To W. C. Williamson 18 August [1880]1
Cambridge
Aug. 18th
From Mr. C. Darwin,
Your specimens, which have been forwarded to me here; are interesting; but I think the slowness of the change might have been expected under the circumstances, as in the case of tadpoles.—2
C. D.
Footnotes
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from W. C. Williamson, 10 August 1880.
Williamson had sent seedlings of Drosera capensis (Cape sundew), whose habit of growth when several plants were grown in close proximity resembled that of D. rotundifolia, the common or round-leaved sundew, and D. intermedia, the spoonleaf sundew. See letter from W. C. Williamson, 10 August 1880 and nn. 2 and 3. CD alludes to the fact that tadpoles will not develop into frogs in overcrowded conditions.
Summary
WCW’s specimens are interesting, but CD thinks the slowness of the change might have been expected.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12693
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Crawford Williamson
- Sent from
- Cambridge
- Source of text
- DAR 221.4: 246 (photocopy)
- Physical description
- ApcS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12693,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12693.xml
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