Ɛpsilon

From J. E. Harting   1 May [1880?]1

22, Regent’s Park Road, N.W.

1 May.

Dear Sir

I venture to draw your attention to an interesting fact in regard to the Wild cat (Felis sylvestris) to which I do not find any allusion made in Vol. i. of “Animals & Plants under Domestication”.2 It is this, that the period of gestation in the wild cat is as nearly as possible 68 days, or 12 days longer than the domestic animal. This has been proved by their breeding in confinement. See “The Zoologist”, 1876. p. 4868 and 5038.3

There is another point, too, which seems worth notice, namely, that where the Wild Cat has been induced to reproduce in captivity, it has been in the Spring (about May) and only once in the year. See “The Zoologist”, 1875, p. 4453.4

I am, Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | J. E. Harting

Charles Darwin Esq F.R.S. | &c &c &c.

1
Very little correspondence between CD and Harting survives, but there is an envelope addressed to Harting by CD and franked 3 May 1880 in a private collection (Anna Barone); the year is conjectured from this.
2
CD discussed the relationship between wild and domestic cats in Variation 1: 43–8.
3
The notes on gestation in cats appeared in the April and August 1876 issues of Zoologist (2d ser. 11: 4868 and 5038–9). Harting became editor of the Zoologist in 1877.
4
The note appeared in the May 1875 issue of Zoologist (2d ser. 10: 4453–4).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13815,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13815