To the Linnean Society 9 December [1867]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Dec 9.
My dear Sir
I have read the paper with care, & it seems to me better than I expected, though badly arranged. As far as I can judge the whole of the first part, with the exception of a few introductory sentences, (which I have struck out) must be published. No one I think without specimens cd make a good abstract. With respect to the latter part of the paper you will be a much better judge than I: at p. 11., where I have put a pencil cross, the subject changes, & again at p. 12.; whether either of these discussions ought to be retained, I really cannot decide.2
I have recd other accounts, from the same author & others, of the curious imitation of plants in S. Africa.3
The climbing of the convolvulus is also a curious point with reference to the same plant when grown in Ireland; but I must beg you to decide whether these extraneous passages ought to remain.4
With respect to the plates, it is obvious that all cannot & do not deserve to be engraved; I wd suggest fig 6, 7, 2 & 3 in Pl. 1. to be engraved on the same block & inserted at p. 7 of the M.S.5
I enclose a title for the wood block in case you approve of my suggestion.
My dear Sir | yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
[Enclosure]
All from Plate I for a woodcut Fig 1. (fig 6 of m.s.) Fig 3. (Fig 2. of m.s.) – 2. (Fig 7. of m.s.) – 4. (Fig 3 of m.s.) (Beneath the 4 cuts insert in small type) Fig. 1. Under surface of Labellum of Bonatea Darwinii (magnified) Fig. 2. Pollinium of do in natural position (magnified) Fig 3 Under surface of Labellum of Bonatea species (from Mr. Trimen) Fig 4. Pollinium of do (from do.)6
Footnotes
Bibliography
‘Climbing plants’: On the movements and habits of climbing plants. By Charles Darwin. [Read 2 February 1865.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 9 (1867): 1–118.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Weale, James Philip Mansel. 1867. Notes on the structure and fertilization of the genus Bonatea, with a special description of a species found at Bedford, South Africa. [Read 7 March 1867.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 10 (1869): 470–6.
Summary
Gives his comments on the merits of a paper on South African botany [by J. P. M. Weale, "Notes on Bonatea", J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 10 (1869): 470–6].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5715
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Linnean Society
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Linnean Society of London, SP1249, 1253
- Physical description
- LS(A) 3pp encl 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5715,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5715.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15