From W. B. Tegetmeier [before 15 February 1868]1
New address | Fortis Green | Finchley | N
My dear Sir
I was very glad to see your own hand writing again and to hear you are better—2
With regard to the number of sexes I send by this post a Coursing Calendar3 at page 50. etc you will find the produce of bitches for one year (about 160 in number). this will give you about 1000 births— —
Unfortunately the table was not made up for other years—but I could make up a similar table from the pages of the Field and Bells life if the numbers for one year are not sufficient for you4
Race horses are given in the racing Calendar.— In the beginning of the next week I shall be less busy & will make you an abstract of the yearly accounts of the thorough bred horses for some twenty years.5
I will also look over the herd books for cattle.—as I have no doubt that similar tables can be compiled from them
With regard to fish I think you have applied to the wrong quarters
The gentleman you have named will be very willing to oblige you but I do not think he has had any means of arriving at any precise data on the subject—6 It is a difficult question but Robert Buist Esq The superintendent of Fisheries—Perth, would I think be able to give you some accurate information as he has hatched thousands of salmon and kept them for many months afterwards— I will insert a letter in the Field asking for information that I cannot readily obtain from other quarters—7
Please return the coursing calendar to me at Field office when done with. any time will do— I received the volumes from Mr Murray8 I need not tell you how greatly I am obliged to you for them and still more for the kind manner in which you acknowledged the very small amount of assistance that I have been able to afford you9
Do not trouble to reply to this as I shall be writing again with the race horse returns— As there are about 1500 or 1600 race horse births a year I suppose 20 years returns will be amply sufficient
Truly Yours | W B Tegetmeier
C Darwin Esq
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Agrees to help determine the sex ratios in domestic animals.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5878
- From
- William Bernhard Tegetmeier
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Finchley
- Source of text
- DAR 178: 79
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5878,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5878.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16