Ɛpsilon

To W. B. Tegetmeier   17 April 1869

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Ap 17. 1869.

My dear Sir

If not inconvenient I shd be grateful for any scraps of information about the plumage of the chickens of Cuckoo breeds & Seabright bantams, if you have been able to obtain such.1 Also the table of the greyhound births, if you have been able to set the clerk to work.2 I must, in about a week’s time, begin on subjects which lead me much to require the above information.

Have you had any success about eggs?3

Forgive me for being so troublesome & believe me | yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

P.S. If you shd ever meet any one who breeds Sebastopol geese, cd you find out at what age the curled feathers first appear?4

LS

2
CD had asked Tegetmeier to tabulate male and female births per year among greyhounds using the Coursing Calendar (see Correspondence vol. 16, letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 15 February 1868] and n. 4, letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 15 February [1868], and letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [16–20 February 1868]).
4
Sebastopol geese have curled feathers on parts of their bodies (see Tegetmeier 1867, pp. 312, 316).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6698,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6698