70 < VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION.' [l86/. 



Victor Carus is going to translate it, but whether it is worth 

 translation, I am rather doubtful. I am very glad to hear 

 that there is some chance of your visiting England this 

 autumn, and all in this house will be delighted to see you 

 here. 



Believe me, my dear Haeckel, 



Yours very sincerely, 



CHARLES DARWIN. 



C. Darwin to F. Milller. 



Down, July 31 [1867]. 



MY DEAR SIR, I received a week ago your letter of 

 June 2, full as usual of valuable matter and specimens. It 

 arrived at exactly the right time, for I was enabled to give 

 a pretty full abstract of your observations on the plant's 

 own pollen being poisonous. I have inserted this abstract 

 in the proof-sheets in my chapter on sterility, and it forms 

 the most striking part of my whole chapter.* I thank 

 you very sincerely for the most interesting observations, 

 which, however, I regret that you did not publish inde- 

 pendently. I have been forced to abbreviate one or two 

 parts more than I wished . . . Your letters always surprise 

 me, from the number of points to which you attend. I wish 

 I could make my letters of any interest to you, for I hardly 

 ever see a naturalist, and live as retired a life as you in 

 Brazil. With respect to mimetic plants, I remember Hooker 

 many years ago saying he believed that there were many, but I 

 agree with you that it would be most difficult to distinguish 

 between mimetic resemblance and the effects of peculiar con- 

 ditions. Who can say to which of these causes to attribute 

 the several plants with heath-like foliage at the Cape of Good 

 Hope ? Is it not also a difficulty that quadrupeds appear to 

 recognise plants more by their [scent] than their appearance ? 



* In ' The Variation of Animals and Plants.' 



