To T. H. Farrer 29 October [1868]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Oct 29th
My dear Mr Farrer
I had seen your paper in the Annals & was proud of my share in getting you to publish it, but I am obliged for the copy which you have sent me.2 I know pretty well the structure of the common Violet, but have never seen V. cornuta, so do not understand what part is degraded in the common species.—3 You might work this up into another paper, & let it be accompanied by a wood cut.
My vanity was much pleased at the very elegant German compliment which you paid me in your introductory remarks.4 By the way, as we are in the same boat, I may mention that Prof. Asa Gray (a first-rate Botanist) who used formerly often to throw difficulties about crossing in my way, now spontaneously declares, he hardly ever looks at a flower without feeling convinced that its whole structure is adapted for a cross with another individual.5
Pangenesis has very few friends, so let me beg you not to give it up lightly.6 It may be foolish parental affection, but it has thrown a flood of light on my mind in regard a great series of complex phenomena.—
Pray believe me | Dear Farrer | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
I am delighted that you have joined Linn. Socy.—7
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Farrer, Thomas Henry. 1868. On the manner of fertilization of the scarlet runner and blue lobelia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4th ser. 2: 255–63.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. 1964. Goethes Werke. Hamburg edition, edited by Erich Trunz. 7th edition. 14 vols. and index. Hamburg: Christian Wegner.
Summary
Suggests THF write a paper on violets. Asa Gray, once a sceptic, now declares he is convinced whole structure of a flower is adapted for a cross with another individual.
Urges THF not to give up Pangenesis lightly. "It has thrown light on my mind in regard [to] a great series of complex phenomena."
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6435
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/9)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6435,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6435.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16