Sir,

I take the liberty of submitting to you the following circumstance which has come under my notice:

Early last year I planted several beans which flowered in due course, but, owing I think to the poorness of the soil, bore no seeds. As annuals I expected they would have died; to my surprise, however, each formed a tuber at its root; and they have now grown again,—one sending up four shoots.¹

The fact that no one to whom I have mentioned this circumstanc⁠⟨⁠e⁠⟩⁠ has been acquainted with it will, I trust, be sufficient excuse for my troubling you.

I have the honour to be, Sir | Your’s faithfully | Alfred Martinelli