Dear Sir,

In accordance with your wish I procured a supply of L. cordata & made some observations on it—¹ About the time of full expansion & when the pollen is matured the small hairs on the lower surface of rostellum are directed perpendicularly downwards & their points touch the central line of the labellum. I carefully—under a lense—pushed a bristle along central line of labellum towards the rostellum; it or any other small body cannot penetrate the space between rostellum & labellum without coming in contact with hairs & front margin of the former; when such contact occurs there is a sudden explosion & the whole pollen mass instantly adheres to the touching body, the rostellum at the same time spreading out & covering the stigmatic surface. After a time the rostellum becomes retracted & the stigma exposed; so that the pollen cannot possibly touch the stigma of its own flower, but when applied to another—whose pollinia are removed—fragments adhere. Small Diptera and Hymenoptera have been seen on the flowers but as yet no pollinia on them. I send you bristles with adhering pollinia, I fear however they may become detached during their long journey by post.

I have read your work with much satisfaction,² & while subscribing to your remarks—page 28—respecting adaptations,³ I frankly confess that I cannot comprehend how they can be explained by “natural selection” or what relation they have to that view.

Truly yours | G Dickie