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* direct »Letter 367 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 30 July 1837
Galapagos land birds and reptiles. No two naturalists agree on any fundamental idea [of species]. "Everything is arbitrary." Has been with Richard Owen going over the S. American fossils. Has worked out the non-relation between animals' bulk and luxuriance of vegetation. The horse once common on the Pampas. The mystery of the extinction of these animals.
* direct »Letter 394 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [19? Dec 1837]
Responds to Lyell's query [missing] about northern and southern limits of coral islands of the Pacific. Warns that coral islands are much more thinly distributed than people realise and cites examples. Comments on views of Matthew Flinders. Reading work of É[lie] de B[eaumont]. Notes difficulty of setting an east-west boundary to coral islands.
* direct »Letter 402 — Lindsay-Carnegie, W. F. to Lyell, Charles, [14 Feb 1838]
Impressed by CD's theory [of earthworm action].
* direct »Letter 405 — James, R. B. to Lyell, Charles, [10? Mar 1838]
Sends four samples of dust blown on board his ship from the coast of Africa, nearly 400 miles away, during four days in March 1838. Gives careful descriptions and relates the tests he made of it [see Collected papers 1: 200].
* direct »Letter 424 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 9 Aug [1838]
Comments on receiving copy of Lyell's Elements [of geology]. Much is new to CD, and he is copying out notes and references. Criticises geological work of John Phillips. Describes expedition to Glen Roy, about which he is writing a paper ["Parallel roads of Glen Roy" (1839), Collected papers 1: 87–137]. Enjoys the Athenaeum Club.Criticises entomological work of F. W. Hope. Asks Lyell to obtain for him a copy of barometric readings made at Leith. Asks him to ascertain altitude of several Scottish lochs.Comments on FitzRoy's character.
* direct »Letter 428 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [14] Sept [1838]
Comments on an article in Edinburgh Review [by David Brewster, 67 (1838): 271–308] on Comte's Philosophie positive. Discusses falsity of Élie de Beaumont's views of contemporaneous parallel lines of elevation and subsidence. Owen's views of relationship of reptiles to birds. On "question of species" CD has filled notebook after notebook with facts, "which begin to group themselves clearly under sub-laws".
* direct »Letter 432 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [12 Nov 1838]
Announces his engagement to Emma Wedgwood.
* direct »Letter 480 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [c. 9 Jan 1839]
Discusses his Glen Roy paper [(1839), Collected papers 1: 87–137], which he is sending to CL. Remarks on Charles MacLaren's treatment of alluvium. Comments on alluvial action in Lochaber.
* direct »Letter 554 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [19? Feb 1840]
Remarks on his illness and treatment. Discusses MS [of Coral reefs] and changes in his view of coral reefs since Journal of researches. Mentions C. G. Ehrenberg's observations on coral reefs.
* direct »Letter 590 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [21 Feb – 4 Apr 1841]
Answers a number of queries from Lyell concerning geography and geology of Chiloé Island and its relationship to the Cordilleras. Asks about "perched rocks" on Jura and notes their relevance to Louis Agassiz's theory. Discusses Agassiz's view on Jura. Mentions seeing Robert Brown. Notes R. I. Murchison's discovery of shells in central England. Weakness of negative evidence.