To John Dean Caton 20 March 1869
Down Bromley Kent. S.E.
March 20 1869.
Dear Sir
Your former kindness leads me to think that you will excuse me asking you two or three questions—1
In books of Nat Hist the male of the Elk or Wapiti is said to be darker colored than the female; if this is the case is he darker in his winter or breeding dress, or during the Summer?2
Is it possible that you could enquire for me from any hunters who have had much experience with the American bison, whether the thick mane of the bull protects him in his battles with other bulls? This might possibly be known to witnesses of their contests or by the position of scars from old wounds. Lastly, though it is very unlikely that you should be able to answer me, Do the females of any of the deer which you have kept show a preference for one male over another?3 I have lately felt much perplexed & have made enquiries from those who have closely observed deer in England what is the meaning of the terminal branches of the horns, for a single point would be a more effectual weapon?4
I have lately been making much use of, and & quoting yr most interesting paper—5
Pray believe me dear Sir | Yours faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Caton, John Dean. 1868. American Cervus. Read before the Ottawa Academy of Natural Sciences, 21 May 1868. Ottawa, Illinois: Osman and Hapeman.
Caton, John Dean. 1880. Miscellanies. Boston: Houghton, Osgood.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Asks about coat colour of elk,
the mane of American bison,
and about sexual preferences of female deer.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6674
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Dean Caton
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 143: 254
- Physical description
- C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6674,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6674.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17