Ɛpsilon

To Anton de Bary   5 August 1879

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.) [Waterhead Hotel, Coniston.]

August 5. 1879

Dear Sir

My son Francis has shown me the two wonderful specimens of Utricularia, which you were so kind as to give him; & I hope that you will allow me to urge you to publish an account of your observations.1 This seems highly desirable, because the case of Utricularia is widely different from that of Drosera. I could not detect any evidence of true digestion in Utricularia, though the state of the cells in contact with decaying animal matter plainly showed that there had been absorption.—2 The fact of young seedlings developing bladders is also very interesting.

I hope that you will excuse the liberty which I have taken in writing to you; & this note requires no sort of answer.

With great respect & with my thanks for your kindness to my son I remain | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin

1
Francis Darwin had visited de Bary in Straßburg (Strasbourg) on his way back from working in the laboratory of Julius Sachs at Würzburg; see letter from Francis Darwin, [before 31 July 1879].
2
For CD’s observations on the digestive power of secretions of Drosera rotundifolia (common or round-leaved sundew) and the absorption of animal matter by Utricularia vulgaris (common bladderwort), see Insectivorous plants, pp. 85–135 and 410–24.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
3.1 son] altered from ‘sons’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12182,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12182