332 'POWER OF MOVEMENT [l88o. 



despondingly to Mr. Dyer : " I am overwhelmed with my 

 notes, and almost too old to undertake the job which I have 

 in hand i.e., movements of all kinds. Yet it is worse to be 

 idle." 



Later on in the year, when the work was approaching com- 

 pletion, he wrote to Prof. Cams (July 17, 1879), with respect 

 to a translation : 



" Together with my son Francis, I am preparing a rather 

 large volume on the general movements of Plants, and I think 

 that we have made out a good many new points and views. 



" I fear that our views will meet a good deal of opposition 

 in Germany ; but we have been working very hard for some 

 years at the subject. 



" I shall be much pleased if you think the book worth trans- 

 lating, and proof-sheets shall be sent you, whenever they are 

 ready." 



In the autumn he was hard at work on the manuscript, and 

 wrote to Dr. Gray (October 24, 1879) : 



" I have written a rather big book more is the pity on 

 the movements of plants, and I am now just beginning to go 

 over the MS. for the second time, which is a horrid bore." 



Only the concluding part of the next letter refers to the 

 ' Power of Movement ' :] 



C. Darwin to A . De Candolle. 



May 28, 1880. 



MY DEAR SIR, I am particularly obliged to you for having 

 so kindly sent me your ' Phytographie ;' * for if I had merely 

 seen it advertised, I should not have supposed that it could 

 have concerned me. As it is, I have read with very great 

 interest about a quarter, but will not delay longer thanking 

 you. All that you say seems to me very clear and con- 

 vincing, and as in all your writings I find a large number of 



* A book on the methods of botanical research, more especially of 

 systematic work. 



