To Asa Gray 8 August [1867]1
Down, Bromley, Kent,
August 8.
My dear Gray,—
I have been glad to see Mr. Canby’s interesting letter on Dionæa, and I thank you for sending it; but unfortunately the facts are not new to me.2 Several years ago I observed the secretion of the “gastric juices” and the close adhesion of the two sides of the leaf when a fly was caught. I keep my notes in such an odd fashion that it would take me some time to find them. I am almost sure I ascertained the acid reaction of the secretion and its antiseptic power, but I cannot remember whether in this, or in analogous cases, I found its subsequent reabsorption.3 This letter fires me up to complete and publish on Drosera, Dionæa, etc., but when I shall get time I know not. I am working like a slave to complete my book.4
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Summary
Thanks AG for sending W. M. Canby’s letter on Dionaea. Although already familiar with the facts concerning the secretions, the letter "fires me up to complete and publish on Drosera, Dionæa, etc."
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5602A
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Asa Gray
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- J. L. Gray ed. 1893, 2: 557
- Physical description
- inc
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5602A,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5602A.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15