From:
William Marshall
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
12 June 1864
Source of text:
DAR 109: A88–9
Summary:
Informs CD of two distinct forms of Plantago lanceolata.
Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
Informs CD of two distinct forms of Plantago lanceolata.
WM converted to belief in evolution by experience of museum work.
Describes protective coloration of coots’ eggs.
Discusses feather as case of evolutionary atavism.
Will soon publish on siliceous sponges
and the skin of caterpillars.
Doubts ostrich descended from reptiles. Its ancestors true birds. Of course, all birds descended from reptiles. Compares foetus of birds to that of reptiles.