To Nature [before 3 April 1873]
Summary
Comments on article ["Perception and instinct in lower animals", Nature 7 (1871): 377–8].
Explains his contention that "many of the most wonderful instincts have been acquired, independently of habit, through the preservation of useful variations of pre-existing instincts". Cites examples: sterile workers of several species of social insects have acquired different instincts; movements of tumbler pigeons. Speculates that "many instincts have originated from modification or variations in the brain".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Nature |
| Date: | [before 3 Apr 1873] |
| Classmark: | Nature, 3 April 1873, pp. 417–18 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8838 |
Matches: 28 hits
- … Comments on article ["Perception and instinct in lower animals", Nature 7 (1871): 377–8]. …
- … contention that "many of the most wonderful instincts have been acquired, independently of …
- … of useful variations of pre-existing instincts". Cites examples: sterile workers …
- … species of social insects have acquired different instincts; movements of tumbler pigeons. …
- … Speculates that "many instincts have originated from modification or variations in the …
- … some of the responses to it. CD discussed instinct in hive-bees and in neuter insects in …
- … Origin of certain instincts The writer of the interesting article in N ature of March …
- … my belief “that many of the most wonderful instincts have been acquired, independently of …
- … of useful variations of preexisting instincts,” means more than “that in a great …
- … many instances we cannot conceive how the instincts originated. ” This in one sense is …
- … forward was simply that in certain cases instincts had not been acquired through the …
- … in the highest degree probable that many instincts have originated from modifications or …
- … reflex actions and their relation to instinct. See Nature , 20 March 1873, p. 378. CD …
- … parents which possess quite different instincts. The Hive-bee is the best known instance, …
- … had thus gradually acquired these instincts; and that they had ever afterwards transmitted …
- … they themselves no longer practised such instincts. But there are several species of Hive- …
- … workers have somewhat different habits and instincts, as shown by their combs. There are …
- … and drag them to their nests; and the instincts of the neuters in the different species of …
- … species have somehow acquired different instincts. This case appeared to me so remarkable …
- … unexplained, the development of the wondrous instincts possessed by the various sterile …
- … that the possession of highly complex instincts, though not derived through conscious …
- … inheritance is concerned, as well as their instincts, can be modified or injured only by …
- … case to that of the above class of instincts, as I have shown in my recently published …
- … of useful variations of pre-existing instincts” adds “the question is, whence these …
- … to the partial or complete loss of an instinct, or to its perversion; and the individual …
- … hawks. He suggests that it “is a fancy instinct, an outlet for the overflowing activity of …
- … led, independently of experience and of habit, to changes in pre-existing instincts, or to …
- … quite new instincts, and these proving of service to the species, have been preserved and …
From Hensleigh Wedgwood [before 3 March 1871]
Summary
On "moral sense" in Descent.
| Author: | Hensleigh Wedgwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 3 Mar 1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 88: 41–53 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7470 |
Matches: 24 hits
- … began, ‘Hence a struggle may often be observed in animals between different instincts, or …
- … between an instinct and some habitual disposition’. ἔχω: I have (Greek). See Descent 1: …
- … and always present nature of the social instincts, in which respect man agrees with the …
- … desire or passion has mastered his social instincts he will reflect and compare the now …
- … of such past impulses with the ever present social instinct and he will then feel that …
- … of dissatisfaction which all unsatisfied instincts leave behind them. Consequently he …
- … for the future—and this is conscience. Any instinct which is permanently stronger or more …
- … which would have arisen from obedience to the more permanent instinct of pointing. But …
- … the temptation to run was the more vivid instinct at the moment of action, why should it …
- … letter’ pencil Verso of p. 3 : ‘The instinct which is born in pointers & always present & …
- … to be derived from obedience to the instinct of pointing. You suppose indeed that he would …
- … with the dissatisfaction actually felt in disobedience to the other instinct. …
- … But the disobedience to the pointing instinct is no more present than the obedience to the …
- … the feeling of dissatisfaction arising from unsatisfied instinct of which you say I. 72 …
- … would be sensible on perceiving that the enduring social instinct had on some previous …
- … occasion yielded to some other instinct at the time stronger. You make the pricking of the …
- … which one has neglected the permanent social instinct for the gratification of a temporary …
- … arising from the opposition of a present instinct to weigh against the memory of a past …
- … The dissatisfaction arising from the failure of an instinct is not actually felt when we …
- … only think of a case when the instinct was baulked, but only in the …
- … moment of actual disobedience to the instinct. The real …
- … reason of the superiority of the social instinct to animal appetite is that …
- … the gratification of the social instinct excites emotion (whether of love or aversion) in …
- … interl pencil 3.15 You suppose … instinct. 3.16] ‘I still think so—when the Hare not …
From Edward Blyth [22 September 1855]
Summary
Gives extract from a letter from Capt. R. Tickell: rabbits are not bred by the Burmese; common European and Chinese geese are bred but have probably only recently been introduced.
EB gives references to works illustrating the dog-like instinct of N. American wolves.
Discusses reason and instinct; ascribes both to man and animals. Comments on various instincts, e. g. homing, migratory, parental, constructive, and defensive. Reasoning in animals; cattle learning to overcome fear of passing trains.
Hybrid sterility as an indication of distinct species. Interbreeding as an indication of common parentage.
Enlarges upon details given by J. C. Prichard [in The natural history of man (1843)].
Adaptation of the two-humped camel to cold climates. Camel hybrids.
Doubts that domestic fowl or fancy pigeons have ever reverted to the wild.
Feral horses and cattle of S. America.
Believes the "creole pullets" to be a case of inaccurate description.
Variations in skulls between species of wild boar.
Pigs are so prolific that the species might be expected to cross.
Milk production of cows and goats.
Sheep and goats of lower Bengal.
Indian breeds of horses.
Variation in Asiatic elephants.
Spread of American tropical and subtropical plants in the East.
EB distinguishes between races and artificially-produced breeds.
[CD’s notes are an abstract of this memorandum.]
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [22 Sept 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A85–A92 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1755 |
Matches: 27 hits
- … introduced. EB gives references to works illustrating the dog-like instinct of N. American …
- … wolves. Discusses reason and instinct; ascribes both to man and animals. …
- … Comments on various instincts, e. g. homing, migratory, parental, constructive, and …
- … d’Ocagne. Hancock, Thomas. 1824. Essay on instinct, and its physical and moral relations. …
- … I think the dog-like propensity (or instinct if you admit the word, as I do,) of a wild …
- … habits are known to become hereditary instincts (as in the case of untaught pointer pups, …
- … where it was caught! The migratory instinct, too, as illustrated by the British Cuckoo & …
- … parents Add the occasional migrative instinct, displayed rarely by Rats, Red Deer, &c & …
- … c. — The parental instinct, not only as manifested by strange birds to an unfortunate …
- … it. We may even yet add the hoarding instinct; & the different modes by which different …
- … avoid entering upon the reason versus instinct question when you come to treat of such …
- … Blyth’s views on the distinction between instinct and reason, as put forward in Blyth …
- … bears on Taylor bird using threads, it shows instinct descends even to smallest detail. ’ …
- … can be sufficiently accounted for. Reason & Instinct . I presume that you agree with me in …
- … of them to man or to the lower animals! Surely the instinct of self-preservation, the …
- … sexual, or the maternal instinct, is equally strong in man & other animals! …
- … regards the second, I discern a pairing instinct in mankind (& why not in other properly …
- … a state of things? Man’s natural instinct prompts, in due time, a special attachment; & to …
- … promoted by allowing young folks to follow their natural instincts in the matter. Perhaps …
- … smile at all this; but the monogomous instinct of our race does not appear to me to have …
- … been hitherto sufficiently regarded. Those who deny all instinct must explain …
- … the human instincts referred to; nor are …
- … those all,—various primitive instincts may be lost in a state of domesticity: witness …
- … for their future progeny! — The constructive instinct, as shewn by birds or insects of the …
- … the same habits as the American. — The instinct also, which distinguishes a natural enemy, …
- … them know how to go to work. So much for instinct , or innate or intuitive knowledge, as …
- … as reason ; and as we possess certain instincts , so do the lower animals reason to a very …
From B. O’Neile Wilson 22 December 1861
Summary
Variation in instincts among domestic animals.
| Author: | Benjamin O’Neile Wilson |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Dec 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 118 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3348 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … Variation in instincts among domestic animals. …
- … that discusses the mental powers and instincts of animals (see Natural selection , pp. …
- … thousand) you say, “If it can be shewn that instincts do vary ever so little”. Again at …
- … qualities of our domestic animals vary”—that instincts vary slightly in a state of nature” …
- … cattle stations. Now we find every kind of instinct and mental quality in such horses. I …
- … I have known every gradation. Again part instinct part habit. In riding in cattle some …
- … the greatest possible variation in the instinct of horses and as I have frequently ridden …
From Godfrey Wedgwood [November 1873]
Summary
Captive and tame birds inheriting the migratory instinct.
| Author: | Godfrey Wedgwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Nov 1873] |
| Classmark: | DAR 181: 52 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9121 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Captive and tame birds inheriting the migratory instinct. …
- … It had been quite tame before. Neither of these cases could have been imitative instinct. …
- … Cases of instinct not being imitation referring to De Candolle, page 322. …
- … whether the migration of birds was a learned behaviour or an inherited instinct. CD …
- … considered the power of the migratory instinct in Descent 1: 83–4. …
To G. J. Romanes 16 April 1881
Summary
Discusses concept of intelligence in his Earthworms manuscript.
Remarks on GJR’s work on echinoderms.
Comments on Wilhelm Roux [Der Kampf der Theile im Organismus (1881)].
Discusses animal instincts, citing Fabre’s description of sand-wasps.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George John Romanes |
| Date: | 16 Apr 1881 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.587) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13118 |
Matches: 11 hits
- … Organismus (1881)]. Discusses animal instincts, citing Fabre’s description of sand-wasps. …
- … Fabre, Jean-Henri. 1856. Étude sur l’instinct et les métamorphoses des sphégiens. Annales …
- … so strongly on the unvarying character of instinct, yet it is shown that there is some …
- … in animals: with a posthumous essay on instinct by Charles Darwin. London: Kegan Paul, …
- … 1879. Souvenirs entomologiques: études sur l’instinct et les mœurs des insectes . Paris: …
- … anyhow they are not guided by a blind instinct. Secondly, I was greatly interested by the …
- … in your book on the Mind of Animals, any of the more complex & wonderful instincts. It is …
- … work, as there can be no fossilised instincts, & the sole guide is their state in other …
- … la métamorphose des sphégiens’ (Study on instinct and metamorphosis in the sphecids; Fabre …
- … p. 156). In Souvenirs entomologiques: études sur l’instinct et les mœurs des insectes ( …
- … Entomological recollections: studies on the instinct and habits of insects; Fabre 1879 ), …
From Henrietta Emma Darwin [29 October 1862]
Summary
Instinct in cats.
| Author: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [29 Oct 1862] |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 68 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3787 |
From William Preyer 2 December 1880
Summary
CD’s comment that certain instincts originate as variations of the brain, rather than as habits, is supported by Brown-Séquard’s and C. F. O. Westphal’s work on epileptiform movements.
| Author: | William Thierry (William) Preyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Dec 1880 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 72 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12883 |
Matches: 9 hits
- … CD’s comment that certain instincts originate as variations of the brain, rather than as …
- … in animals: with a posthumous essay on instinct by Charles Darwin. London: Kegan Paul, …
- … What you say about the origin of certain instincts which probably must be ascribed to “ …
- … your theory, it proves also that such instincts which are of no “service to the species” …
- … to write on “the marvellous facts of instinct” as indicated in your ‘Variation of Animals …
- … had asked CD for copies of letters on instincts that CD had written to Nature (see letter …
- … CD discussed the possibility that some instincts were the result of modifications of the …
- … 3 April 1873] ). CD also discussed instincts as modifications of the brain in Descent 2d …
- … 1871 ). CD had proposed to investigate instinct as part of a projected work discussing …
From G. H. Darwin [3–9 March 1871]
Summary
Comments on points made in Hensleigh Wedgwood’s letter [7470] on moral sense in Descent.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [3–9 Mar 1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 88: 37–40 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7561 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … I dont thk it is quite a good instance— the social instinct is always present, but a dog …
- … only wishes to point when his instinct is definitely called into action— I thk this can …
- … chasing a hair do seem to me temporary instincts—only that one usually does conquer …
- … entirely apart from temporary or permanent instincts. I don’t agree with y r P.S. As far …
- … d . feel shame— It is usually stronger instinct was conquered: that is all 1 st letter p …
- … the difference is in recalling 2 kinds of past instincts whereas you mean the difference …
- … is between a past & present instinct— p 3 2 nd . letter— I don’t see what this has to do …
- … I cant see that love accts for social instinct unless you strain the word to a new …
- … do not love The Question is does the disobeying an instinct in some particular instance …
- … give more pain if this instinct is always present than the disobeying another which is …
From G. J. Romanes 21 June 1878
Summary
Thanks for permission to use CD’s MS chapter on instinct for forthcoming book.
| Author: | George John Romanes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 June 1878 |
| Classmark: | E. D. Romanes 1896, p. 73 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11561 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Thanks for permission to use CD’s MS chapter on instinct for forthcoming book. …
- … let you know when I want to read up about instinct. With very many thanks, I remain, yours …
- … that incorporated material from CD on instinct: Animal intelligence ( G. J. Romanes 1882 ) …
- … intelligence. CD had also sent his notes on instinct in bees and wasps (DAR 73: 21–2); see …
- … in animals: with a posthumous essay on instinct by Charles Darwin. London: Kegan Paul, …
- … I will send you my manuscript about instinct (or the proofs when out), and you can strike …
From J. T. Moggridge 1 February 1873
Summary
He does not accept Wallace’s definition of instinct because it excludes "inherited experience", i.e., "knowledge acquired by and transmitted through ancestors".
House-flies do not seem to have an instinctive fear of trap-door spiders.
Miss Forster gives him news of CD.
| Author: | John Traherne Moggridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 217 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8756 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … not accept Wallace’s definition of instinct because it excludes "inherited experience", …
- … very highly. — I must own that as regards instinct I am still in a measure at sea & driven …
- … to the explanation according to which instinct , in its rigorously limited sense, is the …
- … Hooker, 27 January [1873] ). Alfred Russel Wallace’s definition of instinct appeared in …
- … his essay, ‘On instinct in man and animals’ (see A. R. Wallace 1870 , …
- … referred to Wallace’s definition of instinct in his discussion of nest building in …
- … ancestors. My wish in writing as I did about instinct, was to call attention to the point …
- … been much struck lately by the lack of instinct which houseflies display when placed in …
From F. B. Zincke 29 November 1876
Summary
Considers different animal instincts, some of which have reversed, others of which have proved persistent.
| Author: | Foster Barham Zincke |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Nov 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 184: 11 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10692 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … Considers different animal instincts, some of which have reversed, others of which have …
- … of the persistency & of the reversibility of instincts. Nothing can have escaped y r . …
- … protected by the wall. Animals have the same instinct. They will travel along side of a …
- … bank or wall. As to the reversibility of instincts I think we …
- … may regard the existing instincts of this dog, in many instances so unlike those of the …
- … me with another instance. This bird has an instinct of unusual timidity & wariness. If a …
- … the game keepers are not near. Yet this instinct of timidity & wariness in unusual degrees …
To Hensleigh Wedgwood 3 March [1871]
Summary
Admits pointer illustration is faulty.
Discusses shame, remorse, social instincts, approbation, and other topics discussed in Descent, ch. 4. "But as yet I nail my colours to the mast."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Hensleigh Wedgwood |
| Date: | 3 Mar [1871] |
| Classmark: | DAR 88: 24, 54–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7537 |
Matches: 9 hits
- … Discusses shame, remorse, social instincts, approbation, and other topics discussed in …
- … pointer reflected about the hare, the instinct of pointing which was born in him, & which …
- … nearly so strong as the more permanent instinct of pointing, He w d then feel indignant or …
- … shown that this is a faulty illustration; for the pointing instinct is not always present, …
- … as I believe the social instincts are with those animals which cannot endure being alone. …
- … as just said, on the enduring social instincts which include sympathy. What an awfully …
- … from the strength of the social instincts, whilst others depend on their enduring nature, …
- … that the superiority of the social instincts to animal appetites is that the gratification …
- … by you. It seems to me that there is an instinct to aid our fellows as blind as when a …
From Henry Holland 10 December [1859]
Summary
Comments on the Origin. Outlines difficulties he finds in CD’s theory. Believes CD must define natural selection more accurately and mentions instances in which that principle is an insufficient cause to account for the form of certain structures.
| Author: | Henry Holland, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 148–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2578 |
Matches: 13 hits
- … Opticks ( Newton 1718 , p. 379): the Instinct of Brutes and insects, can be the effect …
- … as a necessity , as an accident , as an instinct , as intellectual volition . From the …
- … the external conditions, & modifying the instincts of many animals; & in rendering such …
- … at the astute artist, armed with its strange instincts, sitting amidst its work, without a …
- … not been explicit enough on the subject of Instincts , as connected with your theory. If …
- … from one , or very few primitive forms , Instincts must have followed, & been caused by , …
- … hereditary, & no longer to be distinguished from Instincts, I fully believe. But still …
- … I think there are numerous cases in the history of Instincts, where the peculiarity …
- … of the individual instinct is such, that we are almost compelled to regard the …
- … the instrument & not the cause, of the Instinct. The whole matter is full of difficulty; …
- … his 31 st Query, by supposing the Deity “the present moving principle” in all Instincts. — …
- … Notwithstanding that Intelligence & Instincts seem to stand in opposition, or rather in …
- … begins to mix itself largely with instincts , forming itself an independent principle of …
To G. M. Asher 28 October 1879
Summary
Cannot answer questions on origin of instinct, sociology, etc. Suggests references in Origin and Descent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Georg Michael Asher |
| Date: | 28 Oct 1879 |
| Classmark: | The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12273 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Cannot answer questions on origin of instinct, sociology, etc. Suggests references in …
- … as being derived from the Social instinct. Believe me my dear Sir | Yours faithfully | …
- … such difficult subjects as the origin of Instinct, Sociology &c, & therefore cannot comply …
- … CD had worked extensively on the social instincts of bees and the geometry of bee cells ( …
To Lawson Tait 15 June [1877]
Summary
Thanks RLT for his work, Diseases of women.
CD is also interested by RLT’s letter reporting a cat rearing chickens. "What a wonderful instinct is the maternal one."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Lawson (Lawson) Tait |
| Date: | 15 June [1877] |
| Classmark: | DAR 221.5: 39 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11001 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … by Romanes some time ago in Nature. — What a wonderful instinct is the maternal one! …
- … letter reporting a cat rearing chickens. "What a wonderful instinct is the maternal one." …
- … John Romanes had described the maternal instincts of a hen that kept three young ferrets …
- … CD’s work on the inheritance of sexual instincts, on hermaphroditism, and on pangenesis. …
To Nature [before 13 February 1873]
Summary
Sends a letter from William Huggins about a case of inherited fright in three generations of mastiffs. Discusses the different origins of instincts and their inheritance.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Nature |
| Date: | [before 13 Feb 1873] |
| Classmark: | Nature, 13 February 1873, pp. 281–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8765 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … of mastiffs. Discusses the different origins of instincts and their inheritance. …
- … 1859. Spalding, Douglas Alexander. 1873. Instinct. With original observations on young …
- … Inherited Instinct The following letter seems to me so valuable, and the accuracy of the …
- … Douglas Alexander Spalding , in an article on instinct in young animals, had described his …
- … refers to Dogs: their points, whims, instincts and peculiarities (Webb ed. [1872]), …
- … certain that many of the most wonderful instincts have been acquired independently of …
- … habit, through the preservation of useful variations of pre-existing instincts. …
- … Other instincts may have arisen suddenly in an individual and then been transmitted to its …
From W. F. Barrett 6 May 1873
Summary
Because of current interest in hereditary instinct, relates incident about a baby alligator, just emerged from its shell, attempting to bite a human.
| Author: | William Fletcher Barrett |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 May 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 46 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8902 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … of current interest in hereditary instinct, relates incident about a baby alligator, just …
- … Letters and articles on instinct had been published in Nature , 20 February 1873, p. 303; …
- … CD’s letter to the editor on inherited instinct, published in Nature , 13 February 1873, …
- … have lately appeared in “Nature” on Hereditary Instinct that I hardly like to add to their …
- … Romanes mentioned this example of alligator instinct in his work on animal intelligence ( …
Darwin, George Howard. 1873a. Instinct: moving in a circle. Nature, 1 May 1873, p. 6.
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin, George Howard. 1873a. Instinct: moving in a circle. Nature , 1 May 1873, p. 6. …
Hancock, Thomas. 1824. Essay on instinct, and its physical and moral relations. London.
Matches: 1 hit
- … Hancock, Thomas. 1824. Essay on instinct, and its physical and moral relations. London. 5 …
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Instinct and the Evolution of Mind
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Slave-making ants For Darwin, slave-making ants were a powerful example of the force of instinct. He used the case of the ant Formica sanguinea in the On the Origin of Species to show how instinct operates—how…
Matches: 5 hits
- … slave-making ants were a powerful example of the force of instinct. He used the case of the ant …
- … of Species . 1859. London: John Murray. (See: Chapter 7 “Instinct”) Manuscripts …
- … p. 46, 52-59 Letters Letter Packet: Instinct and the Evolution of Mind …
- … would you characterize Darwin's central question regarding instinct and its relation to the …
- … this topic? 2. By what mechanism does Darwin believe instinct acts? How does this mechanism …
Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Matches: 5 hits
- … final pieces of his grand puzzle as they came to him. Instinct: the problem of bees …
- … of divine design in nature. Darwin hypothesised that the instinct of the hive-bee to produce these …
- … 1858, even though he had completed a draft of the chapter on instinct the previous March. One …
- … the correspondence. I work from a sort of instinct to try to make out truth As …
- … certain extent; but, if I know myself, I work from a sort of instinct to try to make out truth’ ( …
Living and fossil cirripedia
Summary
Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 4 hits
- … letter to James Crichton-Browne, 30 December 1873 ). Instinct In February, Darwin …
- … definition recently advanced by Alfred Russel Wallace, that instinct was the performance of complex …
- … a letter from William Huggins on a case of inherited instinct in three generations of dogs, …
- … had occasion to reflect more personally on the power of instinct and inheritance when he was asked …
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 23 hits
- … [A. P. de Candolle 1820] in Geolog. Soc. F. Cuvier on Instinct [F. G. Cuvier 1822] read …
- … of science connected with Nat. Theol: [Brougham 1839] on instinct & animal intelligence very …
- … Erasmus 21 recommends me to read Reimeruss on instinct in German [Reimarius 1760] The …
- … “Resume analytique des observations par F. Cuvier sur l’instinct”—L’Institut 1839. p. 408 [Flourens …
- … [DAR *119: 11v.] The Philosoph. of Instinct & Reason by S. Bushnan. Longman. 5 s …
- … praised by Silliman poor Cyclop. of Anat.— Instinct by D r . Alison [W. P. Alison 1847]. No …
- … on Philosophy of Science [Whewell 1840].— Speculates on Instinct.— Lecons de Botanique …
- … [DAR *119: 18v.] D r . Etherington Observ. on Instinct [Etherington 1841–3]. Whittaker …
- … Tr. [Blumenbach 1792] —Rev. A. Wells Lectures on Instinct [Wells 1834] Cline on the …
- … th . Metzger Getreidarten [Metzger 1841] Alison on Instinct [W. P. Alison 1847]. 79 Art. …
- … 20a] 1847. Aug. 14 th . Flourens de l’instinct et l’intelligence des Animaux …
- … von Humboldt 1822] 19 th Couch Illustrations of Instinct [Couch 1847].— 25. Bunbury …
- … 1852]. Also hybrid-wheat [Hooker 1852].— Whately on Instinct—Pamphlet 1848 in Hort. Soc. …
- … eds.] *119: 15 Alison, William Pulteney. 1847. Instinct. In vol. 3, pp. 1–29, of Todd, …
- … Bushnan, John Stevenson. 1837. The philosophy of instinct and reason. Edinburgh. *119: 11v …
- … 119: 21b Couch, Jonathan. 1847. Illustrations of instinct deduced from the habits of …
- … *119: 23 Cuvier, Frédéric Georges. 1822. Instinct. In vol. 23, pp. 528–44, of Cuvier, …
- … Etherington, George F. 1841–3. Observations on instinct . 2 pts. Edinburgh and London. *119: …
- … analytique des observations de M. Frédéric Cuvier sur l’instinct et l’intelligence des animaux. …
- … *119: 9v., 11v. ——. 1845. De l’instinct et de l’intelligence des animaux. Résumé des …
- … 119: 1a ——. 1836. Observations upon the instinct of animals . London. [Darwin Pamphlet …
- … 119: 18b Wells, Algernon. 1834. On animal instinct . Colchester. 119: 4a …
- … Library.] 128: 10 Whately, Richard. 1847. On instinct. A lecture . Dublin. *128: 182 …
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 4 hits
- … his grand puzzle as they came to him. The chapter on instinct posed a number of problems for …
- … of divine design in nature. Darwin hypothesised that the instinct of the hive-bee to produce these …
- … 1858, even though he had completed a draft of the chapter on instinct the previous March. By …
- … certain extent; but, if I know myself, I work from a sort of instinct to try to make out truth’ …
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: 1 hits
- … ( letter to S. H. Haliburton, 13 December 1880 ). Instinct and worms After finishing …
Before Origin: the ‘big book’
Summary
Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…
The origin of language
Summary
Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The subject formed part of his wide-ranging speculations about the transmutation of species. In his private notebooks, he reflected on the communicative powers of animals, their…
Matches: 1 hits
- … University Press. Pinker, Steven 1994. The language instinct: the new science of language …
Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
British Association meeting 1860
Summary
Several letters refer to events at the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Oxford, 26 June – 3 July 1860. Darwin had planned to attend the meeting but in the end was unable to. The most famous incident of the meeting was the verbal…
Matches: 1 hits
- … established that the general principle is, to differentiate instinct from automatism, and then to …
4.18 'Figaro' chromolithograph 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction In a cartoon of 1874 by Figaro’s French-born artist Faustin Betbeder (known as Faustin), Darwin holds up a mirror reflecting himself and the startled ape sitting beside him. Their hairy bodies, seen against a background of palm…
Matches: 1 hits
- … ‘an untenable and repulsive theory’, which the ‘instinct of humanity rejects’. ‘Mr. Darwin . . . …
Darwin and dogs
Summary
Darwin was almost always in the company of dogs. Nina, Spark, Pincher, and Shiela. Snow, Dash, Bob, and Bran. The beloved terrier Polly (right). They were Darwin's constant companions at home and in the field, on walks and in sport, in his study and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … and selection, noting how its every bone and muscle, instinct and habit, were fitted to run down …
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: 10 hits
- … such, for instance, as the ‘absolute invariableness of instinct;’ an absolute want of intelligence …
- … asked by the Boston reviewers is, Why, when structure and instinct or habit vary— as they must have …
- … the gills of an aquatic animal converted into lungs, while instinct still compelled a continuance …
- … their heads under water after ceasing to be tadpoles. The instinct promptly changes with the …
- … yet furnished with wings, were suddenly inspired with the instinct of a bird, and precipitated …
- … that the higher brute animals have comparatively little instinct and no intelligence, is a heavy …
- … However, we are not so sure as is the critic that instinct regularly increases downward and …
- … is reduced to moderate proportions, we know of nothing in instinct surpassing that of an animal so …
- … ‘the human mind has become what it is out of a developed instinct,’ is a statement which Mr. Darwin …
- … been penned in inadvertence both of the very definition of instinct, and of everything we know of in …
Getting to know Darwin's science
Summary
One of the most exciting aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the opportunity it gives to researchers to ‘get to know’ Darwin as an individual. The letters not only reveal the scientific processes behind Darwin’s publications, they give insight…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s early life and education, to the evolution of instinct and the mind, to the power of …
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: 1 hits
- … Dora Roberts reports an incidence of “misguided maternal instinct”, observed in her hen house. She …
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 3 hits
- … John Romanes, who was engaged in his own research on animal instinct and intelligence. ‘Frank’s son, …
- … cloth from defilement.’ Darwin had lengthy noteson animal instinct that he had originally intended …
- … argument for the existence of God, as it seems to me, is the instinct or intuition which we all (as …
Darwin on childhood
Summary
On his engagement to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, in 1838, Darwin wrote down his recollections of his early childhood. Life. Written August–– 1838 My earliest recollection, the date of which I can approximately tell, and which must have been before…
Matches: 1 hits
- … horse..–– I had greatest horror of this story.––keen instinct against death.–– Some other …
The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
