My dear Romanes

Your suggestion seems to me an excellent one, but we have no apparatus.¹ I will, however, show your note to Frank.² Certainly alternations of light & darkness at long intervals stimulates plants. W^d. it not be worth your while to try seedlings of Canary grass or cabbage?—³ The former w^d be best.— A whole pot of seedlings c^d be tried together. They are exqui⁠⟨⁠sitely⁠⟩⁠ sensitive to light. They migh⁠⟨⁠t⁠⟩⁠ be tried now, but possibly it might be a little better in early spring.—

We staid in London on ou⁠⟨⁠r⁠⟩⁠ road here for 3 days & I had hoped to see you, but I had to see other people, & by the afternoon was dead beaten each day.—⁴

I am delighted that my book has interested you.—⁵

I suppose that you have cases of dogs calling on each other & tempting one another to go out hunting by themselves.— There is a case here of pet dogs in 2 houseses about $\frac{1}{2}$ mile apart, & their owners have agreed to shut up their dogs on alternate weeks, so that the 2 are never free at the same time for if they are, they will ⁠⟨⁠go⁠⟩⁠ hunting.—

My dear Romanes | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

I hear that M^r S. Butler abuses me as ⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠ liar & scoundrel in his new book, but I ⁠⟨⁠do⁠⟩⁠ not intend to look at it—⁶