54 GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN.' [1855. 



C. Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 



April I sth [185 5]. 



... I have had one experiment some little time in 

 progress which will, I think, be interesting, namely, seeds 

 in salt water, immersed in water of 32-33, which I have 

 and shall long have, as I rilled a great tank with snow. 

 When I wrote last I was going to triumph over you, for my 

 experiment had in a slight degree succeeded ; but this, with 

 infinite baseness, I did not tell, in hopes that you would 

 say that you would eat all the plants which I could raise 

 after immersion. It is very aggravating that I cannot in 

 the least remember what you did formerly say that made me 

 think you scoffed at the experiments vastly; for you now 

 seem to view the experiment like a good Christian. I have 

 in small bottles out of doors, exposed to variation of tempera- 

 ture, cress, radish, cabbages, lettuces, carrots, and celery, and 

 onion seed four great families. These, after immersion for 

 exactly one week, have all germinated, which I did not in the 

 least expect (and thought how you would sneer at me) ; for 

 the water of nearly all, and of the cress especially, smelt 

 very badly, and the cress seed emitted a wonderful quantity 

 of mucus (the ' Vestiges ' would have expected them to turn 

 into tadpoles), so as to adhere in a mass ; but these seeds 

 germinated and grew splendidly. The germination of all 

 (especially cress and lettuces) has been accelerated, except the 

 cabbages, which have come up very irregularly, and a good 

 many, I think, dead. One would have thought, from their 

 native habitat, that the cabbage would have stood well. The 

 Umbelliferae and onions seem to stand the salt well. I wash 

 the seed before planting them. I have written to the 

 Gardener^ Chronicle* though I doubt whether it was worth 



* A few words asking for infor- (p. 789) he sent a P. S. to his former 



mation. The results were published paper, correcting a misprint and 



in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' May adding a few words on the seeds of 



26, Nov. 24, 1855. In the same year the Leguminosas. A fuller paper 



