From J. D. Hooker 16 April 1875
Kew
April 16/75.
Dear Darwin
I quite approve the draft. in its essential features.1 I had a talk with Huxley2 about it last night—who is very strongly in favour of a bill.
Yes I know the pitchers of one species of Dischidia a native of Malacca—see Linn. Trans. xx. t. 17. 18. in which the roots dip into the hollow of the leaf! & it would be very curious if it digested leaves.3 I once had the plant at Kew, but it arrived in a dying state. I have just appointed a Gardener to the Straits settlements4 & shall hope to get the plant. The other Dischidias have nothing of the kind!
I should fancy that the spathe of Alocasia is to hold insects for fertilization.5
sesquipedalis = a foot & a half & applies to the length of the pitcher.
Ever yr aff | J D Hooker
Footnotes
Bibliography
Griffith, William. 1846. On the structure of the ascidia and stomata of Dischidia rafflesiana Wall. [Read 20 January 1846.] Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20 (1846–7): 387–90.
Griffith, William. 1847. On the impregnation of Dischidia. [Read 2 March 1847.] Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20 (1846–7): 391–6.
Summary
Approves draft of vivisection bill. Huxley strongly in favour of a bill.
Knows of the pitchers of one species of Dischidia.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9935
- From
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Kew
- Source of text
- DAR 104: 25
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9935,” accessed on
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23
