Ɛpsilon

From G. H. Eggers   21 March 1873

Bremen,

21st. March 1873.

Dear Sir!

Being a constant reader of your works, I take much interest in your theory & studies.— I found the other day two little notes in our papers, which might be of interest to you. I beg to enclose them1

No 1 is of scientific value; for No 2 I cannot take any guarantee, not knowing the author.— If true, it would be very interesting.

I beg your pardon if I have troubled you & remain | Dear Sir | Yours very respectfully | G. Herm. Eggers

Kreftingstreet. | Bremen.

[Enclosure]

No 1 2

* Bremer Gartenbau-Verein. Am 13. Vereinsabend hatte Herr Professor Dr. Buchenau die merkwürdige Frucht mitgebracht, die er schon im naturwissenschaftlichen Verein als ein höchst selten vorkommendes Kreuzungsproduct zwischen einer Apfelsine und Citrone bezeichnete. Er ließ dieselbe von Jedem, der es wünschte, sehen, riechen und schmecken, um zu constatiren, daß sieben Fä cher vollkommen Apfelsine geworden, während nur ein Fach der übrigens ganz die richtige Citronenform zeigenden Frucht die Eigenschaft der als Stammform angenommenen Citrone beibehält. Höchst überrascht wurde Professor Buchenau beim Abschneiden einer Scheibe in einem der Apfelsinenfächer einen vollkommen ausgebildeten Kern fand; denn solche Bastarde bleiben sonst unfruchtbar. Er übergab diesen seltenen Fund dem Herrn Kunstgärtner Karich zu sorgsamster Pflege. Sehr zu wünschen ist, daß Alle, denen solche wunderbare Gebilde vorkommen sollten, dieselben dem Herrn Professor Buchenau zur Unterstütsung seiner für die Wissenschaft wichtigen Untersuchungen zustellen ließen.

CD annotations

1.1 Being … interesting. 2.2] ‘Domesticated Plants “Chinese Orange” & Citron is Citron Orange’3 ink
2.1 No… interesting. 2.2] crossed ink
Enclosure:
2.3 selten vorkommendes Kreuzungsproduct] underl ink
1
The second enclosure has not been found.
2
The enclosure, a newspaper clipping, reads: Bremen Horticultural Society. On the 13th evening meeting of the society, Professor Dr Buchenau brought the remarkable fruit that he had already described at the natural history society as a very rare cross between an orange and lemon. He allowed anyone who wanted to see, smell and taste in order to verify that seven segments were completely orange while only one true lemon-form fruit retained the characteristic basic form of the lemon. Professor Buchenau was totally amazed to find, in cutting a piece of one of the orange segments, a fully formed seed; for such hybrids usually remain sterile. He gave this rare find over to the attentive care of the nurseryman Mr Karich. It is very desirable that all such wonderful productions as this one that Professor Buchenau has provided should be made available for important scientific investigations. The text refers to Franz Buchenau and C. L. Karich.
3
In Variation 1: 336, CD had described orange–lemon and orange–citron hybrids that produced segments of differently flavoured pulp within the same fruit.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8819,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8819