My dear Sir,

I have lent my copy of the “Descent” & cannot therefore refer to it, but I think you do not offer an explanation of the horns in the ♀ Rendyr; though you rightly negative the common supposition that the ♂ uses the Brow antlers for the purpose of removing the snow—¹ As I have passed 5 summers & one winter in Norway & am quite familiar with the habits of these animals I think I can assert with confidence that the use of the brow antlers in the ♀ Rendyr is to drive away the ♂s when these have removed the snow with their fore-feet & so exposed the moss & lichens on which they feed. The ♀s are then for the most part heavy with young & would find the occupation of removing the snow very laborious—whilst the ♂s being without horns are unable to resist their fair but well armed assailants— I know that this is at least often the case & think it is probably always so & in fact the main reason of the permanency of the horns.

I wish I could go on with my Atlantis work, but from the moment I took my Brother to the Canaries he has done all the work— Conviction that a Miocene Atlantis known to man existed is unfortunately not proof—² Nothing seemed so easy when I first started on the search, but now the very mass of material renders the task of separating flotsom & jetsom from aboriginal forms quite Herculean. It requires a Darwin & I am none. Meanwhile I hope this little fact I have mentioned may not be without interest.

I remain | My dear Sir | Yours very truly | W. D. Crotch