Lists specimens he wants from Mr Janson, emphasising that he always wants male and female.
He extends an invitation for a Sunday in early June.
Has sent the Registrar General’s Report which shows proportion of male to female births in every county.
Consanguineous marriages.
No summary available.
JDH too severe on Duke of Argyll.
Pities JDH on [BAAS] address [see 6099]; Huxley feels JDH will do well and will not pity him.
Thinks Huxley will give an excellent and original lecture on geographical distribution of birds.
Has been working hard on sexual selection and correspondence about it.
Mignonette is sterile with its own pollen but any two distinct plants are fertile together. It is utterly mysterious and not even Pangenesis will explain it.
On Lyell’s book [Principles, 10th ed.].
Wallace’s wonderful cleverness, but he is not cautious enough. CD differs from Wallace on birds’ nests and protection.
A. Murray’s miserable criticism of Wallace [J. Travel & Nat. Hist. 1 (1868): 137–45].
Thanks WWR for information in answer to his queries concerning expression.
Asks when horns first appear among a breed of sheep on the Guinea coast,
and for information about the gorilla and chimpanzee.
Asks about African ideas of beauty.
Speaks of the awkwardness of some telescopic instruments, but urges son John to persevere; comments favorably on daughter Amelia's prospective husband, Thomas Wade, and comments disparagingly about the government's introduction of a metrication bill.