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From morphology to movement: observation and experiment

Summary

Darwin was a thoughtful observer of the natural world from an early age. Whether on a grand scale, as exemplified by his observations on geology, or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, Darwin was…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, Darwin …
  • … academic training. But Darwin was also an experimenter, and many of his experiments were at the …
  • … during Darwin’s lifetime (see What is an experiment? ), and one of the principal areas …
  • … Haeckel in his  Generelle Morphologie der Organismen . Morphology was conceived to a large extent …
  • … which Goethe felt failed to take account of development and transformation of beings. While Linnaean …
  • … features were identified as derivations from a basic type modified by law-like processes. Morphology
  • … as ‘excellent’), but was most likely more familiar with morphology as a science from other sources, …
  • … approach to classification (see Works in Letters: Living and fossil Cirripedia ). Darwin studied …
  • … of shell ’. By including fossil species in his research and comparing these to similar extant forms …
  • … manipulation under the microscope. Orchids and climbing plants: adaptation in action …
  • … structure after the publication of  Orchids  in 1862, and added information from observers in …
  • … to simulate the action of an insect landing on a flower and brushing up against the sticky disc …
  • … However, while examining the nectaries, he noticed the inner and outer membranes of the tube were …
  • …  was published, Darwin had performed more experimental work and received additional information from …
  • …  2d ed. pp. 43-4).  Darwin focused on a particular type of adaptation in his research on …
  • … in 1860, around the same time he began work on orchid morphology. In a letter written in October …
  • … experimental method was crucial to the development of both morphology and physiological botany. …

Living and fossil cirripedia

Summary

Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…

Matches: 18 hits

  • … volumes on the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two …
  • … these volumes reveal, in fact, how observation, experiment, and classification both informed and
  • … observations on invertebrates, but only those on the octopus and on planarian worms are included in …
  • … although he had passed on his collections of birds, mammals, and reptiles from the Beagle voyage …
  • … two outlines of his ‘species theory’ (1842 Pencil sketch and 1844 Essay). In the course of …
  • … , since it seemed to have many segments, almost no shell, and bored into the shell of Concholepas …
  • … at home, he also required that he be allowed to soak, clean, and disarticulate one specimen of each …
  • … Darwin added that if he was sent the pedunculate (stalked) and sessile (stalkless) barnacles …
  • … good tidings of the great liberality of the Trustees ’ and began writing in earnest to collectors …
  • … wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and friend, John Stevens Henslow, musing …
  • … Although more comfortable with his skill in dissecting and convinced of the importance of his work …
  • … describer to the species name led to ‘hasty work,’ and to the evil of ‘ naming instead of …
  • … thoughtful reply defending the principle of priority , and Hooker’s advice to ‘ drop the battle …
  • … synonymy. On the heels of their discussion on naming, Darwin and Strickland again differed on the …
  • … theory. From early 1849, Darwin worked on both fossil and extant forms and extended his requests for …
  • … Darwin heard a paper by Albany Hancock describing a new type of boring barnacle he had named …
  • … early stages of development to their adult forms was another type of homology, one that was …
  • … argued that function determined form so that similarities in morphology resulted only from …

Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia

Summary

Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. …
  • … carried out during his student days in Edinburgh and later on board the Beagle , the monograph on …
  • … considerable interest to mid-nineteenth century naturalists and approaching their classification …
  • … study that has remained a standard work in cirripede morphology and systematics. For Darwin …
  • … nomenclature, comprising both theoretical principles and technical facility with the methods of …
  • … zoology stemmed from his years as a student in Edinburgh and, in particular, his contact with Robert …
  • … (pp. 49–50), Darwin recalled: ‘Drs. Grant and Coldstream attended much to marine zoology, and I …
  • … are numerous references to the ova of various invertebrates, and Darwin’s first scientific paper, …
  • … minute Crustaceæ.    Given this background and, in particular, his earlier researches in …
  • … (DAR 31.2: 305). He gave a detailed description and tentatively identified this burrowing barnacle …
  • … found attached to rocks. Yet from the absence of a shell and its unusual parasitic nature, Darwin …
  • … stages in the larval development of this ‘Balanus’ and remarked on the resemblance of one stage to …
  • … those of Crustacea, most naturalists had followed Linnaeus and Cuvier in classifying the cirripedes …
  • … that a revaluation of the group, based on a systematic and anatomical comparison intra se and
  • … two papers, one on the marine invertebrate Sagitta and another on the Planariae, he began to …
  • … single abnormal Cirripede, from the shores of South America, and was led, for the sake of comparison …
  • … months Darwin pursued an anatomical study of pedunculated and sessile cirripedes, during which time …
  • … keeper of the zoological collections at the British Museum and himself a cirripede expert, suggested …
  • … own collection, arranged access to the museum’s specimens, and advised him on procuring other …
  • … mean order in time of creation, nor propinquity to any one type, as man.— in fact it means just …
  • … fact that the pupal antennae resembled the common cirripede type was the main reason Darwin advanced …
  • … One of the first systematists to break from the type-concept of species, Darwin realised that within …
  • … vol. 5), where he wrote:  The discovery of the type or ‘‘idea’’ (in your sense, for I detest the …

Orchids

Summary

Why Orchids? Darwin  wrote in his Autobiography, ‘During the summer of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I was led to attend to the cross-fertilisation of flowers by the aid of insects, from having come to the conclusion in my…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … in his Autobiography , ‘During the summer of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I …
  • … Bell glass. ’ So began Darwin’s interest in the floral morphology of orchids, but it was another …
  • … (a synonym of O. insectifera , the fly orchid) and noted that only a small fraction ever had …
  • … of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type’. The manuscript of that paper has yet to …
  • … long title On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by …
  • … readers of the Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligencer , and wrote to the editor, Henry Tibbats …
  • … Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligence r, in issues for 23 and 30 June 1860. Looking even further …
  • … orchids provided a welcome break from the ‘larger work’ and the worry over his daughter Henrietta’s …
  • … on the Isle of Wight, asking him to observe the bee orchid, and requesting flowers of some other …
  • … added, ‘ I shall be most grateful for the E. palustris and it will be all the better for me in 10 …
  • … which I am examining. ’ Several more shipments followed and a year later, referring to the …
  • … been the subject of Hooker’s 1854 paper on the functions and structure of the rostellum (a …
  • … about the use of the parts, but his facts are accurate; and it is following out the remarkable …
  • … an important difference between Darwin’s approach and that of a more traditional botanist like …
  • … of Anacamptis  pyramidalis , the pyramidal orchid) and Spiranthes autumnalis (a synonym of …
  • … of his great Division of Arethuseæ, which includes Vanilla. And as I know so well the Ophreæ, I shd …
  • … At this time, many women were avid collectors of orchids and very knowledgeable about propagation. …
  • … Murray decided to make to the original title was to add ‘and foreign’ before ‘orchids’. Darwin had …
  • … the horticultural editor of Gardeners’ Chronicle , and was rewarded with several specimens. He …
  • … to be working at the dry old bones of poultry, pigeons, and rabbits instead of intensely admiring …
  • … species that puzzled Darwin with its curious appearance and even more unusual mechanism. Darwin had …
  • … of orchid flowers are hermaphrodite, those of Catasetum and related genera like Mormodes and
  • … sent by the nurseryman James Veitch as well as Hooker and Rucker, his letters at first focused on …

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: 19 hits

  • … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  …
  • … since the fourth edition appeared at the end of 1866 and had told his cousin William Darwin Fox, ‘My …
  • … resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty …
  • … Much of the remainder of the year was spent researching and revising chapters for  The descent of …
  • … selection by Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli, a Swiss botanist and professor at Munich (Nägeli 1865). Darwin …
  • … Nägeli’s theory as a major challenge requiring a thorough and thoughtful response; indeed, over the …
  • … ‘I should be extremely obliged if you would read it over, and see whether I have made any blunders, …
  • … about Nägeli’s separation of features into functional and ‘purely morphological’. The modern reader …
  • … Nägeli; Darwin made full use of Hooker’s assistance and many of his examples feature in the seven …
  • … ( Origin  5th ed., pp. 151–7). Fleeming Jenkin and problems of heredity Another …
  • … to the prevailing theory of blending inheritance that Jenkin and Darwin both shared, would tend to …
  • … Origin  5th ed., pp. 103–4). The terminology that Darwin and others employed in these matters ( …
  • … (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and letter from A. R. Wallace, 30 …
  • … species would migrate towards the equator during an ice age and that temperate species would survive …
  • … work of Croll, Andrew Crombie Ramsay, William Whitaker, and others ( Origin  5th ed., pp. 352–4). …
  • … see Thomson’s work challenged by both Thomas Henry Huxley and Wallace.  He confided to Huxley, ‘I …
  • … material on sexual selection in various species from Britain and overseas. The dog-breeder George …
  • … Carl Friedrich Claus in Marburg, who was working on barnacle morphology and embryology and examining …
  • … to the  Athenaeum , the leading journal of its type for some time, which had carried highly …

Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute

Summary

Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…

Matches: 14 hits

  • … completion of his large work,  The variation of animals and plants under domestication ( …
  • … week of 1866. It would take all of 1867 to correct proofs, and just when completion seemed imminent, …
  • … man’ from the already oversized two-volume  Variation  and instead write a short (as he then …
  • … to be the role of sexual selection in forming human races, and there was also to be a chapter on the …
  • … in late 1866. His correspondents were asked to copy the list and forward it to those who might best …
  • … work was now guaranteed to arouse interest both at home and further afield, and, with  Variation …
  • … to home, two important works, a book by the duke of Argyll, and an anonymous review by an engineer, …
  • … of species by means of natural selection  ( Origin ) and in  On the various contrivances by …
  • … continued to discuss now familiar topics such as dimorphism and trimorphism, self-sterility, …
  • … important new correspondents in 1867 were Hermann Müller and Anton Dohrn in Germany, and Federico …
  • … good, allowing him to pursue several projects at once. First and foremost was the completion of part …
  • … more technical passages in the book be printed in smaller type, a plan to which Murray readily …
  • … as soon as he had marked out passages to be set in smaller type. He added, ‘I feel a full conviction …
  • … on flower structure by focusing on the details of insect morphology such as specialised mouthparts. …

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 16 hits

  • … the Beagle  voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became …
  • … he published two books—his  Journal of researches  and  The structure and distribution of coral …
  • … , for which he described the locations of the fossils and the habitats and behaviour of the living …
  • … of a book on the volcanic islands visited during the voyage and had served as a Secretary and Vice …
  • … activities, Darwin found time to re-establish family ties and friendships, and to make new friends …
  • … of preparation for their marriage are amusing, loving, and sometimes touching in the concern they …
  • … Early in 1839 the couple set up house in London and at the end of the year their first child, …
  • … the years 1837–43 was unquestionably his work on species and their origin. By the middle of March …
  • … hypothesis he immediately set himself to collect data and to make notes on any lines of inquiry that …
  • … came to be as they are (Kohn 1980). Between April 1837 and September 1838 he filled several …
  • … point of departure Darwin continued to make notes and explore new avenues of thought, and by the …
  • … selection’. Seventeen more years of data collecting and the fuller development of the argument were …
  • … investigation of the species question went on, literally and figuratively, in the background of his …
  • … the  Beagle  voyage. The book was finished and set in type by November 1837, though not published …
  • … , [late August 1843], expresses his interest in ‘unity of type’, which at that time was a thesis of …
  • … & falls.—- Look abroad, study gradation study unity of type study geographical distribution …

Review: The Origin of Species

Summary

- by Asa Gray THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION (American Journal of Science and Arts, March, 1860) This book is already exciting much attention. Two American editions are announced, through which it will become familiar to many…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … OF NATURAL SELECTION (American Journal of Science and Arts, March, 1860) This book is …
  • … as the author states—is unnecessary in such a case; and it would be difficult to give by detached …
  • … upon which the author has been laboring for twenty years, and which ‘will take two or three more …
  • … enough for its purpose. It will be far more widely read, and perhaps will make deeper impression, …
  • … of the life of a most able naturalist have been devoted? And who among those naturalists who hold a …
  • … to divest himself for the nonce of the influence of received and favorite systems? In fact, the …
  • … which the views most favored by facts will be developed and tested by ‘Natural Selection,’ the …
  • … devolve upon the principal editor,’ whose wide observation and profound knowledge of various …
  • … for the task. But he has been obliged to lay aside his pen, and to seek in distant lands the entire …
  • … of his health—a consummation devoutly to be wished, and confidently to be expected. Interested as Mr …
  • … who regards the kinds of elementary matter, such as oxygen and hydrogen, and the definite compounds …
  • … the former case. Between the doctrines of this volume and those of the other great naturalist …
  • … divergence appears. It is interesting to contrast the two, and, indeed, is necessary to our purpose; …
  • … varieties as oscillations around a primitive centre or type, still it appears from the readiness …
  • … be glad to cite; then a fitting chapter upon classification, morphology, embryology, etc., as viewed …
  • … organic beings have been formed on two great laws: unity of type, and adaptation to the conditions …
  • … facts inexplicable. The morphologists build on unity of type, or that fundamental agreement in the …
  • … of existence is the result of natural selection; unity of type, of unity of descent. Accordingly, as …
  • … of new organs, and for their diversity in each great type, for their specialization, and every …
  • … to take is to make the most of gradation and adherence to type as suggestive of derivation, and
  • … a town clock, or a series of organisms of the same type? From certain incidental expressions at the …
  • … being small at each step, and consistent with the general type of the instrument, are applied to …

Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life

Summary

1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time.  And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth.  All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…

Matches: 14 hits

  • … Darwin working on the first draft of his book on the cross- and self-fertilisation of plants, and
  • … Amy, had settled in as his father’s botanical assistant, and their close working relationship is …
  • … was away from Down. The usual rhythm of visits with family and friends took place against the …
  • … was finishing work on the second edition of Orchids and checking the page-proofs of Cross and
  • … member of the next generation of the family, with Francis and Amy’s child expected in September. …
  • … sought solace for the loss of his beloved daughter-in-law and relief from his anxiety about Francis. …
  • … He would in future revise his published books only once and never touch them again, so as to use the …
  • … the second edition of Variation had involved much time and effort the previous year, and Darwin …
  • … the sixth edition of Origin for the very last time, and made minor changes to a reprint of the …
  • … from R. F. Cooke, 23 February 1876 ). When Smith, Elder and Company proposed reissuing two of …
  • … Darwin focused instead on the second edition of Orchids , and he devoted much effort between May …
  • … only offered to propose the young rising star of Cambridge morphology, Francis Maitland Balfour, for …
  • … mechanically minded Horace, however, who was the first to type a letter, telling George on 1 May (in …
  • … ’, Horace pointed out that in less than a day he could type no more than ‘ 2 or 3 times as slowly …
letter