gazette , Dublin
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 174
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13634,” accessed on 17 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13634.xml