tion on foreign pollen emitting tubes, but not causing
orifice to close (644/2. See Scott, "Bot. Soc. Edin." 1863, page 546,
note. He applied pollinia from Cypripedium and Asclepias to flowers of
Tricopilia tortilis; and though the pollen germinated, the stigmatic
chamber remained open, yet it invariably closes eighteen hours after the
application of its own pollen.); it would have been interesting to have
observed how close an alliance of form would have acted on the orifice
of the stigma. It will probably be so many years, if ever, [before] I
work up my observations on Drosera, that I will not trouble you to send
your paper, for I could not now find time to read it. If you have spare
copy of your Orchid paper, please send it, but do not get a copy of the
journal, for I can get one, and you must often want to buy books. Let me
know when it is published. I have been glad to hear about Mercurialis,
but I will not accept your offer of seed on account of time, time, time,
and weak health. For the same reason I must give up Primula mollis.
What a wonderful, indefatigable worker you are! You seem to have made a
famous lot of interesting experiments. D. Beaton once wrote that no
man could cross any species of Primula. You have apparently proved the
contrary with a vengeance. Your numerous experiments seem very well
selected, and you will exhaust the subject. Now when you have completed
your work you should draw up a paper, well worth publishing, and give
a list of all the dimorphic and non-dimorphic forms. I can give you,
on the authority of Prof. Treviranus in "Bot. Zeitung," case of P.
longiflora non-dimorphic. I am surprised at your cowslips in this state.
Is it a common yellow cowslip? I have seen oxlips (which from some
experiments I now look at as certainly natural hybrids) in same state.
If you think the Botanical Society of Edinburgh would not do justice
and publish your paper, send it to me to be communicated to the Linnean
Society. I will delay my paper on successive dimorphic generations in
Primula (644/3. Published in the "Journ. Linn. Soc." X., 1869 [1868].)
till yours appears, so as in no way to interfere with your paper.
Possibly my results may be hardly worth publishing, but I think they
will; the seedlings from two successive homomorphic generations seem
excessively sterile. I will keep this letter till I hear from Dr.
Hooker. I shall be very glad if you try Passiflora. Your experiments on
Primula seem so well