Ɛpsilon

To George Rolleston   24 August [1876]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S. E. R.

Aug 24

My dear Sir

I write one line, though you kindly tell me not to do so, to thank you for your notes & essays.2 I am pleased to hear about the appendages in S. verrucosus, as possibly reversion may account for the odd manner in which these appendages appear in the domestic races. Considering how much structure they exhibit, their sudden appearance has caused me some perplexity.3

I shd. have been not only pleased, but delighted, at what you say about S. verrucosus had it not been that apparently similar appendages occasionally appear on the necks of goats; & the idea of reversion to a common progenitor of goats & pigs stumps me. I wish I had given a fuller account instead of only mentioning these goat-appendages in the 2d. Edit. of my Var. under Dom. Vol I. p. 106.— Drawings were sent me with the account, & I have no doubt that the account was authentic.—4

I am extremely glad that you have taken up the parentage of some of our domestic animals.

Pray believe me | Yours sincerely & obliged | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from George Rolleston, 18 August 1876.
3
See letter from George Rolleston, 18 August 1876 and nn. 2 and 3. Males of Sus verrucosus (the Javan warty pig) have facial appendages similar to those in a domestic breed, the Irish greyhound pig.
4
See Variation 2d ed. 1: 106. CD had received a letter and sketch from H. Ramu (who has not been identified) describing the maxillary appendages of domestic goats native to Lorraine in France (see Correspondence vol. 19, letter from H. Ramu, 9 September 1871). The sketch has not been found.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.4 in … races] interl
2.1 at] after del illeg
2.5 goat-appendages] interl
2.5 Drawings] after del ‘Careful’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10582F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10582F