From John Fiske   15 March 1875

My dear Mr. Darwin;

Pray excuse my long delay in answering your very kind letter and in thanking you for the welcome present of your “Descent of Man”, which I received sometime ago.¹ As I was too busy at the time to read the new edition, I let Mr. Chauncey Wright take it home with him, & he has kept it until now; but I am promising myself the pleasure of reading it carefully in my coming summer vacation when I can give my whole mind to it. It gives me great pleasure to receive such commendation of my work from one whose opinion I rate so highly as yours.² Indeed I consider the mere fact that you have found it worth while, amid your many occupations, to read my big book through, to be the very highest praise the book has received from any quarter,—praise that is worth more than reams of eulogy from the most critical of reviews.

I often think with great pleasure of our lunch at your daughter’s in London, & our brief chat afterwards.³ I wish I could have seen you more, and had some such good talks as I afterwards had quite frequently with Mr. Huxley.⁴ But I don’t think you were again in town while I was there. I left England in February and had a delightful journey in France, Italy, & Switzerland, getting back to England & sailing for home about the 1^st of June. Indeed, I enjoyed myself so much that life has seemed a trifle dull since I have got back into harness.

When I last saw D^r Gray,⁵ some little time ago, he said that you were much interested in “carnivorous” plants. I wonder if you are going to publish anything on the subject. It seems to me that the question of “sensitiveness” in certain plants is highly interesting and important,—i.e. how far the “sensitiveness” in these cases is like the “sensitiveness” of an animal without any specialized nervous matter; for there we seem to get near to the crudest beginnings of psychical life.⁶

Thanking you again, my dear sir, for your kind words, I remain, with regards to your family | Ever truly yours, | John Fiske.