316 BOTANY [CHAP. X 



Letter 639 This, however, is a foolish attempt, for Dr. Hooker, who was 

 here a day or two ago, says they cannot at Calcutta, and yet 

 imported species have seeded and have naturally spread on 

 to the adjoining trees ! Dr. Cru'ger thinks I am wrong about 

 Catasetum \ but I cannot understand his letter. He admits 

 there are three forms in two species ; and he speaks as if the 

 sexes were separate in some and that others were hermaphro- 

 dites l ; but I cannot understand what he means. He has 

 seen lots of great humble-bees buzzing about the flowers with 

 the pollinia sticking to their backs ! Happy man ! ! I have 

 the promise, but not yet surety, of some curious results 

 with my homomorphic seedling cowslips : these have not 

 followed the rule of Chinese Primula ; homomorphic seed- 

 lings from short-styled parent have presented both forms, 

 which disgusts me. 



You will see that I am better ; but still I greatly fear that 

 1 must have a compulsory holiday. With sincere thanks and 

 hearty admiration at your powers of observation. . . . 



My poor P. scotica looks very sick which you so kindly 

 sent me. 2 



Letter 640 



To J. Scott. 



April 1 2th [1863]. 



I really hardly know how to thank you enough for your 

 very interesting letter. I shall certainly use all the facts 

 which you have given me (in a condensed form) on the 

 sterility of orchids in the work which I am now slowly 

 preparing for publication. But why do you not publish these 

 facts 3 in a separate little paper ? They seem to me well 

 worth it, and you really ought to get your name known. I 

 could equally well use them in my book. I earnestly hope 

 that you will experiment on Passiflora^ and let me give your 

 results. Dr. A. Gray's observations were made loosely ; he 

 said in a letter he would attend this summer further to the 

 case, which clearly surprised him much. I will say nothing 

 about the rostellum, stigmatic utriculi, fertility of Acropera 



1 Criiger (Linn. Soc. Journal, VIII., p. 127) says that the apparently 

 hermaphrodite form is always sterile in Trinidad. Darwin modified his 

 account in the second edition of the orchid book. 



2 Sent by Scott, Jan. 6th, 1863. 



3 See Letter 642, note i, p. 319, for reference to Scott's paper. 



