From J. E. Gray 13 February 1868
Summary
JEG and Nathusius on pigs.
Reference to JEG’s paper on African and Indian cats [Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1867): 258–77, 874–6].
| Author: | John Edward Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Feb 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 215 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5875 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Bibliography Bartlett, Abraham Dee. 1861. Remarks on the Japanese …
- … masked pig. [Read 11 June 1861. ] Proceedings …
- … of the Zoological Society of London (1861): 263–4. Freeman, Richard Broke. 1978. Charles …
- … description of S. pliciceps in Bartlett 1861 ; this paper, which Gray cited as his own in …
To Friedrich Hildebrand 16 November 1868
Summary
Thanks for Botanische Zeitung notice of CD’s paper ["On the character and hybrid-like nature of the offspring from the illegitimate unions of dimorphic and trimorphic plants", J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 10 (1869): 393–437]. FH writes clearest style of all German authors.
Asks that August Weismann be told about papers by Wallace and Bates.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Friedrich Hermann Gustav (Friedrich) Hildebrand |
| Date: | 16 Nov 1868 |
| Classmark: | Eilo Hildebrand (private collection of facsimiles) (Original, previously owned by Klaus Groove, sold by Venator and Hanstein, Cologne (dealers), 16 March 2018) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6461 |
To William Sedgwick 4 March [1868]
Summary
Thanks WS for information about moss roses and the Le Compte family.
Mentions WS’s recent papers on inheritance [Brit. & Foreign Med.-Chirurg. Rev. (1867)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Sedgwick |
| Date: | 4 Mar [1868] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.347) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5975 |
From A. R. Wallace 18 September [1868]
Summary
Submits a 15–point argument against CD’s views on the coloration of female birds and insects.
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Sept [1868] |
| Classmark: | DAR 82: A14–17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6375 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Bibliography Bates, Henry Walter. 1861. Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon …
- … Lepidoptera : Heliconidæ. [Read 21 November 1861. ] Transactions of the Linnean Society of …
- … Wallace, 15 March [1868] and n. 2, Bates 1861 , A. R. Wallace 1867b , pp. 21–2, and …
- … fish, see also Descent 2: 17–18. See Bates 1861 for an analysis of Leptalis species that …
From John Blackwall 12 February 1868
Summary
Variability of sizes and colours in spiders; on proportion of sexes; courtship of spiders.
| Author: | John Blackwall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Feb 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 82: A78–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5871 |
From B. D. Walsh 1 May 1868
Summary
BDW believes the coloration of species [of Anthocaris] provides a case of sexual selection.
The state of entomology in the U. S.; Darwinism now a common creed, especially among entomologists.
| Author: | Benjamin Dann Walsh |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 May 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 82: A115–16 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6156 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Press. 1999–2002. Bates, Henry Walter. 1861. Contributions to an insect fauna of the …
- … Lepidoptera : Heliconidæ. [Read 21 November 1861. ] Transactions of the Linnean Society of …
- … 1868 and n. 48. Walsh refers to Bates 1861 . After his citation of Walsh’s remarks on …
- … to Henry Walter Bates and to Bates 1861 . Leptalis theonoe is now Dismorphia theucarila …
From Friedrich Rolle 28 May 1868
Summary
Questions CD’s view in Variation that Torfschwein formerly ranged from Europe to China.
Cites numerous German publications relating to CD’s theory.
| Author: | Friedrich Rolle |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 May 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 204 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6213 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … 9 July 1857, 14 January 1858, 18 July 1861. ] Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie …
- … 1857): 441–70; 28 (1858): 111–34; 43,2 (1861): 497–530. Variation 2d ed. : The variation …
- … J. C. Hermann. Rütimeyer, Ludwig. 1861. Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten in der Schweiz. …
- … was Pallman 1866. Rolle refers to Rütimeyer 1861 , pp. 33ff. Massaliots: natives or …
- … France ( OED ). Rolle refers to Rütimeyer 1861 , pp. 33ff. Massaliots: natives or …
From William Sedgwick 29 February 1868
Summary
Sends extracts giving details of the case of age-limited, hereditary blindness [see Variation 2: 78].
Recounts some cases of reversion that he has encountered.
| Author: | William Sedgwick |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Feb 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 127 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5959 |
From Osbert Salvin 20 June 1868
Summary
Shot a sandpiper in Norway, the hind toe of which was clasped by a freshwater bivalve.
Sends replies to CD’s queries about sex ratios in humming-birds.
| Author: | Osbert Salvin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 June 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 18, DAR 205.3: 288 (Letters), DAR 84.2: 79-82, 85–6, DAR 86: C22, C24 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6253 |
From J. E. Gray 17 February 1868
Summary
JEG’s paper on pigs is being printed [Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1868): 17–49].
Colouring in horses.
| Author: | John Edward Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Feb 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 217 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5886 |
To T. H. Farrer 5 June 1868
Summary
"I have seen the action on Ophrys exactly as you describe and am thoroughly ashamed of my inaccuracy."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer |
| Date: | 5 June 1868 |
| Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6230 |
From John Blackwall 18 February 1868
Summary
Proportion of sexes in spiders; coloration.
| Author: | John Blackwall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Feb 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: A2–3 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5892 |
To George Bentham 22 April 1868
Summary
Is not surprised that GB cannot digest Pangenesis, but it has been an immense relief to CD in tying together large classes of facts.
Sends names of men writing on crossing of plants. Criticises some French observations. Praises Hildebrand and Federico Delpino.
Sends pamphlets.
CD is experimenting on a large scale on difference in plants raised from self-fertilised and crossed seeds.
F. Hildebrand has produced a graft-hybrid which seems to lend important support to Pangenesis.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George Bentham |
| Date: | 22 Apr 1868 |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Bentham Correspondence, Vol. 3, Daintree–Dyer, 1830–1884, GEB/1/3: ff. 703–4) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6138 |
From Fritz Müller 22 April 1868
Summary
His opinion of Pangenesis.
On relative proportion of sexes in marine animals [sthg missing!?] Crustacea.
Sexual differences.
Music of Cicadae.
| Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Apr 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: A85–6; Möller 1915–21, 2: 140; Darwin Library–CUL (tipped into CD’s copy of F. Müller 1864a) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6140 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Bibliography Beneden, Pierre Joseph van. 1861. Recherches sur les crustacés du littoral de …
- … to Filippo De Filippi and De Filippi 1861 , p. 71. Dichelaspis Darwinii is now Octolasmis …
- … faune littorale de Belgique. Crustaceés. ” 1861) and all the animals described and figured …
- … Pierre-Joseph van Beneden , and to Beneden 1861 (for the section on Cumacea, see pp. 71– …
To A. D. Bartlett 16 February [1868]
Summary
Asks ADB to perform experiment on colour perception in bower-bird.
Asks for rabbit specimens.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Abraham Dee Bartlett |
| Date: | 16 Feb [1868] |
| Classmark: | Wellcome Collection (MS.7781/1–32 item 7) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5401 |
To J. J. Weir 7 May [1868]
Summary
Thanks JJW for his great assistance.
Discusses sexual selection in birds.
Sends queries on secondary sexual characteristics of birds.
Has often marvelled at the different growth of the flowering and creeping branches of ivy.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Jenner Weir |
| Date: | 7 May [1868] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6165 |
From Friedrich Rolle 20 November 1868
Summary
Has little information about hens with spurs. Encloses information from Robert Oettel and C. F. Friderich, and from J. F. Blumenbach’s Vergleichende Anatomie [1805]. Recommends various German publications.
| Author: | Friedrich Rolle |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Nov 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 205 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6468 |
From Sam Sanday to W. B. Tegetmeier 29 October 1868
Summary
Information on proportion of sexes born in sheep.
| Author: | Samuel (Sam) Sanday |
| Addressee: | William Bernhard Tegetmeier |
| Date: | 29 Oct 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 85: B22–23 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6441 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1858 — 90. —88 1859 — 73 —92 1860 — 105 —100 1861 — 92. —101 1862 — 97 —115 1863 — 25 —17 …
From W. D. Fox 9 December [1868]
Summary
Hybrid geese.
Proportions of sexes in sheep and cattle.
Pairing habits of crows.
| Author: | William Darwin Fox |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Dec [1868] |
| Classmark: | DAR 84.1: 126–7, DAR 85: B36–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6455 |
From Edward Blyth 2 July 1868
Summary
Has examined three races of the mouflon sheep and remarks on the extent of variation in them.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 July 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 217 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6263 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. [Read 21 November 1861. ] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean …
| letter | (42) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Blackwall, John | (2) |
| Blyth, Edward | (2) |
| Gray, J. E. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (25) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Bartlett, A. D. | (1) |
| Bentham, George | (1) |
| Blomefield, Leonard | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (39) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (5) |
| Blackwall, John | (2) |
| Blyth, Edward | (2) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (2) |
Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies
Summary
The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…
Matches: 29 hits
- … The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. By then, …
- … , developed into an intensive study of the phenomenon in 1861. Orchids, in particular the …
- … good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] ). Darwin drew up a carefully thought …
- … Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). One reason for Darwin’s interest in …
- … proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). Darwin continued to stress to his …
- … followed in Origin was singled out for praise in 1861. He had been disappointed to learn of John …
- … a committed crusader, Darwin wrote to Herschel, on 23 May [1861]: 'You will think me very …
- … to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in fact included a brief …
- … of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] ). Darwin added some new …
- … the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). The American palaeontologist …
- … opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). However, the publication of Leidy’s …
- … her new species’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 28 March [1861] ). Mimicry Bates' …
- … was evident. He told Darwin in his letter of [1 December] 1861: I think the whole tenour …
- … set is free’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 30 September 1861 ). As Peter Bowler has commented, …
- … to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He also advised that the public …
- … poor cousins.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 3 December [1861] ). Darwin volunteered to read some of …
- … for the work ( letter to H. W. Bates, 25 September [1861] ). Nevertheless, many naturalists were …
- … and awful smasher’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Ever since Owen’s highly critical …
- … be friends again’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Friends and family …
- … formed a lasting bond between the two women. In May 1861 Darwin offered consolation to his …
- … walked this earth’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [May 1861] ). Henslow had been a uniquely …
- … a major preoccupation of Darwin’s during the course of 1861. Projects begun the previous summer as …
- … on Hybridisation’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 September [1861] ). But it was his study of …
- … the contrivances.–-’ ( letter of [28 July–10 August 1861] ). Later in the year, he went even …
- … Darwin pursued this study doggedly throughout the summer of 1861, writing to anyone he thought might …
- … of species’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] ), Darwin conceived of the orchid work, …
- … in publishing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1861] ). Nevertheless, Darwin immediately …
- … to Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefage de Bréau, 25 April [1861] ). By the end of May, however, he had …
- … geology features prominently in the correspondence of 1861. Here, it was Charles Lyell who continued …
Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
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
- … Letter 3054: Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 2 Feb [1861] If the descent of languages was …
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: 17 hits
- … evidence to establish the age of the human race. In 1861, Lubbock joined Thomas Henry Huxley …
- … geologico-archaeological researches in Denmark’ (Lubbock 1861) for the October 1861 issue. The …
- … source of many of the ‘details’ for his article (Lubbock 1861, p. 494). Meanwhile, Lubbock continued …
- … type for Elements of geology in 1860 and then re-set in 1861 for Antiquity of man (see below …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review , 1861, p. 489, in which he has described the …
- … note on p. 11 of C. Lyell 1863c, which implied that Lubbock 1861 had been written after the chapter …
- … similarity of certain passages in C. Lyell 1863c and Lubbock 1861 (and consequently in Lubbock 1865) …
- … explaining his position and citing passages in Lubbock 1861 and C. Lyell 1863c that were almost …
- … was not original work (Lubbock had based much of his 1861 article on earlier Danish studies) it …
- … which were published in the interval between the autumn of 1861 and February 1863. In this long …
- … a translation for the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1861. 35 The distinguished …
- … the October number of the ‘Natural History Review’ for 1861, to improve the wording, and …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review, 1861, p. 489, in which he has described the …
- … in the October Number of the Natural History Review, 1861, p. 489, an able paper on the Danish …
- … 129–88; 15 (1863–66): 245–321. Lubbock, John. 1861. The kjökkenmöddings: recent geologico …
- … Naturelles 6: 263–328. Morlot, Charles Adolphe. 1861. General views on archæology. Annual …
- … and condition of the institution for the year 1860 15 (1861): 284–343. Translated by Philip Harry, …
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: 1 hits
- … July , August , and October , 1860, reprinted in 1861. I Novelties are …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 8 hits
- … hopelessly in the mud. BEGINNING OF WAR IN AMERICA: 1861-1862 In which the start of …
- … fire. Military drums. GRAY: 113 April 1861. We are now opening a war, upon the …
- … 1856 29 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 11 APRIL 1861 30 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, EARLY …
- … 16 FEB 1863 99 C DARWIN TO LYELL, 21 AUGUST 1861 100 A GRAY, ATLANTIC …
- … 3 JULY 1860 109 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 21 JULY 1861 110 QUOTED IN C …
- … 1862 131 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 DECEMBER 1861 132 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, …
- … FEBRUARY 1862 134 JD HOOKER TO A GRAY, 5 JULY 1861 135 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, …
- … 1864 162 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 DECEMBER 1861 163 C Darwin TO A Gray, …
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 1 hits
- … his ill health (e.g., Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 14 May [1861] ) and family duties (Darwin to W. B. …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … miserably uncomfortable. Emma to Charles Darwin, 1861. I am …
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, some …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … and kidney beans To J. D. Hooker, 28 September [1861] : on Verbascum ‘I do not think any …
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
Julia Wedgwood
Summary
Charles Darwin’s readership largely consisted of other well-educated Victorian men, nonetheless, some women did read, review, and respond to Darwin’s work. One of these women was Darwin’s own niece, Julia Wedgwood, known in the family as “Snow”. In July…
Matches: 3 hits
Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of the courtship of fowls sent by Bernard Peirce Brent in 1861 , described by Darwin as ‘almost …
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 3316 - Darwin to Nevill, D. F., [12 November 1861] Darwin asks actress and …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … moved away from Down (letter to J. B. Innes, 15 December [1861] ). Darwin and Innes continued to …
Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 3286 - Charles Darwin to Joseph Dalton Hooker 15 October 1861 Darwin writes to JD Hooker, …
Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
4.16 Joseph Simms, physiognomy
Summary
< Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a three-year lecture tour of Britain, sent Darwin a copy of his book, Nature’s Revelations of Character; Or, Physiognomy Illustrated. He was seeking a public…
