From Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther to S. P. Woodward 14 June 1861
Brit. Mus.
14. 6. 61.
My dear Sir
I have been so bothered with business of every kind that I could not answer your note before today.1
It appears that the “Wels” has been accidentally transferred by inundations into the Lake of Constance from the minor lakes north of it.2 This, certainly, happened more than once, but after some time the individuals which had not been introduced in sufficient number, died out. Thus you may find, that already old Gesner mentions the Wels as a fish of the Lake of Constance.3
Nothing positive is heard of the fish up to the time of Hartmann, Helvetische Ichthyologie 1827, who states that the fish is transferred to the Lake by inundation.4 After his time the fish appears to have died out again; for old fishermen stated to me at various parts of the eastern portion of the Lake, that they formerly never caught a Wels there, & that it was considered a great wonder when the first specimen was brought in to the town of Lindau. They asserted that this happened shortly after a “great water” & that this was the way of its introduction. From that time, however, the fishes multiplied, & they are not scarce now in the north-eastern part of the lake, whence I have procured young specimens.5 See “Rapp, die Fische des Bodensee’s. Stuttg. 1854.”6
Yours very truly | A Günther
(Mr Woodward)
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Gesner, Konrad. 1558. De piscium & aquatilium animantium natura. Vol. 4 of Historiae animalium. 1551–8. Tiguri.
Günther, Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf. 1853. Die Fische des Neckars, untersucht und beschrieben von A. Günther. Stuttgart.
Hartmann, Georg Leonhard. 1827. Helvetische Ichthyologie, oder ausfùhrliche Naturgeschichte in der Schweiz sich vorfindenden Fische. ugrave;rich.
OED: The Oxford English dictionary. Being a corrected re-issue with an introduction, supplement and bibliography of a new English dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970. A supplement to the Oxford English dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1972–86. The Oxford English dictionary. 2d edition. 20 vols. Prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1989. Oxford English dictionary additional series. 3 vols. Edited by John Simpson et al. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993–7.
Rapp, Wilhelm Ludwig von. 1854. Die Fische des Bodensees, untersucht und beschreiben von W. v. Rapp. Stuttgart.
Summary
Discusses transport of fish to Lake Constance by flooding.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3605
- From
- Albrecht Carl Ludwig Gotthilf (Albert) Günther
- To
- Samuel Pickworth Woodward
- Sent from
- British Museum
- Source of text
- DAR 205.2: 235
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp † (by CD)
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3605,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3605.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 9