From M. T. Masters 20 April 1866
International Horticultural Exhibition, | & Botanical Congress, | Office, 1, William Street, Lowndes Square, S.W.
April 20 1866
My dear Sir/
I hope you will not attribute the fact of my not having sent you Caspary’s paper (read at Amsterdam) to my negligence—1 the truth is it is not yet published but I believe it soon will be when I will forward it to you as soon as I shall have looked it through in in the interests of the Gard. Chron.2 in the meantime it may interest you to know that Caspary intends to read an elaborate paper at our congress on the motion observed in the branches of trees as the result of cold—3 His paper is minute in detail and accompanied with diagrams &c
The principal conclusions at wh. he arrives are
1. That there is in frosty weather a lateral movement (to the left hand) of the branches & in direct proportion to the intensity of the cold.
2. There is also a vertical movement from above downwards
3. Sometimes a similar movement in the reverse direction i.e. upwards
4 In other cases the branches rise in mild weather & droop in frost—
Another Paper which concerns you is one of Lecoq’s on the migration of plants wh special reference to the mountain flora of Auvergne nearly identical with those of the Alps & Pyrenees—4 He disagrees with you as to the glacial epoch and its effect in producing the present distribution of plants He says the former greater extension of glaciers was rather due to a higher than to a lower temperature and says he has anticipated Frankland & Tyndall in this point see his book Des glaciers et des Climats”—5 He considers that birds and the winds have effected the colonization of Alpine & Articc plants in the Auvergne mountains6—but while disagreeing with you on most points he shares your views as to Origin of Species and has anticipated you— see his Etudes sur la geographie botanique de l’Europe tom i. p. 140. tom iv. p 245–277.7
—The other papers that I have got (more than we quite know what to do with!) are mostly technical either horticultural or botanical should anything turn up that I think will be likely to interest you I will let you know before hand.8 De C’s address is chiefly on the relations of Vegl. Physiol. to Horticult. & of the services wh. Horticulturists (not devoted to £.s.d only) might render to Veg. Phys & Bot.9
If all this is caviare pray excuse me and believe me though hastily yet with great respect | yours faithfully | Maxwell. T. Masters
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
DNB: Dictionary of national biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1912. Dictionary of national biography 1912–90. Edited by H. W. C. Davis et al. 9 vols. London: Oxford University Press. 1927–96.
International Horticultural Exhibition 1866: International Horticultural Exhibition and Botanical Congress, held in London, from May 22nd to May 31st, 1866. Report of Proceedings. London: Truscott, Son, & Simmons.
Lecoq, Henri. 1847. Des glaciers et des climats, ou des causes atmosphériques en géologie. Paris: P. Bertrand.
Lecoq, Henri. 1854–8. Études sur la géographie botanique de l’Europe et en particulier sur la végétation du plateau central de la France. 9 vols. Paris: J. B. Baillière.
Lecoq, Henri. 1866. De la migration des plantes des montagnes. International Horticultural Exhibition 1866, pp. 158–65.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Origin 4th ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 4th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1866.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Rowlinson, J. S. 1971. The theory of glaciers. Notes and records of the Royal Society of London 26: 189–204.
Tyndall, John. 1860. The glaciers of the Alps. Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, an account of the origin and phenomena of glaciers, and an exposition of the physical principles to which they are related. London: J. Murray.
Summary
Expects R. Caspary’s paper to be published soon.
Reports the conclusions of another of RC’s papers on the movement of tree branches due to cold [Bull. Congr. Int. Bot. & Hortic. Lond. (1866): 98–117]
and discusses a paper by H. Lecoq on the mountain flora of the Auvergne [Proc. Bot. Congr. (1866): 158–65]. He disagrees with CD on glaciation and its effect on geographical distribution.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5062
- From
- Maxwell Tylden Masters
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Int. Hortic. Exhib.
- Source of text
- DAR 171: 75
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5062,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5062.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14