Ɛpsilon

To A. G. More   1 October [1861]1

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Oct. 1.

My dear Sir

I am sure that your kindness to me has been very great. I am sincerely sorry to hear that you still suffer in your health.—

I fear to trust in any way to two flowers alone. The capsules were certainly small, but then they were near the summit of the spike.— I ought to have asked to have had the capsules gathered separately & put in paper; for they all opened on the journey & shed their seeds.— The few seeds remaining in the two capsules had a larger proportion of bad seeds than those that were shed; but here again I dare not trust, for this may be due to the bad seeds not being in any case so readily shed.—2

With my repeated thanks for all your kindness, I remain, My dear Sir | Yours sincerely | C. Darwin

P.S. I mean to print a very little book on the fertilisation of Orchids by insects; & I will do myself the pleasure of sending you a copy whenever it is printed.—3

1
This letter was first published in Correspondence vol. 9, transcribed from a copy on which the year is recorded (DAR 146: 403).
2
CD had asked for More’s assistance in his study of the orchid Epipactis palustris (see letters to A. G. More, 4 June [1861], 17 June [1861], and 23 September [1861]). Believing that the unusual hinged structure of the labellum in this species served to guide visiting insects to brush against the rostellum, thereby promoting cross-pollination, CD asked More to remove part of the labellum from several flowers to see whether these would still set seed that was fertile. For CD’s description of More’s results, see Orchids, p. 101.
3
More’s name appears on CD’s presentation list for copies of Orchids (DAR 210.18). See also Correspondence vol. 10, Appendix III.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3273,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3273