Ɛpsilon

From Osbert Salvin   18 October 1871

32, Grove, Boltons. S.W.

18 Oct. 1871.—

My dear Mr Darwin,

A line to ask you if you have ever examined the lamellæ in Prion.1 I have just acquired a specimen in spirits and would either report to you upon it or send it to you to examine yourself. The lamellæ in this genus are confined to the maxilla and differ in this respect from those of the Anatidæ.2 still they are beautifully developed and appear well adapted to sift minute organisms floating on the surface of the ocean.

I have not found these lamellæ in any other genus of Procellaridæ.

Very truly yours | Osbert Salvin.

CD annotations

Top of letter: ‘(Answered 19th)’ ink
1
Salvin and CD had been corresponding about the lamellae in the beaks of ducks and other birds. The genus Prion is now Pachyptila (common name prion), in the family Procellariidae (fulmars, petrels, and shearwaters). CD mentioned it in Origin 6th ed., p. 184. The serrated edges and several horny plates of the bill in prions facilitate the sifting of the zooplankton that forms their diet.
2
Anatidae: the family of ducks, geese, and swans.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8016,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8016