Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Caton   24 May 1869

Down— Beckenham Kent— S. E.

May 24 1869.

Dear Sir—

I thank you very sincerely for your long letter, the whole of which has interested me much, & for the extremely kind manner in which you offer to give me any further assistance1

I have been extremely glad to read your various details, almost all of which will be of more or less use to me—

With respect to the prong-horned Antelope, the absence of secondary hoofs is given as a generic character by Dr J E Gray;2 & from this circumstance I suppose these hoofs are present in most other genera—

They are present throughout the whole deer family. I am surprised to read what you say about the rarity of the tuft of hair in the turkey hen; for Audubon expressly states that this is always acquired by the hen, tho in a less degree at a greater age than in the male—3 Please to give my best thanks to Dr Paul. The sympathy of a brother naturalist is the highest reward which any one can wish for   Will you tell him that I will not trouble him to send me the fossils as I cd not at present make any use of them4

With my sincere thanks for all your kindness, I remain, dear sir | With much respect yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin—

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2
See letter from J. D. Caton, 5 May 1869 and n. 11. For John Edward Gray’s description of the pronghorn, see J. E. Gray 1852, p. 116.
3
John James Audubon wrote that the tuft of hair on the breast was present on all turkey hens, but only when full-grown (Audubon 1831–[9], 1: 15). In Descent 2: 180, n. 29, CD cited Audubon but also included Caton’s observation that females rarely acquired the tuft of hair. Approximately ten per cent of wild female turkeys are now thought to have the pendulous ‘beard’ (Birds of the world 2: 374).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6757,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6757