266 THE LIFE OF PHILIP HENRY GOSSE. 



and the heavy fees of the practitioner, made severe drains 

 upon the family finances, and demanded ceaseless labour 

 on my father's part. Yet there was some work of a different 

 and a higher kind performed through this distressing 

 winter. One of the most brilliant of all his monographs 

 — his own special favourite in later years — the paper on 

 Lav sabellarum, was read before the Linnaean Society in 

 December, and was received with great respect. There 

 was much close correspondence, too, and interchange 

 of specimens, with Joshua Alder in the North, and with 

 Robert Battersby in Torquay. Philip Gosse, moreover, 

 was engaged at this time in the delightful task of helping 

 Charles Darwin to develop his various important theories, 

 and the three succeeding letters (now first published) may 

 be taken as specimens of this correspondence : — 



" Down, Bromley, Kent, September 22, 1856. 



" My dear Sir, 



" I want much to beg a little information from 

 " you. 



" I am working hard at the general question of varia- 

 "tion, and paying for this end special attention to 

 " domestic pigeons. This leads me to search out how 

 " many species are truly rock pigeons, i.e. do not roost 

 " or willingly perch or nest in trees. Tenminck puts C. 

 " leiicocepJiala (your bald-pate) under this category. Can 

 " this be the case ? Is the loud coo to which you refer 

 "in your interesting Sojourn like that of the domestic 

 "pigeon ? I see in this same work you speak of rabbits 

 " run wild ; I am paying much attention to them and 

 "am making a large collection of their skeletons. Do 

 " you think you could get any of your zealous and 

 " excellent correspondents to send me an adult (neck 

 ''not broken) female specimen? It would be of great 



