To H. Ramu 13 September 1871
Down, Beckenham, Kent
Sept. 13, 1871.
Dear Sir
I am much obliged to you for your great kindness in writing to me. I have so many other subjects on hand, that I am not likely again to attend to domesticated animals; nevertheless the appendages on the faces of certain pigs have always appeared to me so inexplicable, that I should certainly much like to hear about the analogous structures in goats.1 I am not willing that you should take much trouble, but I should be grateful for a sketch with a description, in comparison with the analogous appendages as described by me in the case of pigs.2
With my best thanks and much respect I have the honour to remain dear Sir, | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin.
It has sometimes occurred to me as an idle speculation whether these appendages could be formed by a reduplication of the external ear, as the reduplication of organs is a common form of monstrosity.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Obliged for letter about appendages on faces of goats.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7941
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- H Ramu
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 147: 290
- Physical description
- C 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7941,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7941.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19