To F. B. Goodacre 20 August [1878]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R. [Barlaston, Staffordshire.]
Aug. 20th
Dear Sir
I am very much obliged for your letter & kind offer.2 The subject well deserves further investigation, but I am growing old & have much work on hand & cannot undertake anything new.— If you yourself with the aid of any friends would go on crossing half–bred birds, bred in distinct places & as little related as possible, for a few generations & publish the results, it would be a really valuable contribution to science.3 No one has made the trial systematically, & the fertility of hybrid offspring from undoubtedly distinct species is wonderfully rare.
I think it would be strongly advisable to breed exclusively from half-bred parents of well ascertained origin.—
I am writing this away from home & am not well, so pray excuse the bad hand-writing.— | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Goodacre, Francis Burges. 1879. On the question of the identity of species of the common domestic and the Chinese goose. [Read 18 November 1879.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1879): 710–12.
Summary
Thanks FBG for his offer [of geese for breeding experiments] but cannot undertake anything. Suggests FBG or any friend cross half-bred birds for a few generations; it would be a valuable contribution to science.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11670
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Francis Burges Goodacre
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Dr John Goodacre (private collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11670,” accessed on
