Down,
Beckenham, Kent.
Railway Station
Orpington. S.E.R.
Sept[ember] 5
My dear Wallace
"Conscious" seems to me much better than "voluntary". Conscious action, I presume comes into play when 2 males fight for a female; but I do not know whether you admit that for instance the spur of the cock [one word illegible crossed out] is due to sexual selection.
I am quite willing to admit that the sounds & vocal organs of some males are used only for challenging, but I doubt whether this applies to the musical notes of Hylobates or the howling (I judge chiefly from Rengger) [2] of the American monkeys.— In no account that I have seen of the stridulation of male insects shows that it is a challenge.— All those who have attended to birds consider their song as a charm to the females & not as a challenge. As the males in most cases search for the females I do not see how their odoriferous organs will aid them in finding the females.
[3] But it is foolish in me to go on writing, for I believe I have said most of this in my book: anyhow I well remember thinking over it.— The "belling" of male stags, if I remember rightly, is a challenge, & so I daresay is the roaring of the lion during the breeding season.—
I will just add that I in reference to your former letter that I fully admit [4] with birds that the fighting of the males cooperates with their charms; & I remember quoting Bartlett that gaudy colouring in the males is almost invariably concomitant with pugnacity.
But thank Heavens what little more I can do in science will be confined to observation on simple points. However much I may have blundered, I have done my best, & that is my constant comfort.—
Most truly yours | C. Darwin [signature]
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1976.1866)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 301]
Down, Beckenham, Kent. September 5, (1877).
My dear Wallace, — "Conscious" seems to me much better than "voluntary." Conscious action, I presume, comes into play when two males fight for a female; but I [2] [p. 302] do not know whether you admit that, for instance, the spur of the cock is due to sexual selection.
I am quite willing to admit that the sounds and vocal organs of some males are used only for challenging, but I doubt whether this applies to the musical notes of Hylobates1 or to the howling (I judge chiefly from Rengger)2 of the American monkeys. No account that I have seen of the stridulation of male insects shows that it is a challenge. All those who have attended to birds consider their song as a charm to the females and not as a challenge. As the males in most cases search for the females I do not see how their odoriferous organs will aid them in finding the females. But it is foolish in me to go on writing, for I believe I have said most of this in my book: anyhow, I well remember thinking over it. The "belling" of male stags, if I remember rightly, is a challenge, and so I daresay is the roaring of the lion during the breeding season.
I will just add in reference to your former letter that I fully admit that with birds the fighting of the males co-operates with their charms; and I remember quoting Bartlett3 that gaudy colouring in the males is almost invariably concomitant with pugnacity. But, thank Heaven, what little more I can do in science will be confined to observation on simple points. However much I may have blundered, I have done my best, and that is my constant comfort. — Most truly yours, | C. DARWIN.
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1976.6074)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP1976,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1976