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Darwin Correspondence Project

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Darwin Correspondence Project
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Darwin, cats and cat shows

Summary

One of the more unusual invitations Darwin received was to be a patron of the Crystal Palace cat show, the first nationwide cat show in Britain. The man who first came up with the idea for the show, Harrison Weir, was one of Darwin’s correspondents, as…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … both Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Are white cats with blue eyes deaf? The first ‘ …
  • … suggested establishing ‘ a small class for “white cats of any breed, with both eyes or one alone …
  • … readers.  Darwin used an association between deafness in cats and the colour of their fur and eyes …
  • … other changes that were useful.  Darwin’s information on cats came mostly from one of his cousins, …
  • … to be right.   Read more about deaf blue-eyed cats and correlation of growth. …
  • … people refused to go and admire ‘ a lot of atheistical cats! ’, Darwin lent his name alongside …
  • … orchids that she occasionally supplied to Darwin, also bred cats.  She had won first prize at the …

Correlation of growth: deaf blue-eyed cats, pigs, and poison

Summary

As he was first developing his ideas, among the potential problems Darwin recognised with natural selection was how to account for developmental change that conferred no apparent advantage.  He proposed a ‘mysterious law’ of ‘correlation of growth’ where…

Matches: 10 hits

  • … clearer. Although he is more often associated with dogs than cats, it was cats that led to one such …
  • … characteristics, was an association between deafness in cats, and the colour of their fur and eyes.  …
  • … in the first edition of Origin , Darwin stated that ‘cats with blue eyes’ were ‘invariably deaf’ …
  • … he didn’t say so in print, he had been told that cats with only one blue eye were deaf in only one …
  • … of Origin , Darwin had already diluted the claim to: ‘cats with blue eyes are generally deaf’ ( …
  • … it yet further by the 4 th edition to only blue-eyed cats which were ‘entirely white’.  That was …
  • … & fishing rendezvous for Cockneys ’ had five white cats and a kitten, as well as four black …
  • … In a further complication to the example of cats, one observer, Lawson Tait, later claimed that it …
  • … to Fox to ask specifically about the sex of his deaf white cats . Fox, possibly a little …
  • … that he had observed ‘ not one dozen, but dozens of white cats ’ (letter originally tentatively …

Darwin soundbites

Summary

From atheistical cats to old fogies in Cambridge, we've collected some of Darwin's pithier remarks - some funny, some serious - but all quotes from letters you can read in full here. We particularly like this one: Will you be so kind as…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … From atheistical cats to old fogies in Cambridge, we've collected some of Darwin's pithier …
  • … so, as people may refuse to go & admire a lot of atheistical cats! Where's it …

Have you read the one about....

Summary

... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.

Matches: 1 hits

  • … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, …

Women’s scientific participation

Summary

Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … Henrietta Darwin provides her father with observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. …
  • … to Darwin’s request that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat …

4.36 Sem, Chistmas card

Summary

< Back to Introduction An unattributed watercolour drawing of Darwin shows him dapperly dressed in a tail coat, but walking on all fours like an animal, his lean figure bent over in an arch and filling the space. It is inscribed ‘With Compliments of…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … morphing into a quadruped ancestor complements the many cats, dogs, birds and other animals …

Rewriting Origin - the later editions

Summary

For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions.  Many of his changes were made in…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … geographically dispersed , whether white blue-eyed cats really were invariably deaf , and a …

Darwin in Conversation exhibition

Summary

Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … 9 July – 3 December 2022 Milstein Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University …

Alfred Russel Wallace’s essay on varieties

Summary

The original manuscript about varieties that Wallace composed on the island of Gilolo and sent to Darwin from the neighbouring island of Ternate (Brooks 1984) has not been found. It was sent to Darwin as an enclosure in a letter (itself missing), and was…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … average all above one become food for hawks and kites, wild cats and weasels, or perish of cold and …
  • … crustacea. Exactly the same laws will apply to mammals. Wild cats are prolific and have few enemies; …

'An Appeal' against animal cruelty

Summary

The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … jays, crows, stoats, weasels, martens, polecats, foxes, and cats – and accidental victims such as …

The expression of emotions

Summary

Darwin’s work on emotional expression, from notes in his Beagle diary and observations of his own children, to questionnaires, and experiments with photographs, was an integral part of his broad research on human evolution. It provided one of the main…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … drawings and engravings of monkeys, horses, dogs, and cats. He acquired photographs of infants and …

Expression

Summary

Darwin's interest in emotional expression can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the different sounds and gestures among the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and on his return from the voyage he started recording observations…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … both in Expression and Descent . The family also kept cats, and Henrietta made a series of …
  • … after publication, letters arrived about dogs who grin, cats who beg for food, students wiggling …

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'

Summary

In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … and elsewhere. William Darwin Fox supplied information about cats, dogs, rabbits, and geese, as well …

Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms

Summary

‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … described an analogous practice performed in Belgium on cats: ‘it is customary to turn a cat round …
  • … the letter with Romanes, who later tried the experiment with cats on Wimbledon Common, driving them …

Animals, ethics, and the progress of science

Summary

Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In Descent, he argued that some animals exhibited moral behaviour and had evolved mental powers analogous to conscience. He gave examples of cooperation, even…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … of the experiments in the Handbook recommended dogs or cats, animals much dearer to the hearts …

Women as a scientific audience

Summary

Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Variation and notes that in the section on cats Darwin makes no mention of a Siamese breed …

Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex

Summary

The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … who had supplied Darwin with a wealth of information on cats, pigs, cattle, and poultry for …

Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life

Summary

1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time.  And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth.  All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … beneficial, discoveries, and would be banned completely on cats and dogs. ‘What a monstrous …

Essay: Natural selection & natural theology

Summary

—by Asa Gray NATURAL SELECTION NOT INCONSISTENT WITH NATURAL THEOLOGY. Atlantic Monthly for July, August, and October, 1860, reprinted in 1861. I Novelties are enticing to most people; to us they are simply annoying. We cling to a long-accepted…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … who argue the immutability of species from the ibises and cats preserved by the ancient Egyptians …
  • … of species, drawn from the identity with those now living of cats, birds, and other animals …
  • … have given rise to occasional varieties. The tailless Manx cats, like the curtailed fox in the fable …

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … of all crosses between all domestic birds & animals dogs, cats &c &c very valuable—' …
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