To G. J. Romanes   26 March 1881

My dear Romanes,

You are very plucky about Pangenesis, and I much wish that you could have any success. I do not understand your scheme.¹ Do you intend to operate on an ovarium with a single ovule, and to bisect it after being fertilised? I should fear that this was quite hopeless. If you intend to operate on ovaria with many seeds, whether before or after fertilⁿ. I do not see how you could possibly distinguish any effect from the union of the two ovaria. Any operation before fertilisation would I presume quite prevent the act; for very few flowers can be fertilised if the stem is cut & placed in water. Gärtner however says that some Liliaceæ can be fert^ed. under these circumstances.²

If Hooker is correct, he found that cutting off or making a hole into the summit of the ovarium and then inserting pollen caused the fertilisⁿ of the ovules. This has always stretched my belief to the cracking point. I think he has published a notice on this experiment but forget where; and I think it was on Papaver. Dyer could probably tell you about it.³ Perhaps y^r plan is to remove $\frac{1}{2}$ of the ovarium of a one-seeded plant and join it on to the ovary of another of a distinct var with its ovule removed; but this would be a frightfully difficult operation

I am very sorry to hear about your ill success with cats, & I wish you could get some detailed account of the Belgian trials⁴

Yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin