To W. A. Leighton 4 December [1862]
Summary
Apologises for the trouble he has caused over his enquiries about strawberries. Describes the problems he and Emma have had with Verbascum.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Allport Leighton |
Date: | 4 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | Unknown dealer |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3633F |
From Mary Butler [before 25 December 1862]
Summary
J. P. Thom [of Home News] must change his position because of his health. Asks if CD can help find him a new situation.
Author: | Mary Butler |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [before 25 Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 392 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3838 |
To Pickard & Stoneman 1 December [1862]
Summary
Asks for information about cases for stove-plants. [Answers recorded in another hand.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | 1 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.283) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3839 |
To Journal of Horticulture [before 2 December 1862]
Summary
Asks for authentic information on following questions: 1. Has the weight of the gooseberry variety London subsequently exceeded the 1845 record of 880 grains?
2. Is any record kept of the diameter of the largest pansies?
3. How early does any variety of Dahlia flower and do some varieties withstand frost better than others?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Journal of Horticulture |
Date: | [before 2 Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman n.s. 3 (1862): 696 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3840 |
From T. H. Huxley 2 December 1862
Summary
Sends first three of his Lectures to working men [on our knowledge of the phenomena of organic nature (1863)]. Does not intend them to be widely circulated.
Author: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Dec 1862 |
Classmark: | DAR 166.2: 296 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3841 |
From Robert Swinhoe 2 December 1862
Summary
Sends CD a Chinese breed of guinea-pig. Has heard it claimed that the domestic guinea-pig will not interbreed with the wild rock cavy and that, therefore, artificial selection has formed a new species.
Author: | Robert Swinhoe |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Dec 1862 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 327 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3842 |
From Patrick Matthew 3 December 1862
Summary
Apologises for not writing last summer. Scientific progress is all but complete. Our civilisation will fall now that it has reached the peak of its development.
Author: | Patrick Matthew |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Dec 1862 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 91 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3843 |
To John Scott 3 December [1862]
Summary
JS’s facts on Primula are new to CD.
In Linum CD has also found dimorphic and non-dimorphic species.
Plans to publish next autumn on successive homomorphic generations in Primula.
"Fluctuating forms" due to culture.
Urges JS to publish.
Lobelia functionally monoecious.
Where did JS publish on Clivia hybrids? Did he count parent and cross seeds, as Gärtner shows is necessary?
CD has done large experiments on artificially fertilised cowslips. They never resemble oxlips.
Would welcome detailed criticism of natural selection by a careful observer like JS. Most criticism worthless. Expects a great deal from Lyell’s reaction.
Suggests JS do orchid experiment to see if rostellum can be penetrated by pollen.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Scott |
Date: | 3 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 93: B60–3 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3844 |
From James Dwight Dana 4 December 1862
Summary
Illness has prevented his reading Origin. He has, however, expressed his [negative] opinion on the subject of mutability of species in his Manual of geology [1862]. Since his persuasions are so strong, he can do no less.
Author: | James Dwight Dana |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 4 Dec 1862 |
Classmark: | Yale University Library: Manuscripts and Archives (Dana Family Papers (MS 164) Series 1, Box 2, folder 44) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3845 |
From J. D. Hooker [14 December 1862]
Summary
On Asa Gray’s letter; has written why he avoids alluding to the war.
Has read Max Müller [see 3752] – last part unphilosophical.
On CD’s pigeon example, long-beaked and short-beaked pigeons must be either sterile or not inter se. There is "no such thing as Equality – hence no such thing as chance and Nat. Sel. is the sword of Damocles hanging over your head if you make a slip in your premisses."
Has read note on Lythrum sent several weeks ago. Its consequences are of most prolific order to CD’s doctrine.
Kew has no wild gooseberries.
JDH praises the Saturday Review reply [14 (1862): 589] to the Duke of Argyll’s bitter review of Orchids ["The supernatural", Edinburgh Rev. 116 (1862): 378–97].
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [14 Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 83–4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3846 |
From John Scott 6 December [1862]
Summary
JS not ready to publish on Primula.
Some of his objections to natural selection are based on belief that plants with separate sexes are less variable than those in which sexes are confluent (as in ferns).
Sends his paper on fern varieties [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 2d ser. 16 (1862): 209–27].
Will soon read paper on Drosera irritability [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 2d ser. 17 (1863): 317–18].
How does CD explain capricious distribution of irritability among plants?
P. scotica’s non-dimorphism is native.
Beginning Laelia experiments shortly.
Author: | John Scott |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 6 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 108: 182a–d |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3847 |
To T. H. Huxley 7 December [1862]
Summary
On THH’s Lectures to working men.
Work by Ferdinand J. Cohn on the contractile tissue of plants ["Über contractile Gewebe im Pflanzenreich" Abh. Schlesischen Ges. Vaterl. Cult. 1 (1861)] seems important. CD has come to the conclusion that there must be some substance in plants analogous to the supposed diffused nervous matter in lower animals.
[Part of P.S. missing from original.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
Date: | 7 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 145: 227, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 179) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3848 |
To T. W. Woodbury 7 December [1862]
Summary
Cannot aid TWW with respect to bees from East Indies. Suggests he write to Edward Blyth.
Thanks him for getting query on variation in bees circulated in Germany.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas White Woodbury |
Date: | 7 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 148: 374 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3849 |
From Asa Gray 9 December 1862
Author: | Asa Gray |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 9 Dec 1862 |
Classmark: | DAR 165: 125 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3850 |
From Julius von Haast 9 December 1862
Summary
Will try to procure specimens of native rat and frog for CD. Will be glad to make observations for him.
Cites case of a species of duck that normally nests on ground but builds in trees if disturbed.
Author: | John Francis Julius (Julius) von Haast |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 9 Dec 1862 |
Classmark: | DAR 166: 1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3851 |
To John Scott 11 December [1862]
Summary
Criticises style of JS’s fern paper [Edinburgh New Philos. J. 2d ser. 16 (1862): 209–27].
JS’s remark on "the two sexes counteracting variability in the product of the one" is new to CD.
Does the female [fern?] plant always produce female by parthenogenesis?
They seem to work on same subjects; CD has much material on Drosera.
Does not understand JS’s objections to natural selection.
Offers to suggest experiments.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Scott |
Date: | 11 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 93: B37, B49–52 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3853 |
From Edinburgh Royal Medical Society [before 12 December 1862]
Summary
A diploma enrolling CD as an honorary member of the Society.
Author: | Edinburgh Royal Medical Society |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [before 12 Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 229: 6 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3853F |
To William Forsell Kirby 12 December [1862]
Summary
CD sends thanks for Manual of European butterflies [1862].
Is pleased that WFK does not believe in immutability of species, "a doctrine perfectly adapted to stop philosophical research", and hopes he will publish further.
Notes WFK’s name is the same as the entomologist’s.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Forsell Kirby |
Date: | 12 Dec [1862] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3854 |
To J. D. Hooker 12 [December 1862]
Summary
Maintains his view on crossing. Thinks practical breeders would agree with him; doubts that variability and domestication are at all necessarily correlative.
Identical plants in different conditions a heavy argument against "direct action" [of physical conditions].
His 1000-pigeon case is altered if long-beaked are in least degree sterile with short-beaked.
His work on dimorphism inclines him to believe that sterility is at first a selected quality to keep incipient species distinct.
Case of easy modification of Lythrum pollen to favour or prevent crossing.
Monsters.
Has just finished chapter on variations of cultivated plants.
Edinburgh doctors have sent him Diploma of Medical Society.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 12 [Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 176 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3855 |
From J. D. Hooker [21 December 1862]
Summary
"Throttled off" Welwitschia paper at Linnean Society [Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 24 (1863): 1–48].
Has read Tocqueville’s Democracy in America [1835–40] – disagrees with it. Tocqueville says democracy in America is a success. Democracy has persisted because there has been no cause for its overthrow (i.e., no struggle for existence, too much mobility).
Sends J. W. Dawson’s unsatisfactory letter.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [21 Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 101: 80–2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3856 |
Darwin, C. R. | (29) |
Hooker, J. D. | (5) |
Boott, Francis | (2) |
Gray, Asa | (2) |
Lubbock, John | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (23) |
Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
Huxley, T. H. | (3) |
Scott, John | (3) |
Journal of Horticulture | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (52) |
Hooker, J. D. | (9) |
Scott, John | (5) |
Huxley, T. H. | (4) |
Lubbock, John | (3) |
Lost in translation: From Auguste Forel, 12 November 1874
Summary
You receive a gift from your scientific hero Charles Darwin. It is a book that contains sections on your favourite topic—ants. If only you had paid attention when your mother tried to teach you English you might be able to read it. But you didn’t, and you…
Matches: 1 hits
- … barely understand a word. Writing in French on 12 November 1874 to thank Darwin for the …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 9 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] and n. 13). Initially, …
- … Stove [that is, cool hothouse]’ ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26[–7] March …
- … of different temperatures’ (letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March [1869] , Calendar no. 6661) …
- … 100 yards’ to the greenhouses ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, [25 January …
- … in mid-February (see letter from L. C. Treviranus, 12 February 1863 ). The second list is …
- … Anoectochilus argenteus 12 5 s . …
- … punctatum. 11. Mormodes aurantiaca 12. ‘Anoectochilus argenteus 5 s .’ deleted in …
- … Bolbophyllum barbigerum 12 major …
- … Ampelidae. 11. Alloplectus chrysanthus. 12. Bulbophyllum barbigerum. 13. …
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: 12 hits
- … Seventy years old Darwin’s seventieth birthday on 12 February was a cause for international …
- … and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ). The masters of …
- … ). The botanist and schoolteacher Hermann Müller wrote on 12 February to wish Darwin a ‘long and …
- … well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and letter from Leonard …
- … ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 July [1879] ). It was little …
- … Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 , and letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 ). Darwin’s final task …
- … inn ‘ very comfortable’, but told Leonard Darwin on 12 August that there were ‘too many human …
- … not to have come up when the Darwins lunched with him on 12 August (Darwin’s ‘Journal’). Nor did …
- … the world. At the end of the year he was awarded a prize of 12,000 francs by the Turin Academy of …
- … which greatly pleased Darwin ( letter from Grant Allen, 12 February 1879 ). One of Allen’s targets …
- … engagement being made public ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 12 October 1879 ). Darwin’s response not …
- … accurate in its treatment’ ( letter from Francis Galton, 12 November 1879 ). The comment that …
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 11 hits
- … (letters from George Cupples, 21 February 1874 and 12 March 1874 ); the material was …
- … the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii; letters from T. N. Staley, 12 February 1874 and 20 February 1874 …
- … was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though containing …
- … print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Darwin's …
- … Review & in the same type’ ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George’s letter …
- … he finally wrote a polite, very formal letter to Mivart on 12 January 1875 , refusing to hold any …
- … & snugness’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October [1874] ). More …
- … vicar of Deptford ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October [1874] ), but to her …
- … mechanism that Darwin agreed with ( letter to F. J. Cohn, 12 October 1874 ). Darwin’s American …
- … bank with enormous tips to his ears ( letter from Asa Gray, 12 May 1874 ). The Manchester …
- … excellent, & as clear as light’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 12 August [1874] ). Hooker …
1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait
Summary
< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more …
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: 6 hits
- … made a small omission ’. Stephen’s reply on 12 January was flattering, reassuring, and …
- … books being ‘a game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 May he described …
- … Darwin had difficulty in obtaining mature plants. On 12 April, he reported to Müller , ‘I have …
- … to make me happy & contented,’ he told Wallace on 12 July , ‘but life has become very …
- … fight’ (letters to J. D. Hooker, 6 August 1881 and 12 August 1881 ). Darwin may have …
- … else’s judgment on the subject ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 12 July 1881 ). However, some requests …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 3 hits
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
- … Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). Two sexual …
- … of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): ‘my notions on …
- … least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), and experimenting to …
- … passed so miserable a nine months’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 12 September [1862] ). A family …
- … ‘Botany is a new subject to me’ ( letter to John Scott, 12 November [1862] ), but, impressed by …
- … into Tyndall’s ears’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10–12 November [1862] ). Another of Darwin’s …
German and Dutch photograph albums
Summary
Darwin Day 2018: To celebrate Darwin's 209th birthday, we present two lavishly produced albums of portrait photographs which Darwin received from continental admirers 141 years ago. These unusual gifts from Germany and the Netherlands are made…
Matches: 1 hits
- … their generous sympathy. ( Letter to A. A. van Bemmelen, 12 February 1877 ) View the …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 5 hits
- … than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 December , ‘I have not felt so angry …
- … from his family, he sent a curt note to Mivart on 12 January , breaking off all future …
- … of a bill that was presented to the House of Commons on 12 May, one week after a rival bill based on …
- … The author, Fritz Schultze, contacted Darwin himself on 12 June , describing the aims of his book …
- … scientific Socy. has done in my time,’ he told Hooker on 12 December . ‘I wish that I knew what …
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
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Rubiaceae with enclosures containing bud samples, 12 May 1878 G. H. Darwin's …
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…
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…
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, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Cross and self fertilisation
Summary
The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…
Matches: 3 hits
Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…
Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
Matches: 3 hits
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…