Summary

Asks about dark stripes on shoulders and legs of Hungarian horses. Are stripes plainer in foal or adult?

Summary

Sends an account of different colours and shapes of seeds raised from ordinary seeds of scarlet runner. [See Cross and self-fertilisation, p. 151.]

Summary

Thanks WE for an oriental treatise on pigeons, a paper on poultry, and specimens.

Asks about stripes on shoulders and legs of horses and donkeys.

Summary

"I thank you much for your note. The object, of course, is what you say. I did not guess that I shd have to pay so much per hen to Baker & the experiment would not be at all worth such a sum. I have not a single hen worth sending to Steven’s. If it really will not cost you much trouble, & you could get me some Hens & a young Spanish cock of pure breed . . . I will try to experiment and shall be very heartily obliged to you". CD mentions satisfactory local hens of a particular breed and an experiment being conducted on "Silver Barbs [with] black wing bars & white rump or bar at end of tail".

Summary

Etty [Henrietta Darwin] very ill with diphtheria.

Summary

Praise for abstract of JL’s paper on insects ["On the ova and pseudova of insects", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 9 (1857–9): 574–83].

Summary

CD and J. D. Hooker have differed on the following question and agreed to ask several botanists: would a good botanist describing a local flora record varieties as readily in large as in small genera?

Summary

Notes views of Hooker and George Bentham on monotypic forms.

Has tabulated several floras and finds that large genera show preponderance in numbers of varieties. Now sees his results are quite worthless.

Summary

Recommends Leonard Horner’s "Account of some recent researches near Cairo" for publication in Philosophical Transactions [R. Soc. Lond. 148 (1858): 53–9]. Believes all the details and sections should be published in full because of importance of investigations leading to the conclusion that man has existed in Egypt for over 13000 years.

Summary

Arrangements for JDH to visit Down for weekend.

Summary

Hopes to begin pigeon MS in a week.

Has lately been working on bees’ cells and wishes very much to examine a cylindrical one.

Summary

Baby [Charles Waring Darwin] died of scarlet fever on 28 June. "Fear has almost driven away grief."

Summary

Hooker has convinced him that move of British Museum by Government is anticipated. He is now willing to sign the memorial. Still fears for library needs, and objects to distant Kensington site. Lyell should be asked to sign.

Summary

Four queries regarding the habits of bees and ants with answers by FS interlined between each query.

Summary

Thanks for Hewitson [British oology].

Has found more variability in birds’ nests than he expected.

Interested in WDF’s note about turkey terrified by a frog [see Natural selection, p. 488 n.].

Summary

Everything in Wallace’s sketch also appears in CD’s sketch of 1844. A year ago CD sent a short sketch of his views to Asa Gray. Can CD honourably publish his sketch now that Wallace has sent outline of his views? "I would far rather burn my whole book than that he or any man shd. think that I had behaved in a paltry spirit." Does not believe Wallace originated his views from anything CD wrote to him.

Summary

Gives his opinion of the charges against E. W. Lane.

Summary

Responds to CD’s queries about the thickness of various geological formations. [See Origin, p. 284.]

Summary

Asks to borrow W. C. Hewitson’s book [British oology, 2 vols. (1831–44)].

CD is searching for reliable information on slight variations in the degree of perfection of nests of the same species of birds.

Summary

Will be most curious to hear results of WDF’s experiment with a kite and turkey chicks "by themselves".

If WDF ever sees a striped dun horse, he should ascertain colour of dam and sire.