From W. E. Darwin   9 October 1862

Southampton

Oct 9. 62

My Dear Father,

I am horribly disgusted at such a blunder. I know how it is now, and can soon put it right. I marked them them with strings 1, 2, 3, at first I meant to mark them 1 for L. p. 2. mP. 3. S. p.; I have a sort of feeling now, that you mentioned the contrary way, and that I took to it; but in making them up for you I forgot that I had changed.

So that in what I sent you, the M.P. are right; I have looked at the M.P again and what I call L.p. are S.p., and the S.p’s are L.ps.1

I have just carefully looked at my branches, I have not the slightest doubt that such is the case, as in what I supposed S.p. I found one or two pods with a great long pistil standing out as plain as possible.

I will pick you out some pods of each this evening and send them.

But if you feel certain, there are some of each sort mixed together. I am utterly gumflustergated, as I took most particular care and if it is so, two branches must have grown together— I can easily go and get some more, if you feel any doubts about what I am going to send you.

Do you want the seed measured by lines of about 50 pods or how many?2

Your affect Son WED

1
CD had asked William to send seed-pods of the long-pistilled, middle-pistilled, and short-pistilled forms of Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife), and to mark them respectively with three strings, two strings, and one string (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter to W. E. Darwin, [2–3 August 1862]). William had sent the pods in separate envelopes (see this volume, Supplement, letter from W. E. Darwin, [5 October 1862]), but reversed CD’s method for labelling the different types.
2
In ‘Three forms of Lythrum salicaria’, p. 172, CD mentioned that the seeds of the different forms had been measured and weighed.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3754F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3754F