From G. W. Morehouse 25 October 1875
Wayland Depot, Steuben Co, | New York, U.S.A.
Oct. 25, 1875,
Mr Charles Darwin,
Dear Sir:
I have only read notices in the Journals of your work on Insectivorous Plants, and therefore do not know whether the point to which I wish to call your attention is new to you or not.1 With a good th inch objective, I found a single spiral fiber in each tentacle of a prepared leaf of Drosera rotundifolia.2 The leaf as prepared is transparent. The spiral fiber very closely resembles the spiral muscular fiber of animals, as now prepared for microscopic observation, but is probably a slight modification of the ordinary spiral fiber of plants. A bundle of the fiber may be seen passing into the body of the leaf, and branching here and there, until finally each tentacle is supplied with a single fiber, which may be traced through between the elongated cells into the gland.
Evidently the movement of the tentacle is caused by contraction of the “muscles”, induced by the motion of the protoplasmic cell contents, communicated from the centre of excitement. We have here sensitiveness of a very high order, and taken with the ability to change the direction of the contraction and clasp an object lying one side of the center of the leaf.— a seeming approach toward consciousness. Hoping you will pardon me for troubling you,
I am yours with great respect, | Geo. W. Morehouse.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Summary
Has found a spiral fibre in Drosera rotundifolia leaves which resembles animal muscle but is probably a modified ordinary plant fibre.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10225
- From
- George Wilkinson Morehouse
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Wayland, N.Y.
- Source of text
- DAR 171: 237
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10225,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10225.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23