Summary

ED writes on behalf of her husband, who is ill, to thank FH for his letter

and to thank [L. C.] Treviranus for his paper on orchids.

CD wishes to know whether Orchis pyramidalis grows in FH’s neighbourhood. He needs a fresh specimen to compare the stigma with those grown locally.

Summary

Hildebrand has sent copy of his paper on Pulmonaria in Botanische Zeitung.

How much should CD contribute to Falconer’s bust?

Oswald Heer on alpine and Arctic floras.

A. R. Wallace on geographical distribution in Malay Archipelago.

Lyell’s new edition of Elements. Wishes someone would do a book like it on botany.

Summary

Has forwarded FH’s paper on Fumariaceae to horticultural congress. Comments on its findings.

Discusses forms of Oxalis.

Summary

Thanks CD for mentioning his Corydalis and Primula experiments in Variation.

Has become Professor of Botany at Freiburg.

Encloses specimen of Corydalis cava.

Summary

Forwards H. T. Stainton letter for reply.

Finds many Cucurbita have tendrils with sticking ends.

The "potentiality of so many organs in plants to play so many parts is one of the most wonderful of your discoveries . . . one day it will itself play a prodigious part in the interpretation of both morphological and physiological facts".

Is disgusted with Sabine’s address [see 4708] because of its mutilation of what JDH wrote.

THH’s slashing leader in Reader ["Science and ""Church policy"" ", 4 (1864): 821] – as usual he destroys all in his path.

Encloses letter from G. H. K. Thwaites with a message for CD [see encl].

Summary

Mechanism of flowers of Maranta has already been described by F. H. G. Hildebrand and Federico Delpino.

Summary

Is preparing a work on fertilisation of flowers, and wants to add a list of works containing observations on cross-fertilisation of plants. Asks CD for any references he may have.

Summary

Robert Fenn exhibited potatoes at the Horticultural Society which showed general failure of graft-hybrids and provided an example of reversion to a wild Peruvian tuber resulting from cross-fertilisation.

Summary

Thanks for orchids.

Recovering from nine months’ illness.

Discusses fertilisation of Pulmonaria.

Summary

Glad to see Asa Gray’s letter.

Asks whether he may insert a sentence about Cape Verde alpine plants in new edition [4th] of Origin.

Fears "twaddle" may also be the word for his two chapters on cultivated plants. Asks for Crawfurd’s paper.

Summary

He and L. C. Treviranus have repeated many of CD’s orchid observations with the same results. Sends his paper ["Fruchtbildung der Orchideen", Bot. Ztg. 21 (1863): 329–33, 337–45].

Summary

Studying insect pollination in Salvia

and heterostyly in Pulmonaria officinalis which is similar to Linum case.

Summary

Pleased CD confirms his observations on Salvia.

Spring action of Medicago stamens described.

Summary

Mentions experiments on Lythrum.

Thanks for list of seeds.

Summary

Thanks AG for his trouble about expression queries; wishes he had thought earlier of having them printed.

Is "plodding on" correcting Variation

and getting "a little amusement" from plant experiments. Oxalis is trimorphic like Lythrum.

Is continuing his experiments on seedling vigour.

Has heard hybrid potatoes can be produced by joining halves of different tubers.

Summary

Comments on notes made by THF on Passiflora and Tacsonia. Suggests he examine more species. Recalls his own observations on P. princeps and Tacsonia.

Summary

Comments on Hermann Crüger’s paper, sent by CD, on fertilisation of orchids [J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 8 (1865): 127–35].

Observations on dichogamy in grasses (wheat, rye, barley).

Has not yet read CD’s reply to his article on Pangenesis [Collected papers 2: 158–60].

Summary

Praise for Descent.