From John Obadiah Westwood 23 November 1856
Summary
The Kentucky cave insects (Adelops) are evidently identical to European species of the same genus, some of which are cave insects, others found in damp, dark places.
| Author: | John Obadiah Westwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Nov 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.3: 297 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1998 |
Matches: 15 hits
- … The Kentucky cave insects ( Adelops ) are evidently identical to European species …
- … of the same genus, some of which are cave insects, others found in damp, dark places. …
- … Laibacher Zeitung” | No r 146. 4 Aug 1852. 2.3 not cave … places] double scored pencil …
- … Top of first page : ‘Cave Insects’ pencil ; ‘19’ brown crayon …
- … information on the fauna of the Kentucky caves, as described in Agassiz 1851 and Silliman …
- … Silliman, Benjamin, Jr. 1851. On the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. American Journal of Science …
- … of the insects found by him in the Kentucky Cave are not sufficiently precise to enable us …
- … of the same Genus ten of which have been already described as cave insects & several …
- … others not cave insects but found in damp dark places— We have one if not two of this …
- … Anophthalmus has been found out of the Caves or whether there is any other American …
- … A considerable N o . of new additional cave insects have since been published in the …
- … As there have only been three or 4 American Cave insects descri d it follows that, as …
- … at present known, many of the European cave genera have no American representatives All we …
- … Wallich 1851 ). The paper is cited in CD’s discussion of cave animals in Origin , p. 138. …
- … is in CD’s hand and comprises a list of cave insects taken from a paper by Ferdinand …
From J. D. Dana 8 September 1856
Summary
Responds to CD’s query about the blind fauna of Mammoth Cave.
Gives information from L. Agassiz. Distribution of Crustacea, especially along southern coastlines.
| Author: | James Dwight Dana |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Sept 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.3: 269 (Letters), DAR 162: 38 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1951 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … to CD’s query about the blind fauna of Mammoth Cave. Gives information from L. Agassiz. …
- … 5. The information on fish from the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, had already been given in J. …
- … answer your queries respecting the Mammoth Cave Animals, I concluded to defer my answer …
- … and Scientifically. — First as to the Mammoth Cave. — Professor Agassiz told me that the …
- … D. Dana Ch. Darwin Esq. 0.1 New Haven ... Cave. — 2.1] crossed pencil 2.2 Cyprinodonts] …
- … genus Triura , has not been found any where except at the Mammoth Cave. You may have …
- … seen some notice of the species of the Cave in the Amer. Jour. Sci. , vol. xi, p. 127 ( …
- … and Agassiz in his discussion of blind cave animals in Origin , pp. 137–9. John Lawrence …
To James Dwight Dana 14 July [1856]
Summary
Asks whether the blind cave animals described by B. Silliman Jr [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 11 (1851): 332–9] belong to genera found only on the American continent.
On geographical distribution of Crustacea, CD asks whether northern genera sent species to the Southern Hemisphere or did southern genera send species north?
Does he know of any author who has described fossil trees in South Shetland Islands?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Dwight Dana |
| Date: | 14 July [1856] |
| Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1925 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Asks whether the blind cave animals described by B. Silliman Jr [ Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 11 ( …
- … asked Dana much the same question about the cave fauna (see Correspondence vol. 5, letter …
- … Silliman, Benjamin, Jr. 1851. On the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. American Journal of Science …
- … much interested in regard to the blind cave animals, described some time since in your …
- … discussed the insect genera found in the cave. Agassiz 1851 . Louis Agassiz had written to …
From J. D. Dana 8 December 1856
Summary
Agassiz has informed him that the mice and rats of Mammoth Cave are American in type.
Alludes to CD’s doubt of the principle that "progress of life on the globe is parallel with the development in different tribes". Outlines his own ideas on the "unfolding of the type-idea" and its "parallelism with the law of development in the embryo".
| Author: | James Dwight Dana |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Dec 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.9: 378 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2016 |
To James Dwight Dana 21 December [1856]
Summary
Thanks for sending paper on geological development (Dana 1856). Discusses infertility of species. Discusses first part of Asa Gray’s paper (A. Gray 1856–7). Thanks for note on the Cave Rat. Discusses a new species of fossil cirripede, in the genus Chthamalus. Explains his interest in pigeon breeding.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Dwight Dana |
| Date: | 21 Dec [1856] |
| Classmark: | Catherine Barnes (dealer) (2003) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2020F |
To J. D. Dana 29 September [1856]
Summary
Thanks JDD for replies to queries [in 1925]; would like to know whether teeth of cave rat are of New or Old World type.
Wishes Louis Agassiz would publish his theory of parallels of geological and embryological development. "I wish to believe but have not seen nearly enough as yet to make me a disciple."
Is working hard on variations and origin of species, but fears it will be a couple of years before he publishes.
Describes his recent work on rabbits and pigeons.
The dispersal of land Mollusca is a most difficult problem.
Confesses he is sceptical of immutability of species; discusses difficulty of proving it.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Dwight Dana |
| Date: | 29 Sept [1856] |
| Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1964 |
| letter | (6) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
| Dana, J. D. | (2) |
| Westwood, J. O. | (1) |
| Dana, J. D. | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
| Dana, J. D. | (5) |
| Westwood, J. O. | (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 …
