From R. B. Litchfield 26 February 1873
A friend tells me of follg. errata in “Descent”. Ed. 1871 Perhaps they’ve been since corrected
| Vol. II. | |
| p. 65. | Platycercus is spelt, in margin, platycerus.1 |
| p. 240 | 4th. line from bottom The word Elephus shd. be elaphus [ελαφος] not, as in the errata, elaphas2 |
| p. 44 | line 24 ortygornis shd. be divided thus: ortyg-ornis— not as it is orty-gornis3 |
| I. 354 | qy shd. not phasgonoura be phasganoura?4 |
R.B.L.
CD annotations
Vol. II.... platycerus.] del ink
Footnotes
The misspelling is in the text that accompanies the image (fig. 44) of wing feathers of male and female Selasphorus platycercus (the broad-tailed hummingbird). The spelling is correct in Descent 2d ed., p. 378.
The reference is to Cervus elaphus (the red deer). In Descent 2: 240, n. 2, the word is spelled elephus; in the errata (Descent 2: iv), the spelling is changed to elaphas. In Descent 2d ed., p. 501, n. 3, the spelling is correct.
In Descent 2d ed., p. 363, the name Ortygornis is not split.
Litchfield evidently refers to Phasgonura viridissimus (a synonym of Tettigona viridissima, the great green bush-cricket). CD’s spelling (Phasgonura) was correct.
Bibliography
Descent 2d ed.: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. London: John Murray. 1874.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Additional errata in Descent.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8787
- From
- Richard Buckley Litchfield
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London
- Source of text
- DAR 88: 126
- Physical description
- ApcS †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8787,” accessed on
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21
letter
