To George King 24 October 1881
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R. [66 Hills Road, Cambridge.]
October 24. 1881.
My dear Sir
Although the specimen of the Dischidia has not yet arrived, I will not delay any longer thanking you for your letter of September 13th. & the drawing.1 The case seems to be an extraordinary one, and it would appear as if the plants manufactured little buckets of manure-water for its own roots! Unless you could prevent the access of ants or other insects & filled the pitchers with pure water, it would be very difficult to make out the use of the parts. I have not histological knowledge enough to undertake the dissection of so precious a specimen; but I will write to Hooker to enquire whether he knows of any one capable of the work. It would be interesting to learn whether there are any nectar-seating glands in the upper part, & absorbent glands or structures (perhaps like those within the bladder of Uricularia)2 in the lower part. I despatched about a week ago a copy of my book on earth-worms, on which subject you gave me such invaluable aid.—3 I hope that the book may interest you in some slight degree, though obviously of no great importance.—
With many thanks | Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
If I cannot find a capable man my son Francis or I myself will examine the microscopical structure of the pitchers4
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.
Insectivorous plants 2d ed. By Charles Darwin. Revised by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1888.
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Summary
Thanks for specimen of Dischidia. Will ask Hooker who might dissect it.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13426
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- George King
- Sent from
- Cambridge Down letterhead
- Source of text
- DAR 146: 19
- Physical description
- C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13426,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13426.xml