Ɛpsilon

To A. R. Wallace   22 July [1875]1

Down, Beckenham, Kent

July 22nd.

My dear Wallace

Many thanks for your note and am glad to hear that you are so hard at work you cannot read my book.2 If at any time you are curious on subject, you will find development of the Droseraceæ discussed in closing part of Chapt. XV, and I think I have thrown some light on the acquirement of wonderful power of digestion.— With respect to Utricularia, I can explain nothing, for there are no gradational genera, and even the embryology or development of the present bladders not made out.— With respect to the Droseraceæ, I think there is no doubt about the advantage which they gain by catching insects, as they can then live in extremely poor soil, as I show with respect to our common Drosera.3

My dear Wallace | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Copy

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from A. R. Wallace, 21 July 1875.
2
Wallace had received a copy of Insectivorous plants (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 21 July 1875 and n. 1).
3
See Insectivorous plants, pp. 361–3. Utricularia: baldderwort. Drosera: sundew.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10088,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10088