uent progeny are affected. (Pangenesis will
turn out true some day!) (682/5. See "Animals and Plants," Edition
II., Volume I., page 435. For recent work on telegony see Ewart's
"Experimental Investigations on Telegony," "Phil. Trans. R. Soc." 1899.
A good account of the subject is given in the "Quarterly Review," 1899,
page 404. See also Letter 275, Volume I.)

A few months ago I received an interesting letter and paper from your
brother, who has taken up a new and good line of investigation, viz.,
the adaptation in insects for the fertilisation of flowers.

The only scientific man I have seen for several months is Kolliker, who
came here with Gunther, and whom I liked extremely.

I am working away very hard at my book on man and on sexual selection,
but I do not suppose I shall go to press till late in the autumn.

LETTER 683. TO F. MULLER. Down, January 1st, 1874.

No doubt I owe to your kindness two pamphlets received a few days ago,
which have interested me in an extraordinary degree. (683/1. This refers
to F. Muller's "Bestaubungsversuche an Abutilon-Arten" in the "Jenaische
Zeitschr." Volume VII., which are thus referred to by Darwin ("Cross
and Self Fert." pages 305-6): "Fritz Muller has shown by his valuable
experiments on hybrid Abutilons, that the union of brothers and sisters,
parents and children, and of other near relations is highly injurious to
the fertility of the offspring." The Termite paper is in the same volume
(viz., VII.) of the "Jenaische Zeitschr.") It is quite new to me what
you show about the effects of relationship in hybrids--that is to say,
as far as direct proof is concerned. I felt hardly any doubt on the
subject, from the fact of hybrids becoming more fertile when grown in
number in nursery gardens, exactly the reverse of what occurred with
Gartner. (683/2. When many hybrids are grown together the pollination by
near relatives is minimised.) The paper on Termites is even still more
interesting, and the analogy with cleistogene flowers is wonderful.
(683/3. On the back of his copy of Muller's paper Darwin wrote: "There
exist imperfectly developed male and female Termites, with wings much
shorter than those of queen and king, which serve to continue the
species if a fully developed king and queen do not after swarming (which
no doubt is for an occasional cross) enter [the] nest. Curiously like
cleistogamic flowers.") The manner in which you refer to to my chapter
on crossing is one of