To Asa Gray 24 December [1859]
Summary
Thanks for AG’s Japan memoir [Mem. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci. 6 (1857–9): 377–452]. Does not think AG’s arguments for a warm post-glacial period are sufficient, but will not be sorry to be proved wrong.
Believes natural selection explains many classes of facts which repeated creation does not.
Writes of some responses to the Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 24 Dec [1859] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (46) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2599 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … think AG’s arguments for a warm post-glacial period are sufficient, but will not be sorry …
- … having been lower subsequently to Glacial period, as evidenced by the whole &c. I doubt …
- … period in U. States subsequent to Glacial period; & I had consulted Lyell who seemed much …
- … into New world subsequent to Glacial period will do for the modified or representative …
- … there were clear signs of a post-glacial warm period, and Gray used this information to …
- … indicate that there had been a warm period after the glacial era as well as before . James …
- … not as yet admitting the warmer period subsequent to Glacial epoch; but I daresay I may be …
- … period of its embedment was very severe, as seems countenanced by its woolly covering,—by the nature of the deposit with angular fragments,—the nature of the coembedded shells, & coexistence of the Musk Ox. I had formerly gathered from Lyell that the relative position of Megatherium & Mylodon with respect to the Glacial …
To Asa Gray 11 November [1859]
Summary
Sends copy of Origin for comments.
Does not feel AG’s views of migration after the last glaciation explain distribution in U. S. as well as CD’s view of migration prior to glaciation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 11 Nov [1859] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (17) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2520 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … the warm period subsequent to the Glacial period. I daresay I may be wrong, but I rather …
- … warmer period anteriorly to the Glacial period. Anyhow on my heteredox doctrine of …
- … safe than the warm period anteriorly to Glacial Period. There seemed to me some little …
- … that there had been a warm period immediately following the glacial era. Gray postulated a …
To Asa Gray 3 July [1860]
Summary
Origin has "stirred up the mud with a vengeance"; AG and three or four others have saved CD from annihilation and are responsible for the attention now given to the subject. Reports events at Oxford BAAS meeting.
New evidence supports AG’s view of a warm post-glacial period.
Discusses his recent orchid observations.
Poses AG a question on design in nature.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 3 July [1860] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (41) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2855 |
To Asa Gray 24 February [1860]
Summary
Last sheets of AG’s review of Origin have arrived. CD’s comments and criticisms.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 24 Feb [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (23) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2713 |
To Asa Gray 23 February [1863]
Summary
Recommends Lyell’s book [Antiquity of man (1863)].
Quotes praise of AG’s pamphlet [see 2938].
Comments on U. S. politics.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 23 Feb [1863] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (55) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4006 |
To Asa Gray 11 August [1858]
Summary
Species migration since the Pliocene. Effect of the glacial epoch. Present geographical distribution, especially similarities of mountain floras, explained by such migration; mountain summits as remnants of a once continuous flora and fauna.
Cross-fertilisation in Fumariaceae.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 11 Aug [1858] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (42 and 9a) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2321 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … as they now are. — Then came on the Glacial period, driving far south all living things; …
- … suspect that between glacial & present temperature there was a period of slightly greater …
- … no remote period: & then the migration n. & S. before, during & after glacial epoch would …
- … period, when in northern part of world there was nearly free communication between old & new worlds. But now comes a more important consideration; there is considerable body of geological evidence that during Glacial …
- … Glacial epoch) the temperature was higher; of this there can be little doubt; the land on a large scale held much its present disposition: the species were mainly, judging from shells, what they are now. At this period, …
To Asa Gray 28 July [1862]
Summary
AG’s "capital" review of Orchids [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 34 (1862): 138–44].
Thinks there are three forms of Lythrum salicaria.
Discusses transport of seeds by sea.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 28 July [1862] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (75) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3667 |
To Asa Gray 5 September [1857]
Summary
Encloses an abstract of his ideas on natural selection and the principle of divergence; the "means by which nature makes her species".
Discusses varieties and close species in large and small genera, finding some data from AG in conflict with his expectations.
Has been observing the action of bees in fertilising kidney beans and Lobelia.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 5 Sept [1857] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (48) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2136 |
To Asa Gray 7 January [1860]
Summary
Comments on AG’s memoir on Japanese plants [see 2599]; relationship of Japanese flora to N. American.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 7 Jan [1860] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (15) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2645 |
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Walk in Darwin’s footsteps: Click this link to download a field guide to Glen Roy written …
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: 1 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
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
- … If I lived 20 more years, & was able to work, how I sh d . have to modify the “Origin”, & …
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
- … —by Asa Gray NATURAL SELECTION NOT INCONSISTENT WITH NATURAL THEOLOGY. Atlantic …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. By then, he had …
