WCP1864

Letter (WCP1864.1754)

[1]

Down.

Bromley.

Kent. S.E.

Feb 1 [1865]1

My dear Wallace

I am much obliged for your photograph, for I have lately set up a Scientific Album; & for the papers which I will read before long. I enclose my own Photo, taken by my son2 & I have no other. I fear it will be a long time before I shall be able [2] to sit to a Photographer otherwise I should be happy to sit to Mr Simms [Sims] 3[.]

Thanks for information about the Aru pig, which will make me very cautious. It is a perplexing case, for Nathusius4 says the skull of the Aru resembles that of the Chinese breed & he thinks that Sus Papuensis has been founded [3] on a young skull; De Blainville5 stating that an old skull from New Guinea resembles that of the wild pigs of Malabar, & these belong to the S[us]. scrofa type, which is different from the Chinese domestic breed. The latter has not been found in a wild condition

Believe me | dear Wallace | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]

1
A red crayon annotation adds '?1866' in the upper right-hand corner of page 1. The correct date of 1865 has been established by the Darwin Correspondence Project. See DCP-LETT-4760.
2
Darwin, William Erasmus (1839-1914). First-born son of Charles Robert and Emma Darwin.
3
Sims, Thomas (1826-1910). Brother-in-law of ARW; photographer.
4
Nathusius, Hermann Engelhard von (1809-1879). German zoologist and agriculturist.
5
Blainville, Henri Marie Ducrotay de (1777-1850). French zoologist and anatomist. Appointed chair of comparative anatomy at Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in 1830.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1864.1754)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Darwin Correspondence Project [2012-06-29] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Published letter (WCP1864.5946)

[1] [p. 162]

Down, Bromley, Kent, S.E. February 1, 1865.

My dear Wallace,— I am much obliged for your photograph, for I have lately set up ta scientific album; and for the papers, which I will read before long. I enclose my own photo, taken by my son, and I have no other. I fear it will be a long time before I shall be able to sit to a photographer, otherwise I should be happy to sit to Mr. Sims.

Thanks for information about the Aru pig, which will make me very cautious.

It is a perplexing case, for Nathusius says the skull of the Aru resembles that of the Chinese breed, and he thinks that Sus papuensis has been founded on a young skull; D. Blainville stating that an old skull from New Guinea resembles that of the wild pigs of Malabar, and these belong to the S. scrofa type, which is different from the Chinese domestic breed. The latter has not been found in a wild condition: — Believe me, dear Wallace, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1864.5946)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Congerton, John [2019-12-17]

Please cite as “WCP1864,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 7 June 2023, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1864