To Ellen Frances Lubbock [26 September 1869?]
Summary
Would have liked to come to lunch, but has been talking so much to Hooker that he has no strength left.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ellen Frances Hordern; Ellen Frances Lubbock |
| Date: | [26 Sept 1869?] |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6669 |
From T. S. Cobbold 1 September [1869]
Summary
Thanks CD for parasitic worms [see 6858] specimens. Supports "fact of succession".
| Author: | Thomas Spencer Cobbold |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 190 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6876 |
From William Bowman 3 September [1869]
Summary
Asks whether he may come with F. C. Donders to visit CD.
| Author: | William Bowman, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6877 |
To Frans Cornelis Donders 6 September 1869
Summary
Asks about Charles Bell’s statement concerning contraction of eye muscles. Asks whether such contraction is related to secretion of tears.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Frans Cornelis (Franciscus Cornelius) Donders |
| Date: | 6 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6878 |
From J. D. Hooker 7 September 1869
Summary
Reports on events at Exeter [BAAS] meeting. G. G. Stokes made a first-rate President.
Huxley "poured boiling oil" over James McCann in answer to his "conceited dogmatic sermon".
F. A. W. Miquel is coming to stay.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 103: 30–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6879 |
From Walter Elliot 7 September 1869
Summary
Sends excerpt on polygamous breeding habits of Asiatic elephants by Lieut. Johnstone [Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal (1868): 128]. [See Descent 1: 268.]
| Author: | Walter Elliot |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: A74 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6880 |
To Fritz Müller 8 September [1869]
Summary
Wants observations on a Papilio to see whether ticking noise is confined to one sex.
Experiments on self-sterility.
Will send copy of his orchid paper ["Fertilisation of orchids", Collected papers 2: 138–56].
Eschscholzia when self-fertilised, produced pods.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 8 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | British Library (Loan MS 10 no 30) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6881 |
From James Orton 8 September 1869
Summary
Sends a lower molar of fossil horse from Quito. Curious as to its species, especially in view of Owen’s findings in Mexico.
| Author: | James Orton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 173: 38 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6882 |
From Edward Burnett Tylor 8 September 1869
Summary
Wishes to borrow a paper by R. G. Haliburton on superstitions connected with sneezing [see 5635].
| Author: | Edward Burnett Tylor |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 201 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6883 |
From John Blackwall 8 September 1869
Summary
His observations on young of Theridion lineatum reveal no characteristics distinguishing one from another;
quotes N. Westring on stridulation in Theridion serratipes [see Descent 1: 339].
| Author: | John Blackwall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 82: A80–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6884 |
To Gustav Jäger 9 September 1869
Summary
Admires GJ’s book [Die Darwin’sche Theorie (1869)].
Asks about plumage of rejected male pheasant.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Gustav Jäger |
| Date: | 9 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | Frau Dr. Hildegard Jaeger (private collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6885 |
To J. D. Hooker 10 September [1869]
Summary
F. C. Donders has been to lunch – a good "Darwinian"!
JDH’s speech of resignation [as BAAS President] at Exeter was charming [Rep. BAAS (1869)]. JDH should have been an ambassador.
Has received Indian census.
Is unusually well.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 10 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 94: 151–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6886 |
From Edward Blyth 13 September 1869
Summary
Gives some observations and opinions on the appearance and behaviour of mandrills.
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 225 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6887 |
From John Beddoe 13 September 1869
Summary
Encloses last instalment of data on colour of women’s hair and conjugal selection. Fears results are inconclusive.
| Author: | John Beddoe |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 85: A17–18 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6888 |
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 |
From V. O. Kovalevsky 13 September 1869
Summary
Since March has been living in Heidelberg, where his wife is studying mathematics and physics.
The Russian translation of Variation has been printed in his absence; he will bring a copy to Down if he receives one from Russia.
| Author: | Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Владимир Онуфриевич Ковалевский) |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 169: 78 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6890 |
To Edward Blyth 14 September [1869]
Summary
Thanks EB for his attempts to find out about the mandrills;
sorry to hear that he has been so badly treated by the manager of Land and Water.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Blyth |
| Date: | 14 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | McGill University Library, Department of Rare Books |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6891 |
From Frederick Smith 14 September 1869
Summary
On stridulation of Coleoptera, Trox sabulosus, Mutilla. [See Descent 1: 380.]
| Author: | Frederick Smith |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Sept 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 82: A5–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6892 |
To Samuel Hubbard Scudder 15 September [1869]
Summary
Thanks SHS for papers he has sent.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Samuel Hubbard Scudder |
| Date: | 15 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | Boston Society of Natural History (papers at the Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6893 |
From J. T. Moggridge 16 September [1869]
Summary
Thanks for CD’s ["Fertilization of orchids", Collected papers 2: 138–56].
Although Thomas Meehan’s paper ["Variations in Epigaea repens", Proc. Philadelphia Acad. Nat. Sci. (1868): 153–6] shows great variability in this genus, JTM sees a need to qualify the generalisation that there is as much variation in the wild as under domestication. He knows no evidence for a constant proportion between variability in the wild and under cultivation.
Observations on correlation between leaf size and exposure to sun and shade.
Has evidence for two varieties of Ophrys apifera in England, which live in mutually exclusive colonies.
| Author: | John Traherne Moggridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 Sept [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 212 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-6894 |
| letter | (46) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (17) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Günther, Albert | (2) |
| Moggridge, J. T. | (2) |
| Beddoe, John | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (29) |
| Günther, Albert | (3) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Blyth, Edward | (1) |
| Donders, F. C. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (46) |
| Günther, Albert | (5) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (5) |
| Blyth, Edward | (2) |
| Huxley, T. H. | (2) |
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 4 hits
- … that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). He was also unsatisfied …
- … which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). The botanist and …
- … ). Darwin welcomed Krause’s suggestion, but warned him on 9 June not to ‘expend much powder & …
- … (Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [27 August 1879] (DAR 219.9: 201)). Celebrity and honours …
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…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Darwin asked Murray to intervene, complaining on 9 January , ‘M r . Dallas’ delay … is …
- … on the auditory organs of Orthoptera and Coleoptera on 9 September . Darwin annotated a letter …
- … from the south of France to Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood on 9 Novembe r, describing sphinx moths that …
- … direct result of natural selection ( Variation 2: 185–9). Wallace seized upon this point in a …
- … Katherine ( letter from C. M. Hawkshaw to Emma Darwin, 9 February [1868] ). Darwin’s eldest son, …
- … from Fritz Müller, 22 April 1868 , 17 June 1868 , 9 September 1868 , and 31 October 1868 …
- … A different order of pride was expressed on 9 November by Ernst Haeckel on the birth of his son …
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: 6 hits
- … excited Darwin, who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I am almost stark …
- … , whether the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] ). To his son, William, …
- … better fun’ than species ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1862] ), he responded to the …
- … active young wolves’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 9 October 1862 ). Darwin had managed to …
- … me go away for an hour after dinner & retire to my room at 9 o clock I do not think it would …
- … as true as gospel, so it must be true’ ( to J. D. Hooker, 9 May [1862] ). the real …
Books on the Beagle
Summary
‘Considering the limited disposable space in so very small a ship, we contrived to carry more instruments and books than one would readily suppose could be stowed away in dry and secure places’. So wrote Captain FitzRoy in the Narrative (2: 18). CD, in his…
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
- … into an entirely new province of knowledge’ ( 9 December 1859 ). He soon became interested in …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] Jane Loring Gray, …
- … Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to Wedgwood, S. E., [9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephew, …
- … 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9 November 1868] Darwin’s …
- … Letter 7433 - Wedgwood, F. to Darwin, [9 January 1871] Darwin’s brother-in-law, …
- … Letter 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 January 1872] Darwin thanks his son …
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
- … field guide to Glen Roy: To Charles Lyell, 9 August [1838] To Charles Lyell, …
Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 5 hits
- … by his perfectibility principle (Nägeli 1865, pp. 28–9). In further letters, Hooker tried to provide …
- … hatred—’ ( from Asa Gray and J. L. Gray, 8 and 9 May [1869] ). James Crichton-Browne and …
- … of the soil ( letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle , 9 May [1869] ). In March, Darwin received …
- … I do not care to follow him’ ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 9 October 1869 ). Farrer ventured to …
- … on summit of a mountain.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 9 July [1869] ). Earlier in the year, …
Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Beagle voyage, to a letter to C. A. Kennard written on 9 January 1882 , only shortly before …
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…
Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 3 hits
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
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…
Photograph album of German and Austrian scientists
Summary
The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade, and contained 165 portraits of German and Austrian scientists. The work was lavishly produced and bound in blue velvet with metal embossing. Its ornate…
Matches: 0 hits
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 3 hits
- … Cactus’, he wrote to William Turner Thiselton-Dyer on 9 May. He later noted that in many Cacteae the …
- … about the radicles’, he wrote to Thiselton-Dyer on 9 May . ‘The apex is sensitive, & instead …
- … ‘I am what may be called a rich man’, he replied on 9 December, ‘on the other hand I have 5 sons …
Six things Darwin never said – and one he did
Summary
Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly attributed to Darwin that never flowed from his pen.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly …
Vivisection: first sketch of the bill
Summary
Strictly Confidential Mem: This print is only a first sketch. It is being now recast with a new & more simple form – but the substance of the proposed measure may be equally well seen in this draft. R.B.L. | 2 586 Darwin and vivisection …
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 21 hits
- … (read) Smellie Philosophy of Zoology [Smellie 1790–9]. Fleming Ditto [Fleming 1822] …
- … Read Aristotle to see whether any of my views are ancient 9 Study with profound care …
- … read Audubons Ornithol: Biography [Audubon 1831–9]— 4 Vols. well worth reading [DAR …
- … de leurs genres, par M. Latreille, 1 vol. 8vo. 9 s . [Latreille 1825] Mémoire sur la …
- … [Fabricius 1603]. referred to by Hallam [Hallam 1837–9] D r . Lord has written some new …
- … 1842] Coleridge. Literary Remains [Coleridge 1836–9] Inconsistency of Human wishes. …
- … and cheaper Edition, with Plates and Woodcuts. Post 8vo., 9 s . 6 d . [Knapp] 1838] Read …
- … Duke of Wellington’s Dispatches [Wellesley 1834–9] Carlyles Oliver Cromwell [Carlyle 1845] …
- … Knight’s facts on dogs instincts Veterinary. vol: 9. p. 229. “A comparative view of the form …
- … 6. Birds of the Game kind [Jardine 1834b]. 9. Columbidæ (Pigeons.) [Selby 1835] 11. …
- … vol. Ludlows Memoirs [Ludlow 1698–9] Memoirs of Plumer Ward by Hon …
- … to the Study of Insects 1868. U. States [Packard 1868–9] (an excellent large Book) [DAR …
- … of W. S. Landors Imaginary Conversations [Landor 1824–9]— very poor Sir J 57 Browne’s …
- … 1831] 4 vols 25 Phillips Geology [J. Phillips 1837–9] Lardners 2 nd vol March 16 …
- … Miscellaneous Works & several reviews [Carlyle 1838–9] Nov 8 th Murchison Silurian …
- … are some few references at end of Hallam [Hallam 1837–9]) Feb. 12 th Charlsworths Journal …
- … 4 th . Hallam’s Hist. Lit. 4 vols. [Hallam 1837–9]— good 15 th Failed in reading Dryden …
- … Shelley says is victorious & decisive 72 Octob. 9 th Lindley’s Theory of Hort. …
- … of Botany ]. 2. vols. 1801 to 1806. extracted. 9 th Müllers Physiology [Müller 1837–42] 2 …
- … 24 th . Smellie’s Philos. of Nat. Hist. [Smellie 1790–9] (one vol) d[itt]o— May 20 th . …
- … of Agriculture [Loudon 1831] (skimmed & abst) Jan 9 th Kalms Travel 3 vol [Kalm 1770–1 …
Darwin & coral reefs
Summary
No statement of the theory that could be described as ‘thought out’ has been found in the extensive notes on geological observations that survive from the time Darwin spent on the west coast of South America. There are, however, several references in the…
