To William Ogle   17 August 1878

My dear Dr. Ogle,—

I am extremely glad to hear that you have undertaken to edit Kerner’s work on Flowers and their Unbidden Guests; for it opens out a highly original and curious field of research.¹ It is possible that some of Kerner’s generalisations may hereafter require to be slightly modified; but I feel sure that every remark which he has made well deserves careful consideration.² The beauty and poetry of flowers will not be at all lessened to the general observer, by his being led through Kerner’s investigation to notice various small, and apparently quite unimportant, details of structure,—such as the presence of differently directed hairs, viscid glands, etc., which prevent the access of certain insects, and not of others. He will, I believe, come to the conclusion that flowers are not only delightful from their beauty and fragrance, but display most wonderful adaptations for various purposes. I cordially wish that your translation may find many readers, not so much for your sake as for theirs.

Believe me very faithfully yours | Charles Darwin.

Down, Beckenham, Kent, | August 17, 1878.