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From William Blenkiron Jr   [c. February 1868?]1

Middle Park, | Eltham, Kent.

Dear Sir

From what little experience I have had amongst horses I should say the mane of the stallion is as a rule thicker & stronger than that of the mare, when both are allowed to live in as near a state of nature as is possible—2 In the case of horses fighting, they invariably endeavour to seize one another by the neck, & I do not fancy the mane is there to act as a sort of protection any more than the forelock3

Yours faithfully | Wm Blenkiron Jr

My father is away & I am sorry to say from ill health4

CD annotations

1.3 they … neck, 1.4] double scored red crayon
End of letter: ‘Blenkiron | Mr Cassells (Trainer to Mr Turnbull) says mane is decidedly stronger in stallion. Mr C says that stallion constantly bite each other necks.—’5 ink

Footnotes

1
The date is conjectured from the relationship between this letter, the letter to G. H. K. Thwaites, 13 February [1868], and the letter to B. J. Sulivan, 18 February [1868]. In the former letter, CD explained, ‘My object is to find out with various animals how far the mane is of any use, or a mere ornament’. In the second letter, CD enquired about horses’ fighting.
2
In Descent 2: 268, CD wrote that stallions had thicker and fuller manes than mares. Blenkiron’s father, William Blenkiron Sr, ran a stud at Middle Park, Eltham (Craig 1982, p. 201).
3
In Descent 2: 268, CD wrote that he had enquired of two great trainers and breeders and been assured that horses invariably tried to seize one another by the neck when fighting.
4
The reference is to William Blenkiron Sr. CD cited him on the sexual preferences of racehorses in Descent 2: 272.
5
Mr Cassells has not been further identified. CD probably also refers to his neighbour George Henry Turnbull.

Bibliography

Craig, Dennis. 1982. Horse-racing: the breeding of thoroughbreds and a short history of the English turf. 4th edition. Revised by Miles Napier. London: J. A. Allen.

Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.

Summary

Answers for father, who is ill, on difference between manes of stallions and mares.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-5340
From
William Blenkiron, Jr
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Eltham
Source of text
DAR 83: 184
Physical description
ALS 2pp †

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5340,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5340.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16

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