From John Bush 30 March 1868
Summary
His impression is that male rats outnumber females. Males are pugnacious and polygamous. Gives details of the inheritance of colour in a colony he kept.
| Author: | John Bush |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Mar 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 83: 161-2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6072 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … His impression is that male rats outnumber females. Males are pugnacious and polygamous. …
- … CD mentioned the greater proportion of male rats, but cited Francis Trevelyan Buckland for …
- … information. CD also mentioned polygamy in rats, but did not cite Bush ( Descent 1: 268). …
- … John Bush Charles Darwin Esqr— 1.1 I … rat— 1.5] crossed, closing square bracket after, …
- … replying to your letter on the subject of rats until now hoping I might have been able to …
- … hand upon. for many years I kept rather a large colony of rats, embracing all the colored …
- … varieties of the common rats as well as …
- … the old english black rat— my impression is that the male sex predominated, that they are …
- … offspring— I observed that the black & brown rat did not do well together but if paired & …
- … me as being rather singular—viz I had rats of all the ordinary colors black, white & …
To John Bush 29 February [1868]
Summary
Writes at Frank Buckland’s suggestion. Can JB provide any information on the proportion of sexes in rats?
Do male rats fight for the possession of the female? Are they polygamous?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Bush |
| Date: | 29 Feb [1868] |
| Classmark: | Private collection |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5961 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … Buckland’s suggestion. Can JB provide any information on the proportion of sexes in rats? …
- … Do male rats fight for the possession of the female? Are they polygamous? …
- … M r . B. says that you have bred many rats, & if you have kept any Memoranda, or have a …
- … information. — Perhaps you can also tell me whether male rats fight for the possession of …
- … the female, & whether an old & powerful rat is polygamous & will keep several wifes. — …
- … see letter from F. T. Buckland, 27 February 1868 . CD noted that male rats were said …
- … by some rat-catchers to live with several females in Descent 1: 268. This is the address …
From F. T. Buckland 27 February 1868
Summary
On the proportion of sexes in salmon, trout, and rats. [see Descent 1: 305, 308.]
| Author: | Francis Trevelyan (Frank) Buckland |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Feb 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: A46–8b |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5946 |
To John Bush 2 April [1868]
Summary
Thanks JB for his information. Has heard of analogous cases to JB’s observations on [colours of] crossed rats; the offspring of white and grey mice are stated to be either white or grey and never piebald.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Bush |
| Date: | 2 Apr [1868] |
| Classmark: | Private collection |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6084 |
To F. T. Buckland 29 February [1868]
Summary
CD sends thanks for information; he will write to Mr Bush.
In relation to the fecundation of ova CD adds that he has compared the use of very little pollen against an immense supply; found no difference in number or weight of seeds or in their germination.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Trevelyan (Frank) Buckland |
| Date: | 29 Feb [1868] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5956 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … I will write to M r Bush about the Rats. — In relation to the fecundation of ova, you may …
From Albert Müller 20 May 1868
Summary
Wilson Armistead’s death cut short his work on galls, but Müller is continuing it.
In China only uni-coloured animals are sold for meat, the rest are killed in the litter.
| Author: | Albert Müller |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 May 1868 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 282 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6191 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … unicoloured animals, such as dogs, cats, rats etc. are brought to market, as the natives …
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: 1 hit
- … in 1863 (Darwin’s Lehre. p. 177) on rats and mice) There is an abundance of information …
| letter | (7) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
| Buckland, Frank | (1) |
| Bush, John | (1) |
| Müller, Albert | (1) |
| Rolle, Friedrich | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (4) |
| Bush, John | (2) |
| Buckland, Frank | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
| Bush, John | (3) |
| Buckland, Frank | (2) |
| Müller, Albert | (1) |
| Rolle, Friedrich | (1) |
Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by John Clunies Ross. Transcription by Katharine Anderson
Summary
[f.146r Title page] Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle Supplement / to the 2nd 3rd and Appendix Volumes of the First / Edition Written / for and in the name of the Author of those / Volumes By J.C. Ross. / Sometime Master of a…
Matches: 5 hits
- … of the sea fowl roost on branches ^of trees^ and that many rats make their nests at the top of high …
- … on to say that my friends may most readily believe that “rats make their nests on the top of coconut …
- … Specimens of each of these curiosities the man traps and the rats’ nests along with some Patagonian …
- … of which he is paid by the year. N.B. In saying that “Rats and mice swarm on these Islands” I really …
- … but if the reader has not supposed my meaning to be that “Rats and mice swarm on all the Islands …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … , ‘much depends on the actions of the female’, and of rats, John Bush observed on 30 March that …
Review: The Origin of Species
Summary
- by Asa Gray THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION (American Journal of Science and Arts, March, 1860) This book is already exciting much attention. Two American editions are announced, through which it will become familiar to many…
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … in graphic detail how he was turning his attention to rats, and employing a surgical assistant to …
