To D. F. Nevill 15 January 1877
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
Jan 15— 1877
Dear Lady Dorothy Nevill
I am much obliged for all the trouble which you have so kindly taken.— One of your references relates to the Apocyneæ catching Lepidoptera, & this is the most gratuitous case of cruelty known to me in a state of nature, for apparently such captures are of no use to the plant & assuredly not to the wretched butterfly or moth or fly.—1
Your Ladyship’s | Truly obliged | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Summary
Thanks DN for references.
The Apocyanaceae that catch Lepidoptera represent the most gratuitous case of cruelty in nature known to CD, since the captured butterfly is of no use to the plant.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10789
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Dorothy Fanny Walpole/Dorothy Fanny Nevill
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10789,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10789.xml