Summary

Thanks for congratulations on award of Copley Medal by the Royal Society.

Discusses his long period of ill health.

Summary

Mentions WED’s extraordinary discovery of some pollen-grains of different sizes. The observations must be followed up.

Summary

Returns WBT’s box of skulls. One or two skulls may be elsewhere, but CD does not have the strength to search for them.

Summary

Is sending FM’s two letters on climbing plants as a paper to the Linnean Society ["Notes on some of the climbing plants near Desterro, in south Brazil", J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 9 (1867): 344–9].

Adaptations for pollination in Catasetum.

Summary

Thanks for note; sends photograph taken by one of his sons.

His continued ill-health has prevented him making the acquaintance of many.

Summary

Thanks for interesting letter on climbing plants.

FM’s view on Anelasma seems probable.

Difficulty quoted by FM from A. Agassiz on embryology of Echinodermata is quite beyond CD.

Summary

Gratified by AG’s praise of "Climbing plants".

Thanks for Specularia seed.

Summary

Congratulates AG on the "grand news of Richmond".

Still interested in dimorphism and would welcome new cases.

Working on Variation

and correcting proofs of Climbing plants.

Would like seed of AG’s dimorphic Plantago.

Cannot understand how the wind could fertilise reciprocally dimorphic flowers.

Summary

Impressed by JS’s attempts to fertilise Gongora.

CD has large collection of notes on orchids, but does not know when he will publish on them again.

Asks for JS’s papers on sterility of individual orchids and on Drosera.

Summary

Will be proud to receive EH’s Die Radiolarien [1862].

Health continues very weak.

[P.S. 3 Jan] Has sent EH another letter by mistake.

Summary

Has done nothing since 1 May. Slowly getting better under Bence Jones’s diet.

The Reader has been sold – would regret its failure as a newspaper for general science.

Pangenesis is recovering from shock it received from THH’s criticism.

Summary

Receipt for cheque enclosed.

Summary

Has seen that ARW has read a paper to the Linnean Society.

Thinks that Herbert Spencer’s Social Statics (Spencer 1851) would be too deep for him.

Summary

Mentions Miss Buckley’s information on roosting in trees [see Variation 1: 181 n.].

Refers to Duke [of Argyll] and his Lamarckian view of change.

Roosting habits and behaviour of pigeons in Egypt.

Criticises Herbert Spencer’s works.

Has finished Elements; comments on Laurentian stages.

Remarks on his health

and forthcoming work [Variation].

Summary

A report on his somewhat improved health.

Summary

Cannot provide comment on GF’s paper for publication. Hopes GF will publish in Nature. Will consider his remarks when revising book [Descent].

Summary

Thanks his correspondent for remembering to send him a woodcock’s leg and informing him that "from a ball of earth attached to the leg of a Red Partridge no less than 82 plants germinated". [See 5287.]

Summary

CD is deeply pleased by AG’s article on him in Nature [10 (1874): 79–81].

Is preparing book on "Drosera and Co." for the printers. Reports observations on digestion in Drosera and Pinguicula.

Summary

Falconer’s death haunts him. Personal annihilation not so horrifying to him as sun cooling some day and human race ending.

His health has been wretched.

Masters has written his agreement with CD’s "Climbing plants".

Summary

Congratulates JT on success in breeding potato varieties.