From George Thin to Alexander Michie1 19 March 1871
East Linton
March 19th. 1871
My dear Alex
The facts about my uncle’s2 bitch are these.
More than twenty years ago he had a bull-terrier bitch. A Captain Arkwright resided here at that time and had a famous Irish bull dog, Jim.3 He got a litter of pups off Jim twice. He then wished to have a litter off a very fine rough Scotch terrier. As soon as his bitch began to show signs of being in heat he shut her up and is quite certain that no dog but the Scotch terrier got near her. The bitch had always shown a decided preference for Jim, so much so that even when in heat she would snarl at other dogs that came near her. She was put under lock with the Scotch terrier, and in due time she had her pups. None of them resembled the Scotch terrier but they were all like the bull dog. One was so like that he kept him on that account and he (the pup) was in the village for several years afterwards. The likeness was both in shape & colour.
My uncle has been long a breeder and fancier of dogs, and has always had the conviction that some cause other than copulation produced this remarkable phenomenon.
I am yours | G Thin
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Bitch crossed with dog produced puppies like those of previous cross with a very different dog.
[Forwarded to CD by Robert Swinhoe.]
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7602
- From
- George Thin
- To
- Alexander Michie
- Sent from
- East Linton
- Source of text
- DAR 178: 90
- Physical description
- LS 4pp † (by CD)
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7602,” accessed on
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19
