To D. F. Nevill   12 September [1874]¹

Dear Lady Dorothy Nevill

I have never seen the Utricularia of which D^r. Hooker told me & which I am nearly sure is the one which you have so very kindly sent me;² & therefore I do not know what the bladders are like. From analogy I suppose that they are little globular bodies borne on separate footstalks. All that I can see on the young plant sent to me, are slight swellings in the footstalks of the leaves. D^r Hooker will be here in a fortnight, & then I will consult him.³ It would be a very great kindness if you would tell your head gardener to look at the young plants, as they grow a little taller & observe whether any little balls or bladders are produced on little short footstalks, & if so let me see the plants.— Whether with my indifferent means & ignorant gardener I shall succeed in growing the Utricularia, I know not.—⁴

I have much pleasure in enclosing my photograph.—⁵

Your Siamese cat must be a very curious animal.⁶

Pray believe me | Your Ladyships | Most truly obliged | Ch. Darwin

P.S. | I sh^d guess that the so-called bladders on your Utricularia w^d be about as big as one or two pin’s head, & carried on a short footstalk; & it is the internal structure of these bodies which I am so anxious to examine