To William Bernhard Tegetmeier 3 February [1861]
Down Bromley Kent
Feb. 3d.
My dear Sir
I am much obliged to you for telling me of your curious case.1 I have never met with anything parallel; that is supposing the organs of generation are perfect. Everyone knows of the effect of castration on Deers Horns.—2 And I have read somewhere of a Deer in a ship which without being emasculated failed to reproduce its Horns.3
I have also read of males of small birds, like Bull-finches (I forget what kind) which on the moult in menageries failed to reproduce the male plumage— This case comes near yours, but then it has been supposed that the male organs had failed in their action.— How are castrated Cocks in plumage? Their spurs are said to grow to enormous size.—
I am very glad you are going to breed from your Bird. If fertile it will add greatly to interest; & if the variety should be inherited it will be still more curious.—4
With many thanks to you for telling me of this curious case | Believe me | My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | C. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Is obliged for WBT’s "curious case". Discusses the effects of castration on development.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3055
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Bernhard Tegetmeier
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3055,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3055.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 9