80 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



Down, 

 September 28, 1881. Beckenham, Kent. 



My Dear Mr. Riley : I must write half-a-dozen lines to say how much in- 

 terested I have been by your "Further Notes" on Pronuba, which you were so 

 kind as to send me. I had read the various critici.->ms, and though I did not 

 know what answer would be made, yet I felt full confidence in the result, and 

 now I see I was right. * * * * 



If you make any further observation on Pronuba it would, I think, be well 

 worth while for you to observe whether the moth can or does occasionally bring 

 pollen from one plant to the stigma of a distinct one; for I have shown that the 

 cross-fertilization of the flowers on the same plant does very little good and, if 

 I am not mistaken, you believe that the Pronuba gathers pollen from the same 

 flower which she fertilizes.* 



What interesting and beautiful observations you have made on the metamor- 

 phoses of the grass-hopper destroying insects ! 

 Believe me, 



My dear sir, 



Yours sincerely, 



Ch. Darwin. 



My own experience in this regard is the common experience, for 

 an interest in natural science was an open sesame to his generous 

 soul. His consideration, without aggression, was the secret of the 

 gratitude and respect which all felt who had the honor to know him, 

 either personally or through correspondence. 



His approval of the work of others was coupled with a deprecia- 

 tion of his own, which was very marked on the occasion of my 

 second visit to Europe, in 1875, when I crossed the ocean with his 

 son Leonard on his way from the Transit of Venus expedition. 

 "Insectivorous Plants " was just finished and Darwin was worn and 

 in feeble health, staying, in fact, at Abinger Hall for rest. He was 

 quite disgusted with the book, to use his son's expression, and 

 doubted whether it could prove of sufficient interest, with its long 

 and dry records of experiments, to be read by any one. 



*This is a misapprehension. Pronuba is an effectual cross-fertilizer, running from 

 flower to flower, and often flying from raceme to raceme with one and the same load of 

 pollen. The omitted passages in this letter refer to the work of a gentleman still living. 



