From Isaac Anderson-Henry 17 April 1863
Hay Lodge, | Trinity, | Edinburgh.
April 17/63
My dear Sir
Your last Letter of 2d February informed me, what I was truly sorry to learn, of your being obliged to be absent for a time from ill health.1 I hope you are now restored & in the midst of your most interesting pursuits, advancing science by fresh discoveries & covering yourself with still brighter laurels. I too am, in my humble sphere, also at work. Today I have, as you suggested tried the experiment on 3 different plants of Primula polyanthus to test the result you accomplished by long and short anthers.2 And, I think, when I come to report upon it, you will allow I have done it ample justice.3 I have had the plants under glass for some 3 weeks.
I have also been testing Mr Cunninghams experiment by which the Bryanthus erectus was said to be produced—and also the fertility of that plant touched by the pollen of the alleged parents respectively.4 I have the Pods of M. Cærulea (Phyllodoce Cærulea) offering to swell with the pollen of the Rhodothamnus Chaemæcistus;—& the M. empetriformis with the same pollen seems in a hopeful way— Those crosses inverted on the Rhodothamnus also bid fair But of all this again, & other things, I have on hand
Meantime I hasten to say that, in a Letter I have from Dr Jameson dated 7 March he says;—“I had the pleasure of receiving a Letter from Mr Darwin who has been for some time pursuing a course of investigation on the staminal organs of the Melastomaceæ; & is desirous of obtaining facts relative the fertilisation of the fruit. I shall attend particularly to that matter and communicate the result by an early opportunity”5
He further informs me that he had been asked by the President (of the Equator) to publish a Flora of those Regions, which he regrets his inability to accomplish for various reasons.—6 Such a work by one so able to do it justice would have been a great gain to Botanical Science. It is a pity he cannot undertake it
My dear Sir would you forgive me asking, if you have one to spare, a Carte of yourself.— Next to the pleasure of seeing the original will be that of viewing the likeness of one I honour & admire so much. These things do little justice to those like me past the meridian of life— But I presume yours will show the features of a younger man than the enclosed, which I humbly take the liberty of offering for your acceptance.7 Believe with best wishes | most faithfully yours | Is. anderson Henry
Charles Darwin Esq. F.R.S. | &c &c
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bates, Henry Walter. 1863. The naturalist on the River Amazons. A record of adventures, habits of animals, sketches of Brazilian and Indian life, and aspects of nature under the equator, during eleven years of travel. 2 vols. London: John Murray.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’: On the two forms, or dimorphic condition, in the species of Primula, and on their remarkable sexual relations. By Charles Darwin. [Read 21 November 1861.] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society (Botany) 6 (1862): 77–96. [Collected papers 2: 45–63.]
DNB: Dictionary of national biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1912. Dictionary of national biography 1912–90. Edited by H. W. C. Davis et al. 9 vols. London: Oxford University Press. 1927–96.
EB: The Encyclopædia Britannica. A dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information. 11th edition. 29 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1910–11.
Jameson, William. 1865. Synopsis plantarum æquatoriensium, exhibens plantas praecipue in regione temperata et frigida crescentes, secundum systematam naturalem descriptas viribus medicatis et usibus oeconomicis plurimarum adjectis. 3 vols. Quito, Ecuador: typis J. P. Sanz.
Summary
Has done Primula polyanthus experiment CD suggested.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4105
- From
- Isaac Anderson/Isaac Anderson Henry
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Edinburgh
- Source of text
- DAR 159: 64
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4105,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4105.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11