I am glad you know my feeling of not being able to judge about one's own work; but I suspect that you have been overworking. I should think you could not give too much time to Wellwitchia (I spell it different every time I write it) (612/2. "On Welwitschia," "Linn. Soc. Trans." {1862}, XXIV., 1863.); at least I am sure in the animal kingdom monographs cannot be too long on the osculant groups.

Hereafter I shall be excessively glad to read a paper about Aldrovanda (612/3. See "Insectivorous Plants," page 321.), and am very much obliged for reference. It is pretty to see how the caught flies support Drosera; nothing else can live.

Thanks about plants with two kinds of anthers. I presume (if an included flower was a Cassia) (612/4. Todd has described a species of Cassia with an arrangement of stamens like the Melastomads. See Chapter 2.X.II.) that Cassia is like lupines, but with some stamens still more rudimentary. If I hear I will return the three Melastomads; I do not want them, and, indeed, have cuttings. I am very low about them, and have wasted enormous labour over them, and cannot yet get a glimpse of the meaning of the parts. I wish I knew any botanical collector to whom I could apply for seeds in their native land of any Heterocentron or Monochoetum; I have raised plenty of seedlings from your plants, but I find in other cases that from a homomorphic union one generally gets solely the parent form. Do you chance to know of any botanical collector in Mexico or Peru? I must not now indulge myself with looking after vessels and homologies. Some future time I will indulge myself. By the way, some time I want to talk over the alternation of organs in flowers with you, for I think I must have quite misunderstood you that it was not explicable.

I found out the Verbascum case by pure accident, having transplanted one for experiment, and finding it to my astonishment utterly sterile. I formerly thought with you about rarity of natural hybrids, but I am beginning to change: viz., oxlips (not quite proven), Verbascum, Cistus (not quite proven), Aegilops triticoides (beautifully shown by Godron), Weddell's and your orchids (612/5. For Verbascum see "Animals and Plants," Edition II., Volume I., page 356; for Cistus, Ibid., Edition II., Volume I., page 356, Volume II., page 122; for Aegilops, Ibid., Edition II., Volume I., page 330, note.), and I daresay many others recorded. Your letters are one of my greatest pleasures in life, but I earnestly beg you never to write unless you feel somewhat inclined, for I know how hard you work, as I work only in the morning it is different with me, and is only a pleasant relaxation. You will never know how much I owe to you for your constant kindness and encouragement.

LETTER 613. TO JOHN LUBBOCK (Lord Avebury). Cliff Cottage, Bournemouth, Hants, September 2nd {1862}.

Hearty thanks for your note. I am so glad that your tour answered so splendidly. My poor patients (613/1. Mrs. Darwin and one of her sons, both recovering from scarlet fever.) got here yesterday, and are doing well, and we have a second house for the well ones. I write now in great haste to beg you to look (though I know how busy you are, but I cannot think of any other naturalist who would be careful) at any field of common red clover (if such a field is near you) and watch the hive-bees: probably (if not too late) you will see some sucking at the mouth of the little flowers and some few sucking at the base of the flowers, at holes bitten through the corollas. All that you will see is that the bees put their heads deep into the {flower} head and rout about. Now, if you see this, do for Heaven's sake catch me some of each and put in spirits and keep them separate. I am almost certain that they belong to two castes, with long and short proboscids. This is so curious a point that it seems worth making out. I cannot hear of a clover field near here.

LETTER 614. TO JOHN LUBBOCK (Lord Avebury). Cliff Cottage, Bournemouth, Wednesday, September 3rd {1862}.

I beg a million pardons. Abuse me to any degree, but forgive me: it is all an illusion (but almost excusable) about the bees. (614/1. H. Muller, "Fertilisation of Flowers," page 186, describes hive-bees visiting Trifolium pratense for the sake of the pollen. Darwin may perhaps have supposed that these were the variety of bees whose proboscis was long enough to reach the nectar. In "Cross and Self Fertilisation," page 361, Darwin describes hive-bees apparently searching for a secretion on the calyx. In the same passage in "Cross and Self Fertilisation" he quotes Muller as stating that hive-bees obtain nectar from red clover by breaking apart the petals. This seems to us a misinterpretation of the "Befruchtung der Blumen," page 224.) I do so hope that you have not wasted any time from my stupid blunder. I hate myself, I hate clover, and I hate bees.

(FIGURE 10.—DIAGRAM OF CRUCIFEROUS FLOWER. FIGURE 11.—DISSECTION OF CRUCIFEROUS FLOWER.

Laid flat open, showing by dotted lines the course of spiral vessels in all the organs; sepals and petals shown on one side alone, with the stamens on one side above with course of vessels indicated, but not prolonged. Near side of pistil with one spiral vessel cut away.)