Ɛpsilon

To J. S. Burdon Sanderson   5 May [1874]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

May 5th

My dear Dr. Sanderson

I had such a lot of letters to write that I did not at once thank you for the acid experiments, which will do splendidly to print just as you have sent them.2 I shall be very curious to hear about gluten which I see in Wells Chem. Dict. is a very complex product. It contains something which excites Drosera greatly, but it is not all dissolved like albumen or flesh.—3

I am now trying Dentine & Enamel; as far as I can yet provisionally see the secretion does not touch the Enamel, but decalcifies the dentine without dissolving the fibrous tissue; but I shall know more in a week’s time, when the leaves have done all that they can.4

I suppose that Drosera will be beaten, & that gastric juice will dissolve the decalcified fibrous tissue of bone.—5

I find that Drosera can do little with Fibrin; but when I have written out all my notes, & see what I actually know, I will apply for your, to me, invaluable aid

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 14 May 1874.
2
See the letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 30 March [1874]. The experiments appear in Insectivorous plants, pp. 89–91.
3
CD refers to Watts’ dictionary of chemistry (Watts 1872–4, 2: 873). CD’s annotated copy (see Marginalia 1: 195–6) consists of the first three volumes of the second edition (Watts 1872–4), volumes four and five of an 1871 reprint of the first edition (Watts 1863–8), and a supplement to the first edition dated 1872 (Darwin Library–Down). See also Insectivorous plants, pp. 117–20.
4
For details of CD’s experiments, see Insectivorous plants, pp. 106–10.
5
See Insectivorous plants, pp. 105–6.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 just] interl
1.4 it is not] interl above del ‘cannot be’
4.1 all] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9441,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9441