Ɛpsilon

To John Thompson1   26 November [1856]2

Down Bromley Kent

Nov. 26th.—

My dear Sir

I thank you much for your promise of the rabbit: whenever the misfortune happens to you will be time enough for the good fortune for me.—3

I am much obliged to you for telling me about the Rabbit at Zoolog. Gardens; & I have written to the Secretary to bespeak the carcase.—4 I think you spoke as if you knew Mr. Vivian well; should you have any communication with him, I shd. be extremely much obliged, if you would state to him how great a favour he would confer if he would let me have the carcase of one of his Creve-Coeur, old Cocks, whenever one should die.5 This Breed is mentioned as very peculiar in the Poultry Chronicle, as having 2 horn-li⁠⟨⁠ke⁠⟩⁠ combs, & when the comb is much developed, I find to my surprise the skull is modified to support it.—6 You might, if so inclined & intimate with Mr Vivian, say that I shd. be most grateful for the bodies of any old birds of curious breeds of Rabbits, Poultry, Pigeon, or Ducks, as I mean to work at the skeletons of all these, & horrid work it will be.— You see I have taken you at your word of kindly offering me assistance with a vengeance.

Pray do not trouble yourself to acknowledge this note; only forgive me sending it. & believe me, my dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin

The best address for parcels (I mention it for chance of your being able to assist me) is C. Darwin Esqe Care of Mr. Acton Post Office Bromley Kent.—

1
The recipient is conjectured from an entry in CD’s Account book (Down House MS), dated 22 January 1857, recording a payment of 12s. 6d. to ‘Thompson’ for a silver grey and Himalayan rabbit. John Thompson was superintendent of the Zoological gardens in London from 1852 to 1859 (Scherren 1905, p. 104).
2
The year is given by the relationship to the letter to W. D. Fox, 14 June [1856], in which CD refers to having asked for the carcass of a Himalayan rabbit from the gardens of the Zoological Society. The letter also precedes a payment for rabbits made in January 1857 (see n. 1, above).
3
Probably the silver grey rabbit paid for in January 1857 (see n. 1, above). CD’s interest in silver grey rabbits later led him to study the origin of their peculiar colouring and their possible contribution to the ancestry of other well-known breeds, in particular the Himalayan rabbit (see Variation 1: 109–11). CD was assisted in his investigation by Abraham Dee Bartlett, Thompson’s successor as superintendent of the Zoological gardens.
4
The secretary of the Zoological Society was David William Mitchell. A previous letter to William Darwin Fox, 16 June [1856], indicates that CD had requested a carcase of a Himalayan rabbit.
5
William Graham Vivian, one of the first to import the crève-coeur from France (Wingfield and Johnson 1853, p. 226).
6
William Bernhard Tegetmeier had described the French fowl known as crève-coeur in Cottage Gardener 16 (1856): 265–6. In Cottage Gardener 18 (1857): 336–7, he reported the results of cross-breeding experiments with his own stock of crève-coeur fowl. CD had possibly acquired a carcass from him after his first notice. CD described this breed briefly in Variation 1: 229.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.1 to you] interl
2.5 old] interl
2.9 &] over illeg
3.1 forgive me] ‘me’ over ‘the’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2001,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2001