To Land and Water [2 October 1866]1
Sir,—
I should be very much obliged to any one who keeps otter hounds if he would have the kindness to examine the feet of two or three dogs, and compare them with respect to the membrane between the toes with some other dog of a named breed. It would be best to compare the feet with those of some other sort of hound. With some otter hounds the skin between the toes is certainly more largely developed than in the case of common dogs, and I am anxious to know whether this is the general rule. It should be stated to which part or joint of the toes the skin extends, and whether it is much hollowed out in the middle. I should be very grateful for information sent to me either by letter or through LAND AND WATER.2 Charles Darwin
Down, Bromley, Kent
Footnotes
Bibliography
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Requests information about the feet of otter-hounds. Is the membrane between the toes more largely developed than in other hounds? To which part or joint of the toes does the skin extend? Is it hollowed out? [There is a hand-written copy of this letter in Invercargill City Libraries and Archives (Alex Robertson Collection, vol. 1: A0444 S12450001). The handwriting is not CD’s: it may be a copy made for the printer, or maybe by a reader of the magazine.]
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5240A
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Land and Water
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Land and Water, 6 October 1866, p. 244
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5240A,” accessed on 10 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5240A.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14
