From Edward Perceval Wright 24 March 1865
10 Clare Street. | Dublin.
24th March 1865.
Dear Mr. Darwin
Many thanks for your subscription (10/6) to the Cybele Hibernica, which I received this morning— I do not think it will be published until September next—as so many new Collections are turning up however we have already more than 130 Subscribers—so that there will be no lack of funds.1
In looking over some Nat Hist notes of a friend of mine who spent many years in India—I found the following, which I thought would interest you— The Common Buffalo about Furreedpore—(Buf. Arnee)2 is in the habit—during the inundation of the Ganges—of wading into the waters for the purpose of cropping the grass. This it does often in two & three feet of water, but Mr Dunlop3 was surprised one day to find them swimming in from ten to 12 feet of water & every now & then diving down & coming up again with a mouthful of herbage— he then watched them over & over again & found dozens of them engaged in a similar pursuit—& on timing them he found they were always from 30 to 35 seconds under the water. I am not aware that this fact has ever been recorded—but I know the accuracy of my friends observations too well to have any doubt as to its truth— He is the same person who gave me the fresh-water Teredo that I described in the last part of the Linnean Transactions—4
I have come across an interesting work on the genera of Alcyonarian Actinozoa—in a form (from the W of Ireland) of Alcyonium which like Haimeia is solitary—& might be easily mistaken for an Anemone— In all its habits it is an Zoantharian polyp in its structure it is alcyonaria save the anomaly of its being not gregarious—5
Again thanking you for taking an interest in our Cy-Hibernica
Believe me to remain | very truly yours | E. Perceval Wright
Chas Darwin Esq
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Calendar: A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882. With supplement. 2d edition. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Origin 2d ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1860.
Origin 6th ed.: The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 6th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Wright, Edward Perceval. 1864. On a new genus of Teredininae. Transactions of the Linnean Society 24: 451–4.
Wright, Edward Perceval. 1865. On a new genus of Alcyonidae. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 2d ser. 5: 213–17.
Summary
Thanks CD for subscribing to the Cybele Hibernica.
Reports some observations made on the common buffaloes of India seen swimming and diving in 12ft of floodwater in order to crop the herbage beneath.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4793
- From
- Edward Perceval Wright
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Dublin
- Source of text
- DAR 181: 174
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4793,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4793.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 13