From Joseph Bullar 23 May 1868
Basset Wood Southampton
May 23 1868
Dear Sir,
Having been much interested in your inferences as to the influence of the pollen on the ovarium in actually modifying it,1 I take the liberty of sending you some inferences I made two years ago in confirmation.
Trying to ascertain the relations between the numbers of the stamens & pistils & the seed vessels I tabulated in columns these parts of all our British genera of flowering plants, & came to the conclusion—that whenever the ovarium was divided, and its divisions did not follow the number (or its multiples) of the styles, which is usually the case,—it followed the number (or its multiples) of the stamens—or in other words when the ovarium was not determined in its divisions by the female it was by the male
For instance
Hyoscyamus—2 5 stamens 2 lobed pistil— ovary 2 celled
Primula— 5 stamens 1 pistil 5 celled & 5 lobed ovarium
This I found held good as a general rule in all British genera of flowering plants, & it seems to me strikingly to confirm your view that the male actually has the power under certain circumstances of modifying the female organization a physiological point of so great importance—
Believe me | dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Joseph Bullar
Mr. Darwin Esq
Footnotes
Bibliography
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Is interested in CD’s remarks on role of pollen in modifying ovarium. Sends his own observations on numerical relations of stamens and pistils to divisions in the ovarium.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6201
- From
- Joseph Bullar
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Bassett Wood
- Source of text
- DAR 160: 372
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6201,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6201.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16