Summary

Asks whether crossing breeds of hive-bees is advantageous

and whether different pigeon breeds have different incubation periods.

Explains and apologises for the lack of detailed quotations in Origin.

Summary

Discusses poultry crosses, "what a hopelessly difficult subject is that of inheritance!" Gives details of some pigeon crosses he made; cannot positively recall which produced the blue bird.

Summary

Thanks for information on pigeon hatching

and on drones.

Believes occasional crosses indispensable.

Summary

Sends queries for "Fanciers"

and asks about the mating of the queen bee.

Summary

Regrets he has nothing that he could contribute to the Field and cannot spare the time to work out anything on bees’ cells.

Summary

Thanks WBT for observations on colours of newly-hatched pigeons of different breeds. Asks if breeders have noticed any differences in lengths of time eggs were incubated in different breeds.

Summary

Inquires about rabbits.

Sends list of queries on poultry.

WBT’s fowls’ skulls have arrived.

Summary

Hoped to meet CD at the Linnean Society to discuss pigeon and poultry breeding experiments.

Summary

Will return page on pigeons.

Has concluded his crossing experiments and found no trace of hybrid sterility or loss of fertility.

The Field is publishing a series of papers on different pigeon varieties [24 (1864): 366, 395, 459; 25 (1865): 115, 139, 155, 228, 258].

Summary

Would like his fowl skulls back.

Breeding experiments seem to show mongrels are just as fertile as pure breeds.

Summary

Would like to borrow WBT’s collection of fowls’ skulls.

Asks for WBT’s opinion of G. Ferguson, the author of a poultry book [Ferguson’s illustrated book of domestic poultry].

Summary

Inquires whether "a Devonshire Bee-keeper" [T. W. Woodbury] who reported a common drone entering a hive of Ligurian bees [Cottage Gard. 24 (1860): 94] believes, with Andrew Knight, that queen bees are seldom fertilised by their own blood-relations. Asks how far a hive of common bees was from that of the Ligurians.

Summary

CD interested in hybrid sterility and encloses his preliminary MS. Outlines experiments to test for existence of sterility in breeds of poultry and pigeons.

Experiments on dimorphism have led him to change in part his opinion as given in Origin, and he is now asking pigeon and poultry fanciers for any examples of special selective sterility [i.e., a particular pair are sterile when crossed, but each individual is fertile with others] and hopes to investigate its inheritance.

Summary

Discusses Agassiz’s misrepresentations of his views and J. D. Dana’s "wild notions".

The reception is friendlier from younger scientists in France, and many of the best men in Germany.

Summary

Offers to supply CD with information about a new "race" of bees with a larger proboscis. They produce more honey as a result of being able to probe to greater depths.

Summary

Discusses experiments that WBT will undertake to investigate whether particular pigeon and poultry crosses produce sterile hybrids.

Summary

Sends ticket to pigeon show.

A quotation from Erasmus Darwin’s Zoonomia [1794, 1796] shows that he anticipated Lamarck.

G. Grote impressed by Times review [26 Dec 1859, p. 8].

Summary

Hooker’s lecture to BAAS ["Insular floras"] was capital,

but hears Wallace’s paper [Address to Anthropology Section, Rep. BAAS 36 (1866): 93–4] was best.

Pleased RS continues zealous work for natural history.

CD considers the report that N. American antelopes’ horns are intermediate between hollow and solid horns of ruminants to be one of the more curious facts he has lately heard of with respect to higher animals [C. A. Canfield, "On the habits of the prongbuck", Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1866): 105–11].

Summary

The adultery of Lady [Harriet Spencer] Grey and Captain Keppell.

A new species of elephant discovered by Hugh Falconer.

Comments on excellent review by Asa Gray [Atlantic Monthly 6 (1860): 229–39].

Still believes dogs descended from several wild stocks.

Summary

On ARW’s "crushing" review [Nature 6 (1872): 237–9] of C. R. Bree’s An exposition of fallacies in the hypothesis of Mr Darwin.

Comments on other reviews and exchanges.