To John Scott 7 November [1863]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Nov 7.
Dear Sir
Every day that I cd do any thing, I have read a few pages of yr paper & have now finished it & return it registered.2 It has interested me deeply, & is I am sure, an excellent memoir. It is well arranged & in most parts well written. In the proof sheets you can correct a little with advantage I have suggested a few alterations in pencil for yr consideration, & have put in here & there a slip of paper. There will be no occasion to re-write the paper, only, if you agree with me, to alter a few pages. When finished return it me & I will with the highest satisfaction communicate it to the Linn. Soc.3 I shd be proud to be the author of the paper. I shall not have caused much delay as the 1st meeting of the Soc. was on Nov 5.
When yr primula paper is finished if you are so inclined I shd like to hear briefly about yr Verbascum & Passiflora experiments.4 I tried Verbascum & have got the pods but do not know when I shall be able to see to the results.5 This subject might make another paper for you. I may add that Acropera Luteola was fertilized by me & had produced 2 fine pods.6
I congratulate you on your excellent paper & believe me My dear Sir | yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin
P.S. In summary to P. paper can you conjecture what is the typical or parental form i.e. equal long or short-styled7
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Orchids: On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862.
Scott, John. 1867. On the reproductive functional relations of several species and varieties of Verbasca. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 36 (pt 2): 145–74.
‘Specific difference in Primula’: On the specific difference between Primula veris, Brit. Fl. (var. officinalis of Linn.), P. vulgaris, Brit. Fl. (var. acaulis, Linn.), and P. elatior, Jacq.; and on the hybrid nature of the common oxlip. With supplementary remarks on naturally produced hybrids in the genus Verbascum. By Charles Darwin. [Read 19 March 1868.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 10 (1869): 437–54.
Summary
Has read JS’s paper [MS of "Observations on the functions and structure of the reproductive organs in the Primulaceae", J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 8 (1865): 78–126] which has interested him greatly. Will communicate it to the Linnean Society if JS carries out a few corrections.
Would like to hear about his Verbascum and Passiflora experiments.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4332
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Scott
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 93: B5–6
- Physical description
- LS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4332,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4332.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11