To J. D. Hooker 12–13 August [1863]1
Down
Aug. 13th.
My dear Hooker
Many thanks for Decaisne returned by this post.2 I have been glad to see it, though, as you say, it contains nothing new.3 I remember formerly he was much inclined to look at pears as descended from several aboriginal forms.4 As for the Larkspurs, I shall be astonished if he prove right.5 I will at once try them on a small scale. It will be marvellous to me that a flower shd. be so elaborately adapted to be sucked by bees, & not profit by its own structure.—6
I go on working at climbers & tendrils much to my own amusement & I have now on the table a Ceropegia which has caught firm hold of a stick, 26 inches distant from itself & centre of rotation.7 It troubles me much not knowing what is known:8 thus today I see that the peduncle of young leaves of Tropæolum Canariense are all very sensitive to touch, & as the top of shoot rotates, the peduncles are brought into contact with sticks & cling to them; which to me is new method of climbing.9 Virginian creeper is the oddest of climbers; contact promptly causing a cellular cushion to grow out on the back & sides of the point, & this exudes a resinous cement, or at least a cement, which essential oils & no other reagent act on.10 But good Lord, how I do maunder on to you about my hobby-horses. Your new plants are not yet recovered enough to observe.—11
I wrote the above yesterday & I now find out that Dutrochet has observed the spontaneous movements of the internodes of climbers & tendril-bearing plants.12 So that I have thrown away some good time; but I hardly regret it, for I have had some good sport. Possibly I may have observed enough new to draw up short paper, but I must get his papers in the Comtes Rendus.13
I wish some Botanist, like Oliver, would publish a full book on Bot. Phys & miscellaneous matter, with lots of references. It would be awfully laborious, but I shd. think very useful.14
There is going to be a marriage in our family, between my sister, Catherine who is only a year younger than I am, & Mr Langton, a widower of my wifes sister.15
Good night: I hope you will soon be rather less busy— goodnight | Yours affect.— | C. Darwin
Remember the medallion of Dr. Darwin by Wedgwood, which you had for a cast; do not let it be lost16
Footnotes
Bibliography
‘Climbing plants’: On the movements and habits of climbing plants. By Charles Darwin. [Read 2 February 1865.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 9 (1867): 1–118.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Decaisne, Joseph. 1858–75. Le jardin fruitier du Muséum ou iconographie de toutes les espèces et variétés d’arbres fruitiers cultivés dans cet établissement avec leur description, leur histoire, leur synonymie, etc. 9 vols. in 5. Paris: Firmin Didot Frères, fils & Cie.
Decaisne, Joseph. 1863. De la variabilité dans l’espèce du poirier; résultat d’expériences faites au Muséum d’histoire naturelle de 1853 à 1862 inclusivement. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences 57: 6–17. [Reprinted in Annales des sciences naturelles (botanique) 4th ser. 20: 188–200.]
Desmond, Ray. 1994. Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. New edition, revised with the assistance of Christine Ellwood. London: Taylor & Francis and the Natural History Museum. Bristol, Pa.: Taylor & Francis.
Dutrochet, René Joachim Henri. 1843. Des mouvements révolutifs spontanés qui s’observent chez les végétaux. [Read 6 November 1843.] Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des Sciences 17: 989–1008.
Emma Darwin (1915): Emma Darwin: a century of family letters, 1792–1896. Edited by Henrietta Litchfield. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1915.
List of the Linnean Society of London. London: [Linnean Society of London]. 1805–1939.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Doubts Decaisne’s report of larkspur self-fertilisation.
Enthusiastically observes climbing plants. Needs to know how novel his observations are. Finds R. J. H. Dutrochet has made similar observations, so he has wasted some time. [See Climbing plants, p. 1 n.]
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4266
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 115: 202
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4266,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4266.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11