Summary

Thanks CD for his kind letter on her engagement to his son William.

Summary

Thanks CD for present of £300.

Summary

JDH has just returned from U. S., where he worked on N. American geographical distribution with Asa Gray.

Summary

CD desires her to say that the cream of THF’s letter of congratulations about William [Darwin]’s marriage [to Sara Sedgwick] lay in the P.S. about "the beloved worms, and not in any such trifles as marrying, &c".

Summary

Encloses his marriage present, which he fears Sara [Darwin née Sedgwick] will think "atrociously unsentimental", but he hopes useful.

Summary

CD and Emma are delighted with forthcoming marriage of W. E. Darwin to Sara [Sedgwick].

Summary

CD and Frank working hard on cotyledonary movement.

CD suggests technique for growing Welwitschia.

Approves of J. D. Dana and of O. Heer.

Summary

Sent rare cycad seeds for CD’s cotyledon study.

Welwitschia seed germinated at Kew had ordinary cotyledons. JDH thinks mature Welwitschia leaves are original cotyledons.

Summary

Rejoices that SS has accepted his son [William]. Judging from his own experience "life would be a most dreary blank without a dear wife to love with all one’s soul".

Summary

AG’s review of Joseph Cook ["Lectures on biology", New Englander 37: 100–13].

Encourages CD to work at heliotropism.

Thinks Thomas Meehan is as "rattle-brained" as Joseph Cook.

[A damaged fragment cut from this letter is pinned to 11051.]

Summary

Welcomes JDH home from American expedition.

Summary

Reports how his sons enjoyed their trip to America.

Is glad SRSN is settled in Dresden.

Summary

BJS was pleased to see CD’s son [William] and his wife at Charles Langton’s.

His own son is preparing for marriage.

Reports meeting a former Beagle shipmate.

Summary

Requests seeds for study of movement in cotyledons. Would love to study Welwitschia cotyledons.

Son William is to be married 28 November.

Summary

Working hard on physiology of plants.

His son George sees no reason to change his view on marriage of cousins.

George’s astronomical work is too deep for CD.

Summary

Thanks for account of Fuegians

and news about old "Beaglers".

Has been reading A. A. Brassey [Around the world in the yacht "Sunbeam" (1878)].

Summary

Thanks for AG’s review of Forms of flowers [Am. J. Sci. 3d ser. 15 (1878): 67–73].

Thomas Carlyle’s letter about CD was a forgery.

Gives Hermann Müller’s observations on Valeriana dioica.

Is unsure about function of "bloom"; are glaucous plants more or less common in arid parts of U. S.?

Observations on heliotropism.

Thomas Meehan reports that Linum perenne is self-fertile; CD thinks that he has mistaken the species.

Summary

Is glad to hear R. B. Litchfield is better.

Discusses William Darwin’s engagement to Sara Sedgwick.

Summary

Congratulates CD on his birthday.

WDF has been suffering from bronchitis.

Summary

Will look for worm-castings in the cloisters,

and will send CD items from the Cambridge papers on the honorary degree.

Has hit on a possible fallacy in W. Thomson’s theory of secular cooling of the earth.