Wilby Rectory | Attlebro’ | Norfolk
Aug 17/78
Dear Sir,
In case it may interest you, I venture to trouble you with a brief account of some experiments in cross breeding between Chinese & Common geese; should you feel inclined to make any similar ones yourself you are quite welcome to my half bred gander, & I have little doubt but what I could obtain one or two common goslings on easy terms;1 It was chiefly in consequence of a passage in your Origin of Species that the idea was suggested to my mind to make these particular experiments2 I asked many naturalists last year to join me, but found only one man Dr. Meadows3 of 5 George St. London both willing & able to do so; a brother in law of mine in this county & a small farmer near here, have also by accident assisted through having had birds from me in exchange:
I shall be very happy to give you any further information in my power I have observed a few curious things about these crossbred birds & have some still more curious thoughts on the subject but I will not now trouble you with more minute particulars
With kind regards | Believe me | Yrs. truly | F B Goodacre
Wilby Rectry. | Norfolk
1877
6 goslings hatched here
Father a colored Chinese
Mother a grey & white small com: goose.
1878
Dr. Meadows had one of above goslings ♂ which he kept at his country place at Maidenhead4 with a gosling ♀ no relation which I bought judging (from appearance alone) it to be a similarly bred bird Result several goslings this spring About same time this spring I had one gosling hatched from egg of one of last years 6 goslings A Chinese gander (not very nearly related) or else her own brother of the same nest the father I suspect the latter On Jly 6th. another very similar gosling hatched the undoubted offspring of 2 of /77 goslings Chinese gander (No II) having died much diseased (as No I died in /77).
The common goose (mother of 6 /77 goslings) has hatched several goslings this year the father of which is my crossbred bird of /77 one of the gander goslings I sent away & he paired with a Chinese goose; result several goslings I have not yet seen
3♂ & 1♀ of the goslings of /77 mentioned in events of this year the other two killed for table I have skull & windpipe of ♂ The goslings of this year of cross bred birds are I believe mostly within my reach but will be killed for the table when ready if I cannot get them put out for experiments it seems a pity to miss such an opportunity with such variety of mixture of blood
crossbred 1st. generation
____ ____ 2nd. ________
____ ____ Common 2nd. gen
____ ____ ___ Chinese ___ ___
Dr. Meadows & myself purpose keeping a pair each for stock
Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11664,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on