IS70— 1SS2] JAGEK 355 



colours may be as unimportant to them as those of a gall, Letter 265 

 or, indeed, as the colour of an amethyst or ruby is to these 

 gems. Some thirty years ago I began to investigate the 

 little purple flowers in the centre of the umbels of the carrot. 

 I suppose my memory is wrong, but it tells me that these 

 flowers are female, and I think that I once got a seed from 

 one of them ; but my memory may be quite wrong. I hope 

 that you will continue your interesting researches. 



To G. Jager. Letter 2G6 



Down, Feb. 3rd, 1875. 

 I received this morning a copy of your work Contra 

 Wigand? cither from yourself or from your publisher, and 

 I am greatly obliged for it. I had, however, before bought 

 a copy, and have sent the new one to our best library, that 

 of the Royal Society. As I am a very poor german scholar, 

 I have as yet read only about forty pages ; but these have 

 interested me in the highest degree. Your remarks on fixed 

 and variable species deserve the greatest attention ; but I am 

 not at present quite convinced that there are such independent 

 of the conditions to which they are subjected. I think you 

 have done great service to the principle of evolution, which 

 we both support, by publishing this work. I am the more 

 glad to read it as I had not time to read Wigand's great and 

 tedious volume. 



To Chaunccy Wright. Letter 267 



Down, March 13th, 1S75. 



I write to-day so that there shall be no delay this time in 

 thanking you for your interesting and long letter received 

 this morning. I am sure that you will excuse brevity when 

 I tell you that I am half-killing myself in trying to get a 

 book 2 ready for the press. I quite agree with what you say 

 about advantages of various degrees of importance being 

 co-selected, 3 and aided by the effects of use, etc. The subject 



1 Jager's In Sachen Darwins insbesondere contra Wigand (Stuttgart, 



1874) is directed against A. Wigand's Der Darwinismus und die 

 Nalurforschung Newtons und Cuviers (Brunswick, 1S74). 



2 The MS. of Insectivorous Plants was got ready for press in March, 

 1875. Darwin seems to have been more than usually oppressed by 

 the work. 



3 Mr. Chaunccy Wright wrote (Feb. 24th, 1S75) : "The inquiry as to 

 which of several real uses is the one through which Natural Selection 



