To Richard Owen 12 February [1847]
Down Farnborough Kent
Feb. 12th
My dear Owen
I have received a letter & parcel of Papers from S. F. Muniz,1 the gentleman who has made such wonderful collections of Fossil Bones near B. Ayres. His letter has been unfortunately lying for nearly four months in London. It is to offer to the College of Surgeons various fossils, completing, as he believes, the skeletons collected by me;2 also an apparently nearly perfect skeleton of a new genus of carnivora, but which I have no doubt is the Machairodus. Also those parts of the Megatherium, wanting in the Skeleton at the College.— He desires that the parts most wanted of the Megatherium may be specified. Will you do this? I presume if he ships the specimens at B. Ayres, & sends a letter directed to the Curator of the College; they will come safe to hand. But I should think it wd be highly desirable to offer to pay, if he will point out a channel, for the expences of the Boxes, the land-carriage about 20 or 30 miles, to B. Ayres, & getting them on board. If S. Muniz is encouraged, he will very probably send other things. Would it not be well to offer him copies of some of the College publications? I shall send him my Geology
It is really very remarkable considering this man’s utterly isolated position & that he must be poor, being a medical practioner in the village of Luxan, that he keeps his zeal up: he has sent me a Spanish newspaper with a long description of the Machairodus,3 & which I hope to get translated & if so I will send it to you. To encourage him, I shd. like to get his paper in some of the Journals.—4
Wd. you let me have an answer pretty soon; though I presume you will have to lay the offer before the Museum Committee.—5 What a grand feature a skeleton of the Machairodus would be!—
Have you heard whether any collection of bones from B. Ayres has been received at Paris?? Muniz sent one by Admiral Dupotet6 & is anxious to know whether they ever arrived.—
I have just read your first Chapter & have been delighted with it. Those vertebræ are awfully difficult to understand.—7
Believe me | Very truly yours, | C. Darwin
P.S I did not take advantage of your kind suggestion about applying for a specimen of an Acasta to the College, as I have got some fresh British specimens.—8
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Fossil Mammalia: Pt 1 of The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle … during the years 1831 to 1836. By Richard Owen. Edited and superintended by Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1839–43.
Summary
F. J. Muñiz has offered fossil bones collected around Buenos Aires to the Royal College of Surgeons. He believes he can complete their Megatherium skeleton and provide other specimens. CD feels he should be encouraged in his work.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1061
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Richard Owen
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS-MUS/3/3/9)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1061,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1061.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 4