To Frederick Capes 23 November 1881
Down. | Beckenham. Kent.
Novr. 23rd. 1881.
Dear Sir.
I thank you much for your letter which has interested me exceedingly—1 I happen to have been working lately on the structure of Euphorbia peplus. and was thus led to wonder what could be the use of the Marvellous Milk ducts & milky fluid—2 Indeed this is not known to any botanist, Now it seems to me not improbable that it serves merely as a protection,—as I believe to be the case with the various Alkaloids & essential oils in so many plants— I hope before long to get time to try some experiments on worms & whenever I publish on Euphorbia will quote your statements, with any remarks which I may be able to add,—
Again thanking you I remain— | Dear Sir. | Yours faithfully. | Ch. Darwin
PS. My gardener3 declares that he killed as a boy a wart on his hand with the milk of some Spurge or Euphorbia!—
Footnotes
Summary
Discusses milk ducts in Euphorbia [spurge].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13506
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Frederick Capes
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 143: 204
- Physical description
- C 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13506,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13506.xml