Ɛpsilon

To William Bernhard Tegetmeier   5 February [1869]1

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

Feb 5

My dear Sir

Have you quite thrown me overboard as too troublesome? I have not heard from you for an age.— I wrote some two months ago asking you to send as soon as you could any extracts & facts, which you told me you had collected, about number of sexes— Also any account of even one or two breeds of the fowl,—as colour of plumage of hen & chickens of Pile Game or Golden Hamburghs.— Will you not aid me so far?—2 I hope that are well & that all goes well with you.—3

My regular work has been interrupted for 6 weeks & more by preparing a new Edit. of the “Origin,” which is wearisome work; but I shall now finish in 2 or 3 days.4

Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by CD’s reference to finishing work on a new edition of Origin (see n. 4, below).
2
CD had asked for information on the proportion of sexes in domestic animals in a letter published in the Field, 22 February 1868 (see Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 11 February [1868] and n. 2). Tegetmeier had promised to tabulate results and forward them (ibid., letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, 9 March 1868). In his letter of 8 September [1868] (ibid.), CD had asked Tegetmeier to forward whatever replies he had received to date, and also asked for information on the plumage of a few breeds of fowl, mentioning the pile game breed as an example. The last extant letter from Tegetmeier is that of 25 May 1868 (ibid.).
3
Tegetmeier had evidently mentioned that his health had been poor in September 1868 (see Correspondence vol. 16, letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 September [1868]).
4
CD finished corrections for the fifth edition of Origin on 10 February 1869 (see ‘Journal’ (Correspondence vol. 17, Appendix II)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6600,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6600