To John Gould 6 October [1861]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Oct. 6th.
Dear Gould
I am extremely much obliged to you for your present of the Trochilidæ, of which I have read every word (except the Synonyms) from your pleasant Introduction to the end.—2 It certainly is a grand case of local distribution; & likewise of diversified adaptation. I was particularly glad to see one sentence, which I shall some day use, on the close alliance of the Species in the large genera.—3 I see that you allude to the crossing of Birds in a state of nature; I, for one, repudiate this notion.—4 One of the points which has interested me most (which you will not approve of) is the number of “races” or doubtful species. I think I shall extract all these cases; as it will show those persons who are quite ignorant of Nat History, that the determination of Species is not a simple affair.—5
I congratulate you on the completion of your magnificent work; & fully believe that your release from this labour will merely “enable you to go on with something else not less interesting”.
With many thanks for your valuable gift, which has interested me much, pray believe me Dear Gould | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Kohn, David. 1985. Darwin’s principle of divergence as internal dialogue. In The Darwinian heritage, edited by David Kohn. Princeton: Princeton University Press in association with Nova Pacifica (Wellington, NZ).
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Summary
Thanks for JG’s book [An introduction to the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds (1861)], which he has read carefully. Hopes someday to use the information on the close alliance of species in large genera.
CD repudiates hybridity of birds in nature.
Intends to extract the cases of "races" or doubtful species. They show that "determination of species is not a simple affair".
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3278
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Gould
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Cambridge University Library (Add 4251/330)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3278,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3278.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 9