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From A. R. Wallace 2 July 1866

Summary

Lengthy analysis of sources of misunderstanding of natural selection. Advocacy of Spencer’s term "survival of the fittest" instead of "Natural Selection". ARW urges CD to stress frequency of variations.

Author:	Alfred Russel Wallace
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	2 July 1866
Classmark:	DAR 106: B33–8
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-5140

Matches: 34 hits

… Lengthy analysis of sources of misunderstanding of natural selection. Advocacy of Spencer’ …
… of the fittest" instead of "Natural Selection". ARW urges CD to stress frequency of …
… R. Wallace— C. Darwin Esq. 5.4 “To sum … selection ” 5.5] cross in margin, pencil 6.1 I …
… had discussed the meaning of ‘natural selection’ at length in correspondence with Charles …
… 84–5. On CD’s use of the term ‘natural selection’ in Origin and the ensuing debate over …
… self acting & necessary effects of Nat Selection , that I am led to conclude that the term …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… Murray. 1859. Paul, Diane B. 1988. The selection of the "Survival of the Fittest". Journal …
… entirely from your choice of the term “ Nat. Selection ” & so constantly comparing it in …
… its effects, to Man’s selection , and also to your so frequently personifying Nature as “ …
… he generally uses in preference to Nat. Selection) viz. “ Survival of the fittest . ” …
… the plain expression of the facts ,— Nat. selection is a metaphorical expression of it—and …
… such phrases are metaphors. Natural selection , is, when understood, so necessary & self …
… an animal to become modified by Nat. Selection in harmony with such changed conditions; …
… of CD’s use of the expression ‘natural selection’ in Origin , and criticised CD for having …
… conclusion, M. Janet states that natural selection only becomes a fruitful principle by …
… in Origin ; however, he wrote of natural selection ‘favouring the good and rejecting the …
… which Mr. Darwin has called “natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in …
… for the production of new species through natural selection’ ( Origin 5th ed. , p. 123). …
… was substantially altered, and ‘natural selection’ deleted, in the fifth edition ( Origin …
… Chapter 4 of Origin was headed ‘Natural selection’. In the fifth edition of Origin , CD …
… books–CUL), Wallace deleted ‘natural selection’ and inserted ‘survival of the fittest’ at …
… blindness, in your not seeing that “ Natural Selection ” requires the constant watching of …
… an intelligent “chooser” like man’s selection to which you so often compare it; —and …
… are essential to the action of ‘Nat. Selection’ . ” The same objection has been made a …
… was necessary,—whereas when you say natural selection acts so as to choose those that are …
… to be so. I find you use the term “Natural Selection” in two senses, 1st for the simple …
… favourable or unfavourable to natural selection ”, and again “Isolation, also, is an …
… element in the process of natural selection ”, —here it is not merely “ survival of the …
… survival of the fittest ”, after “ natural selection ” would be best; and in others, less …
… profitable variati〈ons〉 do occur natural selection can do nothing. ” Now such expressions …

From G. J. Romanes 10 July 1874

Summary

Sets out some of his ideas on the effects of disuse on an organ. Disuse as a cause of reduction.

Author:	George John Romanes
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	10 July 1874
Classmark:	DAR 52: D1–2, 10–14
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-9543

Matches: 42 hits

… 120. CD had argued that where natural selection had not come into full play, rudimentary …
… The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… that in propounding the cessation of selection as a reducing cause, I do not suppose that …
… under the restraining influence of natural selection. And still more distinctly is this …
… size), was because of the influence of selection constantly destroying those individuals …
… viz. , economy of growth and cessation of selection,—while no corresponding causes are at …
… in this case is probably due to selection. 2 d . and 3 d . left out of calculation. ( …
… chances, however (upon wh. cessation of selection depends), it is not improbable that in …
… ordinary average. For cessation of selection depends upon indis-criminate variation, and …
… much may be said for the cessation of selection, I refer you to the two letters upon this …
… species, where the influence of natural selection might have cut off all the non-flying …
… the hypothesis, that the cessation of selection is a true cause of reduction in the case …
… the principle I call the cessation of selection admits of being extended, so as likewise …
… the joint action of the cessation of selection and the cessation of function. An example …
… attributed to the influence of natural selection. Hence its decline into a rudiment when …
… have been assisted by the cessation of selection, is sufficiently obvious—the affected …
… wh. cannot have been aided by natural selection; but wh. must have resulted wholly from …
… the negative influence of the cessation of selection, wd. not be enough to counteract the …
… further, that in the present case sexual selection must have come largely into play. The …
… and, if so, functional activity and natural selection wd. have combined to prevent their …
… we have clear evidence, from the fact that, if it did, natural selection, no less than …
… the cessation of selection, wd. …
… be unable to act; for natural selection, no less than …
… the cessation of selection, depends upon the power of inheritance not being absolutely …
… viz. , the rapidity with wh. natural selection acts in the construction of an organ, is …
… than that with wh. the cessation of selection acts in its destruction; for the former …
… process which, under the name of natural selection, Mr Darwin has shown to be an ever- …
… of organs attributable to cessation of selection was 20 to 25 per cent and referred to …
… in fowls pointed to the cessation of selection rather than to disuse (the table referred …
… words:—“That the struggle between natural selection on the one hand, and the tendency to …
… would not be forth-coming for natural selection to seize upon, ( unless the limit of …
… if the conservative influence of natural selection were removed for a long period of time, …
… added, that when the influence of “steady selection” is removed, it seems in itself highly …
… economy of growth and the cessation of selection, the only issue is as to the comparative …
… this trait can neither have been facilitated nor retarded by natural selection. ” Clearly …
… not by the presence of natural selection; but no less clearly it may have been affected, …
… effected, by the absence of natural selection. Indeed, this case furnishes an admirable …
… it unites the action of the cessation of selection with that of the cessation of function. …
… the conservative influence of natural selection: as civilization advanced, however, this …
… the positive influence of natural selection continuously waning, the negative influence of …
… of its application; for the cessation of selection and the cessation of function together …
… from the sustaining influence of natural selection, still if it were in a state of great …

Mayr, Ernst. 1972. Sexual selection and natural selection. In Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971, edited by Bernard Campbell. London: Heinemann.

Matches: 3 hits

… Mayr, Ernst. 1972. Sexual selection and …
… natural selection. …
… In Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971 , edited by Bernard Campbell. …

To Octavius Pickard-Cambridge [before 20 February 1874]

Summary

Discusses meaning of term "sexual selection".

Comments on variability in males.

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Octavius Pickard-Cambridge
Date:	[before 20 Feb 1874]
Classmark:	American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.437)
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-9304

Matches: 14 hits

… Discusses meaning of term "sexual selection". Comments on variability in males. …
… Descent 2d ed. : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 …
… that ‘curious male structures’ might be accounted for by natural selection rather …
… than sexual selection. See Descent 1: 256–7. See Descent 1: 275–6 and Descent 2d ed. , …
… all organs necessary for reproduction must be attributed to nat. selection; & that the …
… term sexual selection is applicable only when an advantage is gained by a struggle between …
… may be a feeble guide) of the action of S. selection; unless indeed the two sexes closely …
… colours have been gained by S. selection, in as much the two sexes have generally been …
… may come to differ somewhat, without any selection; & such cases can be shown to occur. ( …
… 3) The evidence of the action of s. selection becomes good only when the one sex, ( …
… to him we have the groundwork for S. selection. I presume that you will hardly suppose …
… structures have been modified through sexual selection, why not colour? As spiders (as far …
… display themselves, the evidence that s. selection has been here at work is not strong; …

From William Henry Harvey 24 August 1860

Summary

Continues earlier discussion, admitting his opinions have been modified. Still regards natural selection as one agent of several. States areas of disagreement.

Author:	William Henry Harvey
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	24 Aug 1860
Classmark:	DAR 98 (ser. 2): 33–40
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-2898

Matches: 30 hits

… have been modified. Still regards natural selection as one agent of several. States areas …
… to the chapters ‘On the struggle for existence as bearing on natural selection’ and ‘ …
… On natural selection’ in his ‘big …
… book’ on species ( Natural selection , pp. 173–274). The second note is on different …
… shall) receive the theory of Natural Selection as a satisfying explanation of the Origin …
… of life. Fraser’s Magazine 61: 739–52; 62: 74–90. Natural selection : Charles Darwin’ …
… s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… hand in hand, I can only regard Natural Selection as one Agent out of several;—a handmaid …
… intended to illustrate how Natural Selection has acted or might be supposed to act in …
… has been effected through “natural selection” alone . For some years back I have contented …
… thinner & thinner population. “Natural Selection” consequently will become feebler & …
… for Life” shall have brought Natural Selection into being. Whilst we have Instruments at …
… secondary agency, like that of Natural selection accounts for; and I think also there are …
… Or, do they come through natural-selection? — Do not suppose me to mean that I consider …
… in developing the theory of natural selection & referring every operation in nature to it, …
… an appreciation & perpetuation (or selection ) of the “useful” presupposes a vigilant & …
… facts of organisation explained by natural selection will be very seriously diminished. — …
… there be any part of the theory of natural selection more firmly established than another, …
… progenitors had acquired (through natural selection, as all eyes have arisen (p. 136)), …
… inheritance & preserved by “natural selection”, but to renewed interferences with ordinary …
… set of phenomena your theory of natural selection finds favour, but turning to another set …
… to my old ground; and then “natural selection” is to me but a new phrase signifying “the …
… becomes of him on the theory of natural selection. By theory we have made him the simplest …
… life”. Any attempt therefore to set “natural selection” in action under such circumstances …
… itself unexpectedly . — Natural Selection, no doubt, is ready to take advantage of such …
… necessary , at starting, to set natural selection in motion, we are surely calling up a …
… for life, it would be easy for natural selection , by slow degrees, more & more perfectly, …
… of the world, & if the theory of natural selection be true, they have every thing to win. …

To W. H. Harvey [20–4 September 1860]

Summary

Replies to WHH’s criticisms of the Origin. Is disappointed that WHH does not understand what CD means by natural selection. CD has said "ad nauseam" that selection can do nothing without previous variability. Natural selection accumulates successive variations in any profitable direction. If CD had to rewrite his book he would use "natural preservation" rather than selection. Defends his necessarily conjectural illustrations. Agrees with what WHH says on the antiquity of the world, but it makes no impression on him. Considers the difficulty of the first modification of the first protozoan. Emphasises that there is nothing in his theory "necessitating in each case progression of acquisition", nor is it the case that "a low form would never conquer a high" in the struggle for life. Attempts to explain what he means by a "dominant" group; dominance is always relative, and he does not believe any one group could be predominant. He has no objections to "sudden jumps"; they would aid him in some cases, but he has found no evidence to make him believe in them and a good deal pointing the other way.

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	William Henry Harvey
Date:	[20–4 Sept 1860]
Classmark:	DAR 98 (ser. 2): 45–53
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-2922

Matches: 20 hits

… of his ‘big book’ on species ( Natural selection , pp. 95–171). CD also wrote in ink: ‘& …
… 2 vols. Paris: Victor Mason. Geneva: J. Kessmann. Natural selection : Charles Darwin’ …
… s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to …
… Origin . Is disappointed that WHH does not understand what CD means by natural selection. …
… CD has said "ad nauseam" that selection can do nothing without previous variability. …
… Natural selection accumulates successive variations in any profitable direction. If …
… use "natural preservation" rather than selection. Defends his necessarily conjectural …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… do not understand what I mean by Natural Selection, as shown at p. 11 of your letter & by …
… at p. 9. as if I had said that Natural Selection was the sole agency of modification; …
… implied (what seems to me obvious) that selection can do nothing without previous …
… variations occur”. I consider Natural Selection as of such high importance, because it …
… complex conditions of life. — The term “Selection” I see deceives many persons; though I …
… of my Book, but if you did & were to erase selection & selected & insert preservation & …
… c & the whole doctrine of natural selection are mere empty words signifying the “order of …
… clearness the theory of Natural Selection, & therefore might be worth your reading: I …
… being modified by means of artificial Selection. )—) (You put the difficulty of the first …
… progression of organisation; though natural selection tends in this line, & has generally …
… acted. An animal if it became fitted by selection to live the life, for instance, of a …
… the crop of the pigeon, by continued selection, until it is literally as big as whole rest …

From G. A. Gaskell 13 November 1878

Summary

Discusses three "laws of race preservation" which are evolving: (1) natural selection; (2) the sociological law of sympathetic selection, or indiscriminate survival; (3) moral law – social selection or the "Birth of the Fittest".

Author:	George Arthur Gaskell
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	13 Nov 1878
Classmark:	DAR 165: 12
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-11744

Matches: 16 hits

… laws of race preservation" which are evolving: (1) natural selection; (2) the sociological …
… law of sympathetic selection, or indiscriminate survival; ( …
… 3) moral law – social selection or the "Birth of the Fittest". …
… Descent 2d ed. : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 …
… CD wrote about the role of natural selection in human development in Descent , emphasising …
… evolution. First— The Organological Law, Natural Selection or the Survival of the Fittest. …
… Second— The Sociological Law, Sympathetic Selection or Indiscriminate Survival. …
… Third— The Moral Law, Social Selection or the Birth of the Fittest. These three laws arise …
… W. R. Greg, and others. Natural Selection was defeated, and yet the species continued to …
… probably developed through natural selection, it exists in varying degrees of strength. Of …
… as an alternative to CD’s ‘natural selection’ ( Spencer 1864–7 , 1: 444–5). The third, …
… populations, and the role of natural selection in civilised societies. For a discussion of …
… Rathbone Greg on the role of natural selection in human development, see Hale 2014 . …
… a paper on the ‘failure of “natural selection” in the case of man’ ([W. R. Greg] 1868). …
… of the first law, which is “Natural Selection”; and the last law, which is now in the …

From A. R. Wallace 3 September 1877

Summary

Sexual selection, he thinks, must be left to others to settle. "Conscious" will be substituted for "voluntary" selection. Sound- and scent-producing organs attributed to "natural", not "conscious", selection.

Author:	Alfred Russel Wallace
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	3 Sept 1877
Classmark:	DAR 106: B136–7
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-11125

Matches: 10 hits

… Sexual selection, he thinks, must be left to others to settle. " …
… Conscious" will be substituted for "voluntary" selection. Sound- and …
… scent-producing organs attributed to "natural", not "conscious", selection. …
… Wallace concluded, in opposition to CD’s views, that natural selection played a much more …
… significant role than sexual selection. For more on their disagreement, see the letter …
… CD’s theory as ‘voluntary sexual selection’, that is, ‘the actual choice by the females of …
… phrase to ‘voluntary or conscious sexual selection’ ( A. R. Wallace 1878 , p. 193). See …
… two radically distinct kinds of “sexual selection. ” Perhaps “conscious” would be a better …
… or “automatic” as opposed to “conscious” selection. If there were gradations in the sounds …
… however comparatively simple, natural selection , owing to their use as a guide, seems …

To Asa Gray 29 November [1857]

Summary

Thanks AG for his criticisms of CD’s views; finds it difficult to avoid using the term "natural selection" as an agent.

Discusses crossing in Fumaria and barnacles.

Has received a naturally crossed kidney bean in which the seed-coat has been affected by the pollen of the fertilising plant.

Finds the rule of large genera having most varieties holds good and regards it as most important for his "principle of divergence".

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Asa Gray
Date:	29 Nov [1857]
Classmark:	Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (18)
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-2176

Matches: 15 hits

… 165: 92/3. Ledebour 1842–53 . See Natural selection , pp. 148–54. See letters from H. …
… and 20 December [1857] . See Natural selection , pp. 227–51, and Origin , pp. 111–26. …
… difficult to avoid using the term "natural selection" as an agent. Discusses crossing in …
… s explanation of his theory of natural selection, as put forward in letter to Asa Gray, 5 …
… September [1857] . CD included a definition of natural selection along these …
… lines in Natural selection , p. 175, and Origin , p. …
… 61. This case is also cited in Natural selection , p. 200. See letter from Asa Gray, [ …
… etc. By Charles Darwin. London: Ray Society. 1854. Natural selection : Charles Darwin’ …
… s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… 1857] . Lecoq 1845 , p. 61. See Natural selection , pp. 53–4, in which CD discussed the …
… 102 and referred to it in both Natural selection , p. 45, and Origin , p. 101. See also …
… of your objection of my using the term “natural Selection” as an agent; I use it much as a …
… be preserved by this process of “natural selection”. But I will not weary you by going on; …
… to death: I sh d . here say that natural selection picks out this breed, & would tend to …

From A. R. Wallace 2 March [1867]

Summary

Pleased that CD approves his idea about caterpillars.

Thinks CD is right about selection in butterflies, but still believes protective adaptation has kept down colours of females.

Cannot yet see action of natural selection in forming the races of man.

Author:	Alfred Russel Wallace
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	2 Mar [1867]
Classmark:	DAR 85: A98
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-5968

Matches: 13 hits

… about caterpillars. Thinks CD is right about selection in butterflies, but still believes …
… of females. Cannot yet see action of natural selection in forming the races of man. …
… pencil ; ‘& insects’ brown crayon Bottom of p. 2 ‘Sex. Selection | Wallace | Man’ pencil …
… of beauty and wealth in human sexual selection in Descent 1: 170, and 2: 356, 371. See …
… 1985–. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… 26 February [1867] CD had argued that sexual selection accounted for colour differences in …
… I dare say you are right about sexual selection in butterflies, but I still think that …
… views of the importance of sexual selection in the origin of the human races, see Kottler …
… two decades of debate over natural selection. In The Darwinian heritage , edited by David …
… yet see my way to any action of sexual selection in forming the races of man. Stealing …
… and n. 6 for Wallace’s thoughts on sexual selection, and for more on the Heliconidae and …
… and Wallace’s diverging views of sexual selection, see Kottler 1980 and Bajema ed. 1984, …
… a practice that could counteract sexual selection (see Descent 2: 358, 366). For Wallace’s …

To A. R. Wallace 28 [May 1864]

Summary

Response to ARW’s papers on Papilionidae ["On the phenomena of variation and geographical distribution", Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 25 (1866): 1–71; abstract in Reader 3 (1864): 491–3],

and man ["The origin of human races", J. Anthropol. Soc. Lond. 2 (1864): clviii–clxxxvi].

The former is "really admirable" and will be influential.

The idea of the man paper is striking and new. Minor points of difference. Conjectures regarding racial differences; the possible correlation between complexion and constitution. His Query to Army surgeons to determine this point. Offers ARW his notes on man, which CD doubts he will be able to use.

On sexual selection in "our aristocracy"; primogeniture is a scheme for destroying natural selection.

[Letter incorrectly dated March by CD.]

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Alfred Russel Wallace
Date:	28 [May 1864]
Classmark:	The British Library (Add. MS 46434: 39)
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-4510

Matches: 20 hits

… primogeniture for destroying N. Selection. — I fear my letter will be barely intelligible …
… doubts he will be able to use. On sexual selection in "our aristocracy"; primogeniture is …
… a scheme for destroying natural selection. [Letter incorrectly dated March by CD. ] …
… 1864a applied the principle of natural selection to the variation of butterflies from …
… Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. …
… two decades of debate over natural selection. In The Darwinian heritage , edited by David …
… savages, I rember thinking that N. Selection would come in, & likewise with Esquimaux …
… Secondly I suspect that a sort of sexual selection has been the most powerful means of …
… the increasing influence of natural selection on mental and moral qualities, including a ‘ …
… E, 63–4; for CD’s general notes on natural selection applied to humans, see n. 19, below. …
… yet published an application of natural selection to humans, only predicting in Origin , …
… Wallace’s views of the role of natural selection in human transmutation, see Vorzimmer …
… would no longer be influenced by natural selection in their physical form and structure: ‘ …
… distinct environments, the natural selection of useful variations in internal constitution …
… received no replies. CD discussed sexual selection in Origin , pp. 87–90 and 156–7, but …
… ideals of beauty in humans and on mate selection (see Notebooks , Notebook D, 99; Notebook …
… part of Descent was devoted to sexual selection in animals, including humans; in Descent …
… 1: 249–50 and 2: 316–84 and 396–402, CD discussed sexual selection in humans. …
… For CD’s application of sexual selection to human racial change, see Descent 1: 249–50 and …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …

From John Morley 30 March 1871

Summary

Questions CD’s attribution of a sense of beauty to animals and his use of natural selection to explain phenomena JM feels it more appropriate to describe as social selection.

Author:	John Morley, Viscount Morley of Blackburn
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	30 Mar 1871
Classmark:	DAR 87: 170, DAR 88: 165–6
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-7645

Matches: 11 hits

… Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. …
… of beauty to animals and his use of natural selection to explain phenomena JM feels it …
… more appropriate to describe as social selection. …
… 5.4] ‘Your remarks on the [ general ] selection of form & colour I find admirable and very …
… may publish. — I daresay I have extended natural selection too far, though I have been [4 …
… illeg] for the strength of the [ soc ] selection are to be done. ’ pencil ; del pencil …
… are inclined to prolong the operation of Natural Selection into times and conditions w h . …
… belong of right to what I should call Social Selection—i.e. …
… the selection by a community, through its current opinion, laws, institution, traditional …
… of nature, the principle of Natural Selection w d . of course resume. I have put this in …
… variation. 3.6] scored pencil 4.7 the selection … generation. 4.11] scored pencil ; ‘ …

To Fritz Müller 2 August [1871]

Summary

Opinions on Descent.

Sexual selection and mimicry in Lepidoptera; sexual selection as an aid to protective imitation.

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
Date:	2 Aug [1871]
Classmark:	The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 34)
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-7892

Matches: 11 hits

… Opinions on Descent . Sexual selection and mimicry …
… in Lepidoptera; sexual selection as an aid to protective imitation. …
… Descent 2d ed. : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 …
… The origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… I think naturalists will accept sexual selection to a greater extent than they now seem …
… hardly admit the possibility of sexual selection with Lepidoptera, & no doubt it is very …
… convincing manner. Your idea of sexual selection having aided protective imitation …
… as follows “F. Müller suspects that sexual selection may have come into play, in aid of …
… those who do not fully believe in sexual selection. It is that the appreciation of certain …
… and butterflies. CD maintained that sexual selection was the primary cause while Wallace …

To G. J. Romanes 11 June [1877]

Summary

Discusses effects of natural selection. Discusses absence of blending between geographical races as a problem. Discusses effect of natural selection on productivity of an organism.

Comments on GJR’s review of Grant Allen’s book [Physiological aesthetics (1877)].

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	George John Romanes
Date:	11 June [1877]
Classmark:	American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.516)
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-10996

Matches: 11 hits

… Discusses effects of natural selection. Discusses absence of blending between geographical …
… a problem. Discusses effect of natural selection on productivity of an organism. Comments …
… 1985–. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… 1859. Sober, Elliott. 1984. The nature of selection: evolutionary theory in philosophical …
… variation. — What I have called unconscious selection by man illustrates, as it seems to …
… 40, CD discussed how the ‘unconscious selection’ of breeders over many generations could …
… to mind where my difficulty lay. Natural selection always applies, as I think, to each …
… be acted on directly by natural selection (see Variation 2: 185–9, and Correspondence vol. …
… addressed the question of whether natural selection operated on an individual organism or …
… 163, 166. For a discussion of units of selection in evolutionary theory, see Sober 1984 , …

From Raphael Meldola 25 January 1872

Summary

Discusses the roles of natural and sexual selection in producing mimicry, and the problem of explaining the cause of the first mimetic variation; considers the ideas of A. R. Wallace and Fritz Müller on this problem.

Author:	Raphael Meldola
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	25 Jan 1872
Classmark:	DAR 171: 118
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-8180

Matches: 16 hits

… Discusses the roles of natural and sexual selection in producing mimicry, and the problem …
… Meldola 1873 ) did not mention sexual selection. For CD’s hypothesis of pangenesis, see …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… seems to be this:—is mimetic colouring & marking a product of natural or sexual selection? …
… If exclusively of natural selection the mimetic characters being of the most vital …
… are produced by the sole action of sexual selection we should expect to find them (as you …
… is brighter than her male—for while natural selection has been modifying & brightening the …
… By this joint action of Natural & Sexual selections it appears to me that the mimetic …
… produced by Nat. & governed by sexual selection I can conceive that in certain districts …
… the view that mimetic colouring is a product of both natural & sexual selections for just …
… as natural selection will …
… prevent sexual selection from developing any character hurtful to …
… a species so I believe that sexual selection will always govern the mimetic colouring of a …
… brightly coloured than the male, natural selection only appears to have been at work—the …
… to the joint action of Natural & Sexual Selection one hardly knows whether to expect great …
… the colouration of organisms. Natural Selection or Sexual Selec. may sieze upon any …

To A. R. Wallace 26 February [1867]

Summary

ARW’s explanation of protective value of conspicuous coloration is ingenious.

CD still holds to sexual selection with respect to beauty in male butterflies.

Sexual selection and the races of man.

Expression of emotions is another subject he plans to include in his essay [Descent].

Asks ARW to suggest an observer in Malay Archipelago to whom he might send queries [on expression].

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Alfred Russel Wallace
Date:	26 Feb [1867]
Classmark:	The British Library (Add 46434, f. 76)
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-5420

Matches: 11 hits

… coloration is ingenious. CD still holds to sexual selection with respect to beauty in male …
… butterflies. Sexual selection and the races of man. Expression of emotions is another …
… 1985–. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… as yet think that it is due to sexual selection; there is some evidence that Dragon-flies …
… male butterflies were a result of sexual selection (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 …
… in 1864 to convince Wallace that sexual selection had been a powerful influence in forming …
… analogy of birds makes me believe in sexual selection with respect to colour in insects. I …
… much interested just at present about sexual selection is that I have almost resolved to …
… the heaviest blow possible) that sexual selection has been the main agent in forming the …
… male moths were generally a result of sexual selection rather than for protection. For …
… of bright colours and sexual selection in butterflies, see also Correspondence vol. 9, …

From A. R. Wallace 4 October 1868

Summary

Sexual differences in coloration. Sexual selection versus natural selection as explanations. ARW continues to argue against sexual selection, saying that natural selection, in keeping the female dull for protection, would account for differences in sexual colouring more effectively than inheritance and partial transmission of sexually selected male colours. Colours of female birds of paradise. Protective coloration. Disagrees with CD on coincidence of hidden nests and bright colours of females.

Author:	Alfred Russel Wallace
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	4 Oct 1868
Classmark:	DAR 106: B68–69
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-6408

Matches: 13 hits

… 23 September [1868] . The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex ( Descent ) was …
… 2013. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 …
… Sexual differences in coloration. Sexual selection versus …
… natural selection as explanations. …
… ARW continues to argue against sexual selection, saying …
… that natural selection, in keeping the female dull for protection, would account for …
… to determine how much of that difference is due to sexual selection acting on the male,— …
… how much to natural selection (protective) acting on the female;—or how much of the …
… one female. Again you have yourself laid down the principle that—“sexual selection is less …
… rigorous than natural selection”. Then what is to prevent the female being selected for …
… of the males. I presume artificial selection has never been applied to hen birds only, but …
… different way from that in which sexual selection has modified the male in the whole …
… publish your treatise on “ Sexual selection ” as a separate book as soon as possible, & …

From Octavius Pickard-Cambridge 17 February 1874

Summary

Criticises sexual selection theory. Supports natural selection.

Gives CD references on proportion of sexes in spiders.

Author:	Octavius Pickard-Cambridge
Addressee:	Charles Robert Darwin
Date:	17 Feb 1874
Classmark:	DAR 161: 7
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-9299

Matches: 8 hits

… Criticises sexual selection theory. …
… Supports natural selection. Gives CD references on proportion of sexes in spiders. …
… Descent 2d ed. : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… 1874. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 …
… felt in regard to the theory of “ Sexual Selection ”—? If I am right in my apprehension of …
… come in the application of “Natural Selection”. for the possessors of the greatest vital …
… be no reason to resort to “Sexual Selection” to account for male sexual peculiarities of …
… better be accounted for by “ Natural Selection ” simply. It seems to me that there is …

To Nature 5 November [1880]

Summary

Sir Wyville Thomson misunderstands natural selection when he says the theory "refers the evolution of species to extreme variation guided only by natural selection". CD demurs at the "extreme variation" and the "only". No one has said evolution depends only on natural selection. CD has adduced many facts on the effects of use and disuse and on the direct action of the environment.

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Nature
Date:	5 Nov [1880]
Classmark:	Nature, 11 November 1880, p. 32
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-12800

Matches: 10 hits

… Sir Wyville Thomson misunderstands natural selection when he says the theory "refers the …
… extreme variation guided only by natural selection". CD demurs at the "extreme variation" …
… said evolution depends only on natural selection. CD has adduced many facts on the effects …
… Wallace . Thomson’s remarks on natural selection appeared in his ‘General introduction to …
… Sir Wyville Thomson and Natural Selection I am sorry to find that Sir Wyville …
… understand the principle of natural selection, as explained by Mr. Wallace and myself. If …
… extreme variation guided only by natural selection. ” This is a standard of criticism not …
… that you have followed the principle of selection in the breeding of your animals”. From …
… of evolution being guided only by natural selection. Can Sir Wyville Thomson name any one …
… of species depends only on natural selection? As far as concerns myself, I believe that no …

To Charles Kingsley 10 June [1867]

Summary

Discusses the Duke of Argyll’s book [Reign of law (1867)].

Cites his own views on diversity of structure and beauty.

Encloses letter from Wallace. Sexual selection: evidence advanced by Wallace.

Discusses correlation of growth.

Comments on article in the North British Review [by Fleeming Jenkin].

Discusses the evidence from physics on the age of the earth.

[Four pages of the final letter are missing, but the draft is complete.]

Author:	Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:	Charles Kingsley
Date:	10 June [1867]
Classmark:	American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.330) & DAR 96: 28–9, 32
Letter no:	DCP-LETT-5567

Matches: 17 hits

… Encloses letter from Wallace. Sexual selection: evidence advanced by Wallace. Discusses …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… 1867 . For CD’s ongoing work on sexual selection, see, for example, the letter to Fritz …
… it would spread by means of natural selection. In Origin 5th ed. , p. 49, he said that …
… 1985–. Descent : The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. …
… heredity and the hypothesis of natural selection. Translated by Matthew Cobb. Cambridge: …
… By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1845. Natural selection : Charles Darwin’ …
… s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races …
… that you are inclined to admit sexual selection. I have lately been attending much to this …
… me. He depreciates the importance of natural selection, but I presume he w d not deny that …
… unimportant, & in this same sense natural selection seems to me all-important. The N. …
… and are accumulated through natural selection, other parts become modified’ ( Origin 4th …
… of his ‘big book’ on species (see Natural selection , pp. 318–21). In Origin , p. 61, CD …
… beauty of the female. No doubt sexual selection seems very improbable when one looks at a …

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Family and friends in Commentary

5 Items

Emma Darwin

Summary

Emma Darwin, Charles Darwin's wife and first cousin, was born Emma Wedgwood, the eighth and youngest child of Josiah Wedgwood II and Bessy Allen. Her father was the eldest son of the famous pottery manufacturer, Josiah Wedgwood I. Her mother was one…

Matches: 1 hits

… Emma Darwin, Charles Darwin's wife and first cousin, was born Emma Wedgwood, the eighth and …

Hensleigh Wedgwood

Summary

Hensleigh Wedgwood, Emma Darwin’s brother and Charles’s cousin, was a philologist, barrister and original member of the Philological Society, which had been created in 1842. In 1857, while Wedgwood was preparing a dictionary of English etymology, he wrote…

Matches: 2 hits

… help Darwin explain his theories about species and natural selection? In the middle of the …
… about the difficulties presented by his theory in Natural selection, in order to show how …

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

… their theological significance. She suggested that natural selection was not inherently at odds with …
… life. Her emphasis on the progressive character of natural selection prefigured the basis on which …
… who have noticed this part [on the significance of sexual selection] with approbation.” ( Charles …

Jane Gray

Summary

Jane Loring Gray, the daughter of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she took an active interest in the scientific pursuits of her husband and his friends. Although she is only known to have…

Matches: 1 hits

… AD, folder 1). After Asa Gray’s death, Jane published a selection of his letters. Although …

Francis Galton

Summary

Galton was a naturalist, statistician, and evolutionary theorist. He was a second cousin of Darwin’s, having descended from his grandfather, Erasmus. Born in Birmingham in 1822, Galton studied medicine at King’s College, London, and also read mathematics…

Matches: 1 hits

… family, including the “author of the Theory of Natural Selection”, two of Darwin’s sons (George and …

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