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From J. O. Westwood   1 August 1862

Oxford

1 Augt. 1862

My dear Sir

I lent my bee to Dr. Daubeny for his lecture on your Book,1 & unfortunately the pollinia got shaken off in transitu.2 If you like to see the insect & the detached appendage, I will send you the bottle. I suppose it was Orchis Maculata as it was in flower & I had one or two plants in my garden

Yours very sincerely | Jno O Westwood

Footnotes

1
Westwood, who was professor of zoology at Oxford University, refers to the lecture on Orchids given at the end of June by the professor of botany, Charles Giles Bridle Daubeny (see letter from C. G. B. Daubeny, 5 July 1862).
2
In the letter from J. O. Westwood, 14 May 1862, Westwood offered to send CD a preserved bee specimen with pollen masses attached to its head. Orchis maculata is a synonym of Dactylorhiza maculata, the heath spotted orchid.

Bibliography

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.

Summary

Bee with adhering orchid pollinia lent to Charles Daubeny. Pollen-masses shaken off but if CD still interested he is welcome to specimen.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-3676
From
John Obadiah Westwood
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Oxford
Source of text
DAR 181
Physical description
ALS 1p

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3676,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3676.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 10

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