To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 18 July [1877]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
July 18th
Dear Dyer
I thank you heartily for all the treasures just arrived, & even more heartily for the kind manner with which you take great trouble for me.2 The plants have all arrived in very fair condition; but the ends of 2 leaves of the precious Cotyledon pulverulenta (with its wonderful bloom) were broken off:3 however I can experimentise on their basal parts & thus, I hope, injure no other leaves. The Nelumbium4 is a most beautiful leaf, & one is perfect, the other has withered since arrival, though I have put the pot in tub, & kept it out of the sun. Averrhoa5 looked piteous, but has now revived wonderfully by aid of shade & a watering. I am so glad of the Logwood-tree6 & of all.—
Seeds of Lotus very interesting to me; for if I fail in all other respects, I think I shall be able to describe a few odd facts about the sleep of Plants.7 By the way I observed last night to my surprise that Tropæolum minus sleeps.—8 I think Frank will do some good work on bloom & evaporation, & this is to be his share.9 It delights me to see that he is becoming a better & more careful observer than I am.— Once again hearty thanks
Ever yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S. I must just add that Frank has been feeding Drosera & we can now see a decided difference throughout the whole larger series between the fed with atoms of cooked meat & unfed plants.— This delights me as throughout Europe Botanists have been saying digestive power & absorption all useless—& the effects pathological.10
Footnotes
Bibliography
Darwin, Francis. 1886. On the relation between the ‘bloom’ on leaves and the distribution of the stomata. [Read 4 February 1886.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 22 (1885–6): 99–116.
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Summary
Thanks him for various plants sent for experiments.
Frank [Darwin] has been feeding Drosera meat to study differences between fed and unfed plants.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11059
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Darwin: Letters to Thiselton-Dyer, 1873–81: ff. 72–3)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11059,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11059.xml