To J. D. Hooker   2 July 1874

My dear Hooker

It is real good news that you will come here on Sat the 11^th, & we will let you know at what hour a carriage will be at Orpington Station. You are extremely good abt the sick plants, & have relieved my mind from a heavy load; I will defer the whole subjict till nex summer,—that is if I have strength of mind to keep to my! wise resolution.¹

I think Frank & I have worked out Pinguicula well; & we long to attack Utricularia: Many thanks for yr aid about this plant; I have myself written to ever so many places for the same.² I tried several years ago & lately, several plants with sticky glandular hairs, of which some few absorb ammonia, but the greater number not so.³ Could you send me a plant or seeds of Lychnis viscosa & if I find (or you know) that it catches many flies I would certainly examine it; otherwise it would not be worth the time.⁴ Asa Gray has written much to me lately abt Sarracenia with a dried specimen showing, the line of sweet exudation from the lip down to the ground, by which ground-insects are enticed up & then drowned; it is certainly one of the most splendid dodges in the Vegetable Kingdom. The naturalist who has been investigating this plant believes that it absorbs the decayed matter from flies, but I should think more probably ammonia thus generated.⁵ It would I think be worth while to protect a pitcher from access of all insects, & to do this cotton-wool w^d have to be rolled round the leaf just above the ground as well as putting a net over it; & then to try whether the pure fluid can digest albumin &c. The large quantity of fluid in the pitchers of this plant & of Nepenthes make me suspect that the products of decay may be absorbed & no true act of digestion performed.⁶ I think you had better call Dyer’s attention to this point, before he attacks Nepenthes again.⁷

Y^rs affectionately