From James Orton 8 September 1869
Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, New York.
Sept. 8. 1869.
Charles Darwin Esq &c | Down, Bromley, Kent.
My dear Sir—
I take the liberty of sending you the first lower molar of a Horse, the skull of which (almost entire) I found fossil in a deep deposit in the Valley of Quito, 10000 ft. above the sea. The remains of the Horse, as I mentioned in a former letter, were accompanied by relics of a Mastodon, Deer, Llama, Auchenia &c.1 I am curious to know the species of the Horse; how it differs from other sp. of Horse found elsewhere in South America and lately by Prof Owen in the tertiary of Mexico.2 The entire specimen (and I believe this is the first equine skull found in South America) would be a better guide; but perhaps this tooth will show its affinities. If you have not the time to examine it, will you please send it to Prof. Owen.
I am with high respect | Your obedient Servant | James Orton.
PS. My book on “The Andes and the Amazon” will be out in November, when I shall have the honor of sending you a copy.3
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Orton, James. 1870. The Andes and the Amazon; or, across the continent of South America. New York: Harper.
Owen, Richard. 1869. On fossil remains of equines from Central and South America referable to Equus conversidens, Ow., Equus tau, Ow., and Equus arcidens, Ow. [Read 4 February 1869.] Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 159: 559–73.
Summary
Sends a lower molar of fossil horse from Quito. Curious as to its species, especially in view of Owen’s findings in Mexico.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6882
- From
- James Orton
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Vassar College
- Source of text
- DAR 173: 38
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6882,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6882.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17