To George Henry Kendrick Thwaites 8 March 1856
Down Bromley Kent
March 8th /56
My dear Sir
Though I have nothing very particular to say I must thank you cordially for the extremely kind manner with which you have received my letter.1 I remember at Oxford that you had attended to many of the points on which I was then & am now so much interested.2 I hope that you will publish some of the facts on variation to which you allude: I shd. be particularly glad to see in print or M.S. some particulars in regard to the species from different elevations, which show different degrees of capacity for cultivation at a new level: Hooker has published a similar case in regard to the Himmalaya Rhododendrums.3
As you have received my letter in so very friendly a spirit, I will mention one or two other points on which I am much interested; viz in regard to the distribution of alpine plants; have you collected at the greater heights in Ceylon, & is there anything new in relation to the vegetation at these heights in comparison with the Himmalaya, Neilgherries or other mountains? Again have you observed whether the introduced & perfectly naturalised plants tend to vary much in Ceylon? The courrse of my work makes me more & more sceptical on the eternal immutability of species; yet the difficulties on the other theory of common descent seem to me frightfully great. In my work, which I shall not publish for 2 or 3 or perhaps more years; it is my intention to give, as far as I can & that will be very imperfectly, all the arguments & facts on both sides of the case, stating which side seems to me to preponderate.—
You cannot possibly render me more material assistance than by getting me any skins of Indian or Ceylon (or any breed except English) breeds of Pigeons;4 for I have concluded it would be better to work carefully at the varieties of a few animals, than compile brief notices on all our domestic animals. I have now all English breeds of Pigeons alive, & am carefully observing them, making skeletons & crossing them. There are some remarkable Tumblers in India.—5 Have you any domestic Ducks? or Rabbits These I mean to work at, as well as at Poultry. Any skeleton of Ducks wd. be very valuable.— Dr. Kellaart has offered to help me in regard to Poultry, for I met him accidentally at Brit. Museum, after writing to you;6 but I do not know how far he will be so kind as to take trouble for me.—
When I began, I meant merely to thank you; but when a beggar once begins to beg he never knows when to stop!7
Pray accept my very cordial thanks & good wishes & believe me, My dear Sir | Your’s very sincerely | Ch. Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Hooker, Joseph Dalton. 1852. On the climate and vegetation of the temperate and cold regions of East Nepal and the Sikkim Himalaya Mountains. Journal of the Horticultural Society of London 7: 69–131.
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.
Thwaites, George Henry Kendrick. 1847. On conjugation in the Diatomaceæ. Report of the 17th meeting of the British Association held at Oxford, Transactions of the sections, p. 87. [Vols. 5,6,9]
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Hopes GHKT will publish on variations in plant species at different elevations. Asks about variations among plants on heights of Ceylon.
Promises to publish on the species question.
Asks for pigeons’ skins from India or Ceylon, and for ducks’ skeletons. Mentions help promised by E. F. Kelaart.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1837
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.125)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1837,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1837.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 6