To Joseph Lister 7 October 1878
down. | beckenham. kent.
Oct. 7. 1878.
My Dear Sir,
As this note requires no answer I will not apologize for making a small suggestion to you. I believe that you are still continuing your most valuable observations on Bacteria and their allies.1 Now it seems to me probable (or at least worth a trial) that Benzoic acid would be a most deadly poison to them.2 I think so because a minute dose of a solution of 1 part of the acid to 437 of water, when absorbed by the glands of Drosera, killed the protoplasm within them in a surprising manner. The glands presented in 12 min. the same white appearance as if the whole plant had been immersed in boiling water.— This is described in my Insectivorous Plants, p. 195.
I have been told that you employ borax as a disinfectant; and if this is so and it depends on the destruction of Bacteria, it is odd that Boracic Acid was not in the least injurious to Drosera.3
Pray forgive me for troubling you, if my suggestion appears to you useless; I remain with the highest respect, | Yours faithfully, | charles darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
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.
Salkowski, Ernst. 1875. Ueber die antiseptische Wirkung der Salicylsäure und Benzoësäure. Berliner klinische Wochenschrift 12: 297–8.
Summary
Suggests that benzoic acid would be a deadly poison to bacteria and their allies.
Is puzzled about the use of borax as a disinfectant because in his experiments Drosera were not in the least injured by boracic acid.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11719A
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Lister
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Godlee 1917, p. 387
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11719A,” accessed on 23 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11719A.xml