Summary

Very impressed by Candolle’s book [Géographie botanique raisonnée (1855)]. Wants to recalculate his results.

CD’s pigeon fancy is getting on.

Summary

Lady Lyell’s anxiety over Lyell’s health.

Preparing new edition of Origin.

Asks whether anything was observed [in Morocco] on expressions.

Did JDH notice whether pollen-masses in Ophrys apifera in N. Africa fall on the stigma, as in England?

Summary

Masdevallia turns out to be nothing wonderful, "I was merely stupid about it."

Asks for plants for experiments.

Hedysarum and Oxalis sensitiva seeds.

Asks whether Oliver knows of experiments on absorption of poisons by roots.

CD finds he cannot publish this year on Lythrum salicaria; he must make 126 additional crosses!

Asks for odd variations of common potato; he wants to grow a few plants of every variety.

Variation is crawling.

Has had some bad attacks lately.

Summary

Acknowledges a box of worm-casts from India and a bottle of worms in spirits. There is no memorandum.

His book on expression is finished and includes valuable information from JS.

Summary

Has written to A. J. Gower.

Sends more copies of Queries about expression.

Pall Mall Gazette article [see 6342] is monstrous to say religion did not attack science. Should scientific men ignore whole subject of religion?

Sends French journal with article on JDH and one (weak) by Agassiz on geographical distribution.

M. J. Berkeley has sent his address [Rep. BAAS 38 (1868): 83–7].

CD differs with JDH on Owen; could hardly bear to shake hands with him.

Wallaces, Blyth, Jenner Weirs are coming to stay on Sunday.

Summary

Criticises style of JS’s fern paper [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 2d ser. 16 (1862): 209–27].

JS’s remark on "the two sexes counteracting variability in the product of the one" is new to CD.

Does the female [fern?] plant always produce female by parthenogenesis?

They seem to work on same subjects; CD has much material on Drosera.

Does not understand JS’s objections to natural selection.

Offers to suggest experiments.

Summary

Congratulates W. E. Darwin, who is about to be married,

and CD for the LL.D. conferred upon him by Cambridge.

Summary

Thanks AG for his trouble about expression queries; wishes he had thought earlier of having them printed.

Is "plodding on" correcting Variation

and getting "a little amusement" from plant experiments. Oxalis is trimorphic like Lythrum.

Is continuing his experiments on seedling vigour.

Has heard hybrid potatoes can be produced by joining halves of different tubers.

Summary

ARW responds to CD’s list of queries about expression. Suggests acquiring informants through publishing the queries in newspapers. His doubts about their importance.

Has submitted caterpillar question to Entomological Society.

Summary

Discusses the coiling of tendrils of climbing plants.

AG’s recent tour of the U. S.

Summary

Thanks GH for his Theory of the ants [1869] and offers to supply any zoological information that he can.

Summary

Detailed response to reading of Bastian’s Beginnings of life [1872]. On the whole, it seems probable to CD that spontaneous generation is true.

Summary

Thanks CD for Variation.

From his work on insect embryology he sees a great parallelism between insect and vertebrate embryology.

The zoological station is slowly advancing.

Summary

Admiral FitzRoy’s daughters by his first marriage have been left without means. The largest subscription to the fund has been £100.

Summary

Experiments with string and elastic paper answered well.

Does JW know Ferdinand Cohn’s paper on contraction of stamens of certain Compositae [Edinburgh New Philos. J. n.s. 18 (1863): 190–4]?

Formerly made observations on movement in plants, but weak health has made it impossible to publish.

Summary

Thanks JVC for errata [in Descent, 2d ed.].

Discusses work in progress and publication plans.

Will be pleased to receive concluding volume of JVC’s Zoologie [see 8531].

Summary

THF’s view, if confirmed, pleases CD in that what appears a mere morphological character is found to be of use. Carl Nägeli has been attacking him on this head.

Summary

Remarks about an enclosed specimen,

and extract of letter from W. A. L. Marshall [8560].

ARW’s good review of J. C. Houzeau de Lehaie [Études sur les facultés mentales des animaux, in Nature 6 (1872): 469–71].

Summary

Wishes JSBS to look over an abstract of his Drosera experiments and to answer some questions on it.

Summary

Has received, through AG, a letter on Dionaea [from W. M. Canby] which has greatly interested him. CD asks AG to question his correspondent on whether it catches large or small insects.

Mary Treat will observe Drosera filiformis.