To A. D. Bartlett   14 February [1865]

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Feb 14

My dear Sir

I am very much obliged for your note,1 answering so fully all my questions, & for the feathers of the Gallus.2 The rabbit has arrived safely, but most unfortunately for me the entrails have been taken out.3 If you catch the other, will you be so good as to send it unmutilated, to me

“care of the Down Postman | Bromley Kent.”

with my thanks believe me | yours faithfully, | Ch. Darwin

LS

Endorsement: ‘Darwin | February 14/65’

1
The letter from Bartlett has not been found.
3
CD wanted to compare the weight of the Porto Santo rabbits with that of other rabbits (see Variation 1: 113, 127). No reply to this letter has been found; however, the weight of the rabbit given by CD in Variation 1: 113 indicates Bartlett did send the other rabbit with entrails included. CD also compared the colour of the rabbits sent to him in 1865 with that of the Porto Santo rabbits they had descended from (see letter to A. D. Bartlett, 30 January [1865] and n. 2). CD had earlier made osteological observations of Porto Santo rabbit specimens that had been preserved in wine and in brine (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 6, letter to W. D. Fox, 8 [June 1856]; see also Variation 1: 116, 120, 122, 126–9).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4771,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4771