From J. C. Morton 19 March 1877
Agricultural Gazette Office, | 7, Catherine Street, Strand, W.C.
March 19 1877
Dear Sir.
You have once or twice when this Paper was part of the Gardeners Chronicle done it the great honour of addressing a note to its readers; & that encourages me to submit to you a point now under discussion in its pages.1
A correspondent is endeavouring to prove the harmlessness of using bulls so inbred that they carry scrofulous tendencies with them—provided only they be put to cows of undoubted constitutions
“Duchess” Shorthorn bulls (& not they alone) do I believe more or less carry this tainted reputation.2 Of course if the fear, attaching to their use on this account be groundless it ought not to exist and “Sheldrake”—(the Red Holt Beever)—himself a Shorthorn breeder—whose last letter I have pasted on the other side—ought to be encouraged—3 But if he is only encouraging an already extravagant estimate of a fashionable family—by preaching what I fear is a dangerous doctrine—he ought to be authoritatively condemned
Your great field of observation & experience of course enables you to speak with greater confidence than any other person can pretend to on any question influencing descent And if you had the time to look at the paragraph I have marked on the back of this page which is the outcome of several previous letters I should be exceedingly obliged if you could state whether & within what limits the use of a so called scrofulous bull—which being of a fashionable family there is a strong temptation to employ—is consistent with the ultimate interest of the breeder i.e. of course with the ultimate interest of the meat producer—
With many apologies and great respect | I am Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | J. Chalmer Morton | (Editor of the Agr Gazette since ’43)
Charles Darwin Esqr
From “Scrofula & inbreeding” | Agricultural Gazette— March 19— ’77
[Enclosure]4
But to take another side of the question, I was brought to book for suggesting the use of scrofulous males at all, supposing them to be so affected. This skilled practitioner fully indorsed my idea. He said, ‘Pair a young scrofulous bull with a heafer of weakly constitution, and you will probably find scrofulous mischief in their offspring; but pair him with a sound strong female, and there will probably result no signs of scrofulous disease.” What more did I say? But further, of course the subject generally would scarcely be discussed from the breeding point of view in treatises upon the human frame. Still I find in one work, and that one of credit in the profession, the following observations under the head of “Tuberculosis:”—
“The development is favoured by all conditions which render the blood unhealthy.
Treatment.— To prevent its transmission, well assorted marriages to be obtained; great care to be taken of maternal health during pregnancy; attention to infant’s food and clothing, as well as the air it breathes. A strumous mother not to be allowed to suckle her child. Avoidance of ill-ventilated, badly-drained, or damp houses.
Curative Treatment.— Improvement of the faulty nutrition; the formation of healthy blood to be promoted; special attention to diet, dress, exercise, &c.”— Dr. Tanner’s Index of Diseases.5
If, then, in a terribly in-bred cow there be reason to suspect constitutional weakness, have, as most eminent breeders have, a strong healthy young cow for a wet nurse. Anyhow, I am glad that a subject has come to the surface which candid breeders will tell you has been long a matter of private apprehension to them, as now it need no longer be.—6
Sheldrake
(It seems plain to us that this conclusion cannot be admitted.— Ed. A. G.)
Footnotes
Bibliography
Derry, Margaret Elsinor. 2003. Bred for perfection. Shorthorn cattle, collies and Arabian horses since 1800. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Shorter publications: Charles Darwin’s shorter publications, 1829–1883. Edited by John van Wyhe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2009.
Tanner, Thomas Hawkes. 1866. An index of diseases and their treatment. London: Renshaw.
Summary
The editor of the Agricultural Gazette asks CD to settle a point being debated in his journal. Can a desirable breed of cattle, which is so inbred as to have scrofula, be maintained by crossing with a breed of healthy constitution?
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10905
- From
- John Chalmers Morton
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Catherine St, 7
- Source of text
- DAR 171: 248
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp encl
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10905,” accessed on
