To Fritz Müller 24 July 1878
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
July 24. 1878
My dear Sir
Many thanks for the 5 kinds of seeds: all have germinated, & the Cassia seedlings have interested me much, & I daresay that I shall find something curious in the other plants.—1 Nor have I alone profited, for Sir J. Hooker who was here on Sunday was very glad of some of the seeds for Kew.—2
I am particularly obliged for the information about the earth-worms. I suppose that the soil in your forests is very loose; for in ground which has lately been dug in England, the worms do not come to the surface, but deposit their castings in the midst of the loose soil.—
I have some grand plants (& I formerly sent seeds to Kew) of the cleistogamic grass; but they show no signs of producing flowers of any kind as yet.— Your case of the panicle with open flowers being sterile is parallel to that of Leersia oryzoides: I have always fancied that cross-fertilisation would perhaps make such panicles fertile.—3
I am working away as hard as I can at all the multifarious kinds of movements of plants, & am trying to reduce them to some simple rules; but whether I shall succeed I do not know.
With many thanks & sincere respect— | Yours very truly | Ch. Darwin.
I have sent the curious Lepidoptera case to Mr Meldola.—4
Footnotes
Bibliography
Collected papers: The collected papers of Charles Darwin. Edited by Paul H. Barrett. 2 vols. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 1977.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Forms of flowers: The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1877.
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Muyshondt, Alberto. 1974. Notes on the life cycle and natural history of butterflies of El Salvador. III. Anaea (Consul) fabius (Nymphalidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 28: 81–99.
‘Three forms of Lythrum salicaria’: On the sexual relations of the three forms of Lythrum salicaria. By Charles Darwin. [Read 16 June 1864.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 8 (1865): 169–96. [Collected papers 2: 106–31.]
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Thanks for seeds
and information about earthworms.
Is working hard at movement in plants.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11626
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 47)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11626,” accessed on 18 August 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11626.xml