From John Lubbock 5 August [1869]1
15, Lombard Street, E.C.
5 Aug.
My dear Mr. Darwin
The left hand antenna of Labidocera consists of simple tapering joints as you say, but the number is the same on both sides.2 Indeed the right hand one in some species seems to have fewer segments in consequence of coalescence.
One of the hinder, generally the hindermost leg is often converted into a forceps, & this always on the right side.3 I have examined hundreds, I might say thousands, & never met with an exception—that is I never saw the left leg modified instead of the right.
I cannot answer your question about the Myriapods offhand, but will gladly lend you the Suites a Buffon if you care to have it.4
One pair of the legs is I know in many species sexually modified.
In the Entomostraca the males are very frequently smaller than the females, this is especially the case in the parasitic Copepods.5
I am afraid I shall not get to see you before Exeter as I am off to open a tumulus on Thursday next6
Believe me | Yours most sincerely | John Lubbock
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
On the antennae of Labidocera.
Size of sexes in Entomostraca.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6854
- From
- John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Lombard St, 15
- Source of text
- DAR 82: 84–5
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6854,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6854.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17