From E. A. Darwin 9 April [1864]
Summary
Lyell thinks an expedition should be sent to the caves in Borneo, supported by the sale of surplus specimens; thinks "our progenitors" may well be there.
| Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Apr [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: B25–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4458 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Lyell thinks an expedition should be sent to the caves in Borneo, supported by the sale of …
- … the Rajah Brooks to consult about examing the caves in Borneo. He did not express that he …
- … with Lyell the importance of exploring a cave in north-western Borneo said to contain …
- … 1905 , 1: 433–5. Wallace discussed the caves and requested funds for the exploration in a …
- … Brooke , later offered to examine some caves at the expense of the Sarawak government; …
From J. D. Hooker 26[–8] October 1864
Summary
Comments at length on Ramsay’s glacial paper ["On the erosion of valleys and lakes", Philos. Mag. 4th ser. 28 (1864): 293–311]. Prefers it to Tyndall, but unconvinced about sea action and unwilling to grant that ice power sculptures the totality of landscape.
Unwilling to support Wallace for Royal Medal.
Herbert Spencer’s noisy vacuity.
Garden varieties that are constant and infertile with parent deserve to be called species.
Scott ineligible to be Linnean Society associate because he is not in England.
George Busk’s incoherent talk on Gibraltar cave fossils.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 26[–8] Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 247–53 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4645 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … because he is not in England. George Busk’s incoherent talk on Gibraltar cave fossils. …
- … us an incoherent account of the Gibraltar caves—26 species at least in a space half as big …
- … are no doubt planed off by ice— how the cave is formed I cannot guess, but I think not by …
- … Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It has numerous caves, the most famous of …
- … which is Fingal’s cave ( Columbia gazetteer of the world ). See Correspondence vol. 11, …
- … and 3). Busk’s account of the Genista Cave, Windmill Hill, Gibraltar, at the Philosophical …
- … a full report on the fossil contents of the cave in the March 1865 issue of the Quarterly …
From A. R. Wallace 10 May 1864
Summary
On the Borneo cave exploration.
ARW will send his contribution to theory of origin of man. The vast mental and cranial differences between man and apes, whereas structural differences in other parts of body are small. The problem of explaining diversity of human races along with the stability of man’s form during all historical epochs. Discussion with "Anthropologicals" [following reading of ARW’s paper, "The origin of human races", before the Anthropological Society, 1 Mar 1864].
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 May 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B12–13 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4490 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … On the Borneo cave exploration. ARW will send his contribution to theory of origin of man. …
- … funds in the Reader , 19 March 1864, p. 367, for the exploration of caves in Borneo; it …
- … was hoped that the caves would contain the fossil remains of gradational forms between …
- … repose may do you real good. The Borneo Cave exploration is to go on at present without a …
- … will undertake to explore some of the caves nearest the town, & if any thing of interest …
From J. D. Hooker 29 March 1864
Summary
John Scott’s career.
Huxley’s vicious attack on anthropologists.
Critique of Joseph Prestwich’s theory of rivers.
Bitter feelings between the Hookers and the Veitch family of nurserymen.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Mar 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 101: 193–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4439 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … he demands as a great discoverer in this bone cave affair—nor to Prestwich the credit F. …
- … period had most to do with them both. But these Cave discoveries half way up the Rock of: …
- … from Pleistocene deposits in Brixham Cave in Devon; in his letter in the Athenæum , 4 …
- … Busk reported on an extensive limestone cave that had been discovered in 1862 during …
- … prison on Windmill Hill, Gibraltar. The cave contained fossil bones of extinct animals, …
From Henry Holland 4 November [1864]
Summary
Congratulations on the Copley Medal.
| Author: | Henry Holland, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Nov [1864] |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 244 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4659 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Busk, in the examination of the Gibraltar Caves & Fossils, during the latter weeks of the …
From Hugh Falconer 3 November 186[4]
Summary
Council of the Royal Society have awarded CD the Copley Medal.
| Author: | Hugh Falconer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Nov 186[4] |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 19 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4652 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … September to investigate fossils in the caves at Gibraltar ( see letter from Hugh Falconer …
From John Beck 6 October 1864
Summary
Has heard about but not read Origin; is concerned that it may contribute to unbelief. Gives many pages of scriptural quotations and exegesis on the creation of earth, species, etc.
| Author: | John Beck |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Oct 1864 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 103–103/4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4628 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … are haunts, And earth’s and ocean’s caves familiar things” First Spirit. “Mortal! to thy …
| letter | (7) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Beck, John | (1) |
| Darwin, E. A. | (1) |
| Falconer, Hugh | (1) |
| Holland, Henry | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Beck, John | (1) |
| Darwin, E. A. | (1) |
| Falconer, Hugh | (1) |
The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 4 hits
- … History Review , Lubbock produced a final article on ‘Cave-men’ (Lubbock 1864) that summarised …
- … and Joseph Prestwich properly for their work in the Brixham cave explorations of 1858 and 1859. 5 …
- … Review n.s. 3: 211–19. Lubbock, John. 1864. Cave-men. Natural History Review n.s. 4: …
- … Press. Wilson, Leonard Gilchrist. 1996a. Brixham Cave and Sir Charles Lyell’s … the …
Hermann Müller
Summary
Hermann (Heinrich Ludwig Hermann) Müller, was born in Mühlberg near Erfurt in 1829. He was the younger brother of Fritz Müller (1822–97). Following the completion of his secondary education at Erfurt in 1848, he studied natural sciences at Halle and Berlin…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Carniolan Alps (now in Slovenia), he discovered an eyeless cave beetle; it was the subject of his …
Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 1 hits
- … with bones from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de …
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the explanation of the origin and distribution of blind cave animals. Darwin attempted to answer …
Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … woman “except a she bear or so” to have entered the cave “since the flood”. Letter 13414 …
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
- … woman “except a she bear or so” to have entered the cave “since the flood”. Letter …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Manchester, and the author of a book on early humans (Cave Dwellers) remarks on recent discussions …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 1 hits
- … urged financial support for the exploration of a Borneo cave in the hope that hominid fossils would …
