Summary

Leonard’s illness.

Polymorphism in valerian and Erythraea.

Summary

Pleased to hear about GHD’s paper at the Royal Society.

Summary

Exciting work on trimorphism in Lythrum salicaria. Requests Lythraceae from Kew.

Wants to know of plants other than Melastoma and Lythrum with coloured pollen.

Summary

Emma and Leonard have scarlet fever.

Houstonia seems "a grand case"; J. T. Rothrock should publish his observations on the two pollens and the reciprocal action of two hermaphrodites.

Rhexia glandulosa offers nothing odd, but Heterocentron will turn out something marvellous like Lythrum.

Would like to know what AG thinks of last chapter of Orchids.

Summary

Relates personal news about family members.

CD is "glad Glen Roy is settled".

Mentions evolutionary remarks on birds by Owen.

Compares variability among lower and higher organisms. Comments on Hooker’s view of the subject.

Forthcoming publication of Huxley’s book [Evidence as to man’s place in nature (1863)] and Lyell’s [Antiquity of man (1863)].

Summary

WDF’s information on turkeys will be useful when CD resumes his half-finished volume [see Variation 1: 292].

Illness in the family.

Summary

Discusses Lythrum, "a really wonderful case"; asks WED to make observations and collect specimens; sends a diagram which shows what crosses he believes are fertile.

Would like George to watch bees visiting the flowers; wants some pods from different forms to compare shapes and count seeds.

Summary

Has broken up school a few days early to avoid danger. Hopes CD’s son is nearly recovered.

Summary

CD much obliged for specimen and drawings.

Summary

Asa Gray has a self-fertilising Platanthera, like the bee orchid. CD believes problem of the latter will some day be explained. Speculates [Ophrys] arachnites may be crossing form and bee orchid self-fertilising form of the same species.

Cytisus adami is a puzzle.

Pleased if DO will review Orchids [Nat. Hist. Rev. n.s. 2 (1862): 371–6] .

His review of Primula paper was capital. [Nat. Hist. Rev. n.s. 2 (1862): 235–43].

Requests peloric plants.

Summary

Has been ill (violent skin inflammation).

Has done hardly anything except tend to his experiments. Repeating Primula work has verified former results and very curious facts on sterility of homomorphic seedlings.

Wonders who reviewed Orchids for London Review & Wkly J. Polit..

Asa Gray also infatuated with Orchids.

Summary

Is pleased that AdeC is interested in the Primula case ["Dimorphic condition of Primula", Collected papers 2: 45–63]. Is pursuing analogous experiments on other plants and on seedlings raised from the unions.

CD’s "large work" progresses slowly owing to ill health and his work on Orchids.

CD is not surprised that AdeC is unwilling to admit natural selection – "the subject hardly admits of direct proof or evidence. It will be believed in only by those who think that it connects & partly explains several large classes of facts".

Hopes AdeC will publish on Quercus

and rejoices that he intends to return to the study of geographical distribution. No one can claim to have read AdeC’s truly great work on that subject [Géographie botanique (1855)] with more care than CD.

Summary

Lenny [Leonard Darwin]’s illness.

Polymorphism in valerian and Lythrum salicaria.

Summary

Asks HCW’s help with his experiments on Lythrum salicaria, for which he needs flowers of the rare Lythrum hyssopifolia.

Summary

Family illnesses.

On disposition of wild honeycomb gift.

Discounts the difficulty presented by ostrich wings.

Summary

CD would like to see Rhamnus, as an American species is dimorphic.

Sends red cowslip pollen to be measured.

Summary

Looked for Hottonia but with little success.

Summary

Discusses dimorphic plants, valerian and Erythraea. Would like to look at them; suggests WED draw up a paper on them.

Summary

Wants WED to forward dried Malaxis to G. C. Oxenden.

Has been dissecting Viola flowers.

[Letter from Emma Darwin to WED, verso p. 3.]