Ɛpsilon

From B. J. Sulivan   16 November 1880

Bournemouth

Novr. 16/80

My dear Darwin

You gave me two Pounds last year   The sum was made up by Mrs. FitzRoy you & I giving 2£ each. Stokes Mellersh Usborne & Hamond 1£ each.1

Can you solve a Botanical riddle for me: five years since I got three new vines for greenhouse; a “white Muscat” was planted between a “Black Hambro” and an “Alicante”—(Black) The last year or two I allowed a few bunches to remain on each. and the Muscats were the usual colour. This year there were many fine bunches on all three, but after the Muscat grapes were nearly their full size they becan to turn purple at the point of each grape, and it gradually extended to the stem. and they have ripened a darker colour than the Black ones. I enclose the skin of one.

The vines are about 6 feet apart; the grapes retain the exact character and flavour of the Muscat in all but colour.

Gardeners and gentlemen here who know most about vines tell me they have never heard of such a case. and are satisfied that the grapes retain the true Muscat Flavour &c.2

with kind regards | Believe me | very sincerely yours | B. J. Sulivan

1
See letter from B. J. Sulivan, 12 November 1880 and n. 1. No intervening letter from CD to Sulivan has been found. Maria Isabella FitzRoy was the widow of Robert FitzRoy, the former captain of HMS Beagle; John Lort Stokes, Arthur Mellersh, Alexander Burns Usborne, and Robert Nicholas Hamond were former officers of HMS Beagle.
2
CD had discussed grape varieties and crossing in Variation 1: 332–4. The Alicante, Muscat and Black Hambro or Hamburg are some of the oldest varieties of grape; all are varieties of Vitis vinifera.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12823,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12823