To G. R. Jesse 4 May [1871]1
Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.
May 4th
Dear Sir
I have at last found passage about the breed of Terriers: it is in Gleanings in Nat. Hist. Third & Last Series—Murray 1835 p. 149.— I gave it correctly “The descendants of a breed of terriers I have had many years, all shew their teeth & put out their paw when they are caressed. This is a peculiarity of the breed.”—2 Now if, without taking much trouble, you cd. find out whether any of the strain still exist & whether they retain the habit, & especially what is exactly meant by “put out their paw”, I I shd. be grateful.—3 Were both paws alternately protruded?— If I receive no answer I will understand that you cannot aid me—so pray do not trouble yourself to acknowledge this.—
Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Jesse, Edward. 1835. Gleanings in natural history. Third and last series. London: John Murray. [vols. 5,7]
Jesse, George Richard. 1866. Researches into the history of the British dog from ancient laws, charters, and historical records. 2 vols. London: R. Hardwicke.
Natural selection: Charles Darwin’s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1975.
Summary
Asks for information about habits of a breed of terriers.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7739
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- George Richard Jesse
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Scripps College, Denison Library (Perkins Autograph Letter Collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7739,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7739.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19