From J. D. Hooker 15 January 1868
Royal Gardens Kew
Jany 15/68
Dear Darwin
W. R. Greg sent me a copy of a pamphet of which I asked for a copy for you, conceiving you to be the only man capable of throwing any light on the subject. I herewith send it— —& I only hope that you may be able to afford the poor Devil a ray of light, on what appears to me as obscure a problem as man has ever conceived.—1
Certainly many small flowered Cucurbitaceae, have smaller ♀ than ♀ fl.2 moreover ♀ are hidden in axils. ♂ in patent racemes.3
I wrote to Watson but have no answer, pointing out the counterbalance of crossing & also of uniformity of conditions which kill off all that are not reasonably like the parent. Watsons letter was like one who has forgotten the argument—4 I sent F Mueller the name of the Solanum like Acanth.5 All or most orders with opposite leaves present genera with that curious character, & it is a very curious one & always abnormal in the order eg Rubiaceæ, Melastomaceæ.
I do not understand Hildebrands Potatoes6 you must explain when I see you
Ever yr aff | J D Hooker
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Girou de Buzareingues, Charles. 1831. Mémoire sur les rapports des sexes dans le règne végétal. Annals des Sciences Naturelles 24: 156–76.
Hutchinson, John. 1973. The families of flowering plants: arranged according to a new system based on their probable phylogeny. 3d edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Lucas, Prosper. 1847–50. Traité philosophique et physiologique de l’hérédité naturelle dans les états de santé et de maladie du système nerveux: avec l’application méthodique des lois de la procréation au traitement général des affections dont elle est le principe. 2 vols. Paris: J. B. Baillière.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Willis, John Christopher. 1973. A dictionary of the flowering plants and ferns. 8th edition. Revised by H. K. Airy Shaw. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Summary
Sends a pamphlet by W. R. Greg [Malthus: re-examined by the light of physiology (1868)].
Many Cucurbitaceae have smaller male than female flowers.
Has written to H. C. Watson on the counterbalance [to variation] of crossing and uniform conditions. Watson has forgotten the argument.
Has written to F. Müller on abnormal Solanum.
Does not understand Hildebrand on potatoes.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5787
- From
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Kew
- Source of text
- DAR 47: 193, 195
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5787,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5787.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16