From W. B. Tegetmeier   10 December [1866]1

Muswell Hill

Monday Decr 10.

My dear Sir

I did not write before as I expected to see Mr Zurhorst at Birmingham,— — From the conversation I have had with him respecting the eggs I do not think his information is sufficiently definite to be of use— It really amounts only to this, that a spanish hen running with his cochins laid dark eggs.— Whether she did so before or not he does not know2

My single experiment was that a spanish hen running with cochins laid perfectly white eggs, that were fertilized by the cochin and from which I hatched chickens

I regretted much not seeing you3   I wished to ask you your conclusions respecting the original stock of the Guinea fowl, the Duck—The so called Buenos Ayres duck4 and the Goose— I know practically very little of the origin of these birds and should like to be in accord with you in the Poultry Book5

Trusting you are quite strong | Believe me | Yours very truly | W B Tegetmeier.

C Darwin Esq

Should you like to write to Mr Zurhorst his address is

Belleville

Donny brook

Co Dublin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 4 December [1866].
2
CD had asked for Frederick William Zurhorst’s address in order to ask him about the eggs of a cross between a Cochin hen and a Spanish fowl (see letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 4 December [1866] and n. 2).
3
CD had been unable to see Tegetmeier in London during his November visit (see letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 4 December [1866] and n. 3).
4
The Buenos Aires duck was also referred to as the Labrador or the East Indian duck (see Tegetmeier 1867, p. 306, and Variation 1: 276). CD described the Labrador duck in Variation as having entirely black plumage and as a variety of the common domestic duck, descended from the common wild duck, Anas boschas (Variation 1: 276–7).
5
The reference is to Tegetmeier 1867 (see letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, 22 January [1866] and nn. 10 and 11).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5299,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5299