To J. Noordhoek Hegt   19 April 1869

Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.

Ap. 19. 1869

Dear Sir

I hope that you will excuse my troubling you once again, & it shall be the last time. I write partly to ask whether there is now any difference in the development of the spurs in the last year’s birds of Pavo Spicifer & cristatus.1 But there is another point, on which I shd be greatly indebted for information.

I hear that you possess adult Mandrills of both sexes, & the young; & I want much to know whether the space at the posterior end of the body, which is almost or quite destitute of hair, is larger in the male than in the female. I believe that the naked space is much more brightly coloured in the male. I want also to know whether the surface destitute of hair on the face is larger in the male than in the female. I have consulted various works of Nat. Hist & find a surprizing difference in the descriptions of the colour of the face in the 2 sexes & in the young.2

Can you refer me to any accurate description of the sexual differences in colour? I fear it wd be quite unreasonable in me to ask you to give me a very brief description of the difference.

As I shd wish to quote you on Pavo & about the Mandrill if you are so kind as to assist me, will you be so good as to tell me whether I read your signature correctly as Hyt or Hijt

It wd give me much pleasure to send you, as a mark of my respect, any of my works, such as my Journal of Travel or Origin of Species &c3

I hope that you will forgive me troubling & believe me | dear Sir | yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin

PS. Do you possess the Macacus inornatus from Borneo, which is said to shed tears when in distress?4

LS(A)

1
See Correspondence vol. 16, letter to Natura Magistra Artis, 28 November 1868, and letter from J. N. Hegt, 11 December 1868. Pavo spicifer is now considered to be a subspecies of P. muticus (the green peafowl); P. cristatus is the common Indian peafowl.
3
CD refers to his Journal of researches and Origin.
4
Macacus inornatus is now Macaca maura. For more on the Macacus inornatus from Borneo, which was bought by the Zoological Society of London, see Correspondence vol. 16, letter from James Murie, 1 May 1868 and n. 1. There is a note by Francis Darwin, dated 20 June 1867, that includes the statements: ‘The Macacus inornatus from Borneo certainly cries, so that the tears roll down its face when in grief or even when pitied. The woman who sold it said so. Bartlett & Sutton have both repeatedly seen it.’ (DAR 189: 138.) Francis referred to Abraham Dee Bartlett, the superintendent of the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, London, and Seth Sutton, a keeper there.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.6 of Nat. Hist] interl in CD’s hand

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6705F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6705F