My dear Darwin

On returning to my labours at Kew this morning after an absence of nearly three months I find on my table two memoranda of yours to which I hasten to reply¹

I have never spoken of species of thistles in England not producing fertile seed—² All I have said was in my address of 1862 p. 19 in which I observed “How is it that when our hedges are annually loaded with the fruit of the bramble or our fields covered with the down of Carduus arvensis we seldom see a seedling of the one or the other?— Nature having concurrently provided for their propagation by the marching and rooting stems of the former and the creeping rhizomes of the latter”³ which was strongly taken up by Hewett Watson⁴ who sent me a box of young seedling Brambles.— I meant and ought to have said a full-grown seedling   I never intended to deny that seeds are formed and shed and that they germinate in Autumn— but meant (as it appears to me to be clear from what follows) merely to show that we do not know what becomes of them in winter for in spring the infinite majority of the plants in these species in our climate are the result of propagation from buds (marching stems or creeping rhizomes) and not from seeds. So much is this the case that some Norfolk farmers say that Carduus arvensis will not propagate from seed and I heard when there that one farmer had said that he would give 5^s/ to any one who would prove that it could be raised from seed— I may possibly have repeated this story and that may have led some one to suppose that I believe that C. arvensis did not produce fertile seed—whereas I am perfectly aware that it is often introduced into fields by seed— when there it generally spreads by its rhizomes   In the above quoted passage I referred to what requires investigation not to undoubted facts.

Secondly about borrowing books from the Linnean Society.⁵ Strict regulations were rendered necessary by the abuse of the privilege on the part of non-scientific or careless fellows but there was always an understanding that these regulations admitted of exceptions in the case of working Naturalists—both as to number of volumes and as to time, and also as to the privilege of borrowing valuable works which we cannot lend out to everybody. The great difficulty is that our Librarian⁶ who is in many respects invaluable is sometimes too great a stickler to forms and does not like the responsibility of discretionary power, but in any case of doubtful exception to rules he ought to apply to the Secretary⁷ instead of refusing peremptorily. I feel confident however that when you want to borrow more than the regulation number at a time if you write to him saying you wish to do so he would let you have them—or if he does not pray let me know that I may speak to him— We of the Council are particularly anxious that the Library should be made as useful as possible to working Naturalists especially to such as yourself—and at the same time that books should not be kept away from the Library and thus out of reach of the great mass of Fellows by those who really make no use of them.

I have been much gratified by the accounts of your improved health and sincerely trust you may go on progressing⁸—and that we may soon see the new work Murray has so long announced⁹

Yours very sincerely | George Bentham