Ɛpsilon

To W. H. Dallinger   2 July 1878

I did not know that you were attending to the mutation of the lower organisms under changed conditions of life; and your results, I have no doubt, will be extremely curious and valuable.1 The fact which you mention about their being adapted to certain temperatures, but becoming gradually accustomed to much higher ones, is very remarkable. It explains the existence of algæ in hot springs. How extremely interesting an examination under high powers on the spot, of the mud of such springs would be.

1
Dallinger had sent CD a copy of his paper ‘On the life history of a minute septic organism: with an account of experiments made to determine its thermal death-point’ (Dallinger 1878; see letter from W. H. Dallinger, 29 June 1878).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11587,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11587