To J. D. Hooker   5 July [1871]

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

July 5th

My dear Hooker

I not only have not the Gazania, but was innocent of knowing there was an aquatic species.—1 I have no evidence about Lyell, except appearance & sound of voice. Mrs. Lyell, however, said his mouth was decidedly drawn. to one side at first, & I could see that Lady L. became very anxious about him, when he became excited in talking geology with me, from which I inferred that medical men had cautioned her.—2 I heard from Huxley this morning & I find that he takes same view of Lyell with me.—3 I cd. see no difference in his mind, but he says he cannot stand labour of composition.

Thanks for your news about yourself, & especially for your promise to come here when you can.—4 I have just been quoting your moraines on the Atlas in a new Edit. of that confounded old Origin, which I am preparing, & in which I shall try & answer chief points in Mivart.5 This has stopped my Expression Essay. By the way I suppose none of your party observed anything for me on this Head?6

Also did you by any chance notice whether in Ophrys apifera in N. Africa the pollen-masses fall on the stigma, as with us?—7

We have house full of visitors &, I have no more time,8 so farewell | C. Darwin

Endorsement: ‘/71’

1
See letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 July 1871; CD misread Zizania as Gazania. Gazania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, and is known for its drought tolerance.
2
CD refers to Charles Lyell, his sister-in-law Katherine Murray Lyell, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Lyell. CD had been in London from 24 to 30 June 1871 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
3
No letter from Thomas Henry Huxley in early July 1871 has been found.
5
The sixth edition of Origin was published in 1872; on page 335, CD commented that Hooker had ‘recently found great moraines at a low level on the Atlas range in N. Africa’. CD answered St George Jackson Mivart’s criticisms in Origin 6th ed., pp. 151–2, 176–204, 373. See also letter to Francis Darwin, [after 21 January 1871]. According to CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II), he began work on the sixth edition on 18 June 1872.
6
CD refers to his work on Expression; see letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 March [1871] and n. 4.
7
See Orchids, pp. 63–9, for CD’s discussion of the adaptation of Ophrys apifera (the bee ophrys) to self-fertilisation. He mentions Hooker’s observations in Morocco in Orchids 2d ed., p. 56.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

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Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7850,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7850