Summary

Acknowledges election to the Society.

Summary

Pleased the Senate has passed Grace conferring his LL.D.

Summary

Thanks for accounts which make everything intelligible to him. Since he was glad to have Orchids published at one-half of profits for himself, he believes it would be very shabby to accept JM’s new offer of two-thirds profits. Thinks it would be fairer to both to change to JM’s usual practice with authors [i.e., annual statements of sales, payments based on them, and final accounting when all copies have been sold].

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

Asks GHD to determine whether there are worm-castings in cloisters of [Neville?] Court.

Enjoyed his visit to Cambridge. Asks for newspaper account of the LL.D.

Summary

Warm thanks for CC’s letter. CD needed no word from CC to be convinced of his high opinion.

Summary

Will be interested in reading AdeC’s paper on Smilax. The transition from hermaphroditic to unisexual condition is a perplexing problem.

CD agrees that there is much justice in AdeC’s criticism of his use of the terms "object", "end", and "purpose" but thinks "those who believe that organs have been gradually modified by natural selection for a special purpose, may I think use the above terms correctly though no conscious being has intervened".

CD and Francis are hard at work on the function of "bloom" but CD doubts that the experiments will tell them much.

Does AdeC have a decided opinion on whether plants with glaucous leaves are more frequent in hot or dry than in cold or wet countries?

Francis has been getting "striking" results from feeding meat to Drosera.

Summary

CD thanks JDH for assistance with "bloom" study.

Summary

CD submits his paper ["A biographical sketch of an infant", Collected papers 2: 191–200] for possible publication.

Summary

Requests seeds for experiments he and Frank are doing on automatic movements of cotyledons.

Summary

CD forwards letter from F. J. Cohn [11093] that provides confirmation of observations by Francis Darwin on the contractile filaments protruded from the glands of Dipsacus.

Summary

Describes experiments on sensitivity of plant leaves to water.

Frank [Darwin] has found that Drosera leaves fed with meat contain more starch.

Summary

Asks FD to forward some eczema mixture to Southampton for him

and to hunt out notes on earthworm activity at Beaulieu Abbey.

Summary

Thanks OB for his work on Schopenhauer [Arthur Schopenhauer. Beitrag zu einer Dogmatik der Religionslosen (1877)]

and for his remarks on bees and clover. When CD spoke, last spring, of the few seeds produced by red clover, he supposed it was due to rarity of humble-bees.

Summary

Thanks correspondent for his essay and kind allusions [to Cross and self-fertilisation].

Summary

CD apologises for his burdensome request of Oliver.

Criticises JDH’s notice on Forsythia, which JDH said was dioecious. Forsythia sent to CD from Kew was heterostylous.

Summary

CD is gratified that GCR thinks "Sketch of an infant" [Collected papers 2: 191–200] worth publishing. Returns corrected proofs. Assures GCR he took pains to observe carefully.

Summary

Sends WEG the two articles [see 11163] with references.

CD thinks savages do not have names for shades of colours, which is curious since those he has known have names for every slight promontory or hill.

Summary

Writes as a trustee of the Down Friendly Society. Hopes the Society will soon be permitted to distribute its surplus funds, as there is agitation to dissolve the club and divide its assets.

Summary

CD notes growth of Royal Society may force it to hire officers.

Speculates on cold resistance of bacterial germs.

Will communicate to Royal Society Frank’s paper on the ingestion of solid particles by the protoplasmic protrusions of Dipsacus glands.

CD working on plant dimorphism.