To John Denny 14 July [1872]1
July 14th
Dr. Denny—
Dear Sir
I am much obliged for your le. & present of the Florist.—2 You have been scrupulous in your manipulation & memoranda;3 but I am surprised that you have not protected as it appears the flowers from insects. I have found this indispensable in most of the [various] experiments wh. I have made during last 5 year.— These have been made for a distinct purpose from yours, & varieties have been avoided, & when employed no record was kept of the transmittance of character from the parents, in this I grieve to say I cannot aid you.—4 Before long a tr. of Gs. work will be published by Ray Soc.5 He is as emphatic as you are but in an opposite direction; viz that there is no difference in power of transfer by the f & m.; but he made his [illeg] experiments on distinct species, in which difference of constitution wd not probably come into play.—
As you have found out that the D. of Cornwall &c is fertile with its own pollen,6 & with that of some other varieties, when it is sterile with other vars, you have made in my opinion a remarkable discovery. I assume that the four experimented on are vars. ie not different in a state of nature, & that you have made many trials.—7 This discovery will, however, interest only a few of the more philosophical naturalists; & will I feel sure be easily lost to science, if published only in Hort. Journ. & without in much fuller detail than that given in the G. Chronicle.—8
Permit me, therefore, to urge on you to draw up a full account,— giving names of vars. (which were sterile with the D. of Cornwall &c) & reason for believing that they are vars— the number of trials made, both on the male & fem side &c—& send the account to some Botanical Journal. or Soc.— The Linnean Soc wd be the most appropriate; & your paper wd then be sent on to all the Scientific Soc. of Europe.—9 I shd be glad to aid in draw attention to it by a letter to Nature.10 If you will do this it wd be advisable perhaps I think to begin your paper by stating that you had discovered or raised, (as the case may be) vars of Pelargonium which were fertile with their own pollen &c &c &c, — & in so far partook of the character of true & distinct species—
It wd further be well to give full details about the converse case of the Ivy-leaved P., in which a var has assumed an abnormal degree of fertility.—11 In my Var. under Dom Vol. 2. p. 108 you will find an account of the sole [acknowledged] case, ever recorded in Nicotiana.—12
I hope that you will excuse the familiarity with which I have written to you & I remain— | C. D.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Cross and self fertilisation: The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1876.
Curle, Richard. 1954. The Ray Society: a bibliographical history. London: Ray Society.
Gärtner, Karl Friedrich von. 1849. Versuche und Beobachtungen über die Bastarderzeugung im Pflanzenreich. Mit Hinweisung auf die ähnlichen Erscheinungen im Thierreiche, ganz umgearbeitete und sehr vermehrte Ausgabe der von der Königlich holländischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Discusses JD’s crossing experiments with Pelargonium; notes that his conclusions on male prepotence oppose those of Gärtner. Suggests that his observations on differences in fertility of certain varieties of Pelargonium crossed with certain other varieties be communicated to the Linnean Society.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8410
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Denny
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 96: 114–15
- Physical description
- ADraftS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8410,” accessed on 20 October 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8410.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 20