COLLABORATOR OF DARWIN 103 



is as follows : " Paper on the formation of the 

 cells of bees read at British Association, quoted 

 by Darwin, ' Origin of Species,' 1st Edition, 

 1859, page 228." As, however, Tegetmeier care- 

 fully collected and treasured Darwin's letters to 

 him up to within a few years ago, there was 

 little need for him to make notes in the diary 

 on that subject. Unfortunately for us, these 

 letters, to the number of 160, were sold through 

 Mr. Quaritch, to a collector in America. It was 

 one of Tegetmeier's proudest boasts in after 

 years that he had been instrumental in furthering 

 the researches of the great naturalist, and that 

 his co-operation had been handsomely acknow- 

 ledged, and he always referred with pride and 

 pleasure to the connection in any subsequent 

 speeches, articles of reminiscence, or interviews 

 for the Press. 



The letters, however, though interesting from 

 a biological point of view, are not important 

 from a biographical one, and they were not 

 included in the Life and Letters of Charles 

 Darwin, published by his son Francis, in which 

 the biographer wrote that the letters consisted 

 almost entirely of series of questions relating to 

 the different breeds of fowls, pigeons, etc. In this 

 book Mr. Francis Darwin says : "To Mr. W. B. 

 Tegetmeier, the well-known writer on poultry, 

 etc., he was indebted for constant advice and 

 co-operation. Their correspondence began in 1855 



