To T. H. Farrer 6 May [1869]1
Down. | Beckenham | Kent. S.E.
May 6th—
My dear Mr Farrer
Thanks for your note. I doubted about degradation, & had not slightest objection to gradation, because I did not like the idea, & knew nothing about the facts.
I disliked & still dislike the idea because I can see no reason for it. V. cornuta (I believe) & certainly V. canina & odorata produce perfect flowers adapted for a cross, & small closed flowers to insure a stock of seed through self-fertilisation. V. tricolor which it seems stands near one end of the series does not produce the small closed flowers, & is only very moderately fertile when the visits of insects are prevented.2 Hence I can see no meaning in degradation, but every step in progress wd be advantageous.
Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
—But to invert a saying of Agassiz “Nature often lies” & does things quite contrary to theory.—3
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Summary
Dislikes the use of the term "degradation" as applied to the closed flowers of Viola species. Species with such self-fertilising flowers also have flowers adapted for crossing. The development of closed flowers adapted to ensure a sufficient stock of seed is progressive.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6730
- 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 299/1)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6730,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6730.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17