Ɛpsilon

To Francis Darwin   14 [August 1878]1

[Abinger Hall, Surrey.]

14th.

My dear F.

On my study table there are 2 old Boxes with seeds— Please get out packet of Oxalis Valdiviana (not the seeds in white paper from Kew, as they are all bad) O. rosea, O floribunda & O. corniculata (which latter Lettington has) & have one pot of each sown, for I want to trace movement of an old Cotyledon, after its growth has ceased if it ever does cease.—2 Also I want you to examine & compare carefully the pulvinuses of a species which raises & depresses its cotyledons greatly at night, & of O. corniculata which raises them only moderately.—3 I have, however, some in spirits of Wine which will now be beautifully white on shelf by microscope Table.—

I will write to day to Veitch for plant of Bignonia capreolata— read what I say about its Tendrils.— If any Tendrils are ready (& they are ready for Heliotropism before fully expanded). before we return try tips painted with Indian Ink.—4 I use the solution thickened by rubbing.—

I shall have to work you like a Horse when we come back.— De Vries comes here to day for 3 Hours—5 the Lord have mercy on me—

Goodbye dear old Backy C. D.

1
The month and year are established by the reference to the visit of Hugo de Vries (see n. 5, below).
2
Oxalis valdiviana is a synonym of O. valdiviensis (Chilean yellow-sorrel); O. rosea is pink sorrel; O. floribunda is abundant flowering wood sorrel; O. corniculata is creeping wood sorrel. Henry Lettington was CD’s gardener.
3
The pulvinus is the swelling at the base of the petiole or leaf stalk in some plants; it acts like a joint to allow leaf movement.
4
Veitch & Sons was a firm of nurserymen. CD had written about the tendrils of Bignonia capreolata (crossvine) in Climbing plants 2d ed., pp. 97–103. CD had noted that the tendrils avoided light (ibid., p. 99).
5
The Darwins visited family in Surrey and Staffordshire between 7 and 22 August 1878; they were at Abinger Hall, Surrey, when this letter was written (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). De Vries visited CD on 14 August 1878 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.5 ever] interl
1.5 & compare carefully] interl
1.6 a] above del ‘the’
1.6 greatly] interl
2.2 its] interl
2.2 for Heliotropism] interl
2.2 before we return] interl
2.3 painted] after del ‘or be of’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11658,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11658