From Joseph Bullar   23 May 1868

Dear Sir,

Having been much interested in your inferences as to the influence of the pollen on the ovarium in actually modifying it,¹ I take the liberty of sending you some inferences I made two years ago in confirmation.

Trying to ascertain the relations between the numbers of the stamens & pistils & the seed vessels I tabulated in columns these parts of all our British genera of flowering plants, & came to the conclusion—that whenever the ovarium was divided, and its divisions did not follow the number (or its multiples) of the styles, which is usually the case,—it followed the number (or its multiples) of the stamens—or in other words when the ovarium was not determined in its divisions by the female it was by the male

For instance

Hyoscyamus—² 5 stamens 2 lobed pistil— ovary 2 celled

Primula— 5 stamens 1 pistil 5 celled & 5 lobed ovarium

This I found held good as a general rule in all British genera of flowering plants, & it seems to me strikingly to confirm your view that the male actually has the power under certain circumstances of modifying the female organization   a physiological point of so great importance—

Believe me | dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Joseph Bullar

M^r. Darwin Esq