From:
William Herbert, dean of Manchester
To:
John Stevens Henslow
Date:
5 Apr 1839
Source of text:
DAR 185: 63
Summary:
Replies to CD’s questions on plant hybridisation and laws of inheritance. Rejects predominant transmission of characters by established forms. Males show predominance, but congeniality of parents’ constitution to climate and soil more important. No correlation between hybridisation and variability, cultivation, and geographical distribution. Rejects reversion.
Describes experiments in Hippeastrum in which pollen from another species proved more fertile than plant’s own pollen.
Did not intend to say that crossing is inimical to fertility.
Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
