From Edward Blyth 21 September 1863
Summary
Sends some original observations on British ferns [not found].
Has secured a small pension and hopes to acquire a house near Kew.
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 21 Sept 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 206 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4300 |
From Edward Blyth 13 [December] 1866
Summary
Gives CD reference to case of the saiga, an antelope, fearless of man.
Reports observations by New Zealander who has seen heaps of pebbles presumably voided by Dinornis.
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 13 [Dec] 1866 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 207 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4975 |
From Edward Blyth 27 March 1863
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 27 Mar 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 203 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4062 |
From W. B. Tegetmeier [after 24 January 1866]
Summary
Thanks for the remittance.
Both WBT and Mr Zurhorst will repeat Zurhorst’s experiment to eliminate any chance of error.
Edward Blyth is writing on Indian cattle for the Field [27 (1866): 55–6, 77].
Author: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [after 24 Jan 1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 178: 70 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4979 |
From Edward Blyth 11 February 1868
Summary
Corrects some facts and gives further information on some points for the 2d ed. of Variation.
Specific distinctions among animals.
Cercopithecus of Africa contrasted with the Cebus of South America.
Notes on domestic fowls and their ancestors.
Slow growth of wild animals compared with domestic varieties.
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 Feb 1868 |
Classmark: | DAR 80: B169a–c |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5861 |
From A. R. Wallace 5 September [1868]
Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Sept [1868] |
Classmark: | DAR 106: B67 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6350 |
From Edward Blyth [22 September 1855]
Summary
Gives extract from a letter from Capt. R. Tickell: rabbits are not bred by the Burmese; common European and Chinese geese are bred but have probably only recently been introduced.
EB gives references to works illustrating the dog-like instinct of N. American wolves.
Discusses reason and instinct; ascribes both to man and animals. Comments on various instincts, e. g. homing, migratory, parental, constructive, and defensive. Reasoning in animals; cattle learning to overcome fear of passing trains.
Hybrid sterility as an indication of distinct species. Interbreeding as an indication of common parentage.
Enlarges upon details given by J. C. Prichard [in The natural history of man (1843)].
Adaptation of the two-humped camel to cold climates. Camel hybrids.
Doubts that domestic fowl or fancy pigeons have ever reverted to the wild.
Feral horses and cattle of S. America.
Believes the "creole pullets" to be a case of inaccurate description.
Variations in skulls between species of wild boar.
Pigs are so prolific that the species might be expected to cross.
Milk production of cows and goats.
Sheep and goats of lower Bengal.
Indian breeds of horses.
Variation in Asiatic elephants.
Spread of American tropical and subtropical plants in the East.
EB distinguishes between races and artificially-produced breeds.
[CD’s notes are an abstract of this memorandum.]
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [22 Sept 1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 98: A85–A92 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1755 |
From A. R. Wallace 30 August [1868]
Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 30 Aug [1868] |
Classmark: | DAR 106: B65–6 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6334 |
From J. D. Hooker 29 March 1864
Summary
John Scott’s career.
Huxley’s vicious attack on anthropologists.
Critique of Joseph Prestwich’s theory of rivers.
Bitter feelings between the Hookers and the Veitch family of nurserymen.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 29 Mar 1864 |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 193–7 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4439 |
From Edward Blyth 8 January [1856]
Summary
Encloses "notes for Mr. D" [see 1818] and a memorandum on the wild cattle of southern India [see 1819].
Breeds of silky fowl of China and Malaya. Black-skinned fowl.
Doubts any breed of canary has siskin blood; all remain true to their type.
Wild canary and finch hybrids.
Hybrids between one- and two-humped camels.
Does not regard zebra markings on asses as an indication of interbreeding but as one of the many instances of markings in the young which more or less disappear in the adult.
Crossing of Coracias species at the edges of their ranges.
Regional variations and intergrading between species of pigeons.
Regards the differences in Treron as specific [see Natural selection, p. 115 n. 1].
Gives other instances of representative species or races differing only in certain details of colouring.
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 Jan [1856] |
Classmark: | DAR 98: A110–13, A117–21 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1817 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … Edward Blyth, 4 August 1855 . His references are to Sheridan 1781 , act 5 scene 1, and Fryer 1698 , p. 116. Illustrated London News , 10 …
- … 10 January [1857] ). Edwards 1758–64 , 3: 269. Columella, De re rustica 8. 2. 2–3. Columella distinguished an African fowl, called ‘Numidian’ with a red helmet and crest, from ‘Meleagris’ with a blue helmet and crest. Blyth …
From Edward Blyth [30 September or 7 October 1855]
Summary
Origin of domestic varieties. EB ascribes "abnormal" variations to man’s propagation of casual monstrosities; believes "normal" variations, e.g. European races of cattle, are a consequence of man’s selecting the choicest specimens. Gives examples of "abnormal" variations; they give rise to features that have no counterpart among possible wild progenitors. Divides domestic animals into those whose origin is known and those whose origin is unknown. Considers that the wild progenitors of nearly all domestic birds are known. Fowls and pigeons show many varieties but if propagated abnormalities are ignored each group can be seen to be variations of a single species, the ancestors of which can be recognised without difficulty. Discusses varieties and ancestry of the domestic fowl. Variation in the wild; the ruff shows exceptional variability; other species of birds show variability in size of individuals. Remarks that markings sometimes vary on different sides of the same animal. Comments on the want of regularity in leaf and petal patterns of some plants. Discusses domestic varieties of reindeer and camels. Origin of humped cattle. Reports the rapid spread of a snail in lower Bengal that was introduced as a single pair five or six years previously.
[CD’s notes are an abstract of part of this memorandum. Memorandum originally enclosed with 1760.]
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [30 Sept or 7 Oct] 1855 |
Classmark: | DAR 98: A25–A36 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1761 |
From Edward Blyth 7 April 1863
Summary
Has seen some curious hybrid ducks and geese of Bartlett’s. Bartlett will do experiments suggested by CD when he has time.
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 Apr 1863 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 205 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4078 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Edward Blyth, 27 March 1863 ). Abraham Dee Bartlett was superintendent of the Zoological Society’s gardens in Regent’s Park, London ( Modern English biography ). He conducted experiments and made observations for CD on rabbits, geese, peacocks and wild cats (see Variation 1: 109–11, 114–15, 288, 290; 2: 150; and Correspondence vols. 8, 9, and 10). …
From Richard Hill 12 March 1857
Summary
Comments on transport of ducks to Jamaica by hurricanes,
fish feeding on seeds,
and sterility of birds in captivity.
Author: | Richard Hill |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 12 Mar 1857 |
Classmark: | DAR 205.2: 238 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2064 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 10 January 1857 . P. H. Gosse 1847 , to which Hill had contributed. George Robert Gray . Azara 1801 , 2: 323–4. CD’s annotated copy of this work is in the Darwin Library–CUL. The section referring to black-skinned Paraguayan fowl or Palamedea is marked with a ‘Q’. CD cited this passage in Variation 2: 209. See letter from Edward Blyth, …
From Edward Blyth 21 April 1855
Summary
Indigenous domestic animals of the New World.
Relationship of Newfoundland and Esquimo dogs to the wolf. Dogs like the Esquimo occur in Tibet and Siberia. Indian pariah dogs and jackals occasionally interbreed.
Describes domestic cats of India; reports cases of their interbreeding with wild cats. Wild cats are tamed for hunting.
Races of silkworm in India are crossed [see 1690].
Domesticated plants, fish, and birds of India.
Comments on local races and species of crows; it is impossible to trace a line of demarcation between races and species.
Variation in the ability of hybrids to propagate.
Indian cattle breeds; differences between Bos indicus and Bos taurus.
Is not satisfied that aboriginally wild species of horse and ass exist.
Believes all fancy breeds of pigeon originated in the East. Wild ancestors of pigeons, ducks, geese, and fowls. Interbreeding of wild species of pheasant.
[CD’s notes are an abstract of this letter.]
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 21 Apr 1855 |
Classmark: | DAR 98: A57–A68 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1670 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 10 May 1848 ): Did you see M r Blyth in Calcutta; he would be a capital man to tell you what is known about Indian zoology, at least in the Vertebrata: he is a very clever, odd, wild fellow, who will never do, what he could do, from not sticking to any one subject. By the way, if you should see him at any time, try not to forget to to remember me very kindly to him: I liked all I saw of him. — J. Thomson 1727 . See also letter from Edward …
letter | (14) |
Blyth, Edward | (9) |
Wallace, A. R. | (2) |
Hill, Richard | (1) |
Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
Tegetmeier, W. B. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
Blyth, Edward | (9) |
Wallace, A. R. | (2) |
Hill, Richard | (1) |
Hooker, J. D. | (1) |