Statement of U. S. sales of CD’s works.

Much obliged for account of cleistogamic flowers.

Sends thanks for a newspaper abstract; will be pleased to see the paper [probably "Economy as a phonetic force", Trans. Am. Philological Assoc.8 (1877): 123–34] when printed.

Sends his own ["Biographical sketch of an infant"], saying it is of little value, the observations having been made before recent advances in philology.

Sends paper on Greek plants.

Thanks CD for permission to quote his comments; mentions some of his conclusions with regard to the early speech of children.

Thanks for [newspaper] account of American Philological Association meeting.

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.

Praises unbroken series of CD’s and Francis [Darwin]’s botanical works.

Confirms FD’s Dipsacus observations. Problem of interpreting microscopic filaments as protoplasm or as inorganic and osmotic artifacts.

Requests plants that show movement, and any with "bloom" living near the sea.

Asks permission to publish comments by FJC regarding paper by Francis Darwin [see 11073].

CD sends his thanks for LN’s book [Der Ursprung der Sprache] and for the obliging words on the title page.

Comments on JC’s paper ["On the tidal retardation argument for the age of the earth", Rep. BAAS (1876): 88–9].

Obliged for essay on plants of Greece.

Comments on GJR’s papers in Nature [see 11103].

Mentions manuscript by Miss Lawless on fertilisation in plants.

Discusses work of Francis Darwin on Dipsacus

and his own experiments on Drosera.

Accepts CD’s offer to publish his letter, confirming Francis Darwin’s observations [see Collected papers 2: 205–7].

H. Hoffmann’s observations on Amanita contractile filaments must be repeated.

Microscopic examination of secretory gland filaments in Dipsacus leafcups. FD’s pseudopod theory of Dipsacus.

Comments on GJR’s paper in Nature.

Information on plants requested by CD.

Asks specific questions on looking after plants of Dionaea. [The correspondent’s replies to the questions are written beneath them.]

Believes in differentiated nerve-tracts [in Medusa] because of experiment in which contractile waves blocked. [See GJR’s "Evolution of nerves", Nature 16 (1877): 231–3, 269–71, 289–93.] Did not know author of MS was Miss Lawless. Describes experiment on contractile waves in Aurelia. Also studying starfish.

Thanks for plants.

Thanks R. I. Lynch for information about "bloom" on leaves.

WTT-D should not write to Mr Smith about plants near seashore.

Encloses specimens of milk-weed with trapped insects. Indian hemp catches insects in the same way but with less success.