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 & …
From George Cupples 13 September 1869
Summary
Proportion of sexes in rats.
| Author: | George Cupples |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: 75 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6889 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Proportion of sexes in rats. …
- … I did … to you— 2.3] crossed blue crayon Top of letter : ‘G. Cupples | Rats’ blue crayon …
- … chapters on sexual selection in Descent. On rats and moles, see Descent 1: 305. Cupples …
- … who was for more than 40 years a mole -and-rat-catcher. He states that he has often heard …
- … majority of males in the nests of young rats , and his own experience disposes him to …
- … appear worth while to you— 1.1 I lately … rat-catcher. 1.3] crossed blue crayon 1.3 He …
From Francis Galton 13 September 1871
Summary
Is turning to experiments with rats, "Siamesed together" for cross-circulation.
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: A33–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7938 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … Is turning to experiments with rats, "Siamesed together" for cross-circulation. …
- … Francis Darwin, 7 April 1871 and n. 4). The old English or black rat is Rattus rattus ; …
- … the wild grey rat, more commonly known as …
- … the brown or Norway rat, is R. norvegicus. …
- … The common white rat is a colour morph of R. norvegicus. Henrietta Emma Darwin married …
- … better than by the cross circulation for if even 1 drop of blood per hour passes from rat …
- … to rat, a volume equal to the entire contents of the circulation of either will be …
- … a pretty complete intermingling of the bloods. All cristalloids diffuse readily from rat …
- … to rat (as poison) through the tissues, and as we know that eggs of entozoa are carried …
- … I have. Latterly, my whole heart has been in rats ;—white, old English black, & wild grey, …
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 J. A. Ransome-Marriott 1 September 1876
Summary
Reports on rats that gnawed holes in lead pipes.
| Author: | John Arthur Ransome-Marriott |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Sept 1876 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 21 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10586 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Reports on rats that gnawed holes in lead pipes. …
- … in gnawing the 2 nd . & 3 rd . holes the rat must have been subjected to the smell &c of …
- … CD had received an earlier report of rats gnawing at pipes in letters from Arthur …
- … of an inch apart wh: had been gnawed by rats in an ordinary lead gas-pipe, running between …
- … me but the plumber had known cases where rats has gnawed holes in lead gas & water-pipes, …
From Jeffries Wyman [c. 15] September 1860
Summary
Cases of monstrosities becoming transmissible.
Comments on passages in Origin on the blindness of the tucu-tucu (Ctenomys) and Mammoth Cave rats.
| Author: | Jeffries Wyman |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [c. 15] Sept 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 165–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2901 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … passages in Origin on the blindness of the tucu-tucu ( Ctenomys ) and Mammoth Cave rats. …
- … page : ‘Nãta cattle. | Black Hog & Roots | Cave Rat’ ink, del pencil ; ‘Keep for cause of …
- … of the blind animals, namely, the cave-rat, the eyes are of immense size; and Professor …
- … Fullerton Baird . In fact, Silliman had recognised the difference between the cave-rat and …
- … the Norway rat ( Silliman 1851 , p. 336). …
- … to include Wyman’s comment that the cave-rats belonged to the genus Neotoma ( Origin 3d …
- … In the Origin of Sp s . you refer to the “rat” from Mammoth cave as illustrating the …
- … the animal in question is not the Norway rat but belongs to another genus viz the Neotoma, …
- … of larger proportions than those of the Norway rat. It is doubtful therefore whether any …
- … as in Rodents & Carnivore. The Russian Rat mole (Spalax) never opens them but retains …
From John Medows Rodwell 31 October 1860
Summary
Observations on his white blue-eyed cat. There is no sign of deafness.
Apropos of ch. 5 of Origin, tells of blind rats found when a Roman bridge was excavated.
| Author: | John Medows Rodwell |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 31 Oct 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 167–8 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2970 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … Apropos of ch. 5 of Origin , tells of blind rats found when a Roman bridge was excavated. …
- … in Origin , pp. 137–8, the blind cave-rats found in the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky as an …
- … your theory. All I can say is that some eight or ten Rats which I saw 1.1 I have … size. …
- … 2.10] crossed pencil Top of first page : ‘ Blind Rats— ’ ink …
- … to view. I then saw several enormous Rats which had been taken thence by the workmen, and …
- … from entering the old parts of the Sewer as the rats would unquestionably fly at them. …
- … The rats which I saw were taken out at Holborn Bridge, and as there are three arches still …
- … present surface, it is possible that those rats may have been breeding there for ages, and …
From Robert Elliot to George Cupples 25 June 1869
Summary
Number of lambs born not kept. Counted only at time of castration.
Proportion of sexes in cattle and rats.
| Author: | Robert Elliot |
| Addressee: | George Cupples |
| Date: | 25 June 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: A65 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6805 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … born not kept. Counted only at time of castration. Proportion of sexes in cattle and rats. …
- … CD cited Elliot for the information on proportions of the sexes in rats in Descent 1: 305. …
- … males,] scored blue crayon Top of page : ‘Male Rats’ pencil ; ‘& Cattle’ blue crayon …
- … that our ratcatcher says that there are 5 male rats for each female, and that he has …
- … found that to be the case in all rat nests he has found with young ones in them, thinking …
From Arthur Nicols [before 10 November 1875]
Summary
Discusses his ambitions.
Writes of rats that gnaw through lead pipes to find water.
| Author: | Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 10 Nov 1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 172: 62 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10253 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Discusses his ambitions. Writes of rats that gnaw through lead pipes to find water. …
- … he may find it now. The teeth marks of the rats were quite distinct and they had pared the …
- … the general drinking place of a great number of rats. Arthur Nicols. Top of letter : ‘11. …
- … P.S I have just heard of a habit of the rat which, I think, will interest you. I have it …
- … who is a practical smith. I was aware that rats on board ship frequently gnaw through the …
- … to have been drilled in many places by rats, and the water was escaping at a great number …
To Benjamin Silliman Jr 4 December [1860]
Summary
Thanks for information on cave rat.
CD is obliged for news of J. D. Dana’s recovery.
Will use BS’s information about cave rat in revised [3d] edition of Origin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Benjamin Silliman, Jr |
| Date: | 4 Dec [1860] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3007 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Thanks for information on cave rat. CD is obliged for news of J. D. …
- … s recovery. Will use BS’s information about cave rat in revised [3d] edition of Origin . …
- … few words from your letter on the Cave-Rat. — With sincere thanks & respect, pray believe …
- … with some additional information on the Cave-Rat & for your printed letter, which I well …
To J. D. Hooker 21 [September 1862]
Summary
Thanks for Haast’s observations. Particularly glad to get geological evidence of glacial action (in Southern Hemisphere).
Thinks Ramsay’s theory to large extent true, but thinks that in a much disturbed country some lakes would have been formed in depressions.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 21 [Sept 1862] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 161 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3735 |
Matches: 9 hits
- … Buller, Walter. 1870. On the New Zealand rat. Transactions and Proceedings of the New …
- … is sure to collect & send over the mountain “Rat” of which he speaks; I long to know what …
- … specimens of the New Zealand frog and rat (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to W. B. …
- … it is. A Frog & Rat together would to my mind prove former connection of N. …
- … that the Polynesians introduced the Rat as game, though so esteemed in the Friendly …
- … 1: 394). Haast probably referred to the rat in the newspaper reports that have not been …
- … to the ‘large Norwegian grey species’ of rat that had been introduced to New Zealand, and …
- … referring to the supposed native species of rat, Mus rattus (now called Rattus rattus ). …
- … had long regarded the presence of frogs and rats in New Zealand as evidence supporting the …
From J. M. Rodwell 6 December 1860
Summary
Discusses Origin, suggesting confirmation might come from studying reproduction in microscopic organisms.
Gives anecdotal observations of blind rats and white cats.
| Author: | John Medows Rodwell |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Dec 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 169–70 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3012 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … in microscopic organisms. Gives anecdotal observations of blind rats and white cats. …
- … pencil Top of first page : ‘Cats Deaf’ pencil, del pencil ; ‘Rats Blind (Rodwell)’ pencil …
- … your questions in regard to my Saffron Hill quondam Parishioners the rats. My attention …
- … was drawn to the blindness of the rats by my Sexton, and I presume that he could only have …
- … point up. It is quite possible that the rats may have been temporarily blinded, as you …
- … should think that my information about the rats is scarcely matter-of fact enough for your …
To H. G. Bronn 5 October [1860]
Summary
Answers HGB’s criticism of Origin.
Explains HGB’s case of differences in rats by adaptation.
CD’s view explains homological and embryological resemblances of each type.
Does not believe all development is at same rate. Cites Australian forms.
Does not see force of objection that origin of life must be explained.
Asks if C. L. Brehm’s subspecies of birds are really characteristic of regions of Germany.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Heinrich Georg Bronn |
| Date: | 5 Oct [1860] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2940 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … Explains HGB’s case of differences in rats by adaptation. CD’s view explains homological …
- … Benjamin Silliman Jr’s study of the blind rats of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky ( Silliman …
- … some sort of answer to your case of the two Rats; & might I not turn round, & ask him, who …
- … the separate creation of each species, why one Rat has a longer tail or shorter ears than …
- … that I cannot precisely say why *two species of Rats [ interl ] Hare & rabbit assumed by …
- … world [n‘ del ] near entrance of cave— [ave-Rat regained some sight’ del ] I sh d never …
- … respect to his supposed changes in 2 Rats, that first longer or shorter tail & larger [ …
- … trans. 1860, pp. 504–5. Bronn discussed the case of the two species of rat, the black …
- … or house-rat ( Rattus rattus ) and …
- … the brown or Norway rat ( R. norvegicus ). Bronn asked how CD’s theory could account for …
To Nature [before 27 March 1879]
Summary
In reply to a query [in Nature 19 (1879): 433] CD reports that vessels full of water were kept on the deck of a ship to discourage rats from gnawing holes in the ship’s water casks.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Nature |
| Date: | [before 27 Mar 1879] |
| Classmark: | Nature, 27 March 1879, p. 481 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8826 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … were kept on the deck of a ship to discourage rats from gnawing holes in the ship’s water …
- … full of water, in order to prevent the rats gnawing holes through the water casks, and …
- … Rats and Water-Casks Mr. Nicols says, in Nature , vol. xix. p. …
- … tanks on board ship became general, the rats used to attack the water-casks, cutting the …
- … about animal intelligence, as shown by rats gnawing through water pipes to get water ( …
From Francis Galton 1 February 1872
Summary
Asks to have one pair of rabbits sent to him; is abandoning experiments with the rats.
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Feb 1872 |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: A44–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8192 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Asks to have one pair of rabbits sent to him; is abandoning experiments with the rats. …
- … grieve to say, that I find I must abandon the rats, as a task above my power to bring to a …
- … Charles Henry Carter . Galton began experiments with rats in or before September 1871 (see …
- … Galton’s experiments with rabbits and rats were performed in order to test CD’s hypothesis …
To W. B. D. Mantell 5 June [1856–9]
Summary
Thanks WBDM for the particulars on the iceberg.
Will look up the barnacle specimen to which he refers at British Museum.
WBDM should remember when he returns to New Zealand that aboriginal rat and frog are "great desiderata in Natural History".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell |
| Date: | 5 June [1856-9] |
| Classmark: | Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand (Mantell papers, MS-Papers-0083-268) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1892 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … will kindly remember that the aboriginal rat (& the Frog) are great desiderata in Natural …
- … he returns to New Zealand that aboriginal rat and frog are "great desiderata in Natural …
- … 1856] . Rattus exulans Peale, a small brown rat, was evidently introduced into New Zealand …
- … as a result of the arrival of the Norway rat (see Journal of researches , p. 511). In …
Buller, Walter. 1870. On the New Zealand rat. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 3: 1–4.
Matches: 1 hit
- … Buller, Walter. 1870. On the New Zealand rat. Transactions and Proceedings of the New …
From Arthur Nicols 18 January 1878
Summary
He has obtained further evidence that rats gnaw through lead pipes for water. CD’s opinion that they hear trickling confirms his view that they possess reason.
| Author: | Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 172: 66 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11324 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … He has obtained further evidence that rats gnaw through lead pipes for water. CD’s opinion …
- … the old one having been perforated by rats and rendered unserviceable—the object of the …
- … source of supply for probably hundreds of rats—the occupier of the house complaining of …
- … transverse attack—probably by a single rat, the impressions of the tooth being of exactly …
- … Absolute proof that this is the work of the rat is afforded by the fact that several hairs …
To Robert Patterson 21 October [1860]
Summary
Thanks RP for communicating the "Rat v. Rabbit case".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Patterson |
| Date: | 21 Oct [1860] |
| Classmark: | Praeger 1935, p. 715 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2958 |
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 |
Document type
| letter | (98) |
| bibliography | (2) |
| people | (1) |
Author
| Darwin, C. R. | (37) |
| Nicols, Arthur | (5) |
| Blyth, Edward | (4) |
| Galton, Francis | (4) |
| Haast, Julius von | (3) |
Addressee
| Darwin, C. R. | (58) |
| Dana, J. D. | (4) |
| Bush, John | (2) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Lyell, Charles | (2) |
Correspondent
| Darwin, C. R. | (95) |
| Nicols, Arthur | (6) |
| Dana, J. D. | (5) |
| Galton, Francis | (5) |
| Blyth, Edward | (4) |
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Primula in Commentary
Primula in Commentary
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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 …
