I am glad to hear about the Hedychium, and how soon you have got an answer! I hope that the wings of the Sphinx will hereafter prove to be bedaubed with pollen, for the case will then prove a fine bit of prophecy from the structure of a flower to special and new means of fertilisation.
By the way, I suppose you have noticed what a grand appearance the plant makes when the green capsules open, and display the orange and crimson seeds and interior, so as to attract birds, like the pale buff flowers to attract dusk-flying lepidoptera. I presume you do not want seeds of this plant, as I have plenty from artificial fertilisation.
(723/2. In "Nature," June 22nd, 1876, page 173, Hermann Muller communicated F. Muller's observation on the fertilisation of a bright-red-flowered species of Hedychium, which is visited by Callidryas, chiefly the males of C. Philea. The pollen is carried by the tips of the butterfly's wing, to which it is temporarily fixed by the slimy layer produced by the degeneration of the anther-wall.
LETTER 724. TO W. THISELTON-DYER. Down, June 4th {1874}.
I am greatly obliged to you about the Opuntia, and shall be glad if you can remember Catalpa. I wish some facts on the action of water, because I have been so surprised at a stream not acting on Dionoea and Drosera. (724/1. See Pfeffer, "Untersuchungen Bot. Inst. zu Tubingen," Bd. I., 1885, page 518. Pfeffer shows that in some cases—Drosera, for instance—water produces movement only when it contains fine particles in suspension. According to Pfeffer the stamens of Berberis, and the stigma of Mimulus, are both stimulated by gelatine, the action of which is, generally speaking, equivalent to that of water.) Water does not act on the stamens of Berberis, but it does on the stigma of Mimulus. It causes the flowers of the bedding-out Mesembryanthemum and Drosera to close, but it has not this effect on Gazania and the daisy, so I can make out no rule.
I hope you are going on with Nepenthes; and if so, you will perhaps like to hear that I have just found out that Pinguicula can digest albumen, gelatine, etc. If a bit of glass or wood is placed on a leaf, the secretion is not increased; but if an insect or animal-matter is thus placed, the secretion is greatly increased and becomes feebly acid, which was not the case before. I have been astonished and much disturbed by finding that cabbage seeds excite a copious secretion, and am now endeavouring to discover what this means. (724/2. Clearly it had not occurred to Darwin that seeds may supply nitrogenous food as well as insects: see "Insectivorous Plants," page 390.) Probably in a few days' time I shall have to beg a little information from you, so I will write no more now.
P.S. I heard from Asa Gray a week ago, and he tells me a beautiful fact: not only does the lid of Sarracenia secrete a sweet fluid, but there is a line or trail of sweet exudation down to the ground so as to tempt insects up. (724/3. A dried specimen of Sarracenia, stuffed with cotton wool, was sometimes brought from his study by Mr. Darwin, and made the subject of a little lecture to visitors of natural history tastes.)
LETTER 725. TO W. THISELTON-DYER. Down, June 23rd, 1874.
I wrote to you about a week ago, thanking you for information on cabbage seeds, asking you the name of Luzula or Carex, and on some other points; and I hope before very long to receive an answer. You must now, if you can, forgive me for being very troublesome, for I am in that state in which I would sacrifice friend or foe. I have ascertained that bits of certain leaves, for instance spinach, excite much secretion in Pinguicula, and that the glands absorb matter from the leaves. Now this morning I have received a lot of leaves from my future daughter-in-law in North Wales, having a surprising number of captured insects on them, a good many leaves, and two seed-capsules. She informs me that the little leaves had excited secretion; and my son and I have ascertained this morning that the protoplasm in the glands beneath the little leaves has undoubtedly undergone aggregation. Therefore, absurd as it may sound, I am prepared to affirm that Pinguicula is not only insectivorous, but graminivorous, and granivorous! Now I want to beg you to look under the simple microscope at the enclosed leaves and seeds, and, if you possibly can, tell me their genera. The little narrow leaves are remarkable (725/1. Those of Erica tetralix.); they are fleshy, with the edges much curled from the axis of the plant, and bear a few long glandular hairs; these grow in little tufts. These are the commonest in Pinguicula, and seem to afford most nutritious matter. A second leaf is like a miniature sycamore. With respect to the seeds, I suppose that one is a Carex; the other looks like that of Rumex, but is enclosed in a globular capsule. The Pinguicula grew on marshy, low, mountainous land.
I hope you will think this subject sufficiently interesting to make you willing to aid me as far as you can. Anyhow, forgive me for being so very troublesome.