As a believer in the existence of God from the evidence of nature, he is somewhat staggered by CD’s and Tyndall’s books. Asks CD to tell him whether the doctrine of descent of man destroys the evidence of the existence of a God looked at through natural phenomena.

Problems of continuing with his crossing experiments; financial help from CD.

Thanks for essays by ASW ["Experiments with turnip seeds", Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinburgh 13 (1876–9): 25–39, and a short notice, "Experiments in singling turnips"] and Aegilops seed.