Ɛpsilon

To B. J. Sulivan   17 November 1880

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

Nov. 17th 80

My dear Sulivan

I enclose a cheque for 2£ & am sorry to have troubled you—1 Your case is a curious one, viz that of the direct action of the pollen of one variety on the mother plant of another variety.— If you care to hear of analogous cases, they are given in full in Vol I Ch XI (p 430 of 2d Edit) of my Variation of Animals & Plants under Domestication.2

I keep fairly well & continue to work as hard as I can.— I was heartily glad to hear in your last note a better account of Mellersh—3

My dear Sulivan | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
Sulivan was collecting subscriptions to support Cooshaipunjiz (James FitzRoy Button), a grandson of Orundellico (Jemmy Button; see letters from B. J. Sulivan, 12 November 1880 and n. 1, and 16 November 1880). CD’s earlier letter to Sulivan has not been found.
2
Sulivan had asked about the influence of black grape varieties on white muscat grapes that had turned black after several seasons (see letter from B. J. Sulivan, 16 November 1880). CD discussed the effects of ‘foreign pollen’ on various parts of the mother-plant in Variation 2d ed. 1: 427–35.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12825,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12825