My Dear Sir

I have sent back th⁠⟨⁠e⁠⟩⁠ Proof to the Printer with insertion of your name as you suggested.²

I have long wanted some slight stimulus to induce me to write to you, on one or two little facts in natural history that may interest you.

1^st. When a Boy of 14 while on a visit at Ightham Court Lodge in Kent I chanced to see a litter of Puppies under a Pointer Bitch & was much surprised to find half had all the characters of Pointers ⁠⟨⁠wh⁠⟩⁠ile the remainder had ⁠⟨⁠eve⁠⟩⁠ry appearance of Setters   ⁠⟨⁠A⁠⟩⁠t my expressing my surprise to the old Huntsman that ⁠⟨⁠i⁠⟩⁠t should be the case he ⁠⟨⁠ex⁠⟩⁠plained it by saying that ⁠⟨⁠t⁠⟩⁠he Father was a Setter an ⁠⟨⁠ac⁠⟩⁠cidental mis-alliance   Well then said I how is it that they are not mongrels a⁠⟨⁠n⁠⟩⁠d he told me that if they had been low bred dogs such would have been the case but that with pure Breeds mismatched it was often as I saw it. & he moreover assured me that each puppy as it grew up would follow the instincts indicated by ⁠⟨⁠its⁠⟩⁠ appearance.

2^nd. Some years since o⁠⟨⁠ur⁠⟩⁠ Housekeeper at Sun ⁠⟨⁠Street⁠⟩⁠ London³ had a little hairless Barbary B⁠⟨⁠itch⁠⟩⁠ who never had had puppies. When she went to heat I ⁠⟨⁠com⁠⟩⁠menced a negociation with a man in Covent garden who had a Dog of ⁠⟨⁠the⁠⟩⁠ same species but while I was negociating our Young Dog a mongrel Spaniel with long brown hair was operating & so the negociation became useless, and in due course there came a litter of 5 puppies. Who all died before they were ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ months old. 3 of these ⁠⟨⁠pu⁠⟩⁠ppies were black & hairless ⁠⟨⁠like the⁠⟩⁠ Mother & the other ⁠⟨⁠2 were⁠⟩⁠ covered with short ⁠⟨⁠brown⁠⟩⁠ hair like the Father ⁠⟨⁠in⁠⟩⁠ colour. The Bitch had ⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠ second Litter of puppies but this time we secured ⁠⟨⁠the⁠⟩⁠ right Father a regular black thorough Bred Barbary dog, but alas the mischeif had been implanted in the mother and again about half the litter looked like pure Barbarys & the other half like the short haired progeny of the first Father   Again all of the puppies died but one, a short brown haired dog which lived to be 2 years old