My dear Frank

Your splendid fish (14$\frac{1}{2}$ lb.) arrived this morning.² What a grand fisherman you are, it will spoil you for poor botany.— Your mother intends to keep a very small slice for us two solitary mortals, & send the rest from you & as caught by you to M^r Forrest & Teesdale.³ The house is awfully quiet without Abbadubbahs dear little voice.⁴

I enclose a letter from Pfeffer, which I cannot quite understand even with aid of Camilla’s translation.— I have of course refused his generous offer of not working.⁵ I thought that you w^d. perhaps like to read it. To day another letter, even more unintelligible, has arrived which has been despatched to Camilla.⁶ Your mother made out that he has corresponded with Wiesner about his book V. Darwin & he thinks he is wrong on the general view of light &c acting directly on plants; & this comes to our view.—⁷

I am driven almost frantic by the number of letters about worms; but amidst much rubbish there are some good facts & suggestions. So I have sent for clean sheets & shall make an amended edition. It is laughable the enthusiasm with which the book has been received. Murray has sold 3500 copies & only 3000 have been printed.⁸

I have been working very hard at Euphorbia roots, but make no good progress. If I were wise I sh^d. throw up the job; but I cannot endure to do this. Yesterday I examined radicles of germinating seeds of Euphorbia myrsinites, to which nothing had been done & was utterly confounded, by finding what I call aggregated matter in the tubes! I come to the conclusion that the whole case was a myth, so this morning I had fresh plant of E. peplus dug up, & most carefully examined 2 rootlets, of which every cell was alike & beautifully transparent, & then added a few drops of C. of Ammonia, & in 3′ the alternate rows of exterior cells were clouded with brown granules.⁹ So the main fact is true enough.— My difficulty is that I cannot cut longitudinal sections of their roots between pith. I have seen what appears to me like short milk-tubes with both ends pointed in the midst of the tissue of the radicle, & then tubes sometimes appear to become divided by transverse partitions. If so the starting of milk-tubes is not confined to the embryo, as in De Bary’s most interesting account.¹⁰ There is nothing like patience, but I doubt much whether I shall make out much.— Anyhow my time does not now signify. The box with the Dischidia in spirits has come from D^r. King.—¹¹

I have thought of 3 good experiments v. Wiesner,—two of which will be difficult. Goodbye.— I wish that I. could write ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠¹²