From T. H. Farrer   13 October 1869

My dear Mr Darwin

At Albury—near this,—there is house full of Tacsonias and Passifloras—¹ All the Tacsonias are pendent, have no crown & very long styles and filaments— They never—so the gardener says—fertilize themselves—but are readily & constantly fertilized by him with each other and with the Passifloras— The Passifloras turn their flowers upwards, though themselves pendent: their styles & filaments are short: and they have a corona. And they fertilize themselves—i.e. they are fertilized without the gardeners help— This certainly looks as if in this country the bees could manage the Passiflora—but not the Tacsonia: and as if for the latter humming birds or big moths were needed—which can suck without alighting. The bees are as a fact very fond of Passiflora—and I think when raised on the Corona—easily reach anthers & stigma.

It is a funny notion that a humming birds tail should do the business for Tacsonia.²

Many thanks for your kind note.³ It has long seemed to me, in the business of my own shop, that claims to have originated any thing that is true or successful, are idle ignes fatui: things to be avoided & put aside as soon as possible—like patents.

Your books open up a new field. Old Sprengel is delightful— But where is it to end—and what is to become of Merchant Shipping Bills and Maritime Codes?⁴

I could not help revenging myself on Delpinos philosophy during a sleepless hour one night—and I inclose you the result. What a strange mental phenomenon, that an able man of science should think he he has saved any thing worth saving, by reserving one portion of plant life to the regions of the arbitrary & the unknown!⁵

Very sincerely yours | T H Farrer

The paper on “Martha” arrived quite safely.⁶