To Fritz Müller 1 January 1874
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Jan 1. 1874
My dear Sir
No doubt I owe to your kindness two pamphlets received a few days ago, which have interested me in an extraordinary degree.1 It is quite new to me what you shew about the effects of relationship in hybrids; that is to say, as far as direct proof is concerned. I felt hardly any doubt on the subject, from the fact of hybrids becoming more fertile when grown in numbers in nursery gardens, exactly the reverse of what occurred with Gärtner.2 The paper on Termites is even still more interesting, & the analogy with Cleistogene flowers is wonderful.3 The manner in which you refer to my chapter on crossing is one of the most elegant compliments which I have ever received.4
I have directed to be sent to you Belt’s Nicuaragua, which seems to me the best Nat. Hist. book of travels ever published.5 Pray look to what he says about the leaf-carrying ants storing the leaves up in a minced state to generate mycelium, on which he supposes that the larvæ feed.6 Now could you open the stomachs of these ants & examine the contents so as to prove or disprove this remarkable hypothesis?
With hearty admiration of all that you publish, I remain | my dear Sir | yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Belt, Thomas. 1874a. The naturalist in Nicaragua: a narrative of a residence at the gold mines of Chontales; journeys in the savannahs and forests. With observations on animals and plants in reference to the theory of evolution of living forms. London: John Murray.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Flourens, Marie-Jean-Pierre. 1864. Examen du livre de M. Darwin sur l’origine des espèces. Paris: Garnier Frères.
Forms of flowers: The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1877.
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.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Müller, Fritz. 1871–3. Bestaubungsversuche an Abutilon-Arten. Jenaische Zeitschrift für Medicin und Naturwissenschaft 7: 22–45, 441–50.
Müller, Fritz. 1873–5. Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Termiten. I. Die Geschlechtstheile der Soldaten von Calotermes. II. Die Wohnungen unserer Termiten. III. Die ‘Nymphen mit kurzen Flügelscheiden’ (Hagen), ‘nymphes de la deuxième forme’ (Lespès). Ein Sultan in seinem Harem. IV. Die Larven von Calotermes rugosus Hag. Jenaische Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft 7 (1871–3): 333–58, 451–63; 9 (1875): 241–64.
Origin 4th ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 4th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1866.
Summary
Thanks for two pamphlets.
Sends Thomas Belt’s [The naturalist in Nicaragua (1874)], "the best Nat. Hist. book of travels ever published".
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9223
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 36)
- Physical description
- LS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9223,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9223.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22