Dear Sir,

I was sorry to see from your letter of the 18^th. ult^mo. that you had met with an accident and hope that ere this you have quite recovered from its effects.¹

I have received the “Fertilization of Orchids” and pamphlet on climbing plants and am very much obliged indeed to you for them.² I have looked into them here and there and find them very interesting   I hope soon to read them attentively   such subjects as these make me feel inclined to study botany— Curiously I yesterday afternoon when out for a walk found an orchis (of what species I do not know) which practically illustrated the mode of adhesion of the pollinia— How curious that a vegetable should be dependant on an animal— I suspect that many other instances will be discovered—

With respect to sheep I have written to a Portuguese agricultural periodical without as yet having received any answer regarding the rate of development of their horns.³

I have examined a few sheep on the Candal side of the river Douro⁴ and found the rams horned and some of the ewes had very small and shrivelled horns of about an inch or two in length—

Another shewed only two white spots where the horns usually spring from and some did not seem to shew signs of horns—

I shall not relinquish the subject until I get the opinion of experienced people—

I suppose you are trying to prove the elimination under domestication of the horns in the ewes of the merino breed— I think the effect of the pasturage should always be kept in view— We see the effect of soil on the vine for Port Wine cannot be produced at Oporto even with the proper vine but only (as yet) in a certain district in the neighbourhood of Regoa and Lamego—⁵

Tail-less Dogs— My pointer bitch only brought forth 6 pup 3 of them have stumps of tails like the father and mother two have $\frac{3}{4}$ of a tail and another an apparently entire tail— 5 were dogs and one with $\frac{3}{4}$ of tail was the only bitch. Here we have a new breed of dog! I do not know how I am to prove that it proceeds from mutilation with inheritance but the length of the stump seems to make it somewhat probable—⁶

I have examined minutely with glasses of different powers the Drosophyllum Lusitanicum but cannot see any motion—⁷

The purple disc on the top of the pedicle seems to become darker after an insect has clung to it for some time and they also appear drier   the liquid forms into white crystals. Three of the flowers have not come to maturity and one of the two remaining plants seems to be drying but we have really had such shockingly bad weather that all plants seem to have suffered—

The glands on the flowers differ somewhat from those on the leaves looking more like vegetable hairs—

It would be interesting to know whether the plants cross through insect agency   I should think it scarcely possible and a curious paradox. Also whether the plant can exist without insect food or be proved to be another plant dependant on animal life.

I beg to enclose Brotero’s description of the plant which may prove useful to you.⁸ There is a kind of beetle which swarms on flowers and may carry pollen about whilst feeding on some other part of the flower—

I am dear Sir | Yours very truly | William C. Tait.