To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 28 [June 1874]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
28th—
My dear Mr Dyer
Hearty thanks for all sorts of information in 2 last letters. I have given you too much trouble about the leaves on Pinguicula— Cast the whole subject on one side. Erica tetralix is far the most important case for me.— Thank Mr. Smith for Heath seeds.—2 I have written to Dr. Moore, & used your name.—3
I shd. be an ungrateful & ungracious dog if I hesitated for a moment about your communicating anything which you may think fit to Hort. Soc.— I do not understand that you want me to draw up a paper, & for this I really have not time or strength. But I enclose memoranda, on which I think you may rely, but you must remember that I am almost daily at work.—4
I am very glad you will hereafter continue to work out Nepenthes.5 Huxley6 has been here, & tells me what hard work you have at present.—
Now will you communicate the substance of what follows to Hooker.— I am getting much overworked & I shall never publish on Drosera &c if I begin on other subjects. Therefore I am sure that I had better defer my work on movements of leaves from rain & on the bloom or waxy secretion on leaves till next summer; though to do so goes to my heart.7
Now can Hooker allow me to keep the young Eucalypti & Acacias & Cassias till next summer. As far as I know I have only 2 precious plants from Kew & both these, I grieve to say, are in a deplorable condition. We got Mimosa [Peruviana] into a splendid state, & it grew up 2 or 3 feet in height in a most healthy condition; & then I suspect it got too much heat & suddenly turned all yellow like a maple in autumn. Acacia farnesiana is the other plant;8 & we have tried little water & a modest supply & cannot keep it in health. It sometimes recovers for a space & then goes back. Shall I return this in its present disgraceful condition? And may I keep Mimosa [Peruviana] for the chance of its recovery, for there are a few all-important observations yet to be made on it. Sometime let me hear what Hooker thinks about this
These 2 plants have troubled me much. Forgive the length of this letter.—
Yours most sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S. If I can get English Utricularia I shd extremely like to examine the epiphytic species, & will then let you know.—9
Footnotes
Bibliography
Calendar: A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882. With supplement. 2d edition. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
ML: More letters of Charles Darwin: a record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters. Edited by Francis Darwin and Albert Charles Seward. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1903.
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Summary
Must stop work on "bloom" and leaf movements if he is ever to get anything published on Drosera, etc.
Sends thanks for seeds. Encloses memorandum in case WTT-D wishes to communicate information to Royal Horticultural Society. Has not time to prepare article.
Discusses condition of plants borrowed from Kew.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9571
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
- Sent from
- Abinger Hall Down letterhead
- Source of text
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Thiselton-Dyer, W. T., Letters from Charles Darwin 1873–81: 19–22)
- Physical description
- ALS 7pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9571,” accessed on 14 December 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9571.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22