No summary available.

Reports long preparation of work on how species and varieties differ. Agreement with Wallace’s conclusions as reported in Annals and Magazine of Natural History and in his letter to CD of 10 0ct [1856]. On distinction between domestic varieties and those in "a state of nature".

On mating of jaguars and leopards, the breeding of poultry, pigeons, etc.

Requests help for his experimenting on means of distribution of organic beings on oceanic islands.

JDH has shaved the hair off the alpine plant.

CD apologises for his criticism.

Apparent but false relations of plant structure to climate: heath-like foliage of all Cape of Good Hope plants.

JDH’s last letter demolishes woolly alpine plant theory.

Correlation of apetalous flowers and cold climate.

Thanks for new part of "Statistics".

Interested in disjoined species; do they tend to belong to large or small genera, and are they generally members of small families?

Is glad AG will tackle introduced plants; has noticed that the proportion of a particular family to the whole flora tends to be similar in introduced and indigenous plants.

Accepts a dozen eggs of rumpless Polands. Having so many enables him to see whether the breed "comes true".

Asks what colour turbits have dark tails – "it is just the class of facts which interest me".

Do fowls when crossed throw odd and unexpected colours like pigeons?

Discusses family health and affairs.

Asks JDH’s opinion, and botanical evidence, on important law: parts that are highly developed in comparison to other allied species are very variable.

Interest in hairiness of alpine plants revived by reading A. Moquin-Tandon [Éléments de tératologie végétale (1841)]; correlation with dryness. CD seeks interpretation independent of direct environmental effect.

Lists pigeons and poultry he is forwarding to WBT.

Wants details of WBT’s Poultry book [1856–7]

and is anxious to purchase his long-winged runt.

Thanks him for help and information on fowl crosses.

Agrees with Thomas Henry Huxley that Albany Hancock has a good claim on a Royal Society medal. Thinks that geology has not been sufficiently honoured by the Royal Society, and suggests Joseph Prestwich. Expresses his strong opinion that Charles Lyell would be a worthy recipient of the Copley Medal.

Discusses difficulties involved in deciding which genera are protean in the light of some comments by H. C. Watson.

Thanks him for information concerning Crustacea.

Comments on natural history study in the U. S.

Mentions work done by Huxley on Crustacea ["Description of a new crustacean", J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 13 (1857): 363–9];

John Lubbock on larvae of Diptera.