Correspondence with Charles Darwin 189
to be convinced that the obscurity was all in my head, but I cannot think so, for a clearheaded (clearer than I am) member of my family read the article and was as much puzzled as I was. To this minute I cannot define what are "developed," "sterile" and "fertile" germs. You are a real Christian if you do not hate me for ever and ever.
I shall try you when we come to London in a month or six weeks time, as I want to ask a question about averages, which can be asked in a minute or two, but would fill a long letter.
, Yours very sincerely, Ca. DARWIN.
P.S. As soon as I am sure that no more pods of Sweet Peas will ripen, I will send all the bags in a box per Railway to you.
42, RUTLAND GATE, S.W. Nov. 26/75.
MY DEAR DARWIN, How can I thank you sufficiently for the trouble you have taken with the peas, which arrived last night in beautiful order. You must let me know, when we next meet, if there is anything I owe you for payments of any kind connected with them; Will you, in the meantime, give the enclosed 10/- (I send an order made out in your name) to the gardener from me? and tell him that I am much obliged for his care.
Ever yours, FRANCIS GALTON.
Romanes has told me much of his wonderfully interesting results with the Medusae. Dec. 18th [1875] (Home on Monday).
MY DEAR GALTON, George has been explaining our differences. I have admitted in new Edit. (before seeing your essay) that perhaps the gemmules are largely multiplied in the reproductive organs; but this does not make me doubt that each unit of the whole system also sends forth its gemmules. You will no doubt have thought of the following objection to your view, and I should like to hear what your answer is. If 2 plants are crossed, it often'or rather generally happens that every part of stem, leaf-even to the hairs-and flowers of the hybrid are intermediate in character ; and this hybrid will produce by buds millions on millions of other buds all exactly reproducing the intermediate character. I cannot doubt that every unit of the hybrid is hybridised and sends forth hybridised gemmules. Here we have nothing to do with the reproductive organs. There can hardly be a doubt, from what we know, that the same thing would occur with all those animals which are capable of budding and some of those (as the compound Ascidians) are sufficiently complex and highly organised.
Yours very sincerely, Ca. DARWIN.
42, RUTLAND GATE. Dec. 19/75.
MY DEAR DARWIN, The explanation of what you propose does not seem to me in any way different on my theory, to what it would be in any theory of organic units. It would be this:
Let us deal with a single quality, for clearness of explanation, and suppose that in some particular plant or animal and in some particular structure, the hybrid between white and black forms was exactly intermediate, viz: grey-thenceforward for ever. Then a bit of the tinted structure under the microscope would have a form which might be drawn as in a diagram, as follows:
White Form. Black Form.
whereas in the hybrid it would be either that some cells were white and others black, and nearly the same proportion of each, as in (1) giving on the whole when less highly magnified a
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