Dear Sir,

I received your kind letter of the 12^th. ult^mo. and am sorry to learn that the plants did not arrive in good condition¹ but I do not despair of their recovery as out of four supernumerary and weakly plants brought to me at the same time 2 have so far recovered that they appear to be on the point of flowering and one has begun to catch flies again—

If those which I sent to you do not recovery I shall send you another lot of them and shall proceed in an improved method—

They shall be planted in larger and deeper pots and shall be kept in my garden until they have successfully passed over the transplanting stage and are ready to bear a change of climate.

I am very much obliged to you for your kind offer of copies of your origin of species, your Fertilization of Orchids by Insect agency and your pamphlet on Climbing Plants²   I have seen only the first and shall value them very much— If you were to send them to

William C Tait

Oporto

care of Mess^rs. Rossari & C^o.³

2 Crosby Square

London.

they would reach me safely.

I am very much interested in all subjects of Natural History preferring those however which lead to or bear on some general theory and I must confess that I am rather speculative in my thoughts and have little regard for preconceived opinions if I think they are false and am ready to embrace those which reason tells me are true.

You will find I think that the Drosophyllum catches insects by the viscid glands, but perhaps you will also find minute hooks or some contractive movement assisting to secure the insect & which would easily be developed into a fly trap such as the American Dionæa you mention.⁴ I have looked at the plants through a microscope of insignificant power little better than the naked eye otherwise I feel sure some very curious processes might be discovered.

I would suggest experimentalizing as to the stupifying or poisoning power of the fluid on the insects caught. In my next I hope to send you Brotero’s⁵ description in Latin of this plant   it may prove suggestive to you  

I feel very much interested to know how your plants are progressing. If I go to England this summer which is very uncertain I shall take a large number of plants of this species with me that you may have a large number to try experiments on and be enabled to supply your friends with specimens—

Since writing the first portion of this letter I have just received your letter of the 7^th. and am glad to learn good news of the plants.⁶ You will find I think that they like plenty of sun. If you do not discover any contraction in the plant I suppose it is an earlier stage of development than you anticipated and would tend to shew how from one adaptation the plant rose to a higher one from a simple secretion to a complicated mechanism.

I have a plant in my garden which has a very curious structure   The flower looks and smells like a piece of putrid meat and I am told that it attracts flies—⁷ I shall examine it attentively this summer and try to find out why it does so. Perhaps it may aid the fertilisation as I do not remember seeing any signs of flycatching.

Respecting sheep. I have learnt that the merino breed is kept near Oporto but the Wool is very inferior to the specimens I saw in the Paris Exhibition of last year sent from Saxony and Silesia— I am told that the rams are horned and the ewes without horns but that sometimes the rams are born without horns and that sometimes the ewes are born with horns, and that the rams which are born without horns are more easily fattened than those which are born with horns—⁸ Here then may be another instance of correlation— I hope to obtain for you full particulars as to the growth of the horns in the young but have not yet had an opportunity of speaking to the right man.

Dogs. One of my pointers the one I mentioned as having 2 dew claws on each of the hind feet had six pups a short time ago—⁹ three of them have one dew claw on each hind foot, one has two dew claws on each hind foot, one has none, and one was born with one on each hind foot one of which has dropped off and the other is slenderly attached. Having been in the Isle of Man I have seen the Manx cats and cannot avoid thinking that the scarcity of trees on that island has had some effect on the cats there whose shape seems to approach that of the rabbit to a certain extent.

I have walked along the sea-shore here and far above highest tide marks the ground seems to shew signs of a receding sea   This is a great country for boulder stones—immense numbers are scattered all over the north. When in England I heard from a friend of mine that in a certain lake in Italy there were fresh water oysters and that it was supposed that at one time the lake was connected with the sea.¹⁰

Under your theory the gradual change in their constitution would be accounted for and perhaps the same cause which formed the Sahara desert is still drawing away the waters from the Mediterranean

If there be any other plants &^c. in this country which you would like to have please tell me and I will try to obtain them for you. I should much like to be a member of the Zoological Society Regents Park and I have been told that by sending foreign animals birds &^c. they make people corresponding and honorary members and as when in London I stay near Regents Park it would be very convenient to me. I dare say there may be birds, reptiles &^c. here of which they would be glad to possess specimens.

I am sorry to hear that your health is not very good but hope it may improve soon

Believe me to remain, | Dear Sir, | Yours very truly, | William C. Tait.

Your letter of the 12^th. March was delayed many days on account of addressing it “Viâ Southampton”   the Brazil packet leaves on the 9^th. ¹¹