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To Francis Darwin   5 August [1880]1

Down—

Aug 5.—

My dear F.—

Your criticism all excellent.—2

I had remembered Lotus & sent correction to Printers.3 Further on I have given the reference to Sachs & his comparison of movements of plants to those of animals.—4

I have added reference to Stahl; but please remember to tell me, where later numbers of Bot. Zeitung are kept, that I may add page to Stahl.5 I hunted yesterday & could not find any but the old bound volumes— I despatched Ch. IX to you this morning & am now at Ch. X— There are only 12 Chapters— I am very tired so will write no more—

Thank God we can see daylight through the work— I am so sorry that your holidays shd. be spoiled by this accursed work.—

C. D.—

Averrhoa cut all right, but leaflets sometimes sink lower & I have added this.—6

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the reference to corrections to Movement in plants.
2
Francis was correcting proof-sheets of Movement in plants.
3
Lotus is the genus of trefoil or deervetch; several species are discussed in Movement in plants. The printers were William Clowes & Sons.
4
CD quoted remarks by Julius Sachs on the resemblance between plant and animal movements in Movement in plants, pp. 571–2 n.
5
CD had received an offprint of an article by Ernst Stahl from Botanische Zeitung (Stahl 1880; see letter from Francis Darwin, [1 August 1880] and n. 2). The article is cited in Movement in plants, p. 446.
6
A woodcut and diagram of Averrhoa bilimbi (bilimbi or cucumber tree), showing the angular movement of leaves going to sleep, appeared in Movement in plants, pp. 330–1; CD explained in the text that part of the falling movement (from eighty-five to seventy-five degrees) had not been included in order to fit the diagram on to the page (ibid., p. 332).

Bibliography

Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.

Stahl, Ernst. 1880a. Ueber den Einfluss von Richtung und Stärke der Beleuchtung auf einige Bewegungserscheinungen im Pflanzenreiche. Botanische Zeitung 38: 297–304, 321–43, 345–57, 361–8, 377–81, 393–400, 409–13.

Summary

Discusses corrections [to Movement in plants]. Has dispatched chapter nine.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-12679
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Francis Darwin
Sent from
Down
Source of text
DAR 211: 66
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12679,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12679.xml

letter

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