RECORD: Darwin, C. R. [1838]. Notebook D: 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 (excised pages). CUL-DAR208.35. Edited by John van Wyhe (The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

REVISION HISTORY: Text prepared and edited by John van Wyhe 6.2025. RN1

NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. The volume CUL-DAR208 contains notebook leaves excised by Darwin.

Notebook D: Transmutation. Text & image CUL-DAR123.-


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W. D. Fox1 has a cat which he bought in Portsmouth, said to come from coast of Guinea, — ears bare, skin black & wrinkled — fur short (tail cut off in progeny peculiar) limbs very long, eyes very large, very fierce to dogs. — otherwise habits not different; tone of voice perhaps rather different. Crossed with common cat, exact variety unknown, three kittens alike each other, partaking more very closely of form of mother: more than of the common cat. —

1

Ch IX Mongrels Hybrids

Fox has half Persian cat which bred with unknown common house cat. — had four kittens. two appeared

1 William Darwin Fox, personal communication.

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so very like common cat, that they were killed & other two very closely resembled in form of tail, fur &c. to the half bred Persian. — Here then we have clear case of heterogenous offspring from one impregnation. ? is this one impregnation, or two impregnations one giving half character & other more of English, but the effect is the same. —

Fox thinks that when a wild animal is crossed with a

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tame, offspring always takes most after wild. — i.e. that no domesticated ones have been so long as wild one under present form. — Fox has seen several cases of foxes and dogs crossed. offspring always more resembled foxes than dogs (mem Jackal in Zoolog. Gardens) He has seen in a show half wolf & half Esquimaux dog which appeared to be intermediate between two parents. — this is very interesting as Esquimaux dog approaches to species. Again he has seen several crosses between Esquimaux dog & common dogs & Fox thinks they decidedly take

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much more after Esquimaux. — this agrees perfectly with Yarrell1 & no leading question was put. —
Fox thinks half Lion & Tigers are exactly intermediate in character & kittens alike each other. —

Even in children of parents some one sometimes resembles one parent & one another & are not exactly intermediate. —

1 William Yarrell ; this and the following pages read like notes taken at a discussion meeting of the Zoological Society.

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& another leader mare. — this stallion though eager to all other mares had been entirely broken from these mares, (though horsing every month) & worked in the same cart in loose chains, by being at first beaten from her, & always accustomed to her. — even parallel to brothers & sisters in mankind. —
The case of all blue eyed cats (Fox has seen repeated cases) being deaf curious case of corelation of imperfect structure. —

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Fox says in Lord Exeter's Park or in the Duke of Marlborough there is a breed of white-tailed squirrels, which form a marked wild variety, doubtful whether all are white.

3

Fox says the Half Muscovy.

Fox says a settler near Swan river lost his two cows entirely, changed his residence a great many miles — yet one day a cow walked in, then disappeared, & three days afterwards came again, bringing with her the other & younger cow. —


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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

File last updated 1 July, 2025